Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –
On October 31, the second scientific and production forum “Golden Valley” began its work, the main organizer of which is Novosibirsk State University. The goal of the event is to stimulate interaction between the university and scientific organizations with industrial partners through the implementation of joint projects and demonstration of scientific developments in the interests of the real sector of the economy. The forum brought together more than 1,000 participants from all over the country.
Opening the forum, Vice-Governor of the Novosibirsk Region Irina Manuilova noted that our region has extensive experience in holding large forums. For the 11th time this year, the Technoprom International Forum for the Development of the Russian Federation was held, and the topics that will be discussed within the framework of the Golden Valley will be continued at Technoprom next year.
— Today we are opening a forum at a leading university, which is one of the five leading universities in the country. Industry leaders have gathered here to share their experience in solving priority tasks to achieve technological sovereignty of Russia. The President has set a task for us — to become leaders in the implementation of innovations in the economy, to achieve technological leadership. In the shortest possible time, we need to build new technological chains together. To this end, new technological projects will be launched in 2025, developed in accordance with the national development goals of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030. Universities play one of the leading roles in this process. As Governor Andrei Travnikov noted earlier, the role of universities in the socio-economic development of the regions has increased significantly today. This is reflected in federal programs — the strategic academic leadership “Priority 2030”, the project to create modern campuses, which the regional government actively supports, — noted Irina Manuilova.
The forum program includes plenary sessions, thematic sections, scientific tours and a number of satellite events, including the strategic session “Digital Transformation: Artificial Intelligence in Solving Public Sector Problems,” initiated by the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications of the Novosibirsk Region.
— Further digital transformation of the Novosibirsk Region is inseparable from the scientific and fundamental base. The regional government is conducting targeted work on priority research tasks in the interests of ministries and departments. The Ministry of Digital Development plans to conduct a number of scientific studies in the field of unmanned aircraft systems and artificial intelligence. We will build this work in a proactive dialogue with representatives of the university and scientific community, the real sector of the economy. To this end, within the framework of the Golden Valley forum, we are holding a strategic session on the implementation of AI technologies in solving public sector problems, — emphasized Sergey Tsukar, Minister of Digital Development and Communications of the Novosibirsk Region.
The thematic sections of the Golden Valley focus on current areas of technological development of the Russian economy – aviation and unmanned aircraft systems, mechanical engineering, energy, robotics and artificial intelligence technologies in industry, construction, medicine and agricultural technologies.
Representatives of large federal companies and state corporations, such as United Engine Corporation, AFK Sistema, AvtoVAZ, Rostec State Corporation, heads of industrial enterprises of the Novosibirsk Region, leading scientists of the Novosibirsk Scientific Center, as well as young innovators united in the University Startup Studio, will deliver reports at plenary and sectional sessions.
NSU is the organizer of the forum for the second year, devoting a lot of attention to this event.
— Holding such a forum is an important part of our transformation strategy, when we actively integrate into the economic agenda and participate in solving real problems of various industries. The goal of the forum for us is to strengthen and develop the interaction of the university with industrial partners and in the future to involve them in joint developments and creation of technologies already on the basis of the university. I would like to wish that this forum, which unites science, industry and education, will further contribute to the development and strengthening of the “Lavrentiev triangle”. And the university will do everything to achieve this goal, — commented the rector of NSU, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Mikhail Fedoruk.
The forum will last two days and, as last year, should lead to the conclusion of a number of agreements between the university and representatives of the high-tech industry.
Reference:
The first scientific and production forum “Golden Valley” was held in 2023. Then it brought together more than 1000 participants. Over 130 speakers spoke at sections and plenary sessions, including 15 members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 20 rectors of universities in the Siberian Federal District, and more than 50 directors of federal and regional enterprises.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Scientists from the University of Aberdeen have attached tiny ‘backpack’ type trackers to hummingbirds in the Andes in a bid to learn more about their movements.
We are very excited to have successfully implemented a system that is giving us a unique insight into the movements of hummingbirds and other small animals endemic to high mountain ecosystems of the Andes.” Cristina Rueda Uribe
Researchers have teamed up with the Chingaza National Park in Colombia, in addition to the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia, Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Washington in the United States, for the project to help inform the park’s plans of expanding the park and connecting to other nearby protected areas.
Previously, it has been impossible to collect movement data for hummingbirds and other small animals in the area, however the team were able to set up an automated radio telemetry grid at 3,300m above sea level in the Andes of Colombia. This technology generates fine resolution and continuous location estimates for individual animals, resulting in millions of datapoints that provides information on species’ habitat requirements, movement patterns and seasonal occurrence, all of which are important to inform landscape-level management practices that avoid local extinctions.
Cristina Rueda Uribe, a PhD candidate from the University’s School of Biological Sciences, said: “We are very excited to have successfully implemented a system that is giving us a unique insight into the movements of hummingbirds and other small animals endemic to high mountain ecosystems of the Andes.
“The transmitters we attached to the hummingbirds are tiny! They weigh only 0.35g because the largest birds are only around 12-14g. We use a harness that goes around their wings and chest, so the tag sits on their back like a backpack. The tag has a solar panel and will transmit signals for the rest of their lifetime, whenever the sun is shining the panel is activated.
“Through this, we have been able to obtain information on foraging routines, home ranges and seasonality. This information increases our understanding about biodiversity in tropical mountains and is also useful to protect these species, as well as their key ecosystem roles as pollinators, in the face of ongoing climate and land use change.
“Our system is the first to use automated radio signals to track movement in high mountain ecosystems of the Andes, and it is one of only a few that has been attempted in wild landscapes where terrain and vegetation are challenging. Its success is due to an huge international collaborative effort between scientists, designers, drone pilots, park rangers, and field ornithologists. This is such an important step forward as the system is mainly focussed on tracking hummingbirds and revealing movement patterns that are key for their role as plant pollinators, in ecosystems that are especially vulnerable to changes in climate and land use.
“I am also excited that this project has motivated local management to use technology for conservation, and it has also inspired researchers to adapt this technology in other locations. We are now helping our collaborators to establish a similar grid in lowland forests in the Amazon region.”
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The XVII scientific and industrial forum “Technical re-equipment of machine-building enterprises of Russia” is held in Yekaterinburg every year. The event brings together more than a thousand participants from the Sverdlovsk region and other federal districts. This time, experts discussed the development of new technologies at machine-building enterprises, personnel training, labor productivity and improving product quality.
As part of the forum, a meeting of the council for work with personnel of the Union of Defense Industry Enterprises of the Sverdlovsk Region and the Sverdlovsk regional branch of the Union of Mechanical Engineers of Russia was held at the High-Tech Technopark.
The forum will last until November 14, thematic sections will work at sites throughout the city. Representatives of mechanical engineering companies, universities, and government bodies will give reports, discuss ideas and proposals.
The section “New Personnel for the Defense Industrial Complex and Mechanical Engineering” brought together representatives of the Sverdlovsk Region government, heads of HR departments of industrial enterprises and representatives of educational and scientific organizations. The main topic was the development and implementation of basic and additional educational programs for training professions that are in short supply for defense industry and mechanical engineering enterprises.
Head of the Directorate of Continuing Education and Industry Partnership Ivan Kurta represented SPbPU. In the report “Development of Human Capital in Partnership with Industry: Polytechnic University Experience in the Interests of the Defense-Industrial and Machine-Building Complexes” Ivan Valentinovich spoke about the training and retraining of personnel, shared the unique experience of the university in designing and implementing educational programs to meet the needs of industrial partners.
Particular interest from participants gave rise to joint projects with corporate universities, in particular, the campus of internal trainers and teachers held in August of this year under the auspices of Gazprom Neft, as well as programs in the field of engineering, the demand for which from the industry is growing every year.
For us, this platform is important in terms of our positioning in the region. The Union of Defense Industry Enterprises of the Sverdlovsk Region and the Sverdlovsk Regional Branch of the Union of Mechanical Engineers of Russia can play a special role in promoting the educational and scientific environment of the Polytechnic University. We plan to discuss joint projects in the near future, said Ivan Kurta.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Last week, the tragic news broke that US teenager Sewell Seltzer III took his own life after forming a deep emotional attachment to an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot on the Character.AI website.
As his relationship with the companion AI became increasingly intense, the 14-year-old began withdrawing from family and friends, and was getting in trouble at school.
In a lawsuit filed against Character.AI by the boy’s mother, chat transcripts show intimate and often highly sexual conversations between Sewell and the chatbot Dany, modelled on the Game of Thrones character Danaerys Targaryen. They discussed crime and suicide, and the chatbot used phrases such as “that’s not a reason not to go through with it”.
This is not the first known instance of a vulnerable person dying by suicide after interacting with a chatbot persona. A Belgian man took his life last year in a similar episode involving Character.AI’s main competitor, Chai AI. When this happened, the company told the media they were “working our hardest to minimise harm”.
In a statement to CNN, Character.AI has stated they “take the safety of our users very seriously” and have introduced “numerous new safety measures over the past six months”.
However, these tragedies starkly illustrate the dangers of rapidly developing and widely available AI systems anyone can converse and interact with. We urgently need regulation to protect people from potentially dangerous, irresponsibly designed AI systems.
How can we regulate AI?
The Australian government is in the process of developing mandatory guardrails for high-risk AI systems. A trendy term in the world of AI governance, “guardrails” refer to processes in the design, development and deployment of AI systems. These include measures such as data governance, risk management, testing, documentation and human oversight.
One of the decisions the Australian government must make is how to define which systems are “high-risk”, and therefore captured by the guardrails.
The government is also considering whether guardrails should apply to all “general purpose models”. General purpose models are the engine under the hood of AI chatbots like Dany: AI algorithms that can generate text, images, videos and music from user prompts, and can be adapted for use in a variety of contexts.
In the European Union’s groundbreaking AI Act, high-risk systems are defined using a list, which regulators are empowered to regularly update.
An alternative is a principles-based approach, where a high-risk designation happens on a case-by-case basis. It would depend on multiple factors such as the risks of adverse impacts on rights, risks to physical or mental health, risks of legal impacts, and the severity and extent of those risks.
Chatbots should be ‘high-risk’ AI
In Europe, companion AI systems like Character.AI and Chai are not designated as high-risk. Essentially, their providers only need to let users know they are interacting with an AI system.
Chatbots are capable of generating unpredictable, inappropriate and manipulative content. They mimic toxic relationships all too easily. Transparency – labelling the output as AI-generated – is not enough to manage these risks.
Even when we are aware that we are talking to chatbots, human beings are psychologically primed to attribute human traits to something we converse with.
The suicide deaths reported in the media could be just the tip of the iceberg. We have no way of knowing how many vulnerable people are in addictive, toxic or even dangerous relationships with chatbots.
Guardrails and an ‘off switch’
When Australia finally introduces mandatory guardrails for high-risk AI systems, which may happen as early as next year, the guardrails should apply to both companion chatbots and the general purpose models the chatbots are built upon.
Guardrails – risk management, testing, monitoring – will be most effective if they get to the human heart of AI hazards. Risks from chatbots are not just technical risks with technical solutions.
Apart from the words a chatbot might use, the context of the product matters, too. In the case of Character.AI, the marketing promises to “empower” people, the interface mimics an ordinary text message exchange with a person, and the platform allows users to select from a range of pre-made characters, which include some problematic personas.
The front page of the Character.AI website for a user who has entered their age as 17. C.AI
Truly effective AI guardrails should mandate more than just responsible processes, like risk management and testing. They also must demand thoughtful, humane design of interfaces, interactions and relationships between AI systems and their human users.
Even then, guardrails may not be enough. Just like companion chatbots, systems that at first appear to be low risk may cause unanticipated harms.
Regulators should have the power to remove AI systems from the market if they cause harm or pose unacceptable risks. In other words, we don’t just need guardrails for high risk AI. We also need an off switch.
If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Henry Fraser receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Idea of Sardar Patel for a Strong Bharat Immortalised with Sincere & Renewed effort of Nation Building of PM Narendra Modi Govt: Sarbananda Sonowal Sarbananda Sonowal took Pledge on ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas’ as all Organisations of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Virtually Join in to Preserve the Unity, Integrity & Security
Posted On: 31 OCT 2024 2:27PM by PIB Delhi
The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW), Shri Sarbananda Sonowal celebrated the ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas’ (National Unity Day) as all the organisations virtually took the pledge to preserve the unity, integrity and security after the Union Minister read out the pledge along with thousands of colleagues who virtually joined the programme.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Sonowal said, “The idea of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel for a strong Bharat has been immortalised with sincere and renewed effort of Nation Building by the Narendra Modi led government for more than a decade. PM Modi has worked tirelessly to inspire the national consciousness and to use it to unify the country. The ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’ philosophy is akin to Sardar Patel’s effort to bring all the princely states to join force for a strong nation. On this strong foundation laid down by the valiant & selfless efforts of Sardar Patel, the country is moving towards realising the idea of ‘Ek Bharat, Shresth Bharat’. The path laid down by Sardar Patel is the one that PM Narendra Modi ji has taken to lead the country towards creating an inclusive development of the country. I offer my homage to this great persona of Sardar Patel for his invaluable contribution towards building a strong nation.”
The event started when the Union Minister Shri Sonowal did ‘Pad Puja’ by offering floral tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel image at the event.
The event was attended by the Union Minister of State for MoPSW, Shantanu Thakur; the ex-Union Minister of State & MP (Rajya Sabha), Rameswar Teli; the Minister in the Govt of Assam, Jogen Mohan; the Chairman of AIDC & MLA, Dibrugarh, Prasanta Phukan; the MLA of Chabua, Punakan Baruah; the Secretary of MoPWA, T K Ramachandran; the Vice Chancellor of Dibrugarh University, Prof Jiten Hazarika; the Principal, Assam Medical College, Prof Sanjeeb Kakati; the Mayor of Dibrugarh Municipal Corporation (DMC), Dr Saikat Patra; among other dignitaries and people.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Tom Nyirenda, Extraordinary Senior Lecture in the Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University
The World Health Organization’s 2024 Global Tuberculosis report reveals a sobering reality. Formidable challenges remain in the fight against the world’s most infectious disease: persistent poverty in high burden countries; increased rates of infection among vulnerable populations; the inability to find and treat all missing cases; and funding shortfalls.
The WHO’s report measures progress in two ways: the number of TB-related deaths, and the number of people who become ill. There is still a long battle ahead to eradicate a disease that results in over 10 million patients among those already infected and claims around 1.5 million lives each year. This even though it is preventable and curable.
The good news is that some countries in Africa have made significant progress in reducing infection rates and TB-related deaths.
Global health specialist Tom Nyirenda assesses some of the report’s key findings and messages.
TB can be defeated because we have good diagnostic tools and effective treatment for the commonest forms of the disease. Global funding, which is critical in fighting TB, is not yet up to the scale that is required to stop the disease. Only 26% of the funding committed by global partners to TB prevention, diagnostic and treatment services has materialised so far.
Good diagnostic tools and treatment aren’t the panacea. Almost 87% of TB cases are from 30 high burden poor countries of the world. Slow or lack of economic progress of affected populations is one of the greatest challenges the world continues to face.
On the positive side, progress has been made in reducing TB related deaths in the Africa region. The continent saw the biggest drop in TB related deaths since 2015 of all six regions – 42%. The European region came next with TB deaths down by 38% in the same period.
When it comes to TB infections the WHO African and European regions have made the most progress: a reduction of 24% in Africa and 27% in Europe.
One of the main reasons for the success in Africa has been progress in treating HIV patients. This is because TB is one of the most common opportunistic infections among patients with HIV. (Opportunistic infections occur more often or are more severe in people with weakened immune systems.)
Before antiretrovirals transformed treatment for HIV patients, the African continent had the highest TB-HIV co-infection rates in the world. High mortality was experienced among co-infected patients.
At one stage HIV prevalence among TB patients was estimated to be as high as 90% in some areas of sub-Saharan Africa.
Treating co-infected patients with antiretrovirals has contributed significantly to the drop in TB-related cases and deaths on the continent.
Some countries have increased TB screening among vulnerable groups such as children and those who live in confined areas, such as prisoners and displaced people.
Mixed bag of infection rates
Successes within the African region vary from country to country.
For example Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo are among eight countries that accounted for about two-thirds of the global number of people estimated to have developed TB in 2023. Nigeria has 4.6% of the global new cases and the DRC has 3.1%.
It’s noteworthy that both countries have high levels of poverty; they are vast, with huge populations; and their health services are limited compared to the scale of disease burdens they face.
Sometimes increases in reported cases are not a bad thing. They can be due to improved case finding or better diagnostic procedures. But vigilance is required to maintain the drive towards achievement of global targets.
Barriers to seeking treatment
Families of TB sufferers often have to bear costs such as for medications, special foods, transport, and a loss of income.
Such expenses sometimes discourage TB sufferers from seeking treatment.
The WHO global report estimates families in many countries in Africa are among those facing “catastrophic total costs” as a result of members becoming ill with TB. This is when direct and indirect costs account for more than 20% of a family’s annual household income. The countries where this is the case include Niger, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and South Africa.
A billboard warns locals about the dangers of tuberculosis in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Getty Images.
Vaccine race
The only vaccine against TB, the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine, has been used for more than 100 years. It is largely effective for children under five, but less so in older people. And it can’t be used on patients who have certain medical conditions.
Development of vaccines is a lengthy and costly exercise. Only one-fifth of the finance necessary for research has been forthcoming to date.
The good news is that of all infectious diseases TB is probably the one that has the most vaccine candidates in the pipeline (about 17). There are currently six vaccine candidates for adults in phase III trials. They could be available within the next five years.
Beating the disease will require an effective primary or recurrent TB prevention vaccine or a therapeutic vaccine for those already infected with the TB bacteria but who have not yet developed the disease.
Future threats
Climate change will affect food security and nutrition, essential for recovery from TB, and also diverting TB resources to epidemics and pandemics associated with it.
Human conflict, migration and displacement are other threats that world faces that will hinder TB infection control and treatment.
These dangers strengthen the case for multi-sectoral collaboration to share rare resources and strive for a meaningful impact. The speed at which COVID-19 vaccines were developed in the middle of a pandemic and global lockdowns shows this is possible in better and worse times.
What needs to be done
Without government support the war against TB will never be won. Every country and every community is different. It is therefore essential that locally relevant economic research is conducted in every situation to guide policies that reduce the economic burden of TB on communities. Generated evidence should guide policy and practice. Above all good financing should be mobilised, with governments leading the course.
– TB in Africa: global report shows successes, but Nigeria and DRC remain important hotspots – https://theconversation.com/tb-in-africa-global-report-shows-successes-but-nigeria-and-drc-remain-important-hotspots-242489
Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin today attended the 25th China Annual Conference & Expo for International Education in Beijing to share Hong Kong’s experiences in promoting internationalisation and diversification of higher education, and promote the “Study in Hong Kong” brand.
A high-level and comprehensive platform for global educators to engage in dialogue and co-operation, this year’s conference, under the theme “Education for All, the Unknown & the Future”, attracted thousands of people from around the world.
In her keynote speech, Ms Choi said that Hong Kong has five University Grants Committee-funded universities which rank among the world’s top 100.
Coupled with its sound education infrastructure, outstanding research talent and strong research capabilities, Hong Kong’s reputable brand name of quality education is widely recognised and acknowledged both locally and globally, she highlighted.
Ms Choi further noted that the 2024 Policy Address announced the establishment of the Committee on Education, Technology & Talents to take forward the work of invigorating the country through science and education, and accelerate the building of an innovative talent pool.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government launched a number of key initiatives to create multiple pathways for young people, she added.
The education chief also pointed out that the Hong Kong SAR Government has been actively supporting the establishment of alliances between higher education institutions in Hong Kong and on the Mainland to gather high-quality teaching and research resources, and to achieve mutual benefits through deepening co-operation, thereby enhancing regional co-operation as well as developments on different fronts.
During the conference, Ms Choi exchanged views on the latest trends and developments in global education with other guests. She also met representatives of Hong Kong post-secondary education institutions participating in the expo.
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Tom Nyirenda, Extraordinary Senior Lecture in the Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University
The World Health Organization’s 2024 Global Tuberculosis report reveals a sobering reality. Formidable challenges remain in the fight against the world’s most infectious disease: persistent poverty in high burden countries; increased rates of infection among vulnerable populations; the inability to find and treat all missing cases; and funding shortfalls.
The WHO’s report measures progress in two ways: the number of TB-related deaths, and the number of people who become ill. There is still a long battle ahead to eradicate a disease that results in over 10 million patients among those already infected and claims around 1.5 million lives each year. This even though it is preventable and curable.
The good news is that some countries in Africa have made significant progress in reducing infection rates and TB-related deaths.
Global health specialist Tom Nyirenda assesses some of the report’s key findings and messages.
TB can be defeated because we have good diagnostic tools and effective treatment for the commonest forms of the disease. Global funding, which is critical in fighting TB, is not yet up to the scale that is required to stop the disease. Only 26% of the funding committed by global partners to TB prevention, diagnostic and treatment services has materialised so far.
Good diagnostic tools and treatment aren’t the panacea. Almost 87% of TB cases are from 30 high burden poor countries of the world. Slow or lack of economic progress of affected populations is one of the greatest challenges the world continues to face.
On the positive side, progress has been made in reducing TB related deaths in the Africa region. The continent saw the biggest drop in TB related deaths since 2015 of all six regions – 42%. The European region came next with TB deaths down by 38% in the same period.
When it comes to TB infections the WHO African and European regions have made the most progress: a reduction of 24% in Africa and 27% in Europe.
One of the main reasons for the success in Africa has been progress in treating HIV patients. This is because TB is one of the most common opportunistic infections among patients with HIV. (Opportunistic infections occur more often or are more severe in people with weakened immune systems.)
Before antiretrovirals transformed treatment for HIV patients, the African continent had the highest TB-HIV co-infection rates in the world. High mortality was experienced among co-infected patients.
At one stage HIV prevalence among TB patients was estimated to be as high as 90% in some areas of sub-Saharan Africa.
Treating co-infected patients with antiretrovirals has contributed significantly to the drop in TB-related cases and deaths on the continent.
Some countries have increased TB screening among vulnerable groups such as children and those who live in confined areas, such as prisoners and displaced people.
Mixed bag of infection rates
Successes within the African region vary from country to country.
For example Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo are among eight countries that accounted for about two-thirds of the global number of people estimated to have developed TB in 2023. Nigeria has 4.6% of the global new cases and the DRC has 3.1%.
It’s noteworthy that both countries have high levels of poverty; they are vast, with huge populations; and their health services are limited compared to the scale of disease burdens they face.
Sometimes increases in reported cases are not a bad thing. They can be due to improved case finding or better diagnostic procedures. But vigilance is required to maintain the drive towards achievement of global targets.
Barriers to seeking treatment
Families of TB sufferers often have to bear costs such as for medications, special foods, transport, and a loss of income.
Such expenses sometimes discourage TB sufferers from seeking treatment.
The WHO global report estimates families in many countries in Africa are among those facing “catastrophic total costs” as a result of members becoming ill with TB. This is when direct and indirect costs account for more than 20% of a family’s annual household income. The countries where this is the case include Niger, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and South Africa.
Vaccine race
The only vaccine against TB, the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine, has been used for more than 100 years. It is largely effective for children under five, but less so in older people. And it can’t be used on patients who have certain medical conditions.
Development of vaccines is a lengthy and costly exercise. Only one-fifth of the finance necessary for research has been forthcoming to date.
The good news is that of all infectious diseases TB is probably the one that has the most vaccine candidates in the pipeline (about 17). There are currently six vaccine candidates for adults in phase III trials. They could be available within the next five years.
Beating the disease will require an effective primary or recurrent TB prevention vaccine or a therapeutic vaccine for those already infected with the TB bacteria but who have not yet developed the disease.
Future threats
Climate change will affect food security and nutrition, essential for recovery from TB, and also diverting TB resources to epidemics and pandemics associated with it.
Human conflict, migration and displacement are other threats that world faces that will hinder TB infection control and treatment.
These dangers strengthen the case for multi-sectoral collaboration to share rare resources and strive for a meaningful impact. The speed at which COVID-19 vaccines were developed in the middle of a pandemic and global lockdowns shows this is possible in better and worse times.
What needs to be done
Without government support the war against TB will never be won. Every country and every community is different. It is therefore essential that locally relevant economic research is conducted in every situation to guide policies that reduce the economic burden of TB on communities. Generated evidence should guide policy and practice. Above all good financing should be mobilised, with governments leading the course.
Tom Nyirenda is affiliated with European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership -EDCTP.
Source: United States of America – Federal Government Departments (video statements)
The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy visited Blackfeet Community College in Browning, Montana, Sept. 26, 2024, and announced over $9 million in new funding and prizes to advance clean energy planning at Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs).
Learn more at: https://www.energy.gov/indianenergy/articles/us-department-energy-announces-over-9-million-funding-and-prizes-tribal
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
As part of his working visit to Uzbekistan, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Chernyshenko took part in the ceremonial opening of the new campus of the branch of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen in Tashkent.
The ceremony was also attended by the Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva, First Deputy Director of the National Agency for Social Protection under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shakhnoza Mirziyoyeva, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Preschool and School Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan Khilola Umarova, Rector of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen Sergey Tarasov.
“This new education center symbolizes another step in strengthening the close ties between our countries, Uzbekistan and the Russian Federation, which have been reliable partners and true friends for many, many decades,” said Tanzila Narbaeva.
Minister of Preschool and School Education of Uzbekistan Khilola Umarova noted that today the branch successfully implements its mission, training specialists in the fields of preschool education, child psychology and teaching Russian.
“There are already more than 1,100 students studying here. And in the near future, upon completion of construction work, we plan to increase their number to 3,000, creating modern conditions for their study,” the minister said.
The Deputy Prime Minister thanked everyone who made the opening of the new campus of the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia possible, especially the heads of state. In May, the leaders of the countries Vladimir Putin and Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting at which they made a number of important decisions, including in the field of education.
“Education, upbringing and enlightenment are an investment in the future development of our countries. It is very important that it is at the site of the RSPU branch that advanced technologies are used, including those made and developed in Russia, which have proven experience and successful application. Teachers who will then teach our children study here – this is a very necessary investment. The opening of the campus is a celebration, first of all, for teachers and students. They have received unique conditions for work and study. Of course, we expect a responsible attitude from them so that these conditions are converted into an excellent result, which the leadership of the countries expects from us,” emphasized Dmitry Chernyshenko.
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that today 14 branches of leading Russian universities operate in Uzbekistan. The republic also occupies a leading position in the number of students in Russian universities among the countries of the near and far abroad – this is about 53 thousand people.
Additionally, Dmitry Chernyshenko emphasized the role of the Russian language in the development of relations between Russia and Uzbekistan.
“A new campus of the branch of the Russian State Pedagogical University has opened. This is a big event for our countries. The competition for training today is three people per place, all the popular areas are represented here. I am sure that the opening of the branch will become a new stage of our cooperation, will facilitate the exchange of teachers and students. For our part, we will provide all the necessary methodological assistance,” said Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov.
He emphasized that the renovation work carried out made it possible to make the external appearance of the main building of the branch as similar as possible to the façade of Count Razumovsky’s palace in St. Petersburg, where the oldest pedagogical university in Russia has been located for more than 200 years.
The Russian delegation inspected the library, computer room, Center for Defectological Education and Rehabilitation, and laboratories in the campus building.
Together with the Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic Alexey Chekunkov, the Deputy Prime Minister also visited the Victory Park memorial complex in Tashkent, where he laid flowers at the Ode to Fortitude monument and left a commemorative note in the book of honored guests.
“Thank you very much for your careful attitude to the memory of our common Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Thanks to your museum, the younger generation will learn more about the pages of military history and the feat accomplished by our huge country in the struggle for liberation from fascism. The contribution of the people of Uzbekistan to the Victory is difficult to overestimate – the republic became a reliable rear and did everything possible for the front. Many of its soldiers died on the battlefield – we sacredly honor their feat in the name of peace. Our countries have common spiritual and moral values, and this is the key to the prosperity and successful future of Uzbekistan and Russia,” the Deputy Prime Minister wrote.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Story courtesy of Ashley Craig, Navy Office of Community Outreach
MILLINGTON, Tenn. – Petty Officer 1st Class Breanna Funderburk, a native of Leesburg, Florida, was recently selected for the Medical Service Corps In-Service Procurement Program while serving in the U.S. Navy assigned to U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Medical Service Corps In-Service Procurement Program is a pathway for career-driven active-duty sailors to become commissioned officers.
Funderburk graduated from Leesburg High School in 2016. Additionally, Funderburk earned an associate degree in health science from Incarnate Word University in 2020, a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration from Purdue Global University in 2022 and a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Louisiana State University Shreveport in 2024.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Leesburg.
“Growing up in my hometown, and because of poverty levels of the economy, I always sought to be successful,” said Funderburk. “With this goal in mind, I began working at the age of 15 and diligently studied in school to ensure that this was to be my outcome. I earned two scholarships when I graduated high school, yet I returned these and knew that there was something greater out there for me. I carried my desire for higher education and work ethic with me as I began my naval career just seven and a half years ago. Everything happens for a reason and I wouldn’t be who I am today without the hometown experiences that shaped me into who I am and who I continue be in my naval career.”
Funderburk joined the Navy seven and a half years ago. Today, Funderburk serves as a hospital corpsman.
“I joined the Navy to find a solid foundation while pursuing higher education and to challenge myself in ways I couldn’t have imagined if I stayed in my comfort zone,” said Funderburk. “I wanted to serve a greater purpose, gain new skills and grow as a person by exploring opportunities beyond my hometown. The Navy offered me not only stability but also the chance to be a part of something bigger, experience new cultures and contribute to something meaningful. It’s been a decision that has expanded my horizons in ways I never thought possible.”
Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay provides health care to the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay community, which consists of approximately 4,500 military members, federal employees, U.S. and foreign national contractors and their families. The hospital also operates the only overseas military home health care facility providing care to elderly special category residents who sought asylum on the installation during the Cuban Revolution.
“What I love most about my role in the Navy is the opportunity to mentor and guide junior sailors and my peers,” said Funderburk. “The ‘sailorization’ process – helping others grow, develop their skills, and reach their potential – is deeply rewarding for me. As a leader, I strive to embody a servant leadership style, where my focus is on supporting others and empowering them to succeed. There’s nothing more fulfilling than watching someone I’ve mentored overcome challenges and achieve their goals. Knowing that I played a part in their growth is a reminder of the true purpose of leadership; serving others and uplifting those around you.”
With 90% of global commerce traveling by sea and access to the internet relying on the security of undersea fiber optic cables, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity of the United States is directly linked to recruiting and retaining talented people from across the rich fabric of America.
Funderburk serves a Navy that operates far forward, around the world and around the clock, promoting the nation’s prosperity and security.
“We will earn and reinforce the trust and confidence of the American people every day,” said Adm. Lisa Franchetti, chief of naval operations. “Together we will deliver the Navy the nation needs.”
Funderburk has many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during military service.
“My proudest achievement in the Navy is being selected through the Medical Service Corps In-Service Procurement Program to commission as a United States Navy officer with my master’s degree in healthcare administration,” said Funderburk.
Funderburk can take pride in serving America through military service.
“Serving in the Navy means being part of something greater than myself,” said Funderburk. “It’s about commitment, sacrifice and dedication to protecting our nation and supporting those in need. It’s given me the opportunity to grow both personally and professionally, to learn from diverse experiences and to develop a strong sense of discipline and teamwork. Serving in the Navy has instilled a deep pride in knowing that my contributions make a tangible impact, and it’s allowed me to build a lifelong bond with others who share the same mission of service and excellence.”
Funderburk is grateful for the opportunities the Navy has provided to help them reach their goals.
“A main goal of mine when I joined was to have stability and a strong foundation while attending college and I sought to be very academically successful,” said Funderburk. “With that, the Navy has provided me with great opportunities and I was able to go to corpsman-specialized schooling, which awarded me with my associate in health sciences and a license as a Certified Respiratory Therapist, which is transferable to the civilian sector. Later, at my second command at Navy Medicine and Training Command Fort Belvoir, I was able to complete both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in healthcare administration through online colleges within four years of being stationed there.
“It can be very challenging balancing the active duty lifestyle and excelling in your education, but it is not impossible.”
Throughout accounts of 17th-century witch trials in Europe and North America, physical features alone were considered undeniable proof of witchcraft. The belief was that the devil branded witches’ bodies with symbolic, material marks – such as unusual growths or blemishes. This led to routine bodily inspections in witch trials. The discovery of such marks was thought to be strong medical and scientific evidence of witchcraft and frequently sealed the victim’s fate.
Here are just some of the anatomical features that historically would have been used to label someone a witch:
Are you a woman?
While men were occasionally accused of witchcraft, historical witch hunts overwhelmingly targeted women – particularly women who led an independent lifestyle (such as widows and spinsters) or who were outspoken and didn’t conform to societal norms. Historians estimate that more than 75% of those accused of witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries were female.
By this standard, if you identify as female today, you are one of approximately 3.95 billion potential “witches”.
How old are you?
Age was another factor in witch trials. Older women, especially those past childbearing age, were frequently suspected of witchcraft – particularly if they were a widow, owned property or lived alone.
Records suggest that more than half of those accused of witchcraft in Scotland between 1563-1736 were over 40 years old. At this time, the average life expectancy was around 32 years of age.
Today, with around 1.4 billion women globally over 40, many more might have found themselves under similar suspicion by historical standards.
Do you have an extra nipple?
The “witch’s teat” was a common trait witch-hunters used to identify someone as being a witch. This extra nipple was thought to be used by witches to nurse so-called demonic familiars – often imagined to be small animals or imps. Witch-hunters would examine the chest or torso for any irregularity and classify it as a witch’s teat.
In reality, supernumerary nipples (or polythelia) are benign. These form during early embryonic development and in some people do not fully disappear.
Another feature sometimes mistaken for a supernumerary teat was the clitoris. Historical accounts suggest that women were sometimes convicted based on the size of this body part. Pamphlets from the time, which describe the process of identifying a “witches’ teat,” often mention a small protrusion located near a woman’s “fundament” or “privy place” – euphemisms for a woman’s genitals.
It’s estimated that around 5% of the world’s population have at least one extra nipple. They appear more often on the left-hand side of the chest and are more common in men. Harry Styles, who has openly discussed having four nipples, would perhaps have been far less inclined to
The UConn Foundation today announced that it will receive $500,000 from Travelers spread over the next five years to help cover the cost of room and board for qualified UConn students at the new, 200-bed residence hall on Pratt Street in Hartford.
This marks a pivotal moment for the UConn Hartford campus, which will offer student housing for the first time when the apartment-style units open in fall 2026. The project involves transforming a former law office into a vibrant, residential community, part of the university’s broader strategy to elevate student education and experiences.
“Thanks to this generous gift from Travelers, more students will have access to our new residence hall, which will have a transformative impact on their education and lives,” says Mark Overmyer-Velázquez, campus dean and chief administrative officer at UConn Hartford. “The residence hall will serve as a catalyst for learning as well as connecting students to the rich historical, cultural, political, and business resources of our capital city.”
In a 2023 survey, about 70% of UConn Hartford undergraduates expressed interest in nearby student housing. Many students noted that affordability is crucial, given that most currently reside with parents.
The new housing initiative aligns with UConn’s vision, alongside state and local leaders, to establish Hartford as a “college town” where students play an integral role in the city’s cultural landscape.
“Our relationship with UConn spans decades, and we are proud to be a part of the university’s efforts in expanding its presence in downtown Hartford,” says Andy Bessette, executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Travelers. “UConn’s dedication to excellence in education is why it was one of our inaugural partners when we started our school-to-career pipeline program, Travelers EDGE, 17 years ago. Together, we are helping to build a brighter future for our city and state.”
Travelers EDGE, a program that aims to give students increased access to higher education and career preparation, has supported 133 UConn scholars since its inception, with 93 interning at Travelers and 35 graduates accepting full-time jobs at the company.
“We are thrilled that Travelers is making this transformational investment in UConn, our students, and the city of Hartford through this $500,000 donation,” says Nathan Fuerst, UConn’s vice president for student life and enrollment.
“This visionary gift ensures the success of UConn’s expanded footprint in Hartford and helps alleviate the financial barriers facing many students who choose to live downtown. It also brings more scholars to downtown, where many will stay and establish deep roots,” Fuerst says.
The new residence hall is one of many initiatives UConn has underway to deepen its ties with the capital city. The University recently opened its new Community Intersections & Innovation Space for research and academic use near the XL Center and is opening a café for students next fall in the Hartford Times main campus building.
The UConn Foundation also recently launched the Hartford Residential Scholars Enhancement Fund to raise additional funds to support qualifying UConn Hartford students. Find more information about supporting the Hartford Residential Scholars Enhancement Fund [here].
The following is a guest post byMary-Claire Sarafianos,a former intern with the Digital Resources Division of theLaw Library of Congress.She isa second-year Ph.D. student in English at theUniversity of Missouri.She studies silence and structure, both as problems in archives and as features of 19th-century American women’s writing.
In the village of Nyack, New York, an 18-room Victorian estate perches on the edge of the road, looming big and blue above the Hudson River. Local legend proclaimed that the house was haunted. Many a ghost story had been told about this home–a Navy lieutenant from the American Revolution lurking around the basement, an invisible force shaking beds, and a spirit floating and rocking in the middle of the living room. The house and the various spectral presences within it were well-known by the local people of Nyack, but these stories have gone beyond local legend–unlike any other house in American history, 1 La Veta Place was declared, as a matter of law, haunted.
But before the house’s ghosts became a matter of legal record, 1 La Veta Place was considered haunted by locals. The house was even “included in a five-home walking tour of Nyack and described in a November 27th newspaper article as ‘a riverfront Victorian (with ghost).’” (Stambovsky v. Ackley, 169 A.D.2d 254, 256 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991.) During her time living at 1 La Veta Place, Helen Ackley not only spoke publicly about the ghosts, she wrote about them on both a local and national level. Ackley wrote a story detailing her house’s various phantasmal residents in a local newspaper in 1982, in addition to an article she wrote for Reader’s Digest in 1977 that described the ghosts and their relationship to the human inhabitants of the home. (Stambovsky at 256.) Apparently, the ghosts at 1 La Veta Place were an odd but friendly group of phantoms, but when the house went up for sale, these ghost stories were confronted with the looming figure of the law, leading to the case of Stambovsky v. Ackley, or what is colloquially known as “The Ghostbuster Ruling.”
When Ackley put the home up for sale, she hired Ellis Realty, who would become her co-defendant in the ensuing legal trouble. Jeffrey Stambovsky, a New York City resident who was unfamiliar with the Nyack folklore and the reputation of the Ackley home, made an offer on the home for $650,000. (Stambovsky at 256.) But some time between making the down payment and closing on the house, Stambovsky discovered the reputation of 1 La Veta Place. According to the majority opinion, when Stambovsky discovered that he was purchasing an allegedly haunted house, he “sought to rescind the $650,000 contract of sale and obtain return of his $32,500 down payment without resort to litigation.” (Stambovsky at 261.) When this did not work, Stambovsky brought his complaint to court and requested not only to cancel the contract to purchase the home but also to request damages for fraudulent misrepresentation by Ackley and her real estate broker, Ellis Realty. (Stambovsky at 256.) And just like that, the house became less of a local legend and more of a legal entanglement.
[“Spirit” photograph, supposedly taken during a seance, actually a double exposure or composite of superimposed cut-outs, showing woman with portraits of men and women around her head]. Fallis, S. W. 1901. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.40857/.
Stambovsky’s initial complaint was dismissed by the New York County Supreme Court. The court’s decision was influenced by the fact that New York followed the common law doctrine of caveat emptor, meaning “let the buyer beware” in Latin. The doctrine of caveat emptor “places the burden on buyers to reasonably examine property before making a purchase. A buyer who fails to meet this burden is unable to recover for defects in the product that would have been discovered had this burden been met.” Under this doctrine, sellers are not obligated to disclose information to potential buyers and, according to this doctrine, the supposed hauntings of the Ackley home were Stambovsky’s burden to uncover before making an offer on the house. Consequently, the New York County Supreme Court concluded that Stambovsky would neither receive his down payment nor damages, as there was no fraudulent misrepresentation at play. (Stambovsky at 256.) However, Stambovsky persisted and appealed the court’s decision.
The appeals court found that caveat emptor did not apply to Stambovsky’s case. As the majority opinion states, “[a]pplying the strict rule of caveat emptor to a contract involving a house possessed by poltergeists conjures up visions of a psychic or medium routinely accompanying the structural engineer and Terminix man on an inspection of every home subject to a contract of sale.” (Stambovsky at 257.) The appeals court allowed Stambovsky to seek rescission of the contract for sale of the home. (Stambovsky at 260-261.) What the case affirms is not that ghosts exist in a legal sense, but that if the house can be considered haunted enough to merit being a stop on a tour of haunted housesand be the subject of an article in Reader’s Digest, then that spooky reputation must be disclosed to potential buyers.
This verdict presents both sellers and buyers of real estate with complicated questions about the reputations and histories of property and, though not everyone believes in ghosts, houses are often haunted by the crimes, tragedies, and misfortunes that have happened within their walls. Such houses are considered stigmatized properties, which are properties that have been “psychologically impacted by an event which occurred, or was suspected to have occurred, on the property, such an event being one that has no physical impact of any kind.” Whether there is a reputation for ghosts, crime, or misfortune, the public perception of stigmatized property can make it difficult to sell, regardless of the quality of the land or structure. In the case of Stambovsky v. Ackley, the stigmatized nature of the property could actually attract buyers; 1 La Veta Place drew the attention of The Amazing Kreskin, a mentalist who wanted to buy the house, despite its haunted reputation.
The ghost. Melander & Bro. 1874. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/stereo.1s42592/?loclr=bloglaw.
The legal responsibilities of both sellers and buyers of stigmatized property vary from state to state. In New York today, deaths, crimes, or stigmatizing features of a property are not required to be disclosed to a seller, but the buyer may inquire as to any of these concerns and the seller may “choose whether or not to respond to the inquiry.” Pennsylvania law has upheld similar requirements, particularly in the case of Milliken v. Jacono, which concluded that “psychological damage to a property cannot be considered a material defect in the property which must be revealed by the seller to the buyer.” (Milliken v. Jacono, 60 A.3d 133, 138 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2012).) While many states follow New York and Pennsylvania, other states require that sellers disclose to buyers whether certain violent crimes were committed on a property. In Alaska, if a licensee knows that a murder or suicide occurred on the property within the last year, they are obligated to disclose this information to the buyer before an offer is made or accepted. In South Dakota, a similar law is in place that requires a property disclosure statement that includes the question: “Since you have owned the property, are you aware of a human death by homicide or suicide occurring on the property?”
Some states have no requirements or laws on the books that indicate whether a property’s tragic or torrid history needs to be disclosed to the buyer, but certainly no other states have put their caveat emptor doctrines to the test against ghosts in the way that New York has. In the interest of ending on a slightly more humorous note, I turn again to the majority opinion of Stambovsky v. Ackley, which brought a level of humor to the conclusions of the case that have earned it the nickname “The Ghostbusters Ruling.” The majority opinion references the movie Ghostbusters by name and uses even more ghostly puns than I have employed throughout this blog post. (Stambovsky at 257.) The humor of the majority opinion even weaves its way into the logic of the case where the judge states that “if the language of the contract is to be construed as broadly as defendant urges to encompass the presence of poltergeists in the house, it cannot be said that she has delivered the premises ‘vacant’ in accordance with her obligation under the provisions of the contract rider.” (Stambovsky at 260.) In keeping with the humor of the court opinion, this case remains a spot of humor in contract law curricula across the country. Stambovsky v. Ackley and cases like it continue to spark conversation and legislation around caveat emptor and stigmatized property.
If you are interested in learning about how English law handles the disclosure of hauntings, see the previous In Custodia Legis post, “
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The next meeting of the Polytechnic University Academic Council was marked presentation of the mantle of the Honorary Doctor of SPbPU to the head of the S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy, Lieutenant General, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Evgeny Kryukov.
In addition, the ceremonial part of the meeting, as usual, included the presentation of certificates of academic titles to university employees and the honoring of the best polytechnicians who have earned awards in science, education, social and cultural life and sports.
Rector of SPbPU Andrey Rudskoy congratulated the director of the Higher School of Sports Pedagogy Vladislav Bakayev and professor of the Higher School of Service and Trade Sergey Barykin on being awarded the title of “professor”. The certificate of assignment of the academic title of associate professor was received by the leading research fellow of the laboratory “Synthesis of New Materials and Structures” Vadim Sufiyarov.
The company “Kodeks” received a commemorative medal and gratitude from the university, represented by its CEO andgraduate of the Physics and Mechanics Department of the Polytechnic University Sergei Tikhomirov. “Kodeks” made a significant contribution to the development of the SPbPU Endowment Fund and the formation of the endowment “Development of scientific, educational, youth and educational projects of PhysMech”. Also, for assistance in the formation of the endowment capital of PhysMech, its graduates, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Mechanics and Control Processes Natalia Ermakova and Professor of the Higher School of Applied Mathematics and Computational Physics, received awards. Maxim Frolov.
The Polytechnic University fruitfully cooperates with the Kalininsky District in many areas. The honorary badge “For services to the Kalininsky District” was awarded to the director of the Higher School of Engineering and Economics Dmitry Rodionov.
From October 14 to 17, the super final of the Open International Student Internet Olympiad in Mathematics was held. In the individual standings, the silver medal was won by PhysMech student Chinh Thi Thu Hoai, and the bronze medal was won by IMMiT student Phan Mau Dat. The Polytechnic team included another PhysMech student, Ilya Grishchenko, and the guys also took bronze in the team standings. The scientific supervisor was Maria Bortkovskaya, associate professor of the Department of Higher Mathematics.
The gold medal of the IV International Construction Championship in the individual nomination “Information Modeling” was won by the student of the Civil Engineering Institute Serafim Zagorodniy. In the team standings, the gold of the championship was won by the students of the ICI: Dmitry Zharkov, Alexandra Kulakova, Ulyana Popova, Mikhail Safoshkin and Alina Doroshenko. The expert of the championship, assistant of the Civil Engineering Institute Alexander Mitin received a letter of gratitude from the Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation Irek Faizullin and the General Director of the ANO “Russia – Country of Opportunities” Alexey Komissarov.
The next series of congratulations concerned the athletes.
The Polytechnic University team won first place in the overall team standings at the student orienteering competitions within the first stage of the IX All-Russian Summer Universiade and third place in the overall team standings of the Universiade. Pavel Ivanov (IEIT) also won the Universiade in the sprint discipline, and together with Alexander Gumennikov (PhysMech) won silver medals in the men’s relay.
The Polytechnic team won 1st place in the student volleyball competitions as part of the first stage of the Universiade. The Academic Council honored players Egor Tretyakov (IMMiT) and Ilya Smirnov (IE). At the Universiade, our Polytechnic team entered the top 10 best student teams in the country.
Ivan Sokolov, a student at the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transport, won first place in the qualifying tournament for the World Championship in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) “Steel Lion JFC” among juniors and became a Master of Sports of Russia in this sport.
Vice-Rector for Educational Activities Lyudmila Pankova spoke on the meeting agenda. She spoke about the results of work in the 2023–2024 academic year and the tasks for the 2024–2025 academic year.
The number of students as of October 1, 2024 was 33,818. Of these, 30,870 are studying in higher education programs (21,810 in bachelor’s programs, 2,124 in specialist programs, 6,936 in master’s programs), and 2,948 in secondary specialized programs. There are 121 people studying in the specialist program at the branch in Sosnovy Bor. There are 156 people in the general education Natural Science Lyceum.
There are 357 main educational programs at the Polytechnic University, including 142 bachelor’s programs, 15 specialist programs, and 200 master’s programs. There are 22 programs at the college.
In the 2023–2024 academic year, 23 new basic educational programs were launched. For 2024–2025, 19 new basic educational programs were developed: two for bachelor’s degrees, one for specialist degrees, and 16 for master’s degrees.
51 basic educational programs are being implemented under network agreements, including 13 with Slavic universities.
A system of individual achievements has been developed and implemented as a pilot project, allowing teachers to create different trajectories for assessing students, taking into account their individual capabilities, and to conduct interim assessments based on the results of ongoing monitoring of academic performance outside of the examination session.
A project-based approach has been introduced into the state final certification, and defenses of final qualification works have been organized in new formats — as a project and as a startup. 48 students successfully defended their collective final works as a project (21 projects were completed), and 52 people (26 startups) successfully defended their final qualification works as a startup.
A policy in the field of formation has been developed and introduced career trajectories for professional development of teachers. Starting from the 2024–2025 academic year, there will be four career paths: research teacher, mentor teacher, practicing teacher, and intern. The transition to them occurs through a competitive selection of faculty members.
A project to support fundamental training in engineering fields has been launched. A program to improve the quality of teaching fundamental disciplines by reducing the teaching load and providing additional payments has been approved. 181 teachers are participating in the project.
Entrance testing of first-year engineering students in mathematics and physics was conducted to organize in-depth fundamental training for gifted children and remedial training for those who are lagging behind. A pilot program for in-depth study of mathematics and physics for talented students was launched at IMMiT and IKNK.
The second issue on the agenda was also related to fundamental disciplines. To ensure advanced training of students in physics and mathematics, taking into account engineering specifics, the Institute of Physics and Mathematics was created at the Polytechnic. Its director Pavel Zakharov spoke about the IFiM development program.
Also at the meeting, members of the Academic Council voted to award further academic titles to Polytechnic employees. SPbPU Academic Secretary Dmitry Karpov reported on monitoring the implementation of the Academic Council’s decisions.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Viktoriia Lapa, Lecturer, Institute for European Policymaking, Bocconi University
The mantra “as long as it takes” has become the European Union’s rallying cry in support of Ukraine’s resistance against Russia. Initially, some experts predicted that Ukraine would fall within three days – yet nearly three years have passed, and Ukraine is still standing. This prolonged struggle has come at an immense human cost.
It’s clear that the decision to resist was made by the Ukrainian population, and they are grateful to the EU for its support. However, hopes that Ukraine can repel the invaders are fading, and there is no clear end in sight. “As long as it takes” for the EU translates, for Ukrainian ears, to “as many of your lives as we can afford to sacrifice”. Ukrainians are weary, even as they hold the front line, but the west has not communicated a commitment to fully engage in stopping Russian aggression and deterring future threats. Instead, it seems focused on a policy of “de-escalation management”. This only emboldens Russia and its allies.
What is even more concerning is the absence of a coherent strategy for managing Russia. What would the EU do in the event that the war were to magically end tomorrow? Is there a plan in place, or will EU leaders simply offer Russia a reset?
The EU has excelled in rhetoric when it comes to Ukraine but has fallen short in delivering military support. It remains reluctant to draw firm red lines for Russia as a response to attacks on European soil or to adopt a more assertive stance.
The supply of shells to Ukraine is a case in point. The EU pledged to supply 1 million rounds of ammunition by March 2024, but by January, Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, admitted that the bloc would only deliver half of that on time while committing to send 1.1 million shells by the year’s end. To address this shortfall, Czech president Petr Pavel proposed an initiative at the Munich Security Conference in February, aiming to provide 800,000 shells to Ukraine by the year’s end, sourcing ammunition globally instead of solely from EU manufacturers. By August 2024, the EU had sent Ukraine only 650,000 shells out of the promised 1 million.
Additionally, the EU has been reluctant to take decisive action, even in response to Russian attacks on its territory. Recent incidents, such as a narrowly avoided plane crash in Germany attributed to suspected sabotage, reflect a troubling increase in aggressive behaviour from Russian saboteurs. The only response so far has been a relatively weak sanctions framework to be used on those involved in such attacks.
A strategy for the future
The EU must adopt a proactive approach to securing peace in Ukraine, recognising that Russia is currently unwilling to negotiate – but would also never negotiate from a position of weakness.
A clear strategy – including security guarantees for Ukraine, preferably through a pathway to Nato membership – could help put pressure on Russia and facilitate negotiations. It’s clear that bringing Ukraine into Nato might take years, but in the meantime, European countries should consider deploying troops to Ukraine as a security guarantee for this interim period.
As the Lithuanian minister of foreign affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, rightly said: “At the beginning of the year, Emmanuel Macron hinted at putting boots on the ground. At the end of the year, North Korea had actually done so. We are still on the back foot, reacting to escalation instead of reversing it. Macron’s ideas should now be revisited – better late than never.”
Security agreements do of course exist between Ukraine and its EU and G7 partners, but not a single country has hinted at a possibility of providing, as a guarantee for peace, such a security guarantee as “troops on the ground”. EU countries must consider this seriously.
And with a view to what happens after the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the EU needs at least the beginnings of an idea about what its terms would be for re-engaging with Russia. Otherwise it risks enabling Russia to set its own terms.
The situation on the ground is dire. While the west boasts economic strength, it lacks visionary leadership and political will. It should not allow Russia to take the lead and must adopt a clear strategy for Ukraine’s victory. Otherwise, we are heading toward the scenario described by Timothy Garton Ash in his Financial Times article advocating for Ukraine’s accession to Nato:
Consider the alternative. A defeated, divided, demoralized, depopulated Ukraine, pulsating with anger against the West and – as Zelenskyy hinted last week – probably seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. Moscow triumphant. The rest of the world concluding that the West is a paper tiger. Xi Jinping encouraged to have a go at Taiwan. Biden and Harris going down in history as the leaders who ‘lost Ukraine’.
One could add: the EU faces disintegration, regressing to its pre-union state. Ursula von der Leyen is remembered as the leader whose “as long as it takes” policy resulted in an epic failure to secure a safer future for Europe and Ukraine. Does the west want to see itself in this way?
Viktoriia Lapa is an Affiliated Scholar at the Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development, a research partnership between the School of Law of the University of Bologna and the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy (SAIS Europe).
Source: The Conversation – France – By Amandine Cornille, Research associate professor, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
There are wild apple orchards across France, including on the Saclay plateau south of Paris.Fourni par l’auteur
The COP16 biodiversity conference opened on October 21, 2024. The UN conference is an opportunity to highlight that biodiversity is crucial for ensuring a sustainable food system. However, it is directly threatened by climate change and its side effects, such as the emergence of parasites. These disruptions, which reduce crop productivity and increase harvest uncertainty, threaten global food security.
Finding solutions to save the viability of our crops is a priority. In this area, the wild relatives and varieties of currently cultivated plants offer a source of genetic diversity for coping with global changes. Indeed, for thousands of years, they have faced major environmental changes. Some wild species have thus contributed to the adaptation of cultivated plants to high altitudes and various climatic conditions.
If we intend to rely on wild relatives to ensure crop diversification, we must characterize their diversity and ability to respond to climate change. Conservation and development programmes for diversity in agrosystems have already been initiated for annual species, such as cereals. Perennial species, like fruit trees, however, remain too neglected, even as human activities threaten their wild relatives. It is high time to come to their rescue!
The limitations of large seed banks for protecting fruit trees
Faced with the collapse of biodiversity, nearly 2,000 seed banks have been created worldwide. The oldest, a pioneer in conserving the genetic diversity of plants, was established over 100 years ago in Saint Petersburg, Russia, at the Vavilov Institute, named after the scientist who initiated these collections. Another well-known example is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, set up in Norway in 2008. These “bunkers” are essential for preserving the genetic diversity of as many cultivated plant species and their wild relatives as possible. However, they are somewhat challenging to utilise in emergencies for certain plant species.
While new seeds can be obtained within a year for annual cereals, fruit trees can take years to reach sexual maturity and produce flowers and pollen, which presents a major challenge. Crossbreeding wild relatives with cultivated species, necessary to introduce favourable traits such as parasite resistance or climate adaptation, is lengthy. Leveraging the genetic heritage of fruit trees to address immediate challenges requires access to genetic material from mature trees, whose traits are already known and proven under specific environmental conditions. Therefore, genetic resource “bunkers,” while crucial for preserving diversity, are insufficient for fruit trees.
Our access to the genetic diversity of cultivated fruit trees and their wild relatives is currently limited, making it difficult to address the rapid changes occurring globally.
Conservation orchards: the “Noah’s arks” for fruit trees
Fruit trees have played a central role in human history through their economic and cultural value. The genetic exchanges between wild and cultivated fruit trees form the basis for the diversity of shape and taste in our fruits. The wild relatives of these cultivated fruit trees also have a significant role to play, as they have demonstrated resilience to parasites and climate change.
Conservation orchards, or living collections, for fruit trees serve as a means to preserve genetic diversity while making it available in case of emergencies to preempt threats associated with global changes. Unlike seed banks, these collections provide immediate access to the necessary materials (pollen and flowers) for crossbreeding in varietal improvement programmes, as well as for reforestation and the conservation of wild relatives in forests.
These conservation orchards also serve as open-air laboratories to study the response of fruit trees to climate conditions and parasite attacks, as well as the evolutionary and ecological processes that give rise to biodiversity. These spaces of genetic diversity, where different genotypes are planted over several years across a large area, also help limit the emergence of parasites by controlling their populations, thereby maintaining the delicate balance of biodiversity and ensuring dynamic agroecosystems. Finally, they act as venues for outreach and scientific mediation to raise awareness about fruit biodiversity in agroecosystems and ecosystems.
The “poor cousins” in conservation efforts
In France, living collections of cultivated fruit trees, housed by both research institutes and associations such as the “Croqueurs de Pommes” (munchers of apples) represent a valuable genetic heritage. In 2020, 168,400 hectares of orchards were recorded; however, wild fruit tree orchards are less documented and much rarer. This is regrettable, considering that these wild relatives are directly threatened by habitat fragmentation and gene flow from cultivated fruit trees in orchards, even though they are invaluable allies in addressing climate change.
However, there are some notable examples, such as the conservation orchards of wild olive trees at the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE) centre in Montpellier, the wild plum orchard in Lorraine, the wild apricot orchards at the INRAE centre in Bordeaux-Aquitaine, and various wild apple orchards across France including on the Saclay plateau [https://x.com/PommierVerger]. These orchards, established with the help of research institutes and local public initiatives, provide a unique opportunity to study the impact of parasite attacks and climate change on cultivated fruit trees and their wild relatives. Many more are being established across Europe, so it’s definitely something to keep an eye on!
Screening local fruit trees to help them adapt to global changes
Public involvement via citizen science is another way to gather information for the conservation of genetic diversity of fruit trees. Individuals can directly collect data from fruit trees near them – whether in their gardens, public parks or nearby fields – to advance research. These valuable contributions help ensure the monitoring of changes in flowering times related to climate change.
This aligns with initiatives launched through Pl@ntNet, an application that allows users to identify plant species using a simple photo, and Tela Botanica, which connects beginners with expert botanists to assist in launching collaborative projects.
By investing in the creation and maintenance of new orchards, strengthening collaboration among research institutes, associations and conservation organisations, and mobilising the public, one can play a role in preserving fruit biodiversity while enhancing fruit trees’ resilience to increasing environmental pressures.
Acknowledgments: Evelyne Leterme, Henri Fourey, Mathieu Brisson, Amandine Hansart, Alexandra Detrille, Mouhammad Noormohamed, the association Les Croqueurs de Pommes, and all project collaborators and participants as well as the general public.
Amandine Cornille (associate professor at New York University Abu Dhabi) has received funding from NYUAD, CNRS (ATIP-Avenir CNRS-Inserm), the European LEADER/FEDER program, the BNP Paribas “Climate and Biodiversity Initiative” Foundation, Institut Diversité Ecologie et Evolution du Vivant (IDEEV), Université Paris Saclay, CNRS, AgroParistech, INRAE, Center for interdisciplinary studies on biodiversity, agroecology, society and climate (C-BASC), CLand Convergence Institute and ANR.
Karine Alix has received funding from AgroParisTech, CNRS, INRAE, ANR and IDEEV.
Researchers Bryon Larson, Melissa Gish, Ross Larsen, and Reilly Seban (left to right) are collecting and analyzing data on organic solar cells in the NREL Energy Systems Integration Facility’s Insight Center. Their research is part of a large-scale effort to quantify organic photovoltaics for incorporation into machine learning tools. Photo by Joe DelNero, NREL
Melissa Gish approaches physics and chemistry problems like puzzles: Control this or that variable, and work out how the jigsaw pieces fit together.
“I didn’t really like biology because I felt like there were too many variables to adequately control,” said Gish, a chemistry researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The journal Trends in Chemistry recently honored Gish in a special issuedesigned to highlight emerging leaders in chemistry who are innovating in their respective fields, as well as to celebrate Trends in Chemistry’s fifth anniversary and Cell Press’ 50th anniversary.
That inclination toward controlling variables to chart a path to discovery led her from high school biology experiments on the breeding behavior of mosquitoes to majoring in chemistry in college. In her senior year, Gish studied quantum mechanics and worked in a physical chemistry lab—and that work led her to pursue a Ph.D. in experimental physical chemistry.
“The intersection of physics and chemistry just made sense to me in a way that other disciplines hadn’t,” she said. “It just clicked.”
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Gish immediately started working in ultrafast spectroscopy, where pulsed lasers are used to study ultrafast events after a system absorbs light—within solar energy research—and her renewable energy research interests then led her to NREL, first as a postdoctoral researcher and now as a chemistry researcher.
“NREL has world-class fundamental research and amazing physical chemists,” she said, “so I could continue working with ultrafast spectroscopy and solar energy research.”
Leading on Transient Spectroscopy
Gish began her work in transient spectroscopy—studying the properties of short-lived excited states of molecules and materials—at UNC and continues that work at NREL.
“We were studying dye-sensitized photoelectrosynthesis cells, which involved the absorption of light to kick off an electron transfer cascade that would lead to catalysis to generate solar fuels,” she said. “These systems often had two-to-three-plus components, each with its own photophysics that needed to be parsed out with careful control experiments. These problems are puzzles—each puzzle is unique and fun to solve, with the added bonus of working toward new renewable energy technologies.”
At NREL, Gish has become a leader in using transient spectroscopy to study pathways to more efficient solar cells and solar energy production and uncovering the photophysics of complicated molecular and materials systems, often connecting that information to photochemical reactions. Her work spans much of the periodic table, from organic molecules and polymers to transition and rare earth metal-organic complexes to silicon nanoparticles to semiconductor materials and more. Gish’s recent investigations extend across the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science Basic Energy Sciences research portfolio at NREL and have targeted the short excited-state lifetimes of conjugated polymers, tuning of singlet fission at mesoporous interfaces, and development of a strategy to differentiate rare earth elements.
Gish is presently interested in connecting ultrafast photophysics on the very small scale—femtoseconds, picoseconds, and nanoseconds—to photochemical transformations on the seconds-to-hours time scale.
“Understanding the initial processes after light absorption that may affect the photochemistry or photocatalysis that happens many decades later can help us design better systems for solar energy harvesting or light-induced separations,” Gish said. “I’ve been working on in situ methods to spectroscopically determine intermediates and products on longer time scales to connect the ultrafast experiments.”
As she looks to the immediate future in her research, Gish is thinking about the photophysics of product selectivity in photocatalysis, in which solar energy is converted to chemical energy.
“To make usable, storable solar fuels, we need to be able to generate the product that we want—for example, methanol—and there’s a lot we don’t understand about how to drive solar fuel production and photocatalysis to the final product of our choosing,” she said.
Gish’s work extends to safety in the lab. She is a technical and safety leader for laser-based spectroscopy at NREL, stewarding several ultrafast laser systems and mentoring users of all experience levels in best safety practices for alignment, designing experiments, and operating systems to obtain high-quality data and rigorous data analysis. She has also played an integral part in NREL’s Laser Safety Panel, helping improve the laser operator qualification process and defining the laser system supervisor’s roles and responsibilities.
Kyle Crabb, Rob Hammond, and Melissa Gish (left to right) pose for a photo in front of the Pride flag at NREL’s South Table Mountain Campus in 2023 after the second annual Full Spectrum Network-organized Pride flag raising at NREL. Photo by Joe DelNero, NREL
Supporting and Mentoring Others
Good leaders give back to their communities, and Gish gives back through mentorship and building community.
At NREL, Gish cofounded two employee resource groups for NREL staff: the Full Spectrum Network (LGBTQIA+ employees and allies) and the Postdoc and Graduate Student Network.
“My involvement in Full Spectrum and, in particular, my role in starting Pride Month events at NREL means a lot to me,” Gish said. “What I’m most proud of is how the group has continued as I and the initial steering committee passed the torch to the current leadership. Running an employee resource group is a lot of work and requires a lot of dedication and passion, and it’s amazing to see how each iteration of Full Spectrum continues our initial traditions and builds on them. For example, the annual Pride flag raising at the South Table Mountain Campus is something that started after my time and was extended to the Flatirons Campus this year.”
Full Spectrum has helped bring together the LGBTQIA+ community at NREL and helped them feel seen and embraced.
“I think it’s important for NREL to show LGBTQIA+ staff that our contributions are recognized and celebrated, which is a legacy I am proud of,” Gish said. “I have had new employees reach out to me and say that our work in Full Spectrum and the visibility it has provided to LGBTQIA+ staff has influenced their decision to come work at NREL because of the safe space that has been created.”
Gish is also proud of her work with the Postdoc and Graduate Student Network, where she mentors early-career researchers from undergraduate and graduate students to postdoctoral researchers.
“Postdocs and students are in a unique position where they are actively looking for their next job while producing high-quality scientific research and learning the advanced techniques we have here at NREL,” she said. “We wanted the network to provide professional development opportunities, soft-skills workshops, and networking opportunities to alleviate some of that stress that these early-career folks feel. I have also had opportunities to mentor postdocs, grad students, and undergrads as a staff scientist.
“I really enjoy watching students and postdocs grow and become confident scientists,” Gish continued. “As the NREL principal investigator of a Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) project in collaboration with Metropolitan State University of Denver, I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring undergraduate students with limited lab experience who are motivated and passionate about learning spectroscopy as well as what it is like to be a scientist and explore this career as an option.”
Gish’s RENEW project focuses on understanding spin dynamics of first row transition metal photosensitizers.
She is continuing her career trajectory by actively solving chemistry puzzles—developing spectroscopic capabilities to answer new questions about next-generation solar energy technologies—and building her portfolio as a principal investigator while mentoring and serving her community.
“Melissa has developed quickly into a key team member of several of our DOE Office of Science Basic Energy Sciences projects and was recently successful as an NREL principal investigator on a RENEW project focused on harnessing spin physics to drive photochemical reactions,” said NREL’s Andrew Ferguson, spectroscopy and photoscience group manager. “I have been particularly impressed by her resilience, exemplified by her response to the restrictions imposed by the COVID pandemic on her postdoctoral work; her vision to develop the spectroscopic tools to connect ultrafast photophysical processes to much slower photochemical reactivity; and her commitment to effective training and mentoring of early-career researchers. She is certainly worthy of recognition as an emerging leader in chemistry, and I am excited to see where her career goes from here.”
Learn more aboutMelissa Gish’s researchand NREL’ssolar energy research.
Source: The White House
President Trump announced key appointments to the White House Office of Communications, Public Liaison, and Cabinet Affairs, which will be overseen by Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Public Liaison, and Cabinet Secretary Taylor Budowich.
COMMUNICATIONS
President Trump previously announced the appointments of Assistant to the President and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung and Assistant to the President and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Today’s announcements include: Alex Pfeiffer will join the White House as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Communications Director after previously serving as a Communications Adviser for the Trump-Vance 2024 Campaign and Communications Director for MAGA Inc. Pfeiffer previously served as an Investigative and Editorial Producer for Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight. Kaelan Dorr will return to the White House as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director after serving as Senior Strategist and Spokesperson for MAGA Inc. Dorr previously served as Senior Advisor for Public Affairs at the Department of Treasury, Congressional Communications Director and Strategic Communications Advisor in the Executive Office of the President in the Trump Administration, Global Head of Marketing and Engagement for GETTR, Vice President of Communications for America First Policy Institute, and Chief Marketing Officer for Donald J. Trump for President. Harrison Fields will return to the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary, having previously served as Assistant Press Secretary in the Trump Administration. Fields has also served as Senior Advisor to Congressman Byron Donalds and Assistant Director of Media and Public Relations at The Heritage Foundation. Anna Kelly will join the White House as a Deputy Press Secretary after serving as National Press Secretary for the Republican National Committee. Previously, Kelly was Communications Director for Congressman Derrick Van Orden, Michels for Governor, and the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Kush Desai will serve as a Deputy Press Secretary after serving as Deputy Battleground States & Pennsylvania Communications Director at the Republican National Committee. Desai also served as Deputy Communications Director for the 2024 Republican National Convention and Communications Director for the Republican Party of Iowa. Ian Kelley will join the White House as Special Assistant to the President and War Room Director after serving as War Room Director for the Trump-Vance 2024 Campaign. Previously, Ian worked as Rapid Response Manager for the social media platform GETTR. Dylan Johnson will join the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Assistant Communications Director for Special Projects after serving as a Deputy Director of Communications for the Trump-Vance 2024 Campaign. Johnson previously served as the Campaign Manager for the Greitens for U.S. Senate campaign and was an Executive Producer for Just The News. Sonny Joy Nelson will join the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Media Affairs Director, after serving as Director of Media Affairs and Surrogates for the Trump-Vance 2024 Campaign. Previously, Nelson served as Director of Media Affairs for the social media platform GETTR, Booking Producer for Real America’s Voice, Director of Media Affairs for the Republican National Committee, and Associate Director of Strategic Communications for Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. Dan Boyle will join the White House as the White House Director of Research after serving as a Research Consultant on the Trump-Vance 2024 Campaign, and previously as Director of Research for MAGA Inc. Boyle previously served as the Research Director for Citizens United and as a Research Analyst for the Government Accountability Institute. Johanna Persing will join the White House as Cabinet Communications Director after playing an integral role in the Trump-Vance 2024 campaign’s surrogate operation, including leading the media booking operation at the 2024 Republican Convention in Milwaukee. Persing previously served as the Deputy Communications Director for the Republican National Committee and as Communications Director for Congressman Ryan Costello. Charyssa Parent will join the White House as Congressional Communications Director after serving as the Communications Director for Senator Roger Marshall. Parent previously served as the Deputy Director of Communications for the House Republican Conference and as the Director of Broadcast Media for the Republican National Committee. Jacki Kotkiewicz will join the White House as Policy Communications Director after working as a Vice President at Argus Insight. Kotkiewicz previously served as the Director of Policy Research at the Republican National Committee and was a Research Analyst on the Trump 2020 campaign. Jake Schneider will join the White House as Rapid Response Director after serving as Rapid Response Director for the Trump-Vance Campaign. Schneider previously served as the Deputy Director of Rapid Response for the 2020 Trump campaign and as Communications Director and Press Secretary for Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach.
OFFICE OF PUBLIC LIAISON Jim Goyer will return to the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Liaison. Goyer served President Donald J. Trump in his first Administration as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the Office of Public Liaison. Goyer previously served as Political Coordinator at the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Goyer is joining from Goldman Sachs, where he served as an Associate of Asset and Wealth Management.
Lynne Patton will serve as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Minority Outreach, where she will be charged with ensuring that President Trump continues to build upon his historic Election Day support from Blacks, Latinos and Women. Patton served as Senior Advisor on the Trump Campaign and has been one of the Trump family’s longest serving and most trusted aides. Prior to joining the Trump campaign, Patton was the Regional Administrator for Federal Region II at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Senior Advisor to Secretary Ben Carson. At HUD, Lynne worked tirelessly to bring accountability, reform and results to some of the most challenging housing issues facing our country. From championing the rights of underserved communities to exposing corruption and mismanagement within public housing systems, Lynne consistently fought for fairness and opportunity, earning her the bipartisan respect of industry peers and local elected officials alike. Lynne’s deep connection to the issues affecting minority communities combined with her remarkable interpersonal skills, makes her the ideal person to lead this critical outreach effort. She holds a B.S. from the University of Miami and attended Quinnipiac University, School of Law. Brette Powell will return to the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the Office of Public Liaison, having previously served for three years in the White House Management Office and the Advance Office in the Trump Administration. Powell previously served the President for four years through his Save America PAC and the Trump-Vance 2024 campaign as the Director of Strategic Political Stakeholder Engagement. Hailey Borden will return to the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Director of Business Outreach in the Office of Public Liaison, having previously served as Associate Director of the Office of Public Liaison in the Trump Administration. Borden previously was Director of Coalitions and Member Services on the House Committee on Small Business and is currently the Director of Business Coalitions for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer. Alex Flemister will return to the White House as Director of Strategic Initiatives in the Office of Public Liaison, having previously served as Associate Director in the Office of Public Liaison in the Trump Administration. Flemister previously worked for Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on her campaign as Advisor and Director of Operations and worked in her official governor’s office as the Director of Office Appointments. Flemister is currently the Founder and President of The Flemister Group. CABINET AFFAIRS Lea Bardon will join the White House as a Special Assistant to the President and Director of Cabinet Affairs. Bardon previously served as Director of Development Operations at the America First Policy Institute. Bardon also served on President Trump’s reelection campaign in 2020 and as Executive Roundtable Manager at the Republican Attorneys General Association. Thomas Bradbury will join the White House as Associate Director for Policy. Bradbury is currently the Director of Advocacy and Policy at American Conservative Union (CPAC). Cami Connor will return to the White House as Associate Director for Agency Outreach, having previously served as Associate Director of Agency Outreach in the first Trump Administration. Connor currently serves on the Government Operations team at The Boeing Company.
In the bitter fighting that raged across the jungle island of Guadalcanal during World War II, more Marines were lost to disease – malaria, dengue fever, dysentery – than enemy bullets.
Lt. Cmdr. Lauren Kalodner, MD, MPH, is doing her best to ensure such a casualty count won’t happen again.
Kalodner, a Rose Valley, Pennsylvania native, was part of a Uniformed Service University educational assignment to the equatorial West Africa nation of Ghana for two weeks of in-depth field work. The Military Tropical Medicine field mission provided an ideal natural environment for increasing her knowledge to confront and prevent endemic, infectious diseases prevalent in a tropical setting.
“Participating on a field mission in Ghana is crucial for the understanding of tropical diseases because it allows for direct observation of the conditions that facilitate their spread. Local ecosystems, climate, animal and human behaviors plays a significant role in disease transmission. Immersing in the community helps healthcare workers understand cultural practices, health beliefs, and the social determinants of health that influence disease prevalence and management. The firsthand experience is crucial for developing effective prevention and treatment strategies tailored to the context from which the disease arises,” said Kalodner, stationed with 2nd Medical Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, as an emergency medicine physician.
Kalodner and others went to Accra, capital and largest city of Ghana, as well as Kumasi, the second largest city. They received instruction on how to recognize, diagnose and treat disease agents, understand mitigation strategies to help control and limit disease transmission, identify transmission modes, and understand the overlapping connection of the natural and animal environments and human disease.
Being able to help stop the spread of infectious tropical diseases which continue to cause untold casualties as well as fatalities – there were 608,000 malaria deaths in 2022 alone estimated by the World Health Organization – is significant in the light of Rear Adm. Darin Via, Navy Surgeon General and chief, BUMED recently affirming that Navy Medicine’s focus is readiness, especially with expeditionary medicine capabilities. Those capabilities call for a ready medical force ensuring there is a medically ready force.
Kalodner noted that there were several key lessons which emerged relevant to Navy Medicine’s expeditionary medicine emphasis, such as “Adaptability, the ability to quickly adjust to vary environments and resource limitations is crucial for effective medical care in the field,” she explained.
Other valuable insight gained included being culturally knowledgeable by “understanding local customs and health practices enhances trust and improves patient outcomes to function as part of a multi-national medical force. Collaboration [with] working closely with a diverse healthcare team is essential for a successful mission. Preventive care emphasizes education and preventive measures which can significantly reduce the burden of tropical diseases. Logistics management for effective planning for supply chain challenges is vital for maintaining readiness and ensuring the medical teams can operative efficiently in remote areas,” stressed Kalodner.
“These lessons enhance the Navy’s expeditionary medicine capabilities and promote a more holistic and integrated approach to healthcare in diverse environments,” continued Kalodner, adding that the training proved to be invaluable. “Unmatched. This is the best training opportunity offered to prepare military healthcare workers to prepare for tropical disease and DNBI [disease and non-battle injury].”
Her interest in Navy Medicine was fostered by the opportunity to combine her passion for healthcare with a commitment to put service before self. After completing Strath Haven High School in 2003, Kalodner graduated from Davidson College in 2007, followed by George Washington University Milken School of Public Health in 2012 and the Uniformed Services University, F Edward Herbet School of Medicine in 2018. She then completed her four-year residency in emergency medicine at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in 2022.
“The chance to work in diverse environments, address unique medical challenges, and contribute to global health initiative was particularly appealing,” Kalodner said. “The emphasis that Navy Medicine puts on teamwork and the ability to make a tangible difference in the lives of service members and communities inspired my decision to join the Navy.”
Fast forward to the summer of 2024. When the prospect of traveling to Ghana for the Military Tropical Medicine mission became known, it was easy for Kalodner to make the commitment.
“While I was studying at Davidson College, I started taking French classes. I knew I wanted to study abroad in a unique place where I could grow my French language skills and experience a new culture,” she related. “I selected to go to Dakar, Senegal, where I studied and lived for eight months of my sophomore year of college. I loved the people and culture of West Africa. I thought doing my tropical medicine field mission in Ghana would be a great way to experience new cultures within West Africa while also furthering my knowledge of tropical medicine and international medicine.”
Before being immersed in the field, Kalodner and other students had four-weeks of virtual instruction to help prep their knowledge.
“The knowledge of disease processes and skills earned through hard work and study during the classroom allowed you to become an active participant in patient care,” said Kalodner. “The field experience helps solidify the classroom lessons through patient interaction.”
From coastal rainforest to rural village, the itinerary of Kalodner and others had them conducting water and environmental sampling and field collecting of mosquito and tick vectors. They met with Ghanian Armed Forces 37 Military Hospital physicians and medical residents to discuss treating patients with diverse illnesses from cerebral malaria to tuberculosis, as well as reviewing parasitology and microscopy of infectious diseases at the Ghana Entomology Center of Excellence. There was valued time also spent with the Ghana Military Police National Dog Academy to learn about dealing with canine-related disease transmission(s) and veterinarian services in their country.
Kalodner and others worked with Navy Medical Research Unit 3 Accra staff and U.S. embassy. They met with representatives from a host of organizations including U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Peace Corps and U.S. Agency for International Development to learn about interagency cooperation and partnership as it relates to global health engagement.
There were challenges, which provided an instructive framework for future planning and problem solving.
“I think the elegant part of this experience was that many of the challenges I faced during my field mission in Ghana are similar to those I will face in a deployed environment. One of the biggest challenges was limited access to resources, including medical supplies and equipment. There were logistical issues, such as patient transportation difficulties and infrastructure limitations that hinder the delivery of healthcare. Additionally, navigating cultural differences and ensuring effective communication are barriers to overcome,” exclaimed Kalodner.
Yet there was fulfillment in encountering and coping with the trials.
“The most gratifying aspect was seeing the direct impact our work had on the local community and knowing that the knowledge, skill, and abilities I learned from my time in the field could have the same direct impact on American servicemembers and allies in future combats zones,” stated Kalodner.
When asked to sum up her experience Navy Medicine – which also includes having her conduct clinical sustainment shifts at NMC Portsmouth – in one sentence, Kalodner replied, “My experience with Navy Medicine has been a profound journey of service, learning, and collaboration, dedicated to enhancing health outcomes in diverse and challenging environments.”
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Linda Yueh, Fellow in Economics/Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
For the first time in 14 years, it was a Labour chancellor who delivered the UK budget. And for the first time ever, that chancellor was a woman. But Rachel Reeves faces an almighty task: plugging a £40 billion spending gap in the knowledge that pre-election promises not to raise the main taxes are still fresh in people’s memories.
Growth was the buzzword of the election campaign – Reeves now had to lay her cards on the table. So here’s what our panel of experts made of the plans:
More challenges for employers and small businesses
Shampa Roy-Mukherjee, Associate Professor in Economics, University of East London
The budget introduces £40 billion in tax hikes and, in some areas, spending cuts that will put pressure on the economy and business in particular. But it also reflects the government’s focus on economic growth, with policies intended to stabilise finances while addressing some of the concerns of small businesses.
The chancellor has retained her commitment to preserve the rates of income tax, employee national insurance and VAT. But a notable change is the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) from 13.8% to 15%.
There was also a reduction in the secondary threshold, which is the amount at which the employer starts paying NI on each employee, from £9,100 to £5,000. Altogether this will raise £25 billion annually but will significantly impact many businesses that will now face higher wage bills.
The national living wage is also rising by 6.7% to £12.21 per hour in April 2025, boosting incomes for about three million workers but again increasing costs for many businesses. These rising taxes and wage increases, alongside incoming employment regulations, will strain businesses, particularly in sectors with high labour demands.
To offset some of these pressures, the employment allowance, which allows some smaller employers to reduce their NICs, has been raised from £5,000 to £10,500. The chancellor said that over 1 million employers will not see their NICs bill rise as a result.
Small businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure, where profits have been hit as consumers struggle with the cost of living, will benefit from a 40% business rate relief on properties up to £110,000. Other supportive measures include a continued freeze on fuel duty, which will aid logistics and transport costs. Corporation tax remains fixed at 25%.
A downpayment on growth – but probably not quickly
Linda Yueh, Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
The chancellor declared that the government will “invest, invest, invest”. This is an important enabler of economic growth.
But, the country’s creditors need reassuring, so Reeves also announced two new fiscal rules that aim to achieve that balance of allowing the government to borrow to invest (and generate growth), but not to pay for day-to-day spending.
Specifically, the investment rule permits borrowing to invest and the stability rule requires day-to-day spending to be paid for by taxes. Both rules support the government’s growth aims while trying to reassure the country’s creditors that the borrowing will pay off by generating future growth – and also higher tax receipts with which to repay that borrowing.
But spending watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has downgraded the UK’s GDP growth outlook from 2% to 1.8% in 2026, and to 1.5% in 2027 and 2028. The OBR’s forecast of slower growth highlights the impact of the £40 billion of tax increases, which dampens economic activity.
This underscores the government’s challenge of investing to grow while at the same having to raise taxes to balance the books when it comes to its daily spending. In particular, the OBR’s assessment of slowing growth towards the middle of this parliament raises questions about how long it will take for the investment-fuelled growth to materialise.
It may be that five years is still too short a period. Many physical investments require planning and those reforms could also take a while. Moreover, getting investment projects under way requires scoping, and private investors will want time to assess before joining the government in energy projects.
But this budget is certainly a start on a much-needed growth strategy.
Good news on public investment – emerging industries could benefit
Phil Tomlinson, Professor of Industrial Strategy, University of Bath
The key budget change related to the chancellor’s fiscal rules. By redefining how public debt is calculated, Reeves has been able to increase public investment by around £100 billion. The new fiscal rules have gone not as far as some economists have advocated – but they are a welcome step in the right direction.
Investment was the core focus of the budget. For decades, the UK has suffered from low investment and weak productivity compared to other leading economies. Since 1990, the UK’s investment gap with the average across rich countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been around £35 billion a year – the UK now ranks 28th of 31 OECD countries on business investment. British workers are using outdated kit and so are less productive. This has meant a stagnant economy and lower living standards.
So, the budget’s plans to boost investment in the UK’s crumbling infrastructure and public services and to support the new industrial strategy are a positive move. The latter should see additional funding to support emerging tech industries, such as artificial intelligence, cyber and clean energy. And this public investment should “crowd in” additional private investment.
In the long run, these investments should pay for themselves. For instance, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that a sustained increase in public investment of 1% of GDP increases that GDP by 0.5% after five years and more than 2% after ten to 15 years.
The rise in employer national insurance contributions will increase business’s operating costs, especially those in the care and hospitality sectors. But paradoxically, in the long run, it may encourage some businesses (in sectors where it is feasible) to invest in new labour-saving capital equipment.
Karen Bloor receives funding from the NIHR policy research programme to conduct responsive analysis for the Department of Health and Social Care,
Phil Tomlinson receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for Made Smarter Innovation: Centre for People-Led Digitalisation.
Rachel Scarfe is a member of the Labour Party.
Jonquil Lowe, Linda Yueh, and Shampa Roy-Mukherjee do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The U.S. National Science Foundation today announced the addition of three new NSF Innovation Corps (NSF I-Corps™) Hubs that will scale the NSF-led National Innovation Network (NIN), accelerating the translation of discoveries into new solutions that benefit society and the economy. Each NSF I-Corps Hub may receive up to $3 million per year for five years and comprises a regional alliance of at least eight universities. Combined with the existing 10 NSF I-Corps Hubs, these 13 NSF I-Corps Hubs presently span 48 states. See the interactive NSF I-Corps Hubs map.
NSF I-Corps Hubs provide experiential entrepreneurial training to researchers across all fields of science and engineering. I-Corps Hubs form the operational backbone of the NIN, a network of universities, NSF-funded researchers, established entrepreneurs, local and regional entrepreneurial communities, and other federal agencies, that collectively help researchers learn to investigate the commercial potential of fundamental discoveries in science and engineering. The NSF I-Corps Hubs work collaboratively to build and sustain an innovation ecosystem that engages all Americans throughout the U.S.
“The goal of the I-Corps program is to deploy experiential education to help researchers reduce the time necessary to translate promising ideas from laboratory benches to widespread implementation that in turn impacts economic growth regionally and nationally,” said Erwin Gianchandani, assistant director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. “Each regional NSF I-Corps Hub provides training essential in entrepreneurship and customer discovery, leading to new products, startups, and jobs. In effect, we are investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs for our nation.”
Established in 2011, the NSF I-Corps program is designed to nurture the commercialization of deep technologies, which grow from discoveries in fundamental and use-inspired science and engineering. Since its inception, over 3,600 NSF I-Corps teams have participated in the I-Corps program. The strategic goals of the NSF I-Corps Hubs are technology translation, entrepreneurial training and workforce development, economic impact, and collaboration and inclusion.
Listed below are the new NSF I-Corps Hubs and partner institutions:
NSF I-Corps Hub: Northwest region – NSF 2430389
University of California, Berkeley – Lead Oregon State University University of Alaska Fairbanks University of California, Davis University of California, Irvine University of California, San Francisco University of California, Santa Cruz University of Washington
NSF I-Corps Hub: Southeast region – NSF 2430380
Georgia Tech – Lead Clemson University Morehouse College The University of Alabama University of Central Florida University of Florida University of Miami University of South Florida
NSF I-Corps Hub: New England region – NSF 2430342
Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Lead Brown University Harvard University Northeastern University Tufts University University of Maine University of Massachusetts Amherst University of New Hampshire
The Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) of the IMF will celebrate 60 years since it was formed in 1964 with a one-day conference, “60 Years of FAD: The Fiscal Affair Continues,“ on November 4, 2024, in Washington D.C., USA.
Even as prospects for a global soft landing have improved, fiscal policy continues to struggle with legacies of high debt and deficits, while facing new challenges. Risks to public finances are acute, reflecting the pressures of aging societies, industrial policies, geopolitical tensions, the needs of a greener and more equitable society and now, the threat to labor from AI technologies. Lower medium-term growth prospects have worsened debt dynamics and compounded the risks to fiscal sustainability. Fiscal policy challenges are especially acute in low-income countries, where financing is scarce and limits the ability of governments to support economic and human development.
In this context, the conference will bring together fiscal policy experts, senior policy makers, and former and current IMF staff. They will look back at the contributions of FAD to the global fiscal policy discourse and its service to the membership. They will discuss the likely evolution of sovereign debt market and the role that public policy can play in making AI beneficial for workers and growth. And they will look ahead to the challenges that will emerge for fiscal policy in the future, and the choices fiscal policymakers will face, especially in low-income and fragile countries. The conference will also be an occasion to celebrate the evolution and impact of FAD’s capacity development (CD) from serving a small section of the membership to covering nearly every corner of the world.
Agenda
8:30 A.M.
Coffee and refreshments
9:00 A.M.
Opening remarks. Gita Gopinath, First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, introduced by Vítor Gaspar, Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF.
9:15 – 10:30 A.M.
Sovereign Debt Moderator: Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Director, Strategy, Policy and Review Department, IMF Panelists:
S. Ali Abbas (Deputy Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF)
S. Ali Abbas is a deputy director in the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department where he supervises the sovereign debt and governance workstreams, and oversees the department’s review of Fund programs in emerging and developing economies, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. He was previously IMF mission chief for the United Kingdom and Jordan, and deputy chief of the Debt Policy Division in the IMF’s Strategy Policy and Review Department. He has been closely involved in several complex Fund programs, and has led reforms to the IMF’s exceptional access lending and debt sustainability frameworks. In 2019, he co-edited Sovereign Debt: A Guide for Economists and Practitioners (OUP), with Alex Pienkowski and Kenneth Rogoff, adding to his earlier published work on post-GFC fiscal policy, the euro area sovereign debt crisis, international tax competition, state contingent debt instruments, fiscal policy and the current account, and government securities markets. Ali is a Rhodes scholar from Pakistan and holds a doctorate in economics from Oxford. He also served as an Overseas Development Institute fellow to the Tanzanian Treasury during 2000–02.
Carlo Cottarelli (Former Director Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF)
Carlo Cottarelli, a citizen of Italy, after receiving degrees in economics from the University of Siena and the London School of Economics, worked at the Bank of Italy, ENI and the IMF. He was FAD Director in 2008-13, Commissioner for Public Spending in Italy in 2013-14, IMF Executive Director in 2014-17. He taught at Bocconi University and he is currently Director of the Observatory on the Italian Public Accounts of the Catholic University of Milan, where he also teaches a course of Fiscal Macroeconomics In 2021 he was awarded the honor of First Class Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
Christoph Trebesch (Professor, Kiel University)
Christoph Trebesch is a professor at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the University of Kiel. His research focuses on international finance and macroeconomics as well as political economy and geopolitics. His research has been published in leading economic journals such as the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and the Journal of Political Economy, and is regularly cited in international media, including the New York Times, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He directs the CEPR Policy Network on “International Lending and Sovereign Debt” and co-directs the CEPR Network on “Geoeconomics”, for which he organizes an annual high-level conference on geopolitics and economics. He is also the creator of the widely referenced “Ukraine Support Tracker” on military and financial aid flows to Ukraine. In 2023, he was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant, one of the most prestigious research recognitions in Europe.
10:30 – 11:00 AM
The Surge in FAD’s Capacity Development Delivery (A/V) Moderators:
Katherine Baer is a Deputy Director in the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD). She oversees FAD’s work in the areas of taxation and public financial management, supervises Capacity Development (CD) delivery in all fiscal areas to countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Centra Asia, oversees FAD’s strategy to strengthen fiscal policies and institutions in the Fragile and Conflict-Affected States, and manages the department’s work on fiscal issues from a gender perspective. Her career at the IMF has focused on strengthening fiscal policies and institutions in member countries across all regions and income levels, and in countries experiencing economic crises. She has been an economist in the U.S. Treasury and an assistant commissioner in the Mexican Tax Administration. She also worked at the World Bank on public finance reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean at the height of the region’s debt crisis in the 1980s. Ms. Baer has many publications relating to public finance and holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University.
Juan Toro (Deputy Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF)
Juan Toro is Deputy Director of the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD), in charge of: managing FAD budget, relationship with development partners, overseeing governance and operations of FAD’s capacity development (CD), coordinating FAD’s CD to Europe, and coordinating FAD TA on sustainable development goals. He previously was Assistant Director in charge of the IMF’s revenue administration CD to Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Central Asia.
He has led and participated in IMF TA missions in taxation in more than 40 countries and has authored and contributed to several analytical papers in taxation. Before joining the IMF in 2007, he was the Commissioner of the Chilean Tax Administration (Servicio de Impuestos Internos, SII) from 2002 to 2006.
11.00 – 11:30 A.M.
Coffee break
11:30 A.M. – 12:45 P.M.
FAD in the Global Discourse Moderator: Ruud De Mooij , Deputy Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF Panelists:
Zainab Ahmed (Alternate Executive Director, World Bank)
Alternate Executive Director from Nigeria from July 2023 to October 2024. A Nigerian national representing – Angola, Nigeria, and South Africa (EDS25). Prior to joining the WBG, Ms. Ahmed has served a:- Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning (2018- 2023); Minister of State, Ministry of Budget and National Planning (2015 – 2018); Chair of the board of Trustees of the African Union Peace Fund (2019 – 2023). Member of the International Board, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) (2016 – 2019); Executive Secretary and National Coordinator, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) (2010 – 2015); and Managing Director, Kaduna Investment Company Ltd (2009 – 2010).
Abdulelah Alrasheedy (Deputy Minister of Macro-Fiscal Policies, Ministry of Finance, Saudi Arabia)
Dr. Abdulelah AlRasheedy is the Deputy Minister for Macro-Fiscal Policies at Ministry of Finance (MOF). Before being named Deputy Minister in March 2024, Dr. AlRasheedy was Assistant Deputy Minister for Macroeconomic Policies Analysis and Acting as General Supervisor of Policy and Consultation Assistant Deputyship. Prior to joining Ministry of Finance, Dr. Abdulelah spent 12 years with Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) most recently as Manager of Economic Modeling Division and was SAMA Representative at The International Financial Architecture Working Group. Dr. Abdulelah earned a Ph.D. in economics and statistics from University of Missouri, where he was a Research Scholar at the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity. In addition to being a Deputy Minister, he is a board member of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy. Also a Ministry of Finance Representative for Financial Sustainability Board.
Adam Posen (President, Peterson Institute of International Economics)
Mark Sobel (U.S. Chairman, OMFIF)
Mark Sobel is currently US Chair at OMFIF. He served nearly four decades at the US Treasury, including as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Monetary Affairs from 2000-2015, a position in which he led the Department’s work in preparing G7 and G20 Finance Minister and Central Bank Governor meetings, formulating US positions in the IMF, and coordinating the work of Treasury and regulatory agencies in the Financial Stability Board. He was also chief US financial negotiator in the G20 from 2008-2015, including for the 2009 London Economic Summit. From 2015 through early 2018, he was US representative at the IMF.
12:45 – 1:00 P.M.
FAD Montage (A/V) A look back at FAD through the decades.
1:00 – 2:15 P.M.
Lunch (by invitation)
2:15 – 3:30 P.M.
Public Policy for AI Moderator: Era Dabla-Norris, Deputy Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF Panelists:
Simon Johnson (Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management & 2024 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics )
Simon Johnson is the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is head of the Global Economics and Management group. At MIT, he is also co-director of the Shaping the Future of Work Initiative and a Research Affiliate at Blueprint Labs. In 2007-08, Johnson was chief economist and director of the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund. He currently co-chairs the CFA Institute Systemic Risk Council with Erkki Liikanen. In February 2021, Johnson joined the board of directors of Fannie Mae, where he is vice chair of the audit committee and a member of the risk and capital committee. Johnson’s most recent book, with Daron Acemoglu, Power and Progress: Our 1000-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, explores the history and economics of major technological transformations up to and including the latest developments in Artificial Intelligence. 2024 Nobel prize laureate in economic sciences “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity”
Branko Milanovic (Professor, City University of New York)
Research professor at the Graduate Center, City University of New York and senior scholar at The Stone Center on Socio-economic Inequality; Visiting Professor at the Institute for International Inequalities at LSE; was lead economist in World Bank Research Department for almost 20 years and senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. Milanovic’s main area of work is income inequality, in individual countries and globally, as well as historically among pre-industrial societies. His most recent books are Global inequality: a new approach for the age of globalization which deals with economic and political issues of globalization, and Capitalism, Alone that contrasts inequality and class formation in societies of liberal and political capitalism. In October 2023, he published Visions of Inequality that looks at how income distribution was studied by the most famous economists over the past 200 years. Milanovic was awarded (jointly with Mariana Mazzucato) the 2018 Leontieff Prize.
The Future of Fiscal Policy Moderator: Vítor Gaspar Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF Panelists:
Jason Furman (Professor, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University)
Jason Furman is the Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy jointly at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and the Department of Economics at Harvard University. Furman engages in public policy through research, writing and teaching in a wide range of areas including U.S. and international macroeconomics, fiscal policy, labor markets and competition policy. Previously Furman served eight years as a top economic adviser to President Obama, including serving as the 28th Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from August 2013 to January 2017, acting as both President Obama’s chief economist and a member of the cabinet. In addition to articles in scholarly journals and periodicals, Furman is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal and Project Syndicate and the editor of two books on economic policy. Furman holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.
Ilan Goldfajn (President, Inter-American Development Bank)
He was elected president of the IDB in November 2022, after serving as director of the Western Hemisphere Department at the International Monetary Fund. Previously, he was governor of the Banco Central do Brasil (2016-2019), where he led several modernization reforms, including promoting financial inclusion through Brazil’s fast digital payment system. He has also held several academic positions and high-ranking roles in Brazil’s financial sector. In 2017, he was elected Central Banker of the Year by The Banker magazine. Mr. Goldfajn holds a doctorate in economics from MIT, and master’s degree in economics from the Pontificia Universidade and has taught economics at universities in Brazil and the U.S. He is fluent in four languages.
Mick Keen(Professor, Tokyo University)
Michael Keen was formerly Deputy Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department at the International Monetary Fund. He is now Ushioda Fellow at the University of Tokyo. Michael was President of the International Institute of Public Finance from 2003 to 2006, awarded the CESifo Musgrave Prize in 2010, and in 2018 received from the National Tax Association of the United States its most prestigious award, the Daniel M. Holland Medal for distinguished lifetime contributions to the study and practice of public finance. His most recent book, Rebellion, Rascals and Revenues (with Joel Slemrod), aims to use history and humor to convey basic tax principles to a wider audience.
5:15 P.M.
Closing remarks Vítor Gaspar(Director, Fiscal Affairs Department )
6:00 P.M.
Adjourn
Conference Organizing Committee: Katherine Baer (Deputy Director, FAD), Mitali Das (Advisor, FAD), and Andrew Okello (Deputy Division Chief, FAD).
Conference Coordinators: Agnese de Leo (Administrative Coordinator), Harsha Padaruth (Administrative Coordinator), Luciana Marcelino (Administrative Coordinator) Martha Gaytan Frettlohr (Administrative Coordinator), Sahara De la Torre (Administrative Coordinator), and Sheetal Prasad (Senior Administrative Coordinator) – all FAD.
The conference (which is in-person only) is open to all Fund employees and invited external guests (registration is required of external guests who will all receive a link to the registration form). Please note that the deadline for registration for this conference is October 25th, 2024. Registered external guests will be required to present photo identification on entering the IMF at 1900 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. For questions regarding the conference, please email FAD_60th_anniversary@imf.org
COLFAX – A celebratory ribbon cutting is taking place on Wednesday, Oct. 30, to mark the completion and grand opening of four new passing lanes on State Route 26 between Dusty and Colfax. The public is invited to attend the ribbon-cutting at 11 a.m. at the Palouse Empire Fairgrounds. State and local officials and regional transportation partners will join representatives from the Washington State Department of Transportation to mark the occasion.
Improving safety
The four new passing lanes are part of the Connecting Washington funding package passed by the legislature in 2015. The passing lanes add locations for vehicles needing to pass slower vehicles safely. The SR 26 corridor is heavily traveled by students at Washington State University and local agricultural vehicles. The new passing lanes now give safe locations for travelers to pass vehicles, with two passing lanes westbound and two located in the eastbound direction.
State Route 26 passing lanes ribbon cutting details:
When: 11 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, Oct. 30, with official remarks and ribbon cutting beginning at 11 a.m.
Where: Palouse Empire Fairgrounds, State Route 26 and Fair Grounds Road.
Details: The ribbon cutting will celebrate the completion of the four new passing lanes constructed on State Route 26 between Dusty and Colfax. Members of the public and media are invited to commemorate the occasion. The ceremony event will feature speeches from local state representatives, WSDOT, the Palouse Regional Planning Transportation Organization and WSU.
Directions: If traveling from US 195, people should turn west onto State Route 26, go approximately 4 miles to Fair Grounds Road, then turn right into the fairgrounds parking lot.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Linda Yueh, Fellow in Economics/Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
For the first time in 14 years, it was a Labour chancellor who delivered the UK budget. And for the first time ever, that chancellor was a woman. But Rachel Reeves faces an almighty task: plugging a £40 billion spending gap in the knowledge that pre-election promises not to raise the main taxes are still fresh in people’s memories.
Growth was the buzzword of the election campaign – Reeves now had to lay her cards on the table. So here’s what our panel of experts made of the plans:
More challenges for employers and small businesses
Shampa Roy-Mukherjee, Associate Professor in Economics, University of East London
The budget introduces £40 billion in tax hikes and, in some areas, spending cuts that will put pressure on the economy and business in particular. But it also reflects the government’s focus on economic growth, with policies intended to stabilise finances while addressing some of the concerns of small businesses.
The chancellor has retained her commitment to preserve the rates of income tax, employee national insurance and VAT. But a notable change is the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) from 13.8% to 15%.
There was also a reduction in the secondary threshold, which is the amount at which the employer starts paying NI on each employee, from £9,100 to £5,000. Altogether this will raise £25 billion annually but will significantly impact many businesses that will now face higher wage bills.
The national living wage is also rising by 6.7% to £12.21 per hour in April 2025, boosting incomes for about three million workers but again increasing costs for many businesses. These rising taxes and wage increases, alongside incoming employment regulations, will strain businesses, particularly in sectors with high labour demands.
To offset some of these pressures, the employment allowance, which allows some smaller employers to reduce their NICs, has been raised from £5,000 to £10,500. The chancellor said that over 1 million employers will not see their NICs bill rise as a result.
Small businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure, where profits have been hit as consumers struggle with the cost of living, will benefit from a 40% business rate relief on properties up to £110,000. Other supportive measures include a continued freeze on fuel duty, which will aid logistics and transport costs. Corporation tax remains fixed at 25%.
Higher wages for three million, but it could cost more to get the bus to work
The biggest change for those on low incomes was an increase in the national minimum wage (for 18 to 20-year-olds) of 16.3%, from £8.60 to £10 an hour, and an increase in the national living wage (for employees aged 21 and over) of 6.7%, from £11.44 to £12.21, from April 2025. This will lead to a pay rise for more than 3 million workers.
Business associations warn that this will cause job losses, particularly in hospitality and the care sector, where many employees earn the minimum wage. But a large body of research has not found a negative effect of minimum wages on employment.
There is some evidence that earlier minimum wage rises caused an increase in the number of zero-hours contracts in social care, as firms tried other ways to reduce wages. However, the new employment rights bill introduced earlier in October would limit the use of zero-hours contracts in this scenario.
The budget could have an indirect effect on pay packets though. The effect of the change to employer NICs will be greater in sectors with more low-paid workers, such as hospitality, and employer associations have warned that it will risk jobs. There is also some evidence that in the long term, firms pass some of these costs on to employees by reducing their wages.
However, the minimum wage increase will reduce the capacity for firms to reduce wages. And any long-term effect would also be offset by lower income taxes that will come after 2028 when the chancellor has said she will increase the threshold at which people starting paying tax.
So if wages and profits fall because of increased contributions, then the amount Reeves raises will be lower than expected, because income and corporation tax receipts will be hit.
Another indirect factor affecting incomes is the cost of getting to work. The fuel duty freeze will continue, but the bus fare cap will increase from £2 to £3. Lower-paid workers and jobseekers are much more likely to use the bus than those with higher incomes, who are more likely to drive, but the cost of bus travel increased much more than the cost of train travel or petrol over the last parliament.
The fare cap reversed some of this increase, and some evidence shows that it led to more people travelling by bus. But the new £3 cap will only last until the end of 2025, which may be too soon to see much effect.
A downpayment on growth – but probably not quickly
Linda Yueh, Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
The chancellor declared that the government will “invest, invest, invest”. This is an important enabler of economic growth.
But, the country’s creditors need reassuring, so Reeves also announced two new fiscal rules that aim to achieve that balance of allowing the government to borrow to invest (and generate growth), but not to pay for day-to-day spending.
Specifically, the investment rule permits borrowing to invest and the stability rule requires day-to-day spending to be paid for by taxes. Both rules support the government’s growth aims while trying to reassure the country’s creditors that the borrowing will pay off by generating future growth – and also higher tax receipts with which to repay that borrowing.
But spending watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has downgraded the UK’s GDP growth outlook from 2% to 1.8% in 2026, and to 1.5% in 2027 and 2028. The OBR’s forecast of slower growth highlights the impact of the £40 billion of tax increases, which dampens economic activity.
This underscores the government’s challenge of investing to grow while at the same having to raise taxes to balance the books when it comes to its daily spending. In particular, the OBR’s assessment of slowing growth towards the middle of this parliament raises questions about how long it will take for the investment-fuelled growth to materialise.
It may be that five years is still too short a period. Many physical investments require planning and those reforms could also take a while. Moreover, getting investment projects under way requires scoping, and private investors will want time to assess before joining the government in energy projects.
But this budget is certainly a start on a much-needed growth strategy.
Good news on public investment – emerging industries could benefit
Phil Tomlinson, Professor of Industrial Strategy, University of Bath
The key budget change related to the chancellor’s fiscal rules. By redefining how public debt is calculated, Reeves has been able to increase public investment by around £100 billion. The new fiscal rules have gone not as far as some economists have advocated – but they are a welcome step in the right direction.
Investment was the core focus of the budget. For decades, the UK has suffered from low investment and weak productivity compared to other leading economies. Since 1990, the UK’s investment gap with the average across rich countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been around £35 billion a year – the UK now ranks 28th of 31 OECD countries on business investment. British workers are using outdated kit and so are less productive. This has meant a stagnant economy and lower living standards.
So, the budget’s plans to boost investment in the UK’s crumbling infrastructure and public services and to support the new industrial strategy are a positive move. The latter should see additional funding to support emerging tech industries, such as artificial intelligence, cyber and clean energy. And this public investment should “crowd in” additional private investment.
In the long run, these investments should pay for themselves. For instance, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that a sustained increase in public investment of 1% of GDP increases that GDP by 0.5% after five years and more than 2% after ten to 15 years.
The rise in employer national insurance contributions will increase business’s operating costs, especially those in the care and hospitality sectors. But paradoxically, in the long run, it may encourage some businesses (in sectors where it is feasible) to invest in new labour-saving capital equipment.
The NHS gets a cash injection – but it may not go that far
Karen Bloor, Professor of Health Economics and Policy, University of York
Amid all the gloomy pre-budget talk of tough choices and economic problems, would the government’s plans to improve the NHS cheer up the country (England, at least)? Not entirely.
On the plus side, the chancellor promised a generous spending increase of £22.6 billion in the year 2025 to 2026, with £3.1 billion on capital investment. But solving the problems of the NHS is not just about money, and there will be difficult decisions to come.
Meanwhile, increases in employers’ national insurance contributions, while raising funds, will also have a big impact on the NHS, which employs over 1.5 million people. So the additional spending may be less than it appears.
The new government has said it has three main priorities for healthcare in England: moving care from hospitals to the community, moving resources from treatment to prevention, and changing systems from analogue to digital. None of these ideas are new, and there are good reasons why they haven’t happened already.
Expanding primary and community care often does not translate into reduced demand for hospital services – in fact, it can do the opposite, by uncovering previously unmet needs. And successive governments have failed to address long-standing problems in social care, which is crucial to addressing pressures on the NHS. A successful NHS means people living longer, but often with long-term health problems.
Returns on investment in preventing illness can be substantial, but they vary widely, and can be difficult to achieve. This is particularly true when it comes to interventions needing individual behaviour change, such as increasing exercise or cutting down on alcohol. Even when clearly positive, they take a very long time to generate cost savings.
And there are other aspects of the chancellor’s plans which could arguably harm public health. Abolition of winter fuel payments for example, could affect the health of older people on low incomes.
Rising bus fares could affect people’s ability to attend appointments, and the controversial two-child benefit cap, which can affect child health remains in place.
Finally, while technology should improve the efficiency of services, people need care from people. Capital investment – in scanners, radiotherapy machines and diagnostics – will need to be matched by the cost of the professionals who operate them and interpret their findings.
More reaction to be published soon.
Karen Bloor receives funding from the NIHR policy research programme to conduct responsive analysis for the Department of Health and Social Care,
Phil Tomlinson receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for Made Smarter Innovation: Centre for People-Led Digitalisation.
Rachel Scarfe is a member of the Labour Party.
Jonquil Lowe, Linda Yueh, and Shampa Roy-Mukherjee do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Scientists comment on news that the first case of Clade Ib Mpox has been detected in the UK.
Dr Brian Ferguson, Associate Professor of Immunology, University of Cambridge, said:
“The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced today that it has detected a single confirmed human case of Clade Ib mpox in the UK. This case is from an individual who has recently returned from travelling in countries in Africa where there are currently cases of Clade 1b mpox being found in the community. This is an unsurprising event and likely will not be the only time this happens in the UK. It follows discovery of similar imported cases in Germany and Sweden and other countries globally. The close contacts of this individual are being sought and should be offered testing and vaccines in line with current policy to help reduce the chances of onward transmission. The UK government recently purchased 150,000 doses of mpox vaccine from Bavarian Nordic to help with such efforts, although the longevity of the protection afforded by this vaccine has recently been called into question. The clade 1b mpox is more virulent than clade 2 virus that caused the outbreak in 2022 and is causing more cases of disease in younger people than the clade 2 virus in Africa. As such continued surveillance and early diagnosis and treatment is very important to minimise the chances of onward transmission of imported cases.”
Prof Jonathan Ball, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and Professor of Molecular Virology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said:
“This is not unexpected. There are active human to human transmission chains of Clade 1b monkeypox infections in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and therefore people coming into close contact with anyone infected is at risk.
“WHO previously announced the Mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern in recognition of its potential for continued and potentially accelerated spread if the global community did not come together in a concerted effort to stamp out the current outbreak. This was more recently backed up by the announcement yesterday of activation of the Global Health Emergency Corps to strengthen the response.
“The number of cases reported outside of Africa remains low, but the ability of Clade 1b virus to spread by human to human transmission means that this issue can not be ignored. It is unlikely that we will see extensive outbreaks in countries with well developed public health and surveillance systems, but it is a reminder that we need to do more to remove health inequalities around the world.”
ATLANTA, Oct. 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — White House National Cyber Director, CEOs, Key Financial Services Companies, Congressional and Executive Branch Experts will discuss industry priorities for 2025 and beyond
The American Transaction Processors Coalition (ATPC) Cyber Council will convene “The Tie that Binds: A 21st Century Cybersecurity Dialogue,” on October 31, 2024, at the Bank of America Financial Center Tower’s Convention Hall in Atlanta. This event will feature leading cyber experts from the financial services sector, Federal agencies, the White House, and Congress to focus on pressing cybersecurity issues and ways the financial services sector is addressing these issues. It will include discussions on evolving technologies that will influence the path forward, the role of AI, supply chain security needs, and more.
“Cybersecurity is the backbone of the payment processing industry,” said H. West Richards, ATPC executive director. “The work of the ATPC Cyber Council is a testament to our commitment to safeguarding our financial ecosystem and fostering a collaborative approach to tackling the cybersecurity challenges of tomorrow.”
Key Speakers and Highlights:
The Honorable Harry Coker, Jr., White House National Cyber Director, will deliver the luncheon keynote.
The Honorable Rich McCormick (R-GA-06) will deliver a keynote address.
Moira Bergin, Subcommittee on Cybersecurity Staff Director, House Committee on Homeland Security, will discuss legislative priorities and global cybersecurity risks.
The Honorable Andre Dickens, Mayor of Atlanta, will provide a video address.
Barry McCarthy, CEO of Deluxe and Chair of the ATPC Board of Directors, will also deliver a keynote.
Bridgette Walsh, Executive Director of the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council, and Josh Magri, Founder & CEO of Cyber Risk Institute, will participate in a fireside discussion on private sector best practices.
A panel on AI in financial services will feature Clarissa Banks (Deluxe), David Excell (Featurespace), David King (Mastercard), and Donna Teevens (ACI Worldwide), moderated by Rick Van Luvender.
A panel on cyber education will include Dr. Tony Coulson (CSUSB), Dr. Albena Asenova-Belal (Gwinnett Technical College), Dr. Humayun Zafar (Kennesaw State University), and Dr. Michael Nowatkowski (Augusta University).
H. West Richards, ATPC Executive Director, will open the event with a welcome address.
Rick Van Luvender, ATPC Cyber Council Chair & SVP, Head of Cybersecurity Client Trust & International Cybersecurity Service at Fiserv, will deliver the opening remarks.
Norma Krayem, ATPC Cyber Council Director & Vice President, Chair of the Cybersecurity, Privacy & Digital Innovation Practice Group at Van Scoyoc Associates, will provide insights on future cybersecurity trends.
The forum will conclude with a fireside chat focused on “A Look to the Future: 2025: Top Cybersecurity and Critical Technology Priorities for the ATPC Cyber Council,” featuring Rick Van Luvender from Fiserv and Norma Krayem, the ATPC Cyber Council director, focusing on future cybersecurity and critical technology priorities.
ATPC is a leading voice for America’s payments processors, consisting of the world’s largest, global payment processors, banks, credit card companies and financial services companies. ATPC member companies are uniquely positioned to ensure global payments move seamlessly across the world, while empowering broader and more diverse participation within the financial services system. In the race for a better tomorrow, technology solutions can advance faster than companies can keep up with cybersecurity risks. As a result, the ATPC is one of the few coalitions that created a standalone Cybersecurity Council to prioritize these key cybersecurity issues across its member companies. The ATPC Cyber Council is a unique group made up of only CISOs, CSOs, CIOs and CTOs who are on the front lines every day dealing with the operational impacts of cybersecurity. These U.S. based companies serve hundreds of millions of customer businesses across the globe daily and process hundreds of billions of transactions per year.
About the ATPC
The ATPC is a leading voice for America’s payments processors, driving awareness of the industry and its value to consumers, businesses, and the economy with legislators and regulators at federal, state, and international levels. The ATPC is rooted in Georgia’s Transaction Alley where electronic payments and the fintech industry began. Yet, our members enable payments in states across the nation and in every corner of the globe. The ATPC has a rich history of economic development, thought leadership, and engagement on legislative and regulatory topics like cybersecurity, privacy, financial inclusion, fraud, as well as emerging themes like open banking, AI, and stable coins.
About the ATPC Cyber Council
The American Transaction Processors Coalition (ATPC) established a dedicated Cyber Council to galvanize the efforts of the ATPC member companies in addressing cybersecurity risks. The Cyber Council’s mission is to identify best practices and areas of shared risk to help ATPC members address the evolving cyber threat across America’s payments processing system to strengthen industry’s ability to identify, protect, detect, respond to and recover from cyberattacks.
Hollywood actor Luke Evans writes candidly in his memoir about his experience growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness – and having to deal with religious and homophobic prejudice.
Evans describes a childhood where he was taunted by peers as a “Bible-basher”, and how he endured homophobic bullying. He writes:
I was bullied for being gay before I even understood what it meant. The worst nickname was “Jovey Bender”, because it combined two aspects of my identity that could never be reconciled. It wasn’t possible to be a “Jovey” and a “Bender” because being gay was strictly forbidden by the religion.
As an academic who works on religion and sexualities, my latest research focuses on gay ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses, known for their door-knocking evangelising, pique interest because of the closed nature of their group. They are a fundamentalist and apocalyptic religious group organised into congregations, overseen by male elders – women are not permitted to be elders.
They refer to their beliefs and teachings as “the Truth”. There is a governing body, known as The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, which establishes all doctrine.
Condemnation
The Jehovah’s Witnesses have a distinctive social world. It’s an exclusive religious group that tries to set itself apart from contemporary society and culture. Research refers to Jehovah’s Witnesses as a “high cost” religious group, which means it demands a high level of obedience from its followers – and homosexuality is condemned.
Evans’s interview follows two other memoirs by gay ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses. In 2020, Mendez’s semi-aut0-biographical book Rainbow Milk was released to critical acclaim. Three years later, Daniel Allen Cox’s memoir detailed the ways growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness shaped him: “I spent eighteen years in a group that taught me to hate myself. You cannot be queer and a Jehovah’s Witness – it’s one or the other.”
Cox has a point. The reason these gay men are considered ex-Witnesses is that technically, one cannot be LGBTQ+ and a Jehovah’s Witness. As the official means of sharing Jehovah’s Witness beliefs, the magazine The Watchtower explains:
They gladly conduct Bible studies with homosexuals so these can learn Jehovah’s requirements, and such persons may attend meetings of the Witnesses to listen, but no one who continues to practice homosexuality can be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Evans’s interview recounts how he was terrified to go door knocking with his parents, in case one of his school bullies answered and hurled abuse at him. The teachings from the Witnesses affected his wellbeing. He recounts:
Every night in the congregation they read scriptures saying terrible things about the way I was feeling and who I was possibly turning into. All that was in my head was: if I don’t sort this out, I’m going to lose my mum and dad. I’m going to lose everything I’ve ever known and I’m also going to die at Armageddon, so I’m giving myself a death sentence unless I sort this out.
Importance of ex-member testimony
The only documented experiences we have about growing up LGBTQ+ as a Jehovah’s Witness comes from former members, like Evans, who have left – or been forced to leave.
But there’s a double bind here. There is a history of resistance to accounts from those who have been forced to leave, often referred to as “apostates” by the Witnesses. Ex-member testimony has often – and wrongly, I argue – been discredited among scholars of religion, as I highlight in my recent research.
Most importantly for LGBTQ+ people, ex-member testimony is the only glimpse we get into the effect of religious teaching that is hostile to non-heterosexual identities.
For LGBTQI+ former Witnesses, biography and memoir is a tool that allows them to write themselves into existence. Others, who are negotiating or navigating an exit from a high-cost religion, need these stories to help make sense of their own lives and experiences.
Making an exit
The method of exit is important. The terms “disfellowshipping”, “disassociation”, and “fading” represent different methods of exiting a religious organisation. Disfellowshipping involves the forced removal of a congregation member, often resulting in their ostracism and shunning by the community.
Jehovah’s Witness teachings describe disfellowshipping as a “loving provision” that “protects the clean, Christian congregation”.
Disassociation is when a Witness voluntarily resigns from the organisation, typically through a formal written request. For LGBTQ+ people, disfellowshipping or disassociation often leads to being labelled as “sexually immoral”, resulting in their expulsion and subsequent shunning by the congregation, including their close friends and family.
In contrast, fading is a more gradual and discreet approach, allowing Witnesses to distance themselves without going through the formal processes of disfellowshipping or disassociation. This method can be especially important for those who wish to maintain relationships with family and friends still involved in the organisation, as it does not involve an official removal.
Exit – forced or voluntary – for LGBTQ+ former Witnesses results in a number of vulnerabilities relating to housing, finance, emotional and psychological distress among other risks to wellbeing. Psychologists, such as Heather Ransom, have researched the cumulative effect on wellbeing for those who leave the Jehovah’s Witnesses, describing this process as “grief”.
In an interview with the Guardian, Evans recounts how he didn’t see a viable option in reconciling his faith and sexuality. This sentiment underpins the urgency for research about how strict, conservative religious frameworks can stifle personal identity, especially for children and young people who are LGBTQ+.
Chris Greenough 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.
Transcranial direction current stimulation may help improve depression symptoms in hard-to-treat cases.ArtemisDiana/ Shutterstock
Up to a third of people diagnosed with depression do not respond to antidepressants or therapy.
In such cases, patients may be prescribed neuromodulation therapy, which modulates brain activity in order to reduce depression symptoms. One promising form of neuromodulation therapy that researchers are investigating is transcranial direction current stimulation (tDCS).
Transcranial direct current stimulation delivers a weak electrical current to the brain through electrodes that are held to the head by a band or strap. This changes the excitability of the brain tissue located beneath the electrodes. Reducing the excitability of overactive areas and increasing the excitability in underactive areas, especially in regions connected to emotion, can help to improve depression symptoms.
TDCS is a safe, effective treatment, which, in some studies, has been shown to help patients achieve remission and stay symptom-free for up to a month. However, previous clinical trials of tDCS have required patients to visit a clinic or hospital in order to receive the treatment, despite the equipment being quite portable.
But a recent randomised controlled trial has now shown that tDCS – which was delivered by the patient in their own home with online virtual support – can lead to significant reductions in depression.
To conduct their study, the researchers recruited 174 patients in the UK and US who had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Around 63% of these participants had been classed with having treatment-resistant depression.
Half the participants received an at-home tDCS treatment. This was delivered for 30 minutes a day, five times a week for three weeks to begin with. Then, they dropped down to three sessions per week for seven weeks. Because these sessions were carried out in the patient’s own home with remote support, this meant no doctor or nurse visits were required.
The other half of the patients were in a control group. These participants were given a sham condition, where they wore the electrode strap but did not receive any electrical stimulation.
After the initial ten-week study, patients in the tDCS group were give the option to continue receiving the treatment three times a week. Those in the sham condition were also offered the active protocol.
The at-home treatment was generally well tolerated. There were only a few reports of adverse reactions (mainly linked to irritation around the stimulation site).
Patients in both groups filled out a depression assessment scale at the start and end of the study. This assessment asks patients a series of questions, then provides them a score.
Any score above ten indicates depression. Both the active tDCS and sham groups improved – however the active tDCS group’s scores decreased significantly more, showing an over a two-point decrease in depression scores compared to the control group.
Neuromodulation therapies
This study has found home-based tDCS shows enormous promise as a cost-effective, convenient and safe means of providing treatment to patients with treatment-resistant depression.
This gives it an advantage over other forms of neuromodulation therapy – such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS modulates brain activity by delivering magnetic pulses via an electromagnetic coil held to the skull.
TMS is shown to be effective 50% of the time for patients with treatment-resistant depression when paired with psychotherapy. But a downside of TMS therapy is that it can only be delivered in a clinic or hospital with patients needing to have 30-minute treatments at least five times a week for up to six weeks for TMS to have any effect.
Transcranial direct current stimulation therapy also has significantly fewer side-effects compared to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) which also passes an electric current through the brain. ECT is also far more invasive than tDCS as it requires anaesthesia to perform. In contrast, tDCS passes a weak electrical current through two points of contact in the brain.
However, the authors raise an important point relating to the treatment-resistant status of some of the participants.
Patients that had a history of depression and had been resistant to three or more therapies were excluded from the study. This means future studies will need to investigate the threshold of efficacy when it comes to at-home tDCS – and whether it can also work for patients with more severe forms of treatment-resistant depression.
Another factor that will be important for future studies to investigate is whether the patient’s at-home environment and social support network affect the efficacy of the treatment. The next steps for researchers will be to take into account the variability of why depression occurs, how it manifests itself as well as the differences in terms of acceptance and how it’s dealt with.
It will also be important for future studies to account for the physiological differences related to age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and many other factors that can influence the progression of depression.
Still, this study has shown that at-home tDCS delivery leads to significant improvements in mood for people diagnosed with depression who have failed to respond to other treatments.
Amanda Ellison 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.
