tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78897694429131808242024-03-05T11:16:50.957+00:00EDUCATION AFFAIRZ | Global Education NewsFirst of its kind international page,dedicated to providing information all about Education available to everyone, everywhere, without cost. Using the power of the Internet.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196954670960487475noreply@blogger.comBlogger3783125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-43448306451780110732021-08-27T09:03:00.003+00:002021-08-27T09:03:20.345+00:00UTEP, UT Austin, UT System Join U.S. Space Force Partnership<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ_ZO3vk5jmfo41128DIycxoHuSfLBAk8M7YZKElNnH6K-jkJlkz7jTAQPTXQVk6-5eaPzx7HcMdcPUJ1ihwg99bewd0ritxgN0t4BOKLcYDHuBdzGLUw82TGkt7g1qa3Yn4yyAXlCm0o/s1200/The+University+of+Texas+at+Austin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ_ZO3vk5jmfo41128DIycxoHuSfLBAk8M7YZKElNnH6K-jkJlkz7jTAQPTXQVk6-5eaPzx7HcMdcPUJ1ihwg99bewd0ritxgN0t4BOKLcYDHuBdzGLUw82TGkt7g1qa3Yn4yyAXlCm0o/s320/The+University+of+Texas+at+Austin.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The University of Texas at Austin</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The University of Texas at El Paso and The University of Texas at Austin have signed agreements with the U. S. Space Force to provide advanced research and workforce development for the newest branch of the U.S. armed services. The University of Texas System signed an umbrella memorandum of understanding with the Space Force as part of the comprehensive agreement.<br /><br />Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David D. Thompson joined UTEP President Heather Wilson, UT Austin President Jay Hartzell and Archie Holmes Jr., UT System executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, at the signing.<br /><br />“At the heart of the Space Force’s University Partnership Program is the need to advance our science and technology to build the next generation of space capabilities coupled with the need to develop the workforce of the future,” Thompson said. “With a long history of leading aerospace research across the Paso del Norte region and beyond, we’re confident we can find such talent here at UTEP, at UT Austin and across the UT System.”<br /><br />“I am proud of the aerospace leadership at UTEP and UT Austin and look forward to seeing the resources and talent of UT institutions applied to the most challenging problems the Space Force is solving,” Holmes said.<br /><br />The challenges facing the Space Force in protecting unfettered access to space require a workforce with a deep understanding of the domain, people who also possess the creativity, critical thinking and collaborative ability to solve problems, Thompson said. The University Partnership Program (UPP) is one way the Space Force is building that future workforce.<br /><br />“The University of Texas at El Paso has been engaged in aerospace research for decades. We are pleased to be able to support the Space Force as they develop the capabilities to protect America’s vital national interests in space,” Wilson said. “This agreement further establishes the greater El Paso region as a leader in space flight and aerospace research.”<br /><br />“The University of Texas at Austin is proud of its work with the Department of Defense over many years to help achieve strategic U.S. objectives in space,” Hartzell said. “We look forward to expanding upon our work with the Space Force, charting bold new areas of research and helping educate leaders for the aerospace workforce of the future.”<br /><br />UTEP and UT Austin are two of 11 universities selected to join the Space Force University Partnership Program in fiscal year 2021. The institutions were selected based on four criteria: the quality of STEM degree offerings and space-related research laboratories and initiatives; a robust ROTC program; a diverse student population; and degrees and programming designed to support military veterans and their families in pursuing higher education.<br /><br />The main goals of the University Partnership Program agreements are to:<br /><br />Establish opportunities for world-class research, advanced academic degrees, and workforce and leadership development for USSF Guardians.<br />Identify and pursue research areas of mutual interest with member universities, individually and collectively.<br />Establish scholarship, internship and mentorship opportunities for university students and ROTC cadets.<br />Recruit and develop diverse officer, enlisted and civilian Guardians with a particular focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.<br /><br /><br /></p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-85244212875954613322021-08-27T08:46:00.004+00:002021-08-27T08:46:30.498+00:00King's College Entrepreneurship Institute In Partnership With Santander University Launches £300k Skills Training For Low Income Students<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mOKk4oSyx9Gx0hMcGOsqll_kC-6szBPwuL4dXOwdwhvsajptd2eZbAwPslrqIqxBj8M4IHA4zZjiFsFLyWIxaPPjblziaZFyeIr9eOSNrIEb1qfaVPf6xL-HuGjzhE1qrp5lLLWWCCc/s780/King%25E2%2580%2599s+College+London+And+Santander+Universities+UK.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mOKk4oSyx9Gx0hMcGOsqll_kC-6szBPwuL4dXOwdwhvsajptd2eZbAwPslrqIqxBj8M4IHA4zZjiFsFLyWIxaPPjblziaZFyeIr9eOSNrIEb1qfaVPf6xL-HuGjzhE1qrp5lLLWWCCc/s320/King%25E2%2580%2599s+College+London+And+Santander+Universities+UK.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King’s College London And Santander Universities UK</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Entrepreneurship Institute at King’s College London, in partnership with Santander Universities UK, is launching a new £300k project to support students from low-income backgrounds with entrepreneurial skills development, as well as their propensity to positively impact the world.<br /><br />The Entrepreneurship Institute at King’s College London has partnered with Santander Universities UK to launch an ambitious new programme to support students from low-income backgrounds to enhance their employability and broaden their career ambitions through entrepreneurship.<br /><br />King’s has delivered some ground-breaking work to widen participation in higher education, specifically relating to student from lower income backgrounds and I want to ensure that this journey and subsequent progress is reflected in my work at King’s. There are undeniable barriers to entrepreneurship that students from higher income households don’t suffer – If you have to work two jobs to pay your way through university, how can you hope to find time to opt into extracurricular opportunities such as developinglearn entrepreneurial skills; How do you call in a favour, seek new knowledge or ask a question if you don’t have the social capital of an an extended family network to ask; How do you take risks when certainty is expected for your future. We are delighted to announce that we will be working on closing this gap and sharing learning so that others can too with Santander Universities UK. Funded by Santander, wWe will be exploring barriers and their removal, support, assets and equitable inclusion for all students, with evidence that our gap has been closed and will remain closed, whilst sharing learning as widely as possible. Our special thanks to the pioneering team at Santander Universities for embarking on this journey together. <br /><br />This new partnership with Santander will build on the Institute’s previous work identifying and removing barriers for women entrepreneurs, which will now continue as part of the Institute’s regular programming. The work that has been put into the Women Entrepreneurs programme, which launched in 2019, has resulted in sustained gender parity on the King’s20 Accelerator as well a community of over 700 women-identifying entrepreneurs.<br /><br />Fewer students from low-income backgrounds participate in our programmes – most prominently due to lack of financial, social, and cultural capital – and this is something we want to address urgently. Developing entrepreneurial skills and participating in entrepreneurship programmes whilst at university both enhance a student’s future prospects. These activities allow students to explore their interests, develop new skills and become more entrepreneurial in their mindset<br />– Rachel Stockey, Head of Entrepreneurial Skills <br /><br />We are proud of what we have achieved in partnership with King’s, in particular with the Entrepreneurship Institute, and their flagship Women Entrepreneurs Programme. We look forward to embarking on this new initiative, and to support even more students to develop entrepreneurial skills in the future.<br />– Matt Hutnell, Director, Santander Universities UK<br /><br />The Institute, a leader in enterprise education in the UK, provides enterprise education and entrepreneurial skills development to all students alongside its dedicated programme for start-ups, the King’s20 Accelerator. Since 2019, the Institute has pioneered its innovative <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/learn-entrepreneurial-skills" target="_blank">Seven Skills of an Entrepreneurial Mindset</a> as a framework for teaching and evaluating skills. The Skills identified as key traits of successful entrepreneurs that are transferrable and demonstrable for success in any career in any field.<br /><br />The Institute will work with the university’s in-house What Works team of research and evaluation specialists to use cutting edge data analysis and qualitative research methods to identify and combat issues that students face in accessing and succeeding at university.<br /><br />The first year of the project will be dedicated to researching the barriers facing disadvantaged groups accessing and participating in entrepreneurial skills development. The research will also consider this problem from the opposite perspective and seek to understand the different components of privilege and how they contribute to co-curricular engagement, entrepreneurship and employability. Based on this research, the Institute will then design a suite of initiatives, programmes and changes to existing programming that directly address the challenges identified.<br /><br />By the end of the three-year project, the Institute aims to have:<br /><br />Increased the proportion of low-income students taking part in their programmes, to reflect the population of low-income students studying at the university overall<br />Demonstrate skill development in relation to The Seven Skills of an Entrepreneurial Mindset, demonstrating enhanced employability.<br />Evidence case studies of how barriers have been removed, from confidence gaps to sub-optimal networks and financial constraints.Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-44191558188020230612021-08-26T09:52:00.001+00:002021-08-26T09:52:17.063+00:00UBC’s Dr. Edward Slingerland Explores The Mystery Of Alcohol’s Age-Old Allure In His New Book Drunk<p><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsSOAmAEAm0It1TScEtL8GLildLnhjvNDe4lUcX4L9O6xGx1BHMmFMQbjOH0PRd0AI1MKKkk6eJlAZiLM9XUOUYOMmm4Xv_qPbgfSqsGSyrYDTEqPG5IHKnX2pdeQQU20ZdJyBdioQ3Aw/s2560/Detail+of+The+Bacchanal+of+the+Andrians.+Titian%252C+1523%25E2%2580%25931526..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="2560" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsSOAmAEAm0It1TScEtL8GLildLnhjvNDe4lUcX4L9O6xGx1BHMmFMQbjOH0PRd0AI1MKKkk6eJlAZiLM9XUOUYOMmm4Xv_qPbgfSqsGSyrYDTEqPG5IHKnX2pdeQQU20ZdJyBdioQ3Aw/s320/Detail+of+The+Bacchanal+of+the+Andrians.+Titian%252C+1523%25E2%2580%25931526..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail of The Bacchanal of the Andrians.<br /> Titian, 1523–1526.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Alcohol is harmful to the human body, so why has evolution allowed our taste for intoxicants to persist? UBC’s Dr. Edward Slingerland explores the mystery of alcohol’s age-old allure in his new book Drunk.</b><br /><br />We’re all familiar with the dark side of alcohol and yet, for all its negative effects, one thing has held true for thousands of years: humanity’s love for intoxicants.<br /><br />Scholars have typically viewed our species’ penchant for getting buzzed as an evolutionary error. However, in his new book Drunk: <a href="https://www.edwardslingerland.com/drunk" target="_blank">How we sipped, danced and stumbled our way to civilization</a>, UBC prof Dr. Edward Slingerland argues that alcohol is a “technology” with a number of functional benefits — from enhancing creativity and innovation to building trust and cooperation among strangers, thus helping to make the rise of the first large-scale societies in human history possible. In fact, our ancestors’ hankering for beer, not bread, might have been the impetus for agriculture.<br /><br />A professor of philosophy and Asian studies, Dr. Slingerland shares what led him to dive into humanity’s oldest indulgence — and why having a social drink or two might actually be good for you.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnf8zSB6Mi6OJ93eXHDYlL72nl6WGWTau1nCoTwIN4p3JZJ4ai_EvX1OfbzZr78YJi7SmDnFFklIuWDryHhvKXTpzj7ankPelhaLF8z236PfeVohoAhoCr5fiyxbbfdGFYoZ6OEHLr12M/s1730/Dr.+Edward+Slingerland%2527s+Book+Drunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="1730" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnf8zSB6Mi6OJ93eXHDYlL72nl6WGWTau1nCoTwIN4p3JZJ4ai_EvX1OfbzZr78YJi7SmDnFFklIuWDryHhvKXTpzj7ankPelhaLF8z236PfeVohoAhoCr5fiyxbbfdGFYoZ6OEHLr12M/s320/Dr.+Edward+Slingerland%2527s+Book+Drunk.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Edward Slingerland and his book Drunk</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">What led to your interest in writing this book?</span></h2><p><br />My specialty is early Chinese thought, and my early work focused on this idea of wu-wei, of effortless action — this state where you lose a sense of yourself as an agent, you lose a sense of self-consciousness, and everything works. You solve problems. You think outside the box. People trust you and are relaxed around you. This is a state that the early Chinese thinkers all want you to get into, and my first novel contribution to the study of early Chinese thought was arguing that all of these early thinkers have this as an ideal — they all want you to get into this state. And yet, there’s a paradox involved: they want you to be spontaneous and relaxed, but how do you try to become spontaneous and relaxed? There’s a direct cognitive paradox involved.<br /><br />In some of my later work, I looked at this from a cognitive scientific angle. Essentially, what’s going on is when you’re trying not to try, the part of your brain that you’re activating is actually the part you’re trying to shut down, and so the Chinese come up with a bunch of different, indirect ways for getting around this paradox. I was struck by this one story in this early Daoist text, where the writer compares the Daoist sage to someone who’s drunk. They are relaxed, they lose a sense of what’s happening, they’re not monitoring themselves, and so they can kind of move through the world in this way where they don’t get harmed.<br /><br />It’s clear in that text that drunkenness with wine is just a metaphor for the spiritual state that the writer wants you to get into. But the story did make me start thinking about the possibility that cultures are using substances like alcohol as a way around the cognitive paradox. If you’re consciously trying not to try, it’s not going to work. But maybe you could use this chemical substance that will directly turn down your prefrontal cortex — the part of your brain that’s in charge of conscious effort, monitored activity and goal-directed behaviour. It might be a technology that cultures have hit upon to get people into a spontaneous state, without them having to deal with this cognitive paradox. So that’s when I first started thinking about alcohol as a technology.<br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Do you believe that a primary driving human experience is to be present and in the moment, and therefore that part of the appeal of alcohol is that it’s a pathway to being present?</span></h2><p><br />Being present is pleasurable for us, and it probably has something to do with just the cognitive effort that’s required in being conscious. We spend a lot of our time consciously monitoring ourselves — thinking about the future, reflecting on the past, thinking about the goals we have for today. You’re also monitoring yourself vis-à-vis other people. In social situations, you’re wondering: Am I presenting myself correctly? Do these people understand that I’m friendly or not? Are they misunderstanding what I’m saying?<br /><br />So certainly one of the functions of intoxicants has been getting a vacation from the self. There’s a lot of work on what’s called the curse of the self — this kind of cognitive load that’s imposed by self-consciousness, and so we do experience pleasure in having this removed.<br /><br />But that’s not enough to explain why we use alcohol, because evolution doesn’t care about whether we’re happy or not. In fact, evolution has got an interest in making us not happy so that we’re constantly striving and doing more stuff. So the puzzle that I’m trying to answer in the book is: Why do we get drunk? It makes us feel good is the shallow answer. But that really just pushes back the question. The real question is: Why does evolution allow it to make us feel good? It can’t just be pleasure. It can’t just be relaxation. So, in addition to those nice things we get from alcohol, I’m arguing it serves functional roles in society, and that’s why evolution has allowed it to remain part of our motivational system.<br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">There’s the “stoned ape” theory about psychedelic mushrooms being an evolutionary catalyst and that it contributed, according to Terrence McKenna, to the accelerated growth of volume of the human brain. Do you see alcohol have a similar physiological role, or is it more of a blocking mechanism?</span></h2><p><br />I think McKenna was making a kind of Lamarkian error. Certainly an individual can have new insights, new creative connections from eating psilocybin mushrooms, but it’s not going to change their children genetically. I think it’s unlikely that mushrooms (or alcohol) has had that kind of effect on genetic evolution.<br /><br />Michael Pollan has been asked about the stoned ape theory and Pollan’s answer, I think, is right. I talked about this in Drunk as well, that probably the effect of psychedelics is on cultural evolution, not genetic evolution. Psychedelics are to cultural evolution what mutagens are to genetic evolution. Evolution can’t work without variation; you need variation to get something to select on. Pollan’s argument is that psychedelics kind of scramble people’s brains. You have these wild insights. Like genetic mutations, most of the time, they’re useless or harmful. But every once in a while, you get one that’s useful, and then selection can work on that one. So Pollan thinks that the function of psychedelics has been to introduce noise into the system, so that cultural evolution has something to select on. I think that’s a really great insight.<br /><br />On that analogy, alcohol has a lot of different functions, but one of them is enhancing individual and group creativity. Psychedelics are a high risk, high payoff strategy, so 99.9 per cent of what you’re producing is complete garbage. But maybe that 0.1 per cent is going to be brilliant and really unusual, something you never would have thought of before. Alcohol is a lower risk, lower payoff — but more reliable payoff — strategy. So if we’re sitting around and we’re drinking and we’re trying to solve a problem, we’re not going to have the kind of really unusual insights we’d have on psychedelics. But the insights we do have are more likely to be actually useful, or more likely to be related to what we’re actually worried about. So I think that alcohol is similar to psychedelics in the sense that its one job is to introduce variation to cultural evolution, but it does so in a gentler, more usable, predictable way.<br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Psychoactive substances like MDMA and psilocybin are being introduced now, therapeutically. You don’t hear that about alcohol. Should it be re-examined as a form of medical treatment?</span></h2><p><br />It’s interesting that alcohol is not prescribed therapeutically, and I think there’s a couple of reasons for that. One is just you don’t need to — it’s legal and people are using it therapeutically all the time. You’re self-prescribing alcohol when you pour yourself a glass of wine at the end of a hard day and need to relax. We use alcohol instrumentally all the time without really noticing it, and most people use it in a fairly healthy way. So there’s no need for doctors to prescribe it because people kind of intuitively know how to use alcohol in that way.<br /><br />These other drugs — psychedelics and even MDMA — are also much safer than alcohol. Alcohol is really not a great drug in some ways. Its impact to the body is pretty heavy. It hurts your liver, it increases cancer risk, and it’s addictive in a way that psychedelics are not and MDMA probably is not (there’s debate about that). Now that we can precisely dose psychedelics, we can actually start maybe using it in a more controlled way. There’s this phenomenon of microdosing, where people are taking very small doses of LSD or psilocybin, and the claim is that it gives you some of the effects of alcohol — enhanced mood, enhanced creativity — without any of the bad parts. It’s not addictive. It’s not harming the liver. But this is a really new practice, and I think it’s going to be at least another 10 years before we really know what the impacts of microdosing are.<br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Is there a relationship between alcohol and western society, and equity and inclusion? In other words, can the presence of alcohol in social situations favour certain groups and marginalize others?</span></h2><p><br />Absolutely. So that’s one of the dangers that I talk about in the last chapter of the book.<br /><br />Let’s say we’re an organization, and we have to decide whether we’re going to include alcohol in social functions. Right now, the way the decision making goes is: Here’s all the potential dangers — drunk driving, sexual harassment, all sorts of lawsuits. All these bad things can happen. On the other side, what do we have? Just fun, basically, and if you put it that way, you’re always going to come down on prohibition essentially — making professional environments completely dry.<br /><br />What I’m trying to do is say there’s other stuff in the positive column. There’s enhanced creativity. There’s increased group identities. One of the functions that alcohol has is to make you like other people more. You can lower your guard, your endorphin and serotonin levels go up, and you start to like other people more. This is how cultures have used it forever, and there’s some experimental evidence that alcohol can help people bond together as a group and feel like a tighter unit than if you’re not using alcohol.<br /><br />The problem with that is creating a tight in-group creates an out-group. If you’re using alcohol to increase group cohesion, you’re disadvantaging people who don’t feel comfortable doing that, and there’s a lot of reasons why people would not feel comfortable. Let’s say you’re using alcohol at a professional conference. After the sessions are over, people gather at the hotel bar and drink and start talking. You discover that some grad student who’s finishing up needs a postdoc, and you happen to have a postdoc opening coming up. All kinds of personal connections get made. A lot of the real work at conferences happens after the formal program is over and people are socializing, usually over alcohol, and that’s a good thing.<br /><br />But if you’re a woman, you’re maybe going to feel less comfortable about hanging out at the hotel bar after the sessions are done. If you are Muslim, and you don’t drink for religious reasons, you’re not going to be thrilled about hanging out in that situation. And the same is true if you’re a recovering alcoholic, or even if you have little kids at home and you don’t have the luxury to hang out at the hotel bar. Those situations, the way they’re structured right now, tend to favour males, and especially males who don’t share the full burden of childcare, because they’re the ones who have the luxury of hanging out at the hotel bar after the sessions are over.</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-14238183057232146702021-08-13T22:33:00.002+00:002021-08-13T22:33:21.003+00:00Johns Hopkins University Scientists New Tool Predicts Sudden Death In Inflammatory Heart Disease<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBmShyphenhyphenbwlxhlCwQU52hhbrX0ZVoWoMUAiMRmHQAKhKcZAzuqU2DPucM5CLFrSIsfFJf7ECljm7yGpqjJPZ7AqWBVNX8PzvWi4nNjN4DDNPPIHtlMoM4ED3hUKpK1ECQ7TbDL2bcHBJ-Q/s825/A+model+of+a+patient%25E2%2580%2599s+heart+is+constructed+from+MRI+and+PET+scans..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="825" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBmShyphenhyphenbwlxhlCwQU52hhbrX0ZVoWoMUAiMRmHQAKhKcZAzuqU2DPucM5CLFrSIsfFJf7ECljm7yGpqjJPZ7AqWBVNX8PzvWi4nNjN4DDNPPIHtlMoM4ED3hUKpK1ECQ7TbDL2bcHBJ-Q/s320/A+model+of+a+patient%25E2%2580%2599s+heart+is+constructed+from+MRI+and+PET+scans..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A model of a patient’s heart is constructed from <br />MRI and PET scans.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Johns Hopkins University scientists have developed a new tool for predicting which patients suffering from a complex inflammatory heart disease are at risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Published in Science Advances, their method is the first to combine models of patients' hearts built from multiple images with the power of machine learning.<br /><br />"This robust new personalized technology outperformed clinical metrics in forecasting future arrhythmia and could transform the management of cardiac sarcoidosis patients," said senior author Natalia Trayanova, a Johns Hopkins professor of biomedical engineering and co-director of the Alliance for Cardiovascular Diagnostic and Treatment Innovation (ADVANCE).<br /><br />Doctors don't currently have precise methods for assessing which patients with cardiac sarcoidosis, a condition causing inflammation and scarring that can trigger irregular heartbeats, are likely to have a fatal arrhythmia, meaning that some patients don't survive, while others undergo unnecessary, invasive interventions. A recent meta-analysis cited in the study found that roughly only one third of CS patients receive adequate treatment.<br /><br />"There is an urgent clinical need for better predictive tools," said Trayanova, who is also a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "Some CS patients perish, often in the prime of their life, while others have a defibrillator implanted unnecessarily and often deal with the complications, including infections, device malfunction, and inappropriate shocks, without receiving any real benefit."<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIunvo5huhTMXQ-gVg8itEuOap6Li15nuHep3rDtHOicGbOZY26lQQ6enpEvIiBvIjiu9Eilc7W9em4MLUAC5ikqdRuz-eMzQoqcGtELwuILLJ84PmoKNE26KV7tVqmnmcKgv3Am1Ic1c/s630/Model+showing+the+location+and+extent+of+fibrosis+%2528purple%2529+and+inflammation+%2528blue%2529+in+a+patient%25E2%2580%2599s+heart.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="630" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIunvo5huhTMXQ-gVg8itEuOap6Li15nuHep3rDtHOicGbOZY26lQQ6enpEvIiBvIjiu9Eilc7W9em4MLUAC5ikqdRuz-eMzQoqcGtELwuILLJ84PmoKNE26KV7tVqmnmcKgv3Am1Ic1c/s320/Model+showing+the+location+and+extent+of+fibrosis+%2528purple%2529+and+inflammation+%2528blue%2529+in+a+patient%25E2%2580%2599s+heart.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Model showing the location and extent of fibrosis <br />(purple) and inflammation (blue) in a patient’s heart <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />In their study, the researchers created digital three-dimensional models of the hearts of 45 CS patients treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital. To do this, they took the novel approach of combining data from two different kinds of heart scans: contrast-enhanced cardiac MRIs, which detect fibrosis, or scarring, and PET scans, which detect inflammation.<br /><br />"These personalized heart models are the first of their kind to be created with data from multiple imaging modalities," said Trayanova, whose lab has pioneered techniques for mechanistic modeling of the heart. "The combined effects of fibrosis and inflammation have never previously been represented in heart models."<br /><br />The team used computer simulations to apply a series of electrical signals at various locations throughout each of the models and gathered millions of data points measuring each heart's reaction.<br /><br />"We gathered extremely high-dimensional data with the aim of understanding how various features of the scarring and inflammation affected the heartbeat," said Trayanova.<br /><br />The team then combined data from the mechanistic simulations, along with additional patient and imaging data, to develop and train an algorithm to predict the likelihood of arrhythmia leading to cardiac arrest.<br /><br />"In a complex disease such as CS, with both scarring and inflammation, learning on mechanistic simulation results allowed us to relate them to real-world outcomes," said Julie Shade, the lead author of the study and a PhD candidate in biomedical engineering in Trayanova's lab.<br /><br />The tool significantly outperformed standard clinical metrics for predicting cardiac arrest in CS patients.<br /><br />To refine the algorithm, the team also conducted an intensive process of cross-validation, which assesses whether the same precision is achieved when different subsets of the data are removed, suggesting how the tool may perform on future patients. All in all, the team conducted 560 iterations of cross-validation.<br /><br />"We were able to estimate the tool's accuracy for new patients with 95% confidence, meaning we were relatively certain the algorithm wouldn't be biased by the data it was trained with and that it would therefore be accurate when applied to new patients," said Shade.<br /><br />Lastly, the team compared their simulations against scans of lesions in the hearts of the patients who had subsequently undergone a procedure to reset their heartbeats, finding that their predictions were consistent with actual outcomes.<br /><br />Large clinical studies will be needed, but the team hopes their tool could transform the management of patients with CS, lowering the number of unnecessary defibrillator device implantations while ensuring that patients at risk of sudden cardiac death are protected.<br /><br />According to Trayanova, the synergistic use of personalized models and machine learning, which has never previously been used to address a problem in cardiovascular health care, could also help solve one of the biggest challenges to implementing artificial intelligence in health care: a lack of data.<br /><br />"To achieve precision, AI-powered disease prediction technologies typically require vast quantities of data from different pools of patients," said Trayanova. But in this case the complexity of the data from the heart models streamlined the learning process. "Because the heart models embody well-established, deterministic principles that do not need to be learned by the algorithm, the risk predictor can achieve excellent performance on small patient cohorts," she said.</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-29813987456787990682021-08-13T20:38:00.002+00:002021-08-13T22:36:10.696+00:00U of T Researcher Uses VR To Improve Mental Health Of Urban Refugees, Displaced Youth<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94GiLCDILH0ImL5tJ8SmbDKtcExtgWdA-okULzrxthQ_FL836_twNkpToXAve-3uwNZz5bHXd-R6ZMUYKAT1awAnCiBDbz56Lp0UjZJKKwOaG7BdtAeBwAmRMvlnAu1swMKcVayncu4s/s1140/urban+refugees+and+displaced+youth+in+Uganda+%2528photo+courtesy+of+Carmen+Logie%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="1140" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94GiLCDILH0ImL5tJ8SmbDKtcExtgWdA-okULzrxthQ_FL836_twNkpToXAve-3uwNZz5bHXd-R6ZMUYKAT1awAnCiBDbz56Lp0UjZJKKwOaG7BdtAeBwAmRMvlnAu1swMKcVayncu4s/s320/urban+refugees+and+displaced+youth+in+Uganda+%2528photo+courtesy+of+Carmen+Logie%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">urban refugees and displaced youth in Uganda <br />(photo courtesy of Carmen Logie) <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Carmen Logie put on a virtual reality headset for the first time three years ago. She watched a short film about a Liberian woman’s experience in the Ebola epidemic.<br /><br />“It was a life-changing moment,” says Logie, an associate professor in the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. “I felt like I was there with her. It was such a powerful way to develop empathy.<br /><br />“I immediately started thinking about how I could use this amazing technology in my work on health equity.”<br /><br />So, Logie began investigating VR health-care applications and quickly discovered a body of evidence – from high-income countries – demonstrating its mental health-care benefits, specifically in improving mood, reducing stress and teaching self-care.<br /><br />“But there was no evidence on how it could help in low-income countries or humanitarian contexts,” Logie says.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEighj6d8jFfIk8kOgrKQQduGmC7HPJFN5QWYW3pt5Zg2eOZ3q32Enq7fLM61jZQSKqgQjEZ6x0S8R8wDG22NFjPOhw_jGh5mzfiakwfrr8tbz68j7pszaoUYZFAwuyJPrwXSRpGjQBcSY4/s300/Carmen+Logie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEighj6d8jFfIk8kOgrKQQduGmC7HPJFN5QWYW3pt5Zg2eOZ3q32Enq7fLM61jZQSKqgQjEZ6x0S8R8wDG22NFjPOhw_jGh5mzfiakwfrr8tbz68j7pszaoUYZFAwuyJPrwXSRpGjQBcSY4/s0/Carmen+Logie.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: 12px;">Carmen Logie</span></em></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Three years later, Logie is launching a study of a VR intervention focused on mental health in urban refugees and displaced youth. Working closely with youth and local community partners in Uganda, which hosts the third-largest number of refugees in the world, her team will develop a VR experience aimed at improving mental health literacy, reducing mental health stigma and decreasing symptoms of depression.<br /><br />Logie’s previous research found alarmingly high rates of depression among refugee and displaced young people living in five informal settlements – commonly called slums – in Kampala, Uganda’s capital. Nearly three-quarters of young women and about half of young men aged 16 to 24 reported depression symptoms.<br /><br />“Now that we’ve measured this urgent problem, we’re focused on designing and measuring solutions,” says Logie, who is Canada Research Chair in Global Health Equity and Social Justice with Marginalized Populations.<br /><br />In addition to VR, the study will evaluate other mental health interventions delivered via text messages and web-based applications – both alone and in combination with VR. These will include psychological first aid, a World Health Organization approach that trains laypeople to provide practical support and care.<br /><br />The VR content employed will be based on interviews with youth and community partners to understand the key factors that influence mental wellbeing, as well as strategies they find effective in managing stress. The plan is to co-develop a 30-minute VR session – half of which will be devoted to a youth describing what it’s like to live with mental health challenges.<br /><br />“They might be walking through their community talking about their depression and how they’ve felt stigmatized,” says Logie. “Then maybe they’ll demonstrate some of the self-help approaches they’ve learned and how they access formal mental health support.”<br /><br />Those watching the session through VR, meanwhile, will be immersed in the storyteller’s 3D environment.<br /><br />The second half of the session will be interactive, allowing users to choose an avatar and practise coping strategies in virtual settings. Naimul Khan, director of the Ryerson University Multimedia Research Lab and an expert on designing user-centred VR systems, is leading the VR design, development and implementation.<br /><br />Mental health concerns disproportionately affect refugees and internally displaced individuals. And, despite the fact that 40 per cent of the more than 80 million displaced people globally are under 18 years old, Logie says most studies on mental health interventions have focused on either young children or adults.<br /><br />“There’s a knowledge gap around what works with adolescent refugees that we want to help fill,” she says. “We also know very little about mental wellbeing among refugee youth living in urban areas, rather than formal refugee settlements, or camps.”<br /><br />Urban refugees tend to be overlooked because they’re more dispersed, adds Logie, even they confront unique pressures beyond the trauma of war and losing their homes. Unlike refugees in camps, where some food, sanitation and shelter is provided, urban refugees rarely have adequate access to the essentials.<br /><br />Logie says it took some persistence to bring her VR idea to fruition. She initially acquired a headset and brought it to Uganda so her research collaborators could try it out. “They had the same reaction as me: we’ve got to find a way to use it,” she says. But securing funding for a novel investigation of a relatively leading-edge technology wasn’t easy. “I was getting the message from grant application reviewers that VR was more suited to high-income countries,” Logie says.<br /><br />Logie acknowledges that it’s vital to adapt technology requirements to suit low-income contexts, but says the cost of VR headsets – which can be sanitized and shared by community agencies – continues to fall. “Why shouldn’t somebody in a refugee camp or slum access a digital tool that someone in Toronto is using to boost their mental health?”<br /><br />Grand Challenges Canada, an agency funded by the Canadian government and other partners, awarded the study $250,000 through their Global Mental Health Program – the third project of Logie’s it has funded.<br /><br />Logie says the research is ready to launch. The interview process will begin later this summer, VR development will take place through the fall and the VR intervention will be implemented and evaluated in Kampala starting in the new year.</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-74826164175920723262021-08-08T20:37:00.001+00:002021-08-13T22:36:31.462+00:00New UChicago, Argonne Research On The Brain’s Relay Processes Could Guide Treatment For Certain Brain Disorders<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLTx8p4yXzqnNbLK7yfbx6iv5cOyW7aFRjAyiKcxxXCSbCLAyQyPTcclntSvLT_89w8O8yyAuEtbG0o2_PDIVPpqfXNFlIS7bB3ZSXVxJ6_6A47c5Z_DThYjZ1uzjlY-cj1jENeqn2_lQ/s1380/Vandana+Sampathkumar+looks+at+images+from+mice+brains+to+study+the+thalamus+at+the+center+of+the+brain..png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1380" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLTx8p4yXzqnNbLK7yfbx6iv5cOyW7aFRjAyiKcxxXCSbCLAyQyPTcclntSvLT_89w8O8yyAuEtbG0o2_PDIVPpqfXNFlIS7bB3ZSXVxJ6_6A47c5Z_DThYjZ1uzjlY-cj1jENeqn2_lQ/s320/Vandana+Sampathkumar+looks+at+images+from+mice+brains+to+study+the+thalamus+at+the+center+of+the+brain..png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vandana Sampathkumar looks at images from <br />mice brains to study the thalamus at <br />the center of the brain.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />New research shows cells gather more data than once believed inside the thalamus, a relay station of sensory and motor abilities in the brain. That could change how medicine treats schizophrenia, epilepsy and other brain disorders.<br /><br />Our brains are responsible for coordinating and interpreting many of the actions we take for granted every day, from walking and running to seeing and hearing. To coordinate the sensory and motor signals firing across the brain requires a relay station of sorts, in this case, the thalamus, two small lobes that sit approximately midbrain.<br /><br />Neurons inside the thalamus have been traditionally difficult to study, but understanding how they help receive and transmit vital signals for sensory and motor skills may one day lead to new medical care for people with certain brain disorders.<br /><br />New work conducted by researchers from the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory have revealed a previously undetected convergence, or a merging, of sensory and motor information in the thalamus that might lead science one step closer to such treatments.<br /><br />Scientists believe the thalamus helps relay sensory and motor signals and regulate consciousness and alertness. But this new research reveals a greater complexity in how the thalamus receives different types of information and relays it to all parts of the cortex.<br /><br />The team’s research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.<br /><br />To develop this more inclusive picture of the role of the thalamus, the team relied on tools from a variety of scientific fields, including genetics, virology, molecular biology and microbiology, as well as various imaging techniques. <br /><br />“Argonne’s tools helped us to discover this convergence that we would never have seen otherwise,” said Vandana Sampathkumar, a neurobiologist in Argonne’s Biosciences division and postdoctoral scholar at UChicago.<br /><br />The team used electron microscopy to collect thousands of images from mouse brains. Images were digitally reassembled, or stitched together, onto local desktops, and then aligned on Argonne’s visualization computer, Cooley, for 3D reconstruction.<br /><br />“We went in with the hypothesis that cells receive information from one place and send that information with minimal alteration to another place. But that was, in fact, not the case,” said Sampathkumar. “There was a surprising number of cells receiving information from different places and integrating it before passing it on.”<br /><br />It has “many messy, complicated diverse inputs and outputs,” added Andrew J. Miller-Hansen, a UChicago neuroscience student and a member of the team.</p><p></p><blockquote>There was a surprising number of cells receiving information from different places and integrating it before passing it on.</blockquote><br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br />Through the image reconstructions, the team found that individual neurons can merge signals coming from different regions of the cortex. For example, a single neuron in a region of the thalamus called the posterior medial nucleus (Pom) could receive both sensory and motor information. They also determined that Pom neurons receive similar inputs from unknown sources, “suggesting even greater integration of information than our data directly show,” the paper noted.<br /><br />“Our understanding of how sensory and motor information is integrated in the thalamus will be important to learning how information flows generally in the brain,” said Miller-Hansen. “We want to know whether this pattern of convergence is specific to sensory and motor integration or if it’s a common circuit pattern supporting other forms of integration in the brain.”<br /><br />By clarifying the processing and signaling capabilities of neurons in the thalamus, this new information could help find treatments for schizophrenia, some forms of epilepsy and other brain disorders, where the thalamic dysfunction seems related to the clinical problems.<br /><br />In addition to Sampathkumar and Miller-Hansen, study authors were S. Murray Sherman at UChicago and Asst. Prof. Narayanan “Bobby” Kasthuri, who holds a joint appointment with Argonne and UChicago.</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-33476464301812156882021-08-08T17:56:00.004+00:002021-08-08T17:56:56.019+00:00Singapore’s Quantum Engineering Programme Teams Up With Amazon Web Services To Boost Quantum Technology Development<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu4frwWcm-gIV7dLOUwYwGTd1lfyA-a8WLO8ZFhIMnIYeLeDLcQg-jOe9u4NuQLv9tAkHHz-bXYHtM8iHtJVKzPQzFvy3l-mUFnZF4VHMY0RdgSLiSCnMdvGh_HRZ1KdDqPS8gteAsLU4/s1920/Officials+Of+NUS+Research+And+Technology+Team+And+Amazon+Web+Services+ASEAN+Inked+The+MOU+between+NUS+and+AWS..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="1920" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu4frwWcm-gIV7dLOUwYwGTd1lfyA-a8WLO8ZFhIMnIYeLeDLcQg-jOe9u4NuQLv9tAkHHz-bXYHtM8iHtJVKzPQzFvy3l-mUFnZF4VHMY0RdgSLiSCnMdvGh_HRZ1KdDqPS8gteAsLU4/s320/Officials+Of+NUS+Research+And+Technology+Team+And+Amazon+Web+Services+ASEAN+Inked+The+MOU+between+NUS+and+AWS..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Officials Of NUS Research And Technology Team <br />And Amazon Web Services ASEAN Inked The <br />MOU between NUS and AWS.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The National University of Singapore (NUS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for a collaboration to boost the development of quantum communication and computing technologies, and explore potential industry applications of quantum capabilities.<br /><br />Quantum computing has the potential to solve computational problems that are beyond the reach of classical computers by harnessing the laws of quantum mechanics to build more powerful tools for processing information. Developing quantum algorithms and designing useful quantum applications require new skills and potentially radically different approaches. Quantum communication offers encryption resistant to computational hacks and new possibilities in networking.<br /><br />The collaboration is led by the Quantum Engineering Programme (QEP), a national initiative launched in 2018 by the National Research Foundation, Singapore (NRF), which aims to leverage quantum technologies to solve real-world problems. The programme is hosted by NUS.<br /><br />Under the MoU, AWS will support QEP in the development of quantum computing research and projects, and connect to the National Quantum-Safe Network for quantum communications. Both areas include the identification of use cases and development of applications that could support future commercialisation of Singapore-designed quantum computing and communication technologies, and the joint organisation of academic, scientific, and public outreach activities like seminars, workshops, festivals, and conferences.<br /><br />Professor Chen Tsuhan, NUS Deputy President (Research & Technology), said, “Singapore’s journey to becoming a knowledge-based economy requires a right mix of world-class talent, cutting-edge infrastructure, and a well-established knowledge transfer ecosystem. A cornerstone of this vision is the QEP hosted at NUS, which brings together expertise in quantum science and engineering, and aims to translate radical innovations into commercialisable solutions. This collaboration between QEP and AWS is a crucial enabler for the nation’s full digital transformation and opens the door to a quantum-ready future.”<br /><br />Quantum technologies have been identified as a key technology area under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2025 Plan, which NRF manages. The collaboration between QEP and AWS will accelerate the development of innovations and solutions in this field.<br /><br />Mr Ling Keok Tong, Director (Smart Nation and Digital Economy) at NRF, said, “Through our early and steady investments over the last 20 years, Singapore has developed world-class capabilities in quantum technologies. We intend to collaborate with AWS to bring these technologies to fruition through actual products and services, and continue to spur our local research ecosystem to push the envelope in developing capabilities and technologies that are of interest to the industry.”<br /><br />“Singapore has built its quantum technology expertise over many years. AWS is delighted to collaborate with QEP to accelerate the quantum innovation in Singapore working directly with researchers, developers, governments, and organisations,” said Ms Tan Lee Chew, ASEAN Managing Director, Worldwide Public Sector, AWS. “We are committed to making quantum technology accessible to any customer to experiment and explore the technology’s potential to develop industry-focused solutions that solve meaningful customer challenges.”<br /><br />Synergistic collaboration<br /><br />QEP and AWS forged the collaboration on a common goal of growing capabilities in the quantum community.<br /><br />Since its establishment, QEP has supported eight major research projects to further the development of quantum technologies. New projects include exploring more powerful hardware and software solutions for quantum computers (which could eventually outperform today’s supercomputers) for commercial tasks like optimising delivery routes for goods, simulating chemicals to help design drugs, or making manufacturing more efficient. These solutions could become a reality when larger, more advanced quantum computers become available. Meanwhile, the National Quantum-Safe Network will see the integration of highly secure quantum communication systems into local fibre networks.<br /><br />QEP also nurtures opportunities that involve local and international companies in Singapore’s vibrant innovation ecosystem.<br /><br />AWS supports democratised access to quantum computing through Amazon Braket, a fully managed quantum computing service that helps researchers and developers get started with the technology to accelerate research and discovery. Amazon Braket provides access to three types of quantum hardware, including quantum annealers and gate-based systems built on superconducting qubits and on trapped ions, as well as tools to run hybrid quantum and classical algorithms. Amazon Braket’s cross-platform developer tools provide a consistent experience so users do not need to learn multiple development environments, making it easy to explore which quantum computing technology is the best fit for an application.<br /><br />“QEP is preparing Singapore to be a hub for innovation in quantum devices and services, and making this a success will require combining efforts with industry”, said Associate Professor Alexander Ling, Director of the QEP. “We are delighted that AWS is bringing its breadth and depth of cloud technologies to support this shared vision. We look forward to seeing the outcomes of this collaboration,” added Assoc Prof Ling, who is also from the <a href="https://www.physics.nus.edu.sg/" target="_blank">NUS Department of Physics</a>, and is a Principal Investigator at the <a href="https://www.quantumlah.org/" target="_blank">Centre for Quantum Technologies.</a></p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-12091053731929728312021-08-08T17:37:00.002+00:002021-08-13T22:36:47.413+00:00MIT Engineers Have Designed A Small Device That Can Detect Covid-19 From A Saliva Sample In An Hour<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga7IY9JanoNs83Qi-FoKt4QzbhyFRwAxXbOVZOC967JwlIE663Trmbp-bXfbWMug2LZ6CmFIgHnrq4ZkQw1Pu1DkXqAcSTflvNrogSqWYQIEzHLWKZwzSjPgJuoV-oshHhB-nePHb26Jk/s900/Tabletop+diagnostic+device+that+can+detect+SARS-CoV-2+from+a+saliva+sample.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga7IY9JanoNs83Qi-FoKt4QzbhyFRwAxXbOVZOC967JwlIE663Trmbp-bXfbWMug2LZ6CmFIgHnrq4ZkQw1Pu1DkXqAcSTflvNrogSqWYQIEzHLWKZwzSjPgJuoV-oshHhB-nePHb26Jk/s320/Tabletop+diagnostic+device+that+can+detect+SARS-CoV-2+from+a+saliva+sample.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tabletop diagnostic device that can detect <br />SARS-CoV-2 from a saliva sample</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Engineers at MIT and Harvard University have designed a small tabletop device that can detect SARS-CoV-2 from a saliva sample in about an hour. In a new study, they showed that the diagnostic is just as accurate as the PCR tests now used.<br /><br />The device can also be used to detect specific viral mutations linked to some of the SARS-CoV-2 variants that are now circulating. This result can also be obtained within an hour, potentially making it much easier to track different variants of the virus, especially in regions that don’t have access to genetic sequencing facilities.<br /><br />“We demonstrated that our platform can be programmed to detect new variants that emerge, and that we could repurpose it quite quickly,” says James Collins, the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science in MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) and Department of Biological Engineering. “In this study, we targeted the U.K., South African, and Brazilian variants, but you could readily adapt the diagnostic platform to address the Delta variant and other ones that are emerging.”<br /><br />The new diagnostic, which relies on CRISPR technology, can be assembled for about $15, but those costs could come down significantly if the devices were produced at large scale, the researchers say.<br /><br />Collins is the senior author of the new study, which appears today in Science Advances. The paper’s lead authors are Helena de Puig, a postdoc at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering; Rose Lee, an instructor in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a visiting fellow at the Wyss Institute; Devora Najjar, a graduate student in MIT’s Media Lab; and Xiao Tan, a clinical fellow at the Wyss Institute and an instructor in gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital.<br /><br />A self-contained diagnostic<br /><br />The new diagnostic is based on SHERLOCK, a CRISPR-based tool that Collins and others first reported in 2017. Components of the system include an RNA guide strand that allows detection of specific target RNA sequences, and Cas enzymes that cleave those sequences and produce a fluorescent signal. All of these molecular components can be freeze-dried for long-term storage and reactivated upon exposure to water.<br /><br />Last year, Collins’ lab began working on adapting this technology to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus, hoping that they could design a diagnostic device that could yield rapid results and be operated with little or no expertise. They also wanted it to work with saliva samples, making it even easier for users.<br /><br />To achieve that, the researchers had to incorporate a critical pre-processing step that disables enzymes called salivary nucleases, which destroy nucleic acids such as RNA. Once the sample goes into the device, the nucleases are inactivated by heat and two chemical reagents. Then, viral RNA is extracted and concentrated by passing the saliva through a membrane.<br /><br />“That membrane was key to collecting the nucleic acids and concentrating them so that we can get the sensitivity that we are showing with this diagnostic,” Lee says.<br /><br />This RNA sample is then exposed to freeze-dried CRISPR/Cas components, which are activated by automated puncturing of sealed water packets within the device. The one-pot reaction amplifies the RNA sample and then detects the target RNA sequence, if present.<br /><br />“Our goal was to create an entirely self-contained diagnostic that requires no other equipment,” Tan says. “Essentially the patient spits into this device, and then you push down a plunger and you get an answer an hour later.”<br /><br />The researchers designed the device, which they call minimally instrumented SHERLOCK (miSHERLOCK), so that it can have up to four modules that each look for a different target RNA sequence. The original module contains RNA guide strands that detect any strain of SARS-CoV-2. Other modules are specific to mutations associated with some of the variants that have arisen in the past year, including B.1.1.7, P.1, and B.1.351.<br /><br />The Delta variant was not yet widespread when the researchers performed this study, but because the system is already built, they say it should be straightforward to design a new module to detect that variant. The system could also be easily programmed to monitor for new mutations that could make the virus more infectious.<br /><br />“If you want to do more of a broad epidemiological survey, you can design assays before a mutation of concern appears in a population, to monitor for potentially dangerous mutations in the spike protein,” Najjar says.<br /><br />Tracking variants<br /><br />The researchers first tested their device with human saliva spiked with synthetic SARS-CoV-2 RNA sequences, and then with about 50 samples from patients who had tested positive for the virus. They found that the device was just as accurate as the gold standard PCR tests now used, which require nasal swabs and take more time and significantly more hardware and sample handling to yield results.<br /><br />The device produces a fluorescent readout that can be seen with the naked eye, and the researchers also designed a smartphone app that can read the results and send them to public health departments for easier tracking.<br /><br />The researchers believe their device could be produced at a cost as low as $2 to $3 per device. If approved by the FDA and manufactured at large scale, they envision that this kind of diagnostic could be useful either for people who want to be able to test at home, or in health care centers in areas without widespread access to PCR testing or genetic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 variants.<br /><br />“The ability to detect and track these variants is essential to effective public health, but unfortunately, variants are currently diagnosed only by nucleic acid sequencing at specialized epidemiological centers that are scarce even in resource-rich nations,” de Puig says.<br /><br />The research was funded by the Wyss Institute; the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group; the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research, which is supported by the National Institutes of Health; a Burroughs-Wellcome American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene postdoctoral fellowship; an American Gastroenterological Association Takeda Pharmaceutical Research Scholar Award; and an MIT-TATA Center fellowship.</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-38534200756671001002021-07-31T09:09:00.001+00:002021-07-31T09:09:11.232+00:00Auve Tech And University of Tartu Researchers Showcased World's Autonomous Hydrogen Vehicle<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirh0g80opI_73UDxJ8fdNgKDCH1GE-82KO9nwsjJ_EV4DY_UwUJSWRcCMrnsq7pElgnMIuBupcjMFOCJgKt31jFZ0HUIqamPCIBoSTK9j3FB9lXYPOzP9oB3hU7yAj1LjmVzoWZzMlu9o/s1280/First+Autonomous+Hydrogen+Vehicle%252C+Created+By+AuveTech+In.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirh0g80opI_73UDxJ8fdNgKDCH1GE-82KO9nwsjJ_EV4DY_UwUJSWRcCMrnsq7pElgnMIuBupcjMFOCJgKt31jFZ0HUIqamPCIBoSTK9j3FB9lXYPOzP9oB3hU7yAj1LjmVzoWZzMlu9o/s320/First+Autonomous+Hydrogen+Vehicle%252C+Created+By+AuveTech+In.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Autonomous Hydrogen Vehicle,By AuveTech <br />In Cooperation With University of Tartu researchers,</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Today, the world’s first autonomous hydrogen vehicle, created by the Estonian enterprise Auve Tech in cooperation with University of Tartu researchers, was presented to the public for the first time in Tartu. The first passenger on the hydrogen vehicle was the President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid.<br /><br />The hydrogen shuttle, which at the beginning of June successfully drove its first test kilometers and was authorised by the Estonian Road Administration for public traffic, was completed thanks to the collaboration that started in February 2020. The vehicle is powered by low-temperature hydrogen cells, which were developed at the University of Tartu and which produce energy from hydrogen right inside Auve Tech’s self-driving shuttle. Seating up to six passengers, it is primarily aimed at enhancing last-mile transportation. Like Auve Tech’s other vehicles, the shuttle can drive without human interference both in public traffic and semiclosed areas; its movements can be monitored and, if necessary, corrected by remote control.<br /><br />At the premiere of the vehicle in front of the main building of the University of Tartu, the President of the Republic of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid held a speech in which she emphasised that the development of a hydrogen shuttle is not only an important milestone in the integration of two promising future technologies, but also marks a major step towards the new reality in which people and innovative scientific solutions meet in everyday life. “No one in the world has dared to spend time and resources on bringing together two parallel developments in transport – autonomous driving and remote control with hydrogen fuel. This shows that both technologies are still in an experimental stage. Undeniably, an entrepreneur who combines these two things takes a risk that is not twice but two squared as big. We actually don’t know what exactly our future will be and how soon it will be here. Like always, the problem is not in science or technology, but in the human being. We cannot imagine what happens when we have two types of drivers in traffic. It is possible that we, the Homo sapiens, must step away from the steering wheel to make room for self-driving vehicles,” said Kaljulaid. “Over 30 years, Estonians have done a lot of things that others have said they would, but do not dare to do. In this sense, Auve Tech’s hydrogen car fits perfectly into the worldview of Estonians,” said the President.<br /><br />Väino Kaldoja, founder of Auve Tech and author of the Iseauto concept, says that in small Estonia it is possible to do great things in a short time. “This is what we experienced a few years ago, when our Iseauto was approved as road-legal, as well as now, as we are the first in the world to have combined autonomous driving and hydrogen energy in a vehicle,” he said. For Kaldoja, not only the end result is important, but also the students, researchers and experts involved in the process, who have been able to actively participate in creating something that is unique. More than 50 students were involved in the hydrogen shuttle project and all of them acquired much valuable knowledge about innovative hydrogen technology. “Today is definitely a significant day for the whole world but we still have so much energy, so that for us it is just a landmark on our long journey,” said the founder of Auve Tech. The hydrogen shuttle will be called Liisu, after Väino Kaldoja’s granddaughter Lisandra. “This is our nod to all Estonian girls and boys who are still at school, curious to take in more knowledge,” Kaldoja explained.<br /><br />Professor of Physical Chemistry and Director of the Institute of Chemistry at the University of Tartu, Academician Enn Lust is highly grateful to Auve Tech for their decision to involve University of Tartu scientists in converting their autonomous vehicle to run on hydrogen. “It is important for us to show the initiative in developing fuel cells that convert hydrogen to energy. Hydrogen is the only sustainable solution in a situation where by 2030, at least 12% of the transport in Estonia must be powered by renewable fuels. We proved that in cooperation with the private sector, we are able to find a solution to it,” Lust said. He says that now it should be further developed on the national level. “Estonia is a small country, where a nationwide hydrogen infrastructure could be developed quickly, similarly to Germany, where the maximum distance between hydrogen filling stations is less than 150 km,” Lust said.<br /><br />According to CEO of Auve Tech Johannes Mossov, a driverless hydrogen vehicle is an environmentally friendly alternative to personal cars. “The hydrogen used in the hydrogen cell makes it possible to produce the electricity needed to run the vehicle inside the vehicle, and the only by-products are vaporised water and heat. Its fast charging compared to electric cars allows more working hours for the vehicle, increasing the efficiency and introducing a way to integrate autonomous transportation to our everyday lives,” said Mossov.Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-72855908921171321432021-07-21T12:42:00.005+00:002021-07-21T12:42:59.950+00:00Researchers In Cambridge’s Bioelectronics Lab Are Developing Devices To Restore Movement To Paralyzed Limbs<p><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTfEM4WKV8XUkhj0pVFtv_sQ6EoMSOiSRixCQPNZZgmJr-TdR5Spxh5jR-voTegE_-ORmvY0Yz7P3JcheY1P3dPRZ8Q80iGMDOcVRKBE6E2B-c00z-QzkcA1o_gjBhPXvXEslYgADHjo/s1028/Screenshot+2021-07-19+at+14-49-07+Wireless+limb+control.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="1028" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTfEM4WKV8XUkhj0pVFtv_sQ6EoMSOiSRixCQPNZZgmJr-TdR5Spxh5jR-voTegE_-ORmvY0Yz7P3JcheY1P3dPRZ8Q80iGMDOcVRKBE6E2B-c00z-QzkcA1o_gjBhPXvXEslYgADHjo/s320/Screenshot+2021-07-19+at+14-49-07+Wireless+limb+control.png" width="320" /></a></b></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>W</b></span>hen you want to raise your hand, your brain sends an electrical signal down your spinal cord and into the nerve that feeds the shoulder muscle. This triggers a wave of electricity to spread across the muscle, causing it to contract and your arm to rise. But when this nerve is seriously damaged it can no longer transmit the message – and control of the arm is lost.<br /><br />“Nerves are the ‘wires’ that carry information to and from our brain, giving us the ability to move muscles on command and receive sensory information about our environment,” says Professor George Malliaras, Prince Philip Professor of Technology at the Bioelectronics Lab in Cambridge’s Department of Engineering.<br /><br />“Damage to nerves can occur in many ways, through disease or injury, and it can result in permanent paralysis and numbness that can severely impact quality of life. According to the <a href="https://www.christopherreeve.org/living-with-paralysis/stats-about-paralysis" target="_blank">Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation</a>, almost 1 in 50 people in the US live with paralysis. That’s 5,357,970 people with a central nervous system disorder resulting in difficulty or inability to move the upper or lower extremities.” <br /><br />Malliaras is applying his expertise in electronics to the biological wiring of the human body - he wants to create implantable devices that interface with the brain and nervous system to bypass damaged nerves. He is currently leading a project - devised by Dr Alejandro Carnicer-Lombarte - aimed at treating people with peripheral nerve injury, typically caused by a physical insult like a car crash or knife wound.<br /><br />The team is developing two devices, which they call ‘neuro-prosthetics’. One will read electrical patterns from the brain, and another will inject an electrical stimulus into the target muscle group. The two devices will be connected to each other wirelessly, allowing the seamless transfer of information between the two sites and bypassing the damaged nerve entirely. <br /><br />“In much the same way that wireless headphones have made the old wired headphones redundant, our aim is make muscles wireless by intercepting electrical signals from the brain before they enter the damaged nerve, and sending them directly to the target muscles via radio waves,” says Sam Hilton, a Research Assistant in Malliaras’ team.<br /><br />The procedure has been tested and refined in computer simulations, and on cells grown in the lab. But before it can be tested in humans there is another important step: testing its safety in living animals.<br /><br />“Due to the novel nature of the devices, we have a moral and ethical responsibility to ensure the procedure is safe before being used in humans,” says Hilton. “For this, there is no substitute for the highly complex and interconnected systems of the living body – we need to test it in animals.” <br /><br />Testing the device in rats is helping the team to see where improvements need to be made in the design, implantation protocol or the settings of the device. In the final stages of validation they will use a rat model of nerve injury to show that function can be restored to a paralysed limb.<br /><br />Each device is implanted into the brain of an adult rat, in a quick procedure under general anaesthetic. A 3D-printed head cap attached to the rat’s skull contains electronics that convey information about electrical impulses in the rat’s brain to a computer for analysis. One week after the device is fitted, the rat is fully recovered and data collection can begin.<br /><br />Once optimised, the team hopes to use the device to recognise the tell-tale brain pattern associated with the rat’s paw-grasping movement, by offering the rat sugar pellets that it has to reach for and recording the corresponding electrical signals. The data will help them develop the device to be able to determine when a rat wants to grasp with its paw, based on its brain activity alone.<br /><br />The rats’ welfare is paramount throughout this research. The animals are housed in groups of three or four per cage to stimulate their normal social behaviours – this also enables the researchers to spot any anti-social behaviour, a signal of distress.<br /><br />Once the device has been implanted, the rats are given special nesting material and easy-to-eat food, and heat packs are attached to the cages to aid recovery. They are checked on regularly and pain relief given as required. Any rat showing signs of chronic distress - such as erect hair, hunched posture, anti-social behaviour and weight loss of 15% of pre-treatment body weight - will be humanely killed.<br /><br />To avoid testing in animals entirely would place untenable risk on the first human recipients of this new device. The team say that reducing the number of animals used is an important goal for any study, but experiments that don’t include enough animals to produce statistically relevant data are a waste of resources. All of their experiments are carefully designed to ensure that just enough animals are used to produce convincing data, without resulting in unnecessary excess. <br />To avoid testing in animals entirely would place untenable risk on the first human recipients of this new device.<br /><br />By working out how complex microelectronics can interface with living tissue in a very precise and controlled way, this work has potential to improve or restore movement in patients suffering severe nerve damage - improving their quality of life, and easing the burden on our healthcare services.<p></p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-69455509611090278052021-07-21T11:59:00.002+00:002021-07-21T11:59:37.199+00:00Top UK Organizations Release Annual Statistics For Use Of Animals In Research<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXcEReAYcFL2o5hVJRk48B0SW0iH3qXT05Qvgb7Fizk-DwKHSq6HWwfGh0cmdH95fmPvP9xYn1unwwDYZrrFdf-D1uZlMFDzl3aJ4eu-lBuXdCD4R9QhYJ9A-FmLaaWBSxh8wqkbxDoQ/s885/Animal+use+in+medical%252C+veterinary+and+scientific+research.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="885" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXcEReAYcFL2o5hVJRk48B0SW0iH3qXT05Qvgb7Fizk-DwKHSq6HWwfGh0cmdH95fmPvP9xYn1unwwDYZrrFdf-D1uZlMFDzl3aJ4eu-lBuXdCD4R9QhYJ9A-FmLaaWBSxh8wqkbxDoQ/s320/Animal+use+in+medical%252C+veterinary+and+scientific+research.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Animal use in medical, veterinary and <br />scientific research</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The ten organisations in Great Britain that carry out the highest number of animal procedures – those used in medical, veterinary and scientific research - have today released their annual statistics.<br /><br />This is to coincide with the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-of-scientific-procedures-on-living-animals-great-britain-2020" target="_blank">Home Office’s publication</a> of Great Britain’s statistics for animals used in research in 2020.<br /><br />These ten organisations carried out 1,343,893 procedures, 47% or nearly half of the 2,883,310 procedures carried out in Great Britain in 2020. More than 99% of these 1,343,893 procedures were carried out in rodents or fish.<br /><br />The statistics are freely available on the organisations’ websites as part of their ongoing commitment to transparency and openness around the use of animals in research.<br /><br />The ten organisations are listed below alongside the total number of procedures that they carried out in 2020. This is the sixth consecutive year organisations have come together to publicise their collective statistics and examples of their research.</p><p>
</p><table align="left" border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="cam-table-bordered cam-table-striped cam-table cam-vertical-stacking-table"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><strong>Organisation</strong></th><th scope="col"><strong>Number of Procedures</strong></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>The Francis Crick Institute</td>
<td>183,811</td>
</tr><tr><td>University of Cambridge</td>
<td>177,219</td>
</tr><tr><td>Medical Research Council</td>
<td>173,637</td>
</tr><tr><td>University of Oxford</td>
<td>169,511</td>
</tr><tr><td>University of Edinburgh</td>
<td>151,669</td>
</tr><tr><td>UCL</td>
<td>142,988</td>
</tr><tr><td>University of Glasgow</td>
<td>102,526</td>
</tr><tr><td>University of Manchester</td>
<td>93,448</td>
</tr><tr><td>King's College London</td>
<td>85,414</td>
</tr><tr><td>Imperial College London</td>
<td>63,670</td>
</tr><tr><td><strong>TOTAL</strong></td><td><strong>1,343,893</strong></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /><br />A further breakdown of Cambridge’s numbers, including the number of procedures by species and detail of the levels of severity, can be found on our <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/research-at-cambridge/animal-research/faqs" target="_blank">animal research pages.<br /></a><br />Animal research has been essential for developing lifesaving vaccines and treatments for Covid-19. Ferrets and macaque monkeys were used to test the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, including the successful Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine. Hamsters are being used to develop Covid-19 treatment strategies as they display a more severe form of the disease than ferrets and monkeys. Guinea pigs have also been used in regulatory research to batch test vaccine potency.<br /><br />Despite all this research to develop vaccines and treatments for Covid-19, the majority of UK research facilities carried out significantly less research than usual due to the various national lockdowns. Therefore, the 2020 figures cannot be reasonably compared with previous statistics.<br /><br />All organisations are committed to the ‘3Rs’ of replacement, reduction and refinement. This means avoiding or replacing the use of animals where possible; minimising the number of animals used per experiment and optimising the experience of the animals to improve animal welfare. However, as institutions expand and conduct more research, the total number of animals used can rise even if fewer animals are used per study.<br /><br />All organisations listed are signatories to the <a href="http://concordatopenness.org.uk/" target="_blank">Concordat on Openness on Animal Research in the UK</a>, a commitment to be more open about the use of animals in scientific, medical and veterinary research in the UK. More than 120 organisations have signed the Concordat including UK universities, medical research charities, research funders, learned societies and commercial research organisations.<br /><br />Wendy Jarrett, Chief Executive of Understanding Animal Research, which developed the Concordat on Openness, said:<br /><br />"Animal research has been essential to the development and safety testing of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Macaque monkeys and ferrets have been used to develop vaccines, including the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, hamsters are being used to develop treatments, and guinea pigs are used to quality-check each batch of vaccines.<br /><br />"Animal testing provided scientists with initial data that the vaccines were effective and safe enough to move into human clinical trials. During these trials, thousands more humans than animals were used to test how effective and safe the vaccines were in people. The pandemic has led to increased public interest in the way vaccines and medicines are developed and UAR has worked with research institutions and funding bodies throughout the UK to develop resources that explain to the public how animals have been used in this critical research."<br /><br />University of Cambridge Establishment Licence Holder Dr Martin Vinnell said:<br /><br />“Animal research currently plays an essential role in our understanding of health and disease and in the development of modern medicines and surgical techniques. Without the use of animals, we would not have many of the modern medicines, antibiotics, vaccines and surgical techniques we take for granted in both human and veterinary medicine.<br /><br />“We always aim to use as few animals as possible, refining our research and actively looking for ways of replacing their use, for example in the development of ‘mini-organs’ grown from human cells, which can be used to model disease.”</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-28284839496765715152021-07-21T11:42:00.007+00:002021-07-21T11:42:59.204+00:00Formula 1 Launch #WeRaceAsOne Engineering Scholarship At University Of Cambridge<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpigYanTzdtf0pwas0VXK80pMVMrtOjU8PrNsjeFNRxeOBzHxaNM8Q89HOpiq6o7hLSQLF3FMJKame7dGOBaecZw_CAnFef5X2k5YP6fsDr0zd9Cxj5PsAIQ0CW5jWAMonq2R0JOqr2LE/s997/Formula+1%25E2%2580%2599s+%2523WeRaceAsOne+Engineering+Scholarship+Lunch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="997" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpigYanTzdtf0pwas0VXK80pMVMrtOjU8PrNsjeFNRxeOBzHxaNM8Q89HOpiq6o7hLSQLF3FMJKame7dGOBaecZw_CAnFef5X2k5YP6fsDr0zd9Cxj5PsAIQ0CW5jWAMonq2R0JOqr2LE/s320/Formula+1%25E2%2580%2599s+%2523WeRaceAsOne+Engineering+Scholarship+Lunch.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Formula 1’s #WeRaceAsOne Engineering <br />Scholarship Lunch</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Formula 1 is to fund an undergraduate student from an underrepresented background to study for an engineering degree at the University of Cambridge. The scholarship will be administered by the Cambridge Trust and will cover tuition fees and maintenance costs for the four year duration of the course.<br /><br />Following the launch of Formula 1’s #WeRaceAsOne initiative last year it set out plans to increase diversity and inclusion across Formula 1, in addition to wider plans set out in its diversity and inclusion strategy in 2019. Formula 1 announced last year that as a sport it would focus specifically on creating employment and education opportunities for underrepresented groups with a personal contribution of $1 million (around £725,000) from its non-executive chairman, Chase Carey, to finance primarily, but not exclusively, engineering-focused scholarships for underrepresented students.<br /><br />On 14 July Formula 1 announced the Formula 1 Engineering Scholarships, for ten students from underrepresented groups including ethnic minorities, women, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Each scholarship will provide the full cost of a student’s tuition, together with a living stipend. The scholars will be part of the September/October 2021 intake of undergraduate courses in the UK and Masters (postgraduate) in Italy. All ten Formula 1 teams have committed to provide work experience opportunities to a scholar during their time at university. The participating universities represent different regions within the UK and Italy, and each will run an independent selection process to determine the scholarship recipients. Alongside Cambridge, Formula 1 is partnering with Coventry, Manchester Metropolitan, MUNER – Motorvehicle University of Emilia-Romagna (Italy), Oxford, and Strathclyde.<br /><br />As well as the scholarship programme, Formula 1 is launching an apprentice programme and internship programme for underrepresented groups.<br /><br />Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1 said:<br /><br />"Formula 1 is a global sport with fans across the world. We want to be as diverse as our fan base and that is why we are taking action to ensure talented people from underrepresented groups have the best opportunities to get into, and build, a fantastic career in this amazing sport. I am delighted to announce that scholars, apprentices and interns will get the chance to fulfil their dreams in Formula 1 and I know they have amazing futures ahead of them. I want to pay particular thanks to Chase, whose generous donation is funding the ten scholarships."<br /><br />"Our #WeRaceAsOne platform is our commitment to make real change and shows our recognition that we know we must make a positive contribution to the world we live in. All of the teams are committed to this and the work of the Hamilton Commission shows the dedication to addressing these issues across Formula 1. Our focus is on diversity and inclusion, sustainability and community, and we will continue to drive forward with our plans to be more diverse, more sustainable and leave a lasting positive impact on the countries and communities we visit. We know we must continue to move forward on these issues and the whole sport is united in doing this in the months and years ahead."<br /><br />Professor Richard Prager, the Head of the University of Cambridge’s Engineering Dept, said:<br /><br />"We are incredibly grateful to Formula 1 for providing a student with this generous scholarship. Engineering is about problem solving, creativity and team-work, which all benefit greatly from a diverse and inclusive environment. This scholarship will highlight the importance of this priority for the Department of Engineering and the wider University, and hopefully encourage many other students from currently underrepresented backgrounds to consider studying engineering at Cambridge."<br /><br /></p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-66837692536680459562021-07-21T11:06:00.001+00:002021-07-21T11:06:05.728+00:00Biological ‘fingerprints’ Of Long COVID In Blood Could Lead To Diagnostic Test, Say Cambridge Scientists <p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0727B7UySLAqvmu2Kog7kZ_A3vzCIAG9Lsk99UYZPEjc0sKh0jitG6WmliTfRvjJQJ0NS0EGECu1Rp-_0-qffniNefWKy1lKXEfbablPpEv5AXVt_I80eizK-YMRo0zrVNCT-gl5_j6Y/s885/Markers+in+our+blood+%25E2%2580%2593+%25E2%2580%2598fingerprints%25E2%2580%2599+of+infection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="885" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0727B7UySLAqvmu2Kog7kZ_A3vzCIAG9Lsk99UYZPEjc0sKh0jitG6WmliTfRvjJQJ0NS0EGECu1Rp-_0-qffniNefWKy1lKXEfbablPpEv5AXVt_I80eizK-YMRo0zrVNCT-gl5_j6Y/s320/Markers+in+our+blood+%25E2%2580%2593+%25E2%2580%2598fingerprints%25E2%2580%2599+of+infection.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Markers in our blood – ‘fingerprints’ of infection</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Markers in our blood – ‘fingerprints’ of infection – could help identify individuals who have been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, several months after infection even if the individual had only mild symptoms or showed no symptoms at all, say Cambridge researchers.<br /><br />The team has received funding from the National Institute for Health Research to develop a test that could complement existing antibody tests. They also aim to use similar biological signatures to develop a test and monitor for long COVID.<br /><br />While most people recover from COVID-19 in a matter of days or weeks, around one in ten people go on to develop symptoms that can last for several months. This can be the case irrespective of the severity of their COVID-19 – even individuals who were asymptomatic can experience so-called ‘long COVID’.</p><blockquote class="clearfix cam-float-right" style="text-align: left;">
<p class="cam-quote-mark" style="text-align: justify;"></p><blockquote><p class="cam-quote-mark" style="text-align: justify;">Because we currently have no
reliable way of diagnosing long COVID, the uncertainty can cause added
stress to people who are experiencing potential symptoms. If we can say
to them ‘yes, you have a biomarker and so you have long COVID’, we
believe this will help allay some of their fears and anxieties</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><cite>Nyarie Sithole</cite></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><cite></cite></div> </blockquote><p></p><p><br />Diagnosing long COVID can be a challenge, however. A patient with asymptomatic or mild disease may not have taken a PCR test at the time of infection – the gold standard for diagnosing COVID-19 – and so has never had a confirmed diagnosis. Even antibody tests – which look for immune cells produced in response to infection – are estimated to miss around 30% of cases, particularly among those who have had only mild disease and or beyond six months post-initial illness.<br /><br />A team at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has received £370,000 from the National Institute for Health Research to develop a COVID-19 diagnostic test that would complement existing antibody tests and a test that could objectively diagnose and monitor long COVID.<br /><br />The research builds on a pilot project supported by the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust. The team has been recruiting patients from the Long COVID Clinic established in May 2020 at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, part of Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.<br /><br />During the pilot, the team recruited 85 patients to the Cambridge NIHR COVID BioResource, which collects blood samples from patients when they are first diagnosed and then at follow-up intervals over several months. They now hope to expand their cohort to 500 patients, recruited from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.<br /><br />In their initial findings, the team identified a biomarker – a biological fingerprint – in the blood of patients who had previously had COVID-19. This biomarker is a molecule known as a cytokine produced by T cells in response to infection. As with antibodies, this biomarker persists in the blood for a long time after infection. The team plans to publish their results shortly.<br /><br />Dr Mark Wills from the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge, who co-leads the team, said: “We need a reliable and objective way of saying whether someone has had COVID-19. Antibodies are one sign we look for, but not everyone makes a very strong response and this can wane over time and become undetectable.<br /><br />“We’ve identified a cytokine that is also produced in response to infection by T cells and is likely to be detectable for several months – and potentially years – following infection. We believe this will help us develop a much more reliable diagnostic for those individuals who did not get a diagnosis at the time of infection.”<br /><br />By following patients for up to 18 months post-infection, the team hopes to address several questions, including whether immunity wanes over time. This will be an important part of helping understand whether people who have been vaccinated will need to receive boosters to keep them protected.<br /><br />As part of their pilot study, the team also identified a particular biomarker found in patients with long COVID. Their work suggests these patients produce a second type of cytokine, which persists in patients with long COVID compared to those that recover quickly and might be one of the drivers behind the many symptoms that patients experience. This might therefore prove to be useful for diagnosing long COVID.<br /><br />Dr Nyarie Sithole, also from the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge, who co-leads the team and helps to manage long COVID patients, said: “Because we currently have no reliable way of diagnosing long COVID, the uncertainty can cause added stress to people who are experiencing potential symptoms. If we can say to them ‘yes, you have a biomarker and so you have long COVID’, we believe this will help allay some of their fears and anxieties.<br /><br />“There is anecdotal evidence that patients see an improvement in symptoms of long COVID once they have been vaccinated – something that we have seen in a small number of patients in our clinic. Our study will allow us to see how this biomarker changes over a longer period of time in response to vaccination.”<br /><br />At the moment, the team is using the tests for research purposes, but by increasing the size of their study cohort and carrying out further work, they hope to adapt and optimise the tests that can be scaled up and speeded up, able to be used by clinical diagnostic labs.<br /><br />As well as developing a reliable test, the researchers hope their work will help provide an in-depth understanding of how the immune system responds to coronavirus infection – and why it triggers long COVID in some people.<br /><br />Dr Sithole added: “One of the theories of what’s driving long COVID is that it’s a hyperactive immune response – in other words, the immune system switches on at the initial infection and for some reason never switches off or never goes back to the baseline. As we’ll be following our patients for many months post-infection, we hope to better understand whether this is indeed the case.”<br /><br />In addition, having a reliable biomarker could help in the development of new treatments against COVID. Clinical trials require an objective measure of whether a drug is effective. Changes in – or the disappearance of – long-COVID-related cytokine biomarkers with corresponding symptom improvement in response to drug treatment would suggest that a treatment intervention is working.</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-50229689732069175772021-07-20T21:12:00.006+00:002021-07-20T21:12:50.510+00:00University Of Cambridge Launches Roadmap To Support Future Growth Of Life Sciences Cluster<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhovH9qkUpTj5hA6ViWSrWBnCL-dMQaCzIGqTOOFz52ocrewZurHjUfYo0-cAp9n5pTAsIvMsLFp0zM_u_Zxzd2ZghUfgSxs0Q5wIjQXHPe0Y3Zkxxo458F71NrLaCKRmzTEGxU-vfKZE8/s885/Health+Tech%252C+the+University+of+Cambridge+Enterprise+Zone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="885" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhovH9qkUpTj5hA6ViWSrWBnCL-dMQaCzIGqTOOFz52ocrewZurHjUfYo0-cAp9n5pTAsIvMsLFp0zM_u_Zxzd2ZghUfgSxs0Q5wIjQXHPe0Y3Zkxxo458F71NrLaCKRmzTEGxU-vfKZE8/s320/Health+Tech%252C+the+University+of+Cambridge+Enterprise+Zone.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Health Tech, the University of Cambridge <br />Enterprise Zone</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Connect: Health Tech, the University of Cambridge Enterprise Zone, has today launched a roadmap, ‘Creating a University Enterprise Zone for Cambridge across the life and physical sciences’, that examines the challenges faced in futureproofing and sustaining the growth of the life sciences cluster to maintain Cambridge as a global centre of excellence for health tech.<br /><br /><a href="https://connect.cam.ac.uk/health-tech" target="_blank">The roadmap</a> sets out a clear plan to create a bridge between two of Cambridge’s historical strengths — biomedical research and cutting-edge technology — and bring these specialisms together to develop new treatments and health tech with real world applications. The solutions in the roadmap are scalable beyond Cambridge and also applicable to other disciplines and sectors.<br /><br />Professor Andy Neely, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Business Relations at the University of Cambridge, said: “Cambridge has a deep and rich history of discovery and collaboration, and its interdisciplinary environment is the perfect testbed for new models of innovation in the life sciences. Our roadmap sets out a plan to do just that and will ensure that Cambridge remains a global leader in health technology into the next generation.<br /><br />“This will require us to pioneer new ways of working and creating connections between different institutions across disciplines, be they academic or private enterprise. Such a model has been proven to work at a small scale – our proposal in the roadmap is to scale this up and apply it across the cluster and beyond.”<br /><br />The University sits at the heart of the so-called ‘Cambridge cluster’, in which more than 5,300 knowledge-intensive firms employ more than 67,000 people and generate £18 billion in turnover. Cambridge has the highest number of patent applications per 100,000 residents in the UK.<br /><br />The mission of the University is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. This includes cultivating and delivering excellent research and world-leading innovation and training of the next generation of highly skilled researchers and entrepreneurs, thereby underpinning the UK's economic growth and competitiveness.<br /><br />Professor Tony Kouzarides, Director of the Milner Therapeutics Institute at the University of Cambridge, said: “The pandemic has clearly shown the importance of rapid innovation in healthcare. We are determined to harness the power of innovation, creativity and collaboration in Cambridge, and apply this towards solving some of the biggest medical challenges facing the country, and the world.”<br /><br />The Connect: Health Tech roadmap is a result of consultation with major stakeholders and a series of road-mapping workshops with the Cambridge community. It aims to shape the future success of the Cambridge cluster in health tech through a supportive and dynamic ecosystem that aligns with the needs of the community.<br /><br />The roadmap includes ambitious steps to build strong foundations for the Cambridge cluster for the next 20 years and will support the region's economic recovery post-pandemic and bring cutting-edge research, businesses and innovators together to be better prepared and connected for the future. Connect: Health Tech will also increase access to the Cambridge ecosystem extending reach and helping to level up growth and investment across the East of England and the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.<br /><br />One of the major recommendations in the report is to create and foster connectivity at the interface between medicine and technology and across sectors. This recommendation has been piloted by expanding the Cambridge cluster from a physical community to a digital one.<br /><br />The COVID19 pandemic has required the creation of an innovative model of access and navigation to Cambridge. The digital platform simplifies navigation of the Cambridge research community and enables new companies based all over the world to access expertise and knowledge across the University with the aim of increasing inward investment in the life sciences. It also pilots an approach to navigation and connectivity that can be scaled up across the Arc and the UK. This new way of working will speed up the development of new healthcare innovations and technologies that the NHS will use in years to come.<br /><br /><a href="https://connect.cam.ac.uk/health-tech" target="_blank">Connect: Health Tech</a> is a Cambridge University initiative funded by Research England. Connect: Health Tech UEZ has been created to build a highly effective interdisciplinary bridge between two Cambridge research hubs and beyond: the West science and technology hub anchored at the Maxwell Centre and South biomedical hub anchored at the Milner Therapeutics Institute. The bridge will bring together and integrate a community from across the University, research institutes, NHS, industry, investors, local and national Government, with a focus on medtech, digital health and therapeutics, to create opportunities that will transform ideas at the interface between medicine and technology into reality.</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-73730743266763225212021-07-20T03:23:00.001+00:002021-07-20T03:23:17.257+00:00How African Countries Can Reform Education To Get Ahead After Pandemic School Closures<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQY4ouFUFxQ4vM-k1n-SQeLoTyucbnc1NHHSYVbgVx02haaHGC4T3lz7GJUOhDV1PmQ99HpQJbF7VvP1oqvy_Gf6FIeri56DBKaDrALS6gbbu9-7IXJ5Z1McRHvQPHXfUlkjUjSIfNjQ/s1157/African+Union.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="1157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQY4ouFUFxQ4vM-k1n-SQeLoTyucbnc1NHHSYVbgVx02haaHGC4T3lz7GJUOhDV1PmQ99HpQJbF7VvP1oqvy_Gf6FIeri56DBKaDrALS6gbbu9-7IXJ5Z1McRHvQPHXfUlkjUjSIfNjQ/s320/African+Union.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Africa Union<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a historic shock to education, shuttering schools for over 1.6 billion children worldwide. This shock will worsen a pre-existing “learning crisis” in which many students in school were learning very little. The World Bank estimates that the percentage of children who are unable to read a simple sentence by age 10 could rise from 53% before the pandemic to 63% as a result of school closures.<br /><br />These learning losses could stem from a combination of things: forgetting what was previously known, and missing what would have been learned if schools hadn’t been closed. These learning losses can accumulate in the long run. Students who re-enter school far behind the curriculum expectations might be too far behind to learn anything from daily instruction and fall even further behind.<br /><br />In a new paper, we looked at how much learning loss might be experienced in Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania and Uganda as a result of school closures in the pandemic. We used data from early grade reading assessments in these countries. Our model suggests there could be up to a year’s worth of learning loss in the short run. Our estimates suggest learning losses will be distributed unequally, with students who started at lower learning levels falling the farthest behind.<br /><br />We estimate that these short-term learning deficits could accumulate to 2.8 years of lost learning in the long run. This is if the curriculum – often overambitious and not aligned to students’ learning levels – is not adjusted to allow students to catch up.<br /><br />Opportunity for reform<br /><br />But that doesn’t have to be the outcome.<br /><br />While COVID-19 has held back learning, bold reform is possible and the pandemic presents a historic opportunity to revamp education systems. It could be a time to institute practices and policies that have been needed to address the underlying learning crisis for decades.<br /><br />Our review of the literature identified two strategies which could help to mitigate learning losses and improve learning even beyond pre-COVID-19 levels. This review builds on a growing evidence base of interventions that have worked at scale in low- and middle-income countries to improve basic numeracy and literacy skills.<br /><br />The first strategy is to target instruction to a child’s learning level. This can be achieved at little cost by testing the child’s knowledge during the learning process – known as formative assessment – and a menu of activities tailored to each child’s level. This has more potential than teaching prescriptive one-size-fits-all syllabi.<br /><br />The second strategy is to introduce structured pedagogy programmes, which combine structured lesson plans, teacher coaching and instructional support. Many teachers in the status quo are often left to fend for themselves and write their own daily lesson plans. By providing some structure and ongoing support, big learning gains are possible.<br />Both approaches in past reviews have been found to improve learning by three years of high-quality schooling gained per US$100. These learning gains are nearly equivalent to the system-level education gap between Zambia, one of the lowest performers in sub-Saharan Africa, and Kenya, one of the highest performers.<br /><br />Our model suggests that short-term remediation through these strategies can make a sizeable dent on learning losses. More strikingly, ambitious reforms linked to these strategies, such as aligning instruction with children’s learning levels on a long-term basis, can not only mitigate all learning losses, but also improve on pre-COVID-19 learning levels.<br />Signs of progress<br /><br />In our study we describe a few examples of countries which are starting to enact such reforms, including Botswana and Madagascar. In Botswana’s second largest region, the North-East, the Ministry of Basic Education’s regional director called for all schools to conduct simple formative assessments and implement targeted instruction immediately as schools reopened in June 2020 following the first wave of COVID-19 induced school closures.<br /><br />The region updated staff’s roles and responsibilities to formalise this expectation. Training sessions were held with support from one of the largest youth-serving NGOs in the country, Young 1ove, in partnership with USAID and UNICEF. The ministry expected frequent reporting on progress, and the regional director visited schools directly to monitor implementation. Although no causal evidence is available yet, early data suggest learning levels are improving faster than in other regions.<br /><br />Madagascar provides another example. The government has strengthened the national catch-up programme, called CRAN, which prior to the pandemic had been providing a two-month intensive learning period to children targeted to their level. By the end of 2018, CRAN had been implemented with UNICEF support in seven out of 22 regions of Madagascar. In late 2020, in response to COVID-19 school closures, this approach was accelerated. Although the government and UNICEF are in the early stages of this work, it shows how governments can strengthen existing programmes to shift teaching and learning practices.<br /><br />These reform efforts are promising. Yet, too few countries have taken bold steps to date. Without urgent action, short-term learning losses could stunt the next generation of students for a lifetime, with potential inter-generational consequences. COVID-19 presents a need to act urgently and an opportunity to think differently. Perhaps some education systems will reform to achieve the long sought-after goal of learning for all.</p><p> Auhtor :- Noam Angrist (Executive Director, Young 1ove, Fellow, University of Oxford) <br /></p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-78297696616124050672021-07-20T02:38:00.000+00:002021-07-20T02:38:03.128+00:00New Research Studies At Oxford University To Help Diagnose And Treat Long COVID Funded By NIHR<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQX32ro6aWUhLap0HjxgvW1R5xqAFKDq1bwInmszOxaQJXJ0x5QaDoIEn9ZSVXDwh_aJtq6A5MAPMnZzW1ucIQ6Tng4a30vVmOboRNStz4bfpzeKBIuLs3P1YEtDVGrbglDGkhjk59vmY/s1200/Research+Funding+Long+COVID+Diagnosis+And+Treatment+By+NIHR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQX32ro6aWUhLap0HjxgvW1R5xqAFKDq1bwInmszOxaQJXJ0x5QaDoIEn9ZSVXDwh_aJtq6A5MAPMnZzW1ucIQ6Tng4a30vVmOboRNStz4bfpzeKBIuLs3P1YEtDVGrbglDGkhjk59vmY/s320/Research+Funding+Long+COVID+Diagnosis+And+Treatment+By+NIHR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Research Funding For Long COVID Diagnosis<br /> And Treatment By NIHR</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Three projects at Oxford have received funding from NIHR to assess breathlessness in Long COVID patients, investigate the impact of Long COVID on families, and examine the role of vaccines in Long COVID. <br /><br />People experiencing Long COVID will benefit from a comprehensive package of new NIHR-funded research to help improve understanding of the condition, from diagnosis and treatment through to rehabilitation and recovery. 15 projects from across the UK have been awarded a total of £19.6 million to examine causes of Long COVID, trial drugs to tackle it, and investigate symptoms such as breathlessness and ‘brain fog’ that have become synonymous with the condition. Studies will also evaluate health services, such as Long COVID clinics, and explore ways patients can monitor the condition to optimise their recovery and return to work.<br /><br />Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, said, 'Long COVID can have serious and debilitating long-term effects for thousands of people across the UK, which can make daily life extremely challenging. This new research is absolutely essential to improve diagnosis and treatments and will be life-changing for those who are battling long-term symptoms of the virus.<br /><br />'It will build on our existing support with over 80 Long COVID assessment services open across England as part of a £100 million expansion of care for those suffering from the condition, and over £50 million invested in research to better understand the lasting effects of this condition.'<br /><br />A total of three projects at Oxford have been given funding, including: <br /><br />The EXPLAIN project<br /><br />The EXPLAIN project, led by Professor Fergus Gleeson at Oxford University and funded with £1.8 million, will seek to diagnose ongoing breathlessness in coronavirus patients who were not admitted to hospital, using MRI scans to trace inhaled gas moving into and out of the lungs to assess disease severity and whether breathlessness improves over time. The project will be done in cooperation with Professor Jim Wild at the University of Sheffield. <br /><br />Prof Gleeson said, 'Following on from our earlier work using hyperpolarised xenon MRI in patients following hospitalisation with COVID-19 pneumonia, where we showed that their lungs may be damaged even when all other tests were normal, it is critical to determine how many patients with Long COVID and breathlessness have damaged lungs, and if and how long it takes for their lungs to recover.<br /><br />'Hyperpolarised xenon MRI takes a few minutes and does not require radiation exposure, so it may be repeated over time to see lung changes. Using this technique, we can see if there has been damage to the airways in the lungs, or to the areas where oxygen crosses into the bloodstream, which appears to be the area damaged by COVID-19.'<br /><br />Understanding and using family experiences of managing long COVID to support self care and timely access to services<br /><br />Led by Sue Ziebland, Professor of Medical Sociology, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, the project seeks to investigate how families are managing to cope with Long COVID and to understand how best they can be supported. It has been awarded £557,674 from NIHR, and is also supported by the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). <br /><br />Prof Ziebland says, 'Like other long-term conditions, Long COVID is largely being managed in the family and household context and is experienced over the long haul of everyday life. Parents with Long COVID often struggle to fulfil their role as parents of young children, while older children and teenagers may be unwell themselves or need to take on a caring role for their parent. Many young adults have returned home, either because they needed to give or receive care, or because they had lost employment.<br /><br />'This all creates new family caring dynamics for people who are also dealing with the unpredictability of Long COVID. These experiences and the wider impacts on families have received little attention to date. Our study will help to address this gap through applied qualitative research, including interviews, and analysis of recordings of consultations with GPs.<br /><br />'We will co-design resources to support self-care for these families, including a new section on healthtalk.org, developing training for professionals and service improvement initiatives, and work with Performing Medicine to create interactive theatre workshops for schools.'<br /><br />Impact of COVID-19 vaccination on preventing Long COVID: a population-based cohort study using linked NHS data<br /><br />Led by Professor Daniel Prieto-Alhambra, in conjunction with Dr Annika Jödicke and Dr Victoria Strauss, all from the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, has been awarded £224,344 from NIHR. The project is also being supported by the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). The project will examine the effects of different COVID-19 vaccines on Long COVID.<br /><br />Dr Jödicke said, 'Especially for healthy, young people with a low risk for severe COVID-19 disease, potential Long COVID complications remain a major concern. We need to understand the impact vaccination has on preventing Long COVID. This is an important aspect also to be considered in future risk-benefit evaluations for COVID vaccines.' <br /><br />Dr Strauss added, “While COVID vaccine can provide excellent protection against severe diseases, we do not know to what extent vaccine is effective against Long COVID nor which vaccine brand provides better protection against Long COVID. This new funded project can provide new evidence on these important gaps. We hope it would provide public more complete pictures on risks and benefit on COVID vaccine.'</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-58826003363588433092021-07-20T02:19:00.005+00:002021-07-20T02:19:51.990+00:00Oxford University Collaborate With Formula 1 To Increase Diversity And Inclusion In Engineering<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxJQBS8GrxBY2QwX_9DvEM8NTmhrwC8Q5tZ-tjng57mg4BUBwept0pbm178ahWwiIYzO4MnMEue6EtsjSVBJ1hYFHf8xZYKEClkTf2svTURUhua7T-avmvxFS19oN3VaSgQGhhCmwblc/s1200/Oxford+University+and+Formular1+Colaboration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxJQBS8GrxBY2QwX_9DvEM8NTmhrwC8Q5tZ-tjng57mg4BUBwept0pbm178ahWwiIYzO4MnMEue6EtsjSVBJ1hYFHf8xZYKEClkTf2svTURUhua7T-avmvxFS19oN3VaSgQGhhCmwblc/s320/Oxford+University+and+Formular1+Colaboration.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oxford University and Formular1 Colaboration</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Oxford University is to collaborate with Formula 1 on a new scholarship to support talented undergraduate engineers from under-represented backgrounds into careers in the motorsports industry.<br /><br />The initiative was announced by Formula 1 as part of #WeRaceAsOne, their pledge to increase diversity and inclusion in the motorsports industry. First revealed last year in response to evidence of significant under-representation of certain groups in the field, Formula 1 committed to focusing specifically on creating employment and education opportunities for under-represented groups with a personal contribution of $1 million from Non-Executive Chairman Chase Carey to finance primarily, but not exclusively, engineering-focused scholarships for under-represented students.<br /><br />Oxford is one of six universities, alongside Cambridge University, Coventry University, Manchester Metropolitan University, Strathclyde University and MUNER Motor Vehicle University in Italy, which will benefit from the Formula 1 Engineering Scholarship. The participating universities represent different regions within the UK and Italy, and each will run an independent selection process to determine the scholarship recipients.<br /><br />The programme will support ten undergraduate students from under-represented groups each year (two of whom will be at Oxford University) including those of ethnic minority, all genders and from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Each scholarship will provide the full cost of a student’s tuition, together with a living stipend and work experience opportunities with any of the ten Formula 1 teams, with a focus on mechanical engineering.<br /><br />The first scholars to participate in the programme will be part of the forthcoming 2021–22 academic year of undergraduate student intake in the UK and at master’s (postgraduate) level in Italy.<br /><br />Professor Martin Williams, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education at Oxford University, said: ‘The University is thrilled to be working with Formula 1 on such an important initiative. Inclusion and diversity are part of the life-blood of any thriving society, industry or university. This collaboration will enable significant strides in opportunity and representation in both STEM subjects and the motorsports industry and will hopefully contribute to lasting positive change.’<br /><br />Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1, said: ‘Formula 1 is a global sport with fans across the world. We want to be as diverse as our fan base and that is why we are taking action to ensure talented people from underrepresented groups have the best opportunities to get into, and build, a fantastic career in this amazing sport. I am delighted to announce that scholars, apprentices and interns will get the chance to fulfil their dreams in Formula 1 and I know they have amazing futures ahead of them. I want to pay particular thanks to Chase whose generous donation is funding the ten scholarships.<br /><br />‘Our #WeRaceAsOne platform is our commitment to make real change and shows our recognition that we know we must make a positive contribution to the world we live in. All of the teams are committed to this and the work of the Hamilton Commission shows the dedication to addressing these issues across Formula 1. Our focus is on Diversity & Inclusion, Sustainability and Community and we will continue to drive forward with our plans to be more diverse, more sustainable and leave a lasting positive impact on the countries and communities we visit. We know we must continue to move forward on these issues and the whole sport is united in doing this in the months and years ahead.’</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-7283107843504401032021-04-03T13:15:00.003+00:002021-04-03T13:15:31.288+00:00Oxford University Researchers Release Cheap, Quick COVID-19 Antibody Test<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8E2ZpbRoU9YLYWzNlvxUFelNkQUv9Dq0IP2Maam2jyGPOs7XYOLQqDZ4kmsLgmKYwlFM5FaFAjy2CrGpudjMOYuZyK7vWWfQYNjuZZ2IhsV__5mzN8x76NnsCUKOXpLeeCV3JWlFXRE/s2048/COVID-19+Antibody+Test.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8E2ZpbRoU9YLYWzNlvxUFelNkQUv9Dq0IP2Maam2jyGPOs7XYOLQqDZ4kmsLgmKYwlFM5FaFAjy2CrGpudjMOYuZyK7vWWfQYNjuZZ2IhsV__5mzN8x76NnsCUKOXpLeeCV3JWlFXRE/s320/COVID-19+Antibody+Test.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">COVID-19 Antibody Test</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> Nature Communications study describes an easy-to-produce new test that detects coronavirus spike-protein binding antibodies in people who have tested positive for COVID-19.<br /> The researchers are offering up 10 million tests for free to other scientists in countries that cannot support more expensive high tech solutions<br /><br />An international research team led by Oxford University scientists has developed a portable test for antibodies that fight the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.<br /><br />The test, which spots the presence of virus-fighting antibodies rather than a coronavirus infection, can be adapted to work on blood from a finger prick – making it quick and easy to use. The research team, which includes scientists from Taiwan, India, Thailand and France, as well as UK university and NHS researchers, trialled the test on patients with COVID-19, but now hope to adapt it to identify those who have successfully generated antibodies after a vaccine, versus those who may need a booster.<br /><br />The scientists also hope that the large-scale use of their tests might help researchers and policy-makers track levels of protective immunity in the community.<br /><br />Antibodies are large proteins that lock onto and help the body’s immune system fight off disease-causing organisms, such as the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Both infection with the virus and vaccines can generate antibodies.<br /><br />There are already several commercial tests, which can detect whether someone has antibodies against the novel coronavirus, but these tests are expensive and usually need a central laboratory to analyse them. This is especially a problem in low-income countries.<br /><br />Study lead Professor Alain Townsend from the MRC Human Immunology Unit at Oxford University said: “Our test is very cheap to produce, so we are using existing funding from charitable donations to offer 10 million tests for research purposes to countries that cannot support very high-tech solutions.”<br /><br />The test relies on linking a part of the viral spike protein to the surface of red blood cells. When antibodies to the virus are present they create a clump of red blood cells. This clump is big enough to be seen by eye.<br /><br />The test also does not require any special equipment or take a long time to show the results, and is accurate: “It correctly identifies coronavirus spike protein antibodies 90% of the time, with less than a 1% false positive rate.”<br /><br />Professor Townsend said: “All we need to do is mix a low-cost reagent with a small blood sample, and the clumping of the red cells after one hour shows whether the blood sample contained antibodies against the novel coronavirus or not.”<br /><br />The Townsend-Jeantet charitable trust, run by Professor Townsend, will fund the production of sufficient reagent for 10 million test wells by an Oxford company Absolute Antibody.<br /><br />Professor Townsend said: “We are already distributing our test reagent to researchers who need them anywhere in the world, free of charge. So far, we supplied our tests to researchers in twenty-one different countries, with major studies using our antibody test in Norway, Colombia, Taiwan and Sri Lanka.”<br /><br />The team have also developed new versions of the reagent that that can test for antibodies to the new variant viruses through a recent generous donation from a local donor.<br /><br />For ease of use so that the tests can be carried out in a variety of locations, even in your own home. The researchers note that they can be adapted to work using blood from a finger prick sample. They now plan to use this very simple test in future trials to see if it can identify those who are protected against COVID-19 from those who may need a booster vaccination.<br /><br />Professor Alison Simmons, Director of the MRC Human Immunology Unit at Oxford University, said: “This study and the research developments by the team are a very valuable asset to our toolbox in our fight against the novel coronavirus. With better ways of testing antibody levels and understanding immune defences of individuals and across populations, we increasingly take steps towards being able to protect more people globally and control spread of the virus.”<br /><br /></p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-47232702393829171502021-04-03T13:05:00.001+00:002021-04-03T13:05:19.899+00:00Oxford Researchers Create Online Resource To Optimise NHS Routes For Housebound Vaccinations<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqYJqWWEwRk5QsRLGQpCqMTTM1xmpJUfSSM6leMsj-HTfBcDpEdKexqrLkLc4OknVqGHRl6_klnxw9MY1munL2u9KW8WALf1MxNzcJQjtsW-UQUcrcE_qY3b-aSzhrbRkA1AVc-R9Ntno/s1200/NHS+Routes+Optimization.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqYJqWWEwRk5QsRLGQpCqMTTM1xmpJUfSSM6leMsj-HTfBcDpEdKexqrLkLc4OknVqGHRl6_klnxw9MY1munL2u9KW8WALf1MxNzcJQjtsW-UQUcrcE_qY3b-aSzhrbRkA1AVc-R9Ntno/s320/NHS+Routes+Optimization.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oxford's NHS Routes Optimization</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Two engineering DPhil students from the University of Oxford have created a website for GP surgeries across the UK to optimise the delivery of Covid-19 vaccinations to the UK’s 1 million housebound patients.<br /><br />VaxiMap is the direct response to a problem reported by GP practices of how to deliver huge numbers of Covid-19 vaccines to housebound patients on top of already busy workloads. The mapping software has saved time, money and energy of NHS services which are stretched across all three.<br /><br />Since launching in January 2021, 220,000 patients have been reached, 20,000 routes calculated and the team estimates around £400,000 has been saved by the NHS in time efficiencies (9000 hours of work).<br /><br />When Dr Robert Staruch, DPhil student at the Department of Engineering Science, spoke to a GP friend from Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, he realised the demands of meeting vaccine targets in a vulnerable housebound population was a massive extra task, and one which he could help to streamline.<br /><br />Dr Staruch says: ‘My friend was manually mapping his housebound patient locations in order to then plan routes for him to vaccinate them by car. I felt there was established platforms that could be utilised to streamline this into a much more efficient process. This vaccine roll-out requires high levels of efficiency to reduce dose wastage, and maximise roll-out amongst the vulnerable. VaxiMap does this.’<br /><br />Teaming up with colleague, Thomas Kirk, a fellow DPhil student at the Department of Engineering Science, the enterprising pair analysed the problem and realised that they could help by creating software which plotted the optimal routes for home visits, factoring in precise dosing schedules and offering both walking and driving options for rural or urban settings.<br /><br />Thomas Kirk got to work and stitched together different bits of tech, wrote the code and put the website up as a free resource, specially designed to work with GP practice data. The result was VaxiMap.<br /><br />Healthcare professionals can upload Excel documents of anonymised patient postcodes and the website will sort the patients into the optimal order and map the routes.<br /><br />Thomas Kirk says: ‘Because we were speaking directly to GPs, we knew exactly what was needed, so my job was to build the simplest possible thing that ticked all their boxes. The whole project - and the fact that we were able to get it online in 48 hours - is testament to the power of open-source software. All the tools we've used are freely available for anyone to access.’<br /><br />Robert Staruch, a trainee Burns & Plastic surgeon in the Defence Medical Services, reached out to colleagues at jHubMed for support of the project. They supported with £7,500 towards costs and Military vaccine teams have adopted the software for their vaccine routes.<br /><br />Oxford University Innovation (OUI) and Magdalen College also contributed to the project, while Microsoft came on board as technical partner via its Bing mapping services.<br /><br />Dr Staruch says: ‘The platform doesn’t track any user or patient data so it’s entirely GDPR compliant, an obvious concern for NHS healthcare workers. Although a multitude of mapping systems exists, this integrates the nuances of vaccine delivery and patient numbers for route optimisation. I believe its success so far is its simplicity and ease of use.’<br /><br />There are over 1 million housebound patients in the UK and this free software aims to continue its ongoing support for the Covid-19 vaccination programme. Feedback from users has already highlighted its value for the annual flu vaccine programme, as well in other services that are increasingly being delivered at home (such as IV drug therapies) as a result of the pandemic. There is therefore significant impact for this service for the NHS in a variety of ways.<br /><br />One user commented: ‘VaxiMap saves at least an hour a day on planning time, and 2 hours per day on nurse travel time. Over our 230 housebound patients I would estimate savings of 4 hours of planning time and 20 hours of nurse travel time.’<br /><br />Another commented: ‘I would have been sitting with a map, AtoZ and doing it all manually (and getting very frustrated). It’s also very easy to reorganise the list if a patient is unwell etc and cannot have the vaccine at the last minute.’<br /><br />The developers, Thomas Kirk and Robert Staruch, based at the University of Oxford Department of Engineering Science, hope that VaxiMap will continue to contribute the UK’s vaccine roll out while also providing an-going tool for the NHS in the future.</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-50132460440881671802021-04-03T10:20:00.006+00:002021-04-03T10:21:04.472+00:00Oxford Classics Professors Go Online For Schools In Lockdown<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyg5L-02p9thJTFTIjngIrBGpHC3VaYKdzf9xSxPg7OEdgJOCk-Is7uqYmS5l7DzEwACN8JBa_DST03nDA2MsgXof1mzqhE-zlcG-tQao0rHYgPHNDvrx5uv6PUcRkdRo5mrFdfAmwjsM/s1200/Oxford+Classics+Professors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyg5L-02p9thJTFTIjngIrBGpHC3VaYKdzf9xSxPg7OEdgJOCk-Is7uqYmS5l7DzEwACN8JBa_DST03nDA2MsgXof1mzqhE-zlcG-tQao0rHYgPHNDvrx5uv6PUcRkdRo5mrFdfAmwjsM/s320/Oxford+Classics+Professors.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oxford Classics Professors</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Oxford’s <a href="https://www.classics.ox.ac.uk/#/" target="_blank">Faculty of Classics</a> has seized this year’s opportunity of distance learning to reach out to schools, with professors of ancient subjects going into online classrooms to talk to pupils about everything from who wore togas to the poet Juvenal. Meanwhile, recent research from Oxford and Cambridge shows classical subjects are simply not available in the overwhelming majority of state-maintained schools.<br /><br />The brainchild of the Head of Classics, Dr Neil McLynn and the Research Fellow in Classics Education, Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson, ‘Classical Conversations’ are part of a multi-point push to enrich learning and boost interest in studying classical subjects. Read about the Classical Conversations here. <br /><br />New research co-authored by Dr Holmes-Henderson, shows that, across the country, access to Classics in schools relies on ‘wealth or luck’. Large geographical areas offer no access to classical subjects in state-maintained schools, and 97% of students taking Classical Greek and 88% taking Latin come from independent or selective schools. Meanwhile, the subjects are simply not on offer in the overwhelming majority of state-maintained schools.<br /><br />Nevertheless, schools have reacted with considerable enthusiasm to the Oxford initiative, with more than 30 Classical Conversations taking place across the country, reaching some 600 pupils, and teachers report renewed interest in Classics at all levels. <br /><br />The Oxford Classics outreach programme aims to offer a bridge in access to classical subjects. For the last 20 years, Oxford’s undergraduate course has had a pathway for students who have not previously taken any classical subjects. And, on Monday [28 March] this week, Oxford and Cambridge played host to a Classics <a href="https://clasoutreach.web.ox.ac.uk/oxford-and-cambridge-classics-open-day" target="_blank">virtual open day,</a> which attracted 400 attendees from some 150 schools. Meanwhile, Oxford's UNIQ Classics summer schools for year 12 students are already full for this year.<br /><br />According to Dr McLynn, as part of Classical Conversations, the professors joined in many quick-fire conversations with pupils who had no background in Classics as well as some who were studying ancient cultures and texts. <br /><br />But in the first study to analyse examination entry data so precisely, Dr Holmes-Henderson reports that A level Latin is found in just 2% of state-maintained schools (68 schools), and Greek is virtually absent from the State sector – particularly outside London and the South East and selective schools.<br /><br />The study also finds a ‘perverse failure’ of Classical Civilisation and Ancient History in sixth form colleges, which fail to turn evident enthusiasm for the subjects into students taking degrees in classical subjects at university. <br /><br />Meanwhile, according to the research, in the North of England, just 10 A level centres offer Latin – two are non-selective. In the whole of England, only eight state-maintained schools offer A level Greek, of which three are non-selective. The report concludes, ‘It is almost a miracle that a student is able to study A level Greek in a state-maintained school in England.’<br /><br />Dr Holmes-Henderson maintains, ‘Our study highlights the fragility of Classics in English schools. It will take considerable and collective efforts from all corners of the Classics community to address the access issues which the discipline faces. Positive steps have been made, but there is a long way to go.’<br /><br />There is more opportunity to study Classical Civilisation and Ancient History in the state-maintained sector, with more than 50% of A level students coming from non-selective state schools. The subjects are being studied across the country, often in non-selective sixth form colleges. The authors write, ‘A large number of centres, more accessible to all students, and widely geographically dispersed, should provide a pathway to further study of classical subjects at university.’<br /><br />But, on analysing the data, they find, ‘Although sixth from colleges have larger, more financially-viable entry cohorts for both A level Classical Civilisation and A level Ancient History, students find it very challenging to attain the highest grades.... The A Level exam in these subjects does not seem to be providing a successful launch-pad for students, in the numbers one would expect, for the universities for which the courses themselves have been designed.’</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-46750935943812746182021-03-18T11:44:00.001+00:002021-03-18T11:44:19.573+00:00MBZUAI And Weizmann Institute Of Science Establish Joint Artificial Intelligence Program<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-EJ1jMAUU3LqqxVqcd3Ykg3xHcNf08RZp6sXZQDXSs0H8fKYIkhHewmJtJM1qX_n3SKW0EoOsR0CHksIp7_2gfwFTaHFLvOnIrcHidepT-rBtce0oWv5PfPFhFoTh5nBakVw2CgUZpk/s1422/MBZUAI+And+Weizman+Institute+Collaboration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-EJ1jMAUU3LqqxVqcd3Ykg3xHcNf08RZp6sXZQDXSs0H8fKYIkhHewmJtJM1qX_n3SKW0EoOsR0CHksIp7_2gfwFTaHFLvOnIrcHidepT-rBtce0oWv5PfPFhFoTh5nBakVw2CgUZpk/s320/MBZUAI+And+Weizman+Institute+Collaboration.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MBZUAI And Weizman Institute Collaboration</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Following on from the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) in September 2020, the two institutions have announced the establishment of the MBZUAI-WIS Joint Program for Artificial Intelligence Research (the AI Program). The new program will promote collaborative initiatives in fundamental artificial intelligence (AI) research and will explore AI applications in domains such as healthcare, genomics and more.<br /><br />Drawing upon the combined expertise of MBZUAI and the Weizmann Institute, the AI Program will carry out both basic and applied research in Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing, Computational Biology, Neural Sciences, and more, toward the vision of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Joint research projects conducted by teams from both institutions will form the core of the program. The collaboration will encompass joint research projects, joint training programs, mutual visits, AI conferences and workshops, and student and staff exchange programs. The agreement will also seek to recruit highly qualified researchers and staff to support and facilitate the AI Program’s central mission.<br /><br />Professor Eric Xing, President of MBZUAI, and Weizmann Institute President, Professor Alon Chen, inked the new partnership agreement during a virtual ceremony in the presence of officials from both establishments.<br /><br />H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Chairman of the MBZUAI Board of Trustees, attended the event and delivered opening remarks. Speaking on the announcement, he said: “The collaboration between MBZUAI and WIS aligns with our leadership’s vision of extending and strengthening bridges of collaboration in the service of our nation and humanity and seeks to enable socio-economic progress through AI innovation. We are confident that partnerships that leverage talent, technological and research capabilities will deliver breakthroughs in AI that will empower the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and contribute towards finding solutions for the greatest challenges we face as an international community – such as COVID-19, food security and more. MBZUAI is proud to work with leading institutes such as the Weizmann Institute of Science, to bring about a future built on knowledge, sustainability and resilience.”<br /><br />Professor Alon Chen said: “The implications of AI are vast, and will affect every aspect of our lives. Through the MBZUAI-WIS Joint Program for Artificial Intelligence we are bringing together some of the greatest minds in the fields of AI, natural and exact sciences, with the ambition of extending boundaries and empowering our scientists with access to exceptional resources. Together we will advance AI, discovering new means of leveraging the immense possibilities of this diverse and exciting technology for the benefit of humanity.”<br /><br />Professor Eric Xing said: “Collaborative efforts amongst leaders in the field of AI will enable us to achieve significant progress. The establishment of the AI Program further strengthens our partnership with the Weizmann Institute, laying the foundation to enhance the global AI ecosystem and further advance in areas of science, technology and higher education. This will provide our students and faculty with access to world-class resources beyond our own University, fostering a culture of international partnership and knowledge-sharing.”<br /><br />The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, established in 2019, is the world’s first graduate-level, research-based AI university. Based in Abu Dhabi, the University offers MSc and PhD programs in the fields of computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing. MBZUAI introduces a new model of academia and research to the field of AI, providing students and faculty access to some of the world’s most advanced AI systems to unleash the technology’s full potential for economic and societal development.<br /><br />The Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, is one of the world’s top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions and offers masters’ and doctoral-level degrees across five faculties. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, Institute scientists are advancing research on the human brain, artificial intelligence, computer science and encryption, astrophysics and particle physics, and they are tackling diseases such as cancer, and addressing climate change through environmental, ocean and plant sciences, and more.</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-37802956775247137312020-10-25T15:14:00.002+00:002020-10-25T15:14:59.085+00:00The Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund Awarded A Grant For A Research Project To O.A.U. Ile-Ife<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBuG_er2E7MjlXFTWLAU16iT5asv6eZPFSZ2KV6xp8nlXnzQ3gF9pljheMLUZmWsY6l1GpyeZ87F_3xJ47Vo5wENq95rakzx5POr2eMa63_wUZGISiH18Gv1pbsMvIKDON4APynPJYJL4/s620/Obafemi+Awolowo+University.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="620" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBuG_er2E7MjlXFTWLAU16iT5asv6eZPFSZ2KV6xp8nlXnzQ3gF9pljheMLUZmWsY6l1GpyeZ87F_3xJ47Vo5wENq95rakzx5POr2eMa63_wUZGISiH18Gv1pbsMvIKDON4APynPJYJL4/s320/Obafemi+Awolowo+University.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> The Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA Research Fund awarded a grant for a research project on “Technology, Society, and Environment in Early West Africa: Archaeological Investigation of Glass production and Iron metallurgy in Ile-Ife, Nigeria (ca. 900-1600 CE)”<p></p><p>Dr. Babatunde Babalola of the Centre of African Studies, University of Cambridge and Prof. Adisa Ogunfolakan, the Director of Natural History Museum are investigators. This project is expected to last between 02/12/2019 and 02/12/2020.</p><p>Equipment and small tools for the Archaeological project are to be donated to the Natural History Museum of the Obafemi Awolowo University after the completion of the project as a contribution to Natural History Museum and Obafemi Awolowo University. Parts of this equipment are two digital microscopes Celestron 44348 PentaView 5 MP LCD Digital Microscope and Trinocular Laboratory Compound Microscope with 3D Two-Layer Mechanical Stage that are essential for the project. These are expected to form part of the equipment for the Archaeological Science Laboratory in the Natural History Museum after the completion of the project.</p><p>The Deputy-Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Bamire was at the Director’s office, Natural History Museum to take delivery and commissioned the equipment for use on January 9, 2020. Receiving the equipment on behalf of the University administration, Professor Bamire thanked the facilitators and the donors for granting the fund and for deeming it fit to donate the equipment to the university. He enjoined university scholars to emulate this gesture by seeking international grants for research purposes as this will assist the staff and students in carrying out their research and learning.</p><p>The Director’s office, Natural History Museum had since taken delivery of the equipment for use on January 9, 2020. The Natural History Museum is indeed grateful to the facilitators and the donors of the fund for deeming it fit to donate to the fleet of equipment in the Natural History Museum and the University.</p><p> Present at the event which was held at the Director’s office were Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) Prof Bamire, the University Librarian Dr. Ogunsade, the Director of INTECU Engr. Kanmi Adewara</p>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-61778064449440205282020-08-19T17:20:00.001+00:002020-08-19T17:20:08.031+00:00Heidelberg University Marketing Professor Explains Why People React To Mask-Wearing<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2v-JtU4nsBIh-0ldqiwXQ9QTf1LCi0EnkQArhDhnfmrsFGlvf2uDbShLEOK4gUH7IT919xC5Xx8HCIxtlOmbDMlMngyOZY2B6VOq4BUBNT1Hfd-LegcevlC5lCbT4hOZyWMTBKeBZyO8/s1600/Face+Mask+Reaction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="615" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2v-JtU4nsBIh-0ldqiwXQ9QTf1LCi0EnkQArhDhnfmrsFGlvf2uDbShLEOK4gUH7IT919xC5Xx8HCIxtlOmbDMlMngyOZY2B6VOq4BUBNT1Hfd-LegcevlC5lCbT4hOZyWMTBKeBZyO8/s320/Face+Mask+Reaction.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Face Mask Reaction</td></tr>
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Reactance occurs when we feel our freedom is being suppressed by an authority and just to reassert our freedom, we act in the opposite direction to what the authority dictates<br />
Let’s face it, masks are unpleasant. They are unpleasant because we cannot see each other’s facial expressions. They are also unpleasant because they give off a morose hospital-like vibe. Considering the current context, we are pretty sure you know that we are not talking about fancy Halloween masks. At the cost of stating the obvious, we are talking about masks that cover our mouth and nostrils to protect ourselves against Covid-19 microbes. The nostril covering part is the most unpleasant for as it means that we have to breathe inside a tiny space which somehow can make us feel quite trapped.<br />
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So, do the authors of this article wear masks when we go grocery shopping? Yes. No matter how unpleasant they are, the very thought of viscous fluid filling up in our lungs is way more unpleasant. Do we understand why some others refuse to wear masks? Kind of. That is precisely why we are writing this article. Now that we have laid out the catch-22 situation of wearing versus not wearing masks, let us tell you what we believe is going on. An obvious reason for people not wearing masks is the unpleasantness which we have mentioned. But a more nuanced reason in our opinion is that the mandatory rules in most countries that order people to wear masks either through regulatory ordinances or social pressures are causing reactance in people.<br />
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Psychological factor<br />
The term reactance was coined by psychologist Jack Brehm in 1966. Psychological reactance occurs when we feel our freedom is being suppressed by an authority and just to reassert our freedom, we act in the opposite direction to what the authority dictates.<br />
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Let us explain reactance with a relatable example. Consider an 11-year-old girl who is receiving pocket money from her mother. As the mother is handing her the money, she explicitly, firmly, and authoritatively tells the girl not to spend that money on ice cream. Now, the girl does not like to be talked to that way. She had no intention of getting ice cream but not that she was explicitly forbidden from buying it, she feels the urge to reassert her freedom to choose and ends up buying and relishing ice cream with that money. Before you start judging that little girl, think of how many times you did such a thing as a kid. In fact, think of how many times you may have undergone reactance and did something ‘forbidden’ as an adult! I hope you know where we are going with this.<br />
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One author in this article is based out of India and the other is based out of the US. Both have seen the unexplained, animated reactions of certain people against wearing masks. In fact, Prime Minister Modi needs to keep reiterating that even he himself is not above wearing masks. So what is the solution to overcoming such reactance? We have certain suggestions.<br />
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Some suggestions<br />
First, suppressing someone’s freedom is denying them agency. By agency, we mean the autonomy to make our own decisions. Therefore, if we frame rules to wear masks as a choice and not as diktats, then we will not be denying people’s agency. For example, an authoritative framing like, “No Masks, No Service” by retail businesses or “You are expected to comply with our guidelines” by a government authority will not engender compliance. However, framing messages as, “You can choose to wear a mask or you can choose to shop/eat elsewhere” by retail business owners or “Help us with the recovery process by wearing a mask” by a government authority will acknowledge people’s agency to choose for themselves.<br />
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Second, wearing a mask is an external cue that signals forced compliance. Researchers showed that impression management plays an important factor in people’s reactance. To put it simply, people do not like to give the impression of being compliant and therefore not wearing a mask is kind of showing to the world that they are individualistic and independent. One way around this is to help them assert their individual identity by designing a variety of masks rather than boring white and blue ones. For example, many metal bands such as Metallica are selling Metallica labelled masks as a part of their merchandise. Therefore wearing something that you identify with would then count as a positive impression management exercise and could induce greater compliance.<br />
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Lastly, reactance is largely associated with activities that engender fun and pleasure. For many extroverted personalities who are getting restless at home, there is not just the reactance against masks but also an overall reactance against being indoors. Therefore, authority figures have to figure out a way to communicate that they have no intention of curbing fun and pleasure.<br />
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For example, in order to discourage people from drinking in tiny indoor spaces inside bars where people are too close to each other, governments of small towns in the state of Ohio have created “DORA Zones”. DORA stands for “Downtown Outdoor Refreshment Area”. Within these zones, people are allowed to carry their beer mugs or any other alcoholic drinks and freely move about outside so that social distancing can be better maintained outdoors. Such initiatives by regulatory authorities can communicate to the public that they are not in the business of being party poopers!<br />
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We do acknowledge the frustration of a majority of readers of this article about why do we need to manipulate the framing of messages, create special designer masks, or project a fun-vibe to overcome reactance when the obvious and sensible thing to do is to wear a mask. However, there will always be individuals who are more reactant than others and we need to protect them from getting Covid to protect us from getting it.<br />
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Salil is Assistant Professor (Marketing) Heidelberg University, US, and Anuj is Assistant Professor (Marketing), IIM-AhmedabadEducation Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-43665543848653096032020-08-19T16:45:00.002+00:002020-08-19T16:45:55.520+00:00Shanghai Ranking: TUM Moves Up To Rank 54 And Gains Top Positions In Subject Rankings<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TUM is one of the four strongest research universities in Europe.</td></tr>
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In the latest "Shanghai Ranking", the Technical University of Munich (TUM) moves up to rank 54 worldwide and is one of only four German universities in the top 100. This makes TUM once again the best Technical University in Germany and one of the four best TUs in Europe. Moreover, recently published academic subject rankings, also prepared by the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, confirm that the high quality of research in various fields at TUM compares favorably with top international institutions.<br />
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The Shanghai Ranking assesses the research work of universities worldwide. Officially known as the Academic Ranking of World Universities, the rankings were developed at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Key criteria include the number of papers published in important journals such as Nature and Science, the citation impact of scientists at an institution and the number of Nobel laureates and winners of the Fields Medal – one of the most prestigious mathematics awards.<br />
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SECOND PLACE IN GERMANY, EIGHTH PLACE IN THE EU<br />
Alongside TUM in position 54, only three other German universities made it into the top 100: LMU Munich (51) and the universities of Heidelberg (57) and Bonn (87). With rank eight, the university also holds a top position within the EU. TUM is once again the best technical university in Germany and, together with the University of Paris-Saclay (14), ETH Zurich (20) and Imperial College London (25), is one of the four best TUs in Europe.<br />
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TOP QUALITY IN INTERNATIONAL SUBJECT RANKINGS<br />
The Shanghai Ranking publishers also recently released subject-based rankings. Here, too, TUM achieved outstanding results, for example in Remote Sensing and Aerospace Engineering, where it placed 8th and 16th worldwide, respectively. TUM's comprehensive expertise in these research fields is now combined in the new Department of Aerospace and Geodesy.<br />
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TUM can also boast strong results in such areas as Medical Technology (14th worldwide) and Environmental Science & Engineering (17th). Other areas where TUM stands alongside the world's best universities in the global subject rankings include Agricultural Sciences (33rd) and Food Science and Technology (42nd).<br />
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TUM regularly achieves excellent results in other international rankings, too. For example, it was listed as the best university in the EU in the QS World University Ranking, and ranks sixth worldwide in the Global University Employability Ranking.Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889769442913180824.post-48236108687570842172020-08-19T09:34:00.000+00:002020-08-19T09:33:59.970+00:00ETH Zurich Scientists Developed "RNA Molecule" As Future Cure For Hereditary Diseases<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RNA as a future cure for hereditary diseases</td></tr>
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ETH Zurich scientists have developed an RNA molecule that can be used in bone marrow cells to correct genetic errors that affect protein production. Patients suffering from a rare hereditary disease that causes a painful hypersensitivity to sunlight could benefit in future.<br />
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Short RNA molecules can be used as medication. Their effectiveness is based on the genetic information they carry: therapeutic RNA can bind to the body’s own RNA and thus influence how it functions. However, only a handful of such drugs are available so far.<br />
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“That’s mainly because it’s tricky to get the RNA molecules to precisely the organ in the body where they need to take effect. Currently, that’s the biggest hurdle in the development of RNA drugs,” says Jonathan Hall, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at ETH Zurich. Together with Daniel Schümperli, Emeritus Professor from the University of Berne, and colleagues from ETH, University Hospital Zurich and Triemli Hospital Zurich, he has now succeeded in developing an RNA molecule that can compensate for the effect of gene mutations in bone marrow cells.<br />
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This therapeutic approach could one day be applied to a rare hereditary disease called erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), which affects people whose mother and father both have a genetic predisposition to the disease. Those who suffer from EPP experience a painful sensitivity to sunlight.<br />
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Gene mutations cause the body of these patients to produce less of a certain enzyme, ferrochelatase. Ferrochelatase is central to the production of haemoglobin, the protein that transports oxygen in the blood and makes it appear red. This ferrochelatase deficiency causes a metabolic molecule, protoporphyrin, to accumulate in the red blood cells. Protoporphyrin reacts to rays of visible light, forming molecules that attack tissue and can cause painful inflammation when the patient is exposed to sunlight or a strong artificial light.<br />
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<b>Fusion molecule shown to be effective</b><br />
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Hall and his colleagues developed several short RNA molecules, which bind to the RNA copy of the ferrochelatase gene in the body’s cells. In cell culture experiments, they identified certain molecules that were able to restore a sufficient production of the enzyme and thus compensate for the negative effects of the known EPP gene mutations.<br />
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However, developing the RNA molecule was only the first part of the task. “This molecule must also be able to reach the right organ in the body and from there penetrate the interior of the cells,” Hall says. In the case of EPP, these are the blood stem cells in the bone marrow. To this end, the researchers fused one of the RNA molecules with various chemically active compounds, which they tested in a mouse model of EPP. They identified one fusion molecule – the RNA molecule fused with cholesterol – that was able to compensate for the gene mutation in this animal model.<br />
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<b>Research not yet complete</b><br />
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Hall stresses that it is too early to label the molecule he has identified as an RNA drug. In demonstrating that such molecules can be used to increase the amount of functional ferrochelatase in mice, the researchers are at only an early stage of their work. “This is the first step and it shows that our approach holds promise,” Hall says. Next, the researchers need to optimise the fusion molecule or identify other fusion molecules that are even more effective, he explains, adding that they also require additional, more refined mouse models for the EPP disease. Further research is essential to find an optimum drug candidate whose effect can then be investigated in humans.<br />
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This study was carried out with funding support from the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) <a href="https://nccr-rna-and-disease.ch/" target="_blank">RNA & Disease</a>Education Affairzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554589116559718969noreply@blogger.com0