Understanding the process of early human development in the womb – Tech Explorist

Current understandings of cell specification in early mammalian pre-implantation development are based mainly on mouse studies.

A new study by the University of Cambridge looks at biological pathways active in human embryos during their first few days of development. Through this study, scientists wanted to understand how cells acquire different fates and functions within the early embryo.

The study has shown that just after the fertilization, when cells start to divide- some cells start to stick together. This triggers a cascade of molecular events that start placental development. A subset of cells change shape, or polarise, which drives the change into a placental progenitor cell the precursor to a specific placenta cell that can be recognized by contrasts in genes proteins from different cells in the embryo.

Dr. Kathy Niakan, group leader of the Human Embryo and Stem Cell Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute, said,This study highlights the critical importance of the placenta for healthy human development.

If the molecular mechanism we discovered for this first cell decision in humans is not appropriately established, this will have significant negative consequences for the development of the embryo and its ability to implant in the womb successfully.

Scientists additionally analyzed similar developmental pathways in mouse and cow embryos. They found that while the mechanisms of later stages of development vary between species, the placental progenitor is as yet the first cell to separate.

Claudia Gerri, the lead author of the study and postdoctoral training fellow in the Human Embryo and Stem Cell Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute, said,Weve shown that one of the earliest cell decisions during development is widespread in mammals, and this will help form the basis of future developmental research. Next, we must further interrogate these pathways to identify biomarkers and facilitate healthy placental development in people, and also cows or other domestic animals.

During IVF, one of the most significant predictors of an embryo implanting in the womb is the appearance of placental progenitor cells under the microscope. If we could identify better markers of placental health or find ways to improve it, this could make a difference for people struggling to conceive.

Niakan said,Understanding the process of early human development in the womb could provide us with insights that may lead to improvements in IVF success rates in the future. It could also allow us to understand early placental dysfunctions that can pose a risk to human health later in pregnancy.

The research was led by scientists at the Francis Crick Institute in collaboration with colleagues at the Royal Veterinary College, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Universit de Nantes, and Bourn Hall Clinic. Kathy Niakan is the incoming Director of the University of Cambridges Centre for Trophoblast Research, and Chair of the Cambridge Strategic Research Initiative in Reproduction.

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Understanding the process of early human development in the womb - Tech Explorist

Early ovarian ageing: is a low number of oocytes harvested in young women associated with an earlier and increased risk of age-related diseases? -…

Do young women with early ovarian ageing (EOA), defined as unexplained, and repeatedly few oocytes harvested in ART have an increased risk of age-related events?At follow-up, women with idiopathic EOA had an increased risk of age-related events compared to women with normal ovarian ageing (NOA).Early and premature menopause is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), osteoporosis and death. In young women, repeated harvest of few oocytes in well-stimulated ART cycles is a likely predictor of advanced menopausal age and may thus serve as an early marker of accelerated general ageing.A register-based national, historical cohort study. Young women (37 years) having their first ART treatment in a public or private fertility clinic during the period 1995-2014 were divided into two groups depending on ovarian reserve status: EOA (n=1222) and NOA (n=16385). Several national registers were applied to assess morbidity and mortality.EOA was defined as 5 oocytes harvested in a minimum of two FSH-stimulated cycles and NOA as 8 oocytes in at least one cycle. Cases with known causes influencing the ovarian reserve (endometriosis, ovarian surgery, polycystic ovary syndrome, chemotherapy etc.) were excluded. To investigate for early signs of ageing, primary outcome was an overall risk of ageing-related events, defined as a diagnosis of either CVD, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, cancer, cataract, Alzheimers or Parkinsons disease, by death of any-cause as well as a Charlson comorbidity index score of 1 or by registration of early retirement benefit. Cox regression models were used to assess the risk of these events. Exposure status was defined 1 year after the first ART cycle to assure reliable classification, and time-to-event was measured from that time point.Median follow-up time from baseline to first event was 4.9 years (10/90 percentile 0.7/11.8) and 6.4 years (1.1/13.3) in the EOA and NOA group, respectively. Women with EOA had an increased risk of ageing-related events when compared to women with a normal oocyte yield (adjusted hazard ratio 1.24, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.43). Stratifying on categories, the EOA group had a significantly increased risk for CVD (1.44, 1.19 to 1.75) and osteoporosis (2.45, 1.59 to 3.90). Charlson comorbidity index (1.15, 0.93 to 1.41) and early retirement benefit (1.21, 0.80 to 1.83) was also increased, although not reaching statistical significance.Cycles never reaching oocyte aspiration were left out of account in the inclusion process and we may therefore have missed women with the most severe forms of EOA. We had no information on the total doses of gonadotrophin administered in each cycle.These findings indicate that oocyte yield may serve as marker of later accelerated ageing when, unexpectedly, repeatedly few oocytes are harvested in young women. Counselling on life-style factors as a prophylactic effort against cardiovascular and other age-related diseases may be essential for this group of women.No external funding was received for this study. All authors declare no conflict of interest.N/A. The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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Senior Lecturer in Experimental Reproductive Biology and Medicine | – Nature.com

- with focus on research

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

Would you like to work with and further develop translational research at Karolinska Institutet and at the Karolinska University Hospital? Do you want to develop the next generation clinical research training and contribute to the education of our students? Welcome to a leading environment within Womens and Childrens Health in the field of Experimental Reproductive Biology and Medicine.

The employment has a focus on research.

The candidate appointed is expected to provide strategic leadership to drive high quality translational research in reproductive medicine leading to publications in high impact scientific journals, introduction of new technology and improvements in clinical outcomes for patients. Furthermore, you are expected to develop and evaluate effectiveness and safety of new clinical interventions and novel treatment strategies in reproductive medicine and to facilitate innovative and mutually beneficial cooperation between industry and within academia, foster good ethical principles in research and clinical practice, communicate research results transparently to the public and represent Karolinska Institutet at international scientific meetings and conferences and to play a leading role in international organizations in the field Human Reproduction, Fertility and Embryonic Medicine.

The candidate is expected to be actively involved in the supervision of PhD students and postdoctoral fellows in research projects as well as to a limited extent in teaching of students at different levels. The candidate is also expected toto participate in the regular academic activities at Karolinska Institutet, such as organizing courses, evaluation of dissertations, evaluation of research funding applications, and taking part in postgraduate education.

To be eligible for employment as a Senior Lecturer, in addition to holding a Degree of Doctor, PhD, or having equivalent scientific expertise, the person must have demonstrated research and teaching expertise, as well as management, development and collaborative skills (See the instructions regarding the Appointment Procedure for Teachers at Karolinska Institutet).

A PhD, primarily in Reproductive Biology, alternatively in another relevant field is a requirement.

The appointee is expected to perform internationally competitive research in the field of experimental reproductive biology and medicine, as documented by the number and quality of publications in international peer-reviewed journals. We are looking for a candidate with documented experience of innovating new technologies, strategically having led a research group, international collaboration, successfully having applied for and obtained research grants as main applicant from large organizations (such as Swedish Research Council, UK MRC, ERC, National Institute of Health -NIH, or other national sources).

The appointee must present successful supervision of doctoral students and have experience of pedagogic activities.

The candidate must be fluent in spoken and written English.

The Senior Lectureship has a focus on research. The assessment will weigh qualifications as follows: research expertise (3), educational expertise (1), leadership, development and collaboration expertise (1).

A genuine interest and verified experience and understanding of mechanisms and methods for evaluating novel treatments reducing gonadotoxic late effects in childhood cancer patients and the risk of future infertility. Furthermore, experience of developing and evaluating novel imaging technologies within the field and previous research experience in large data handling and analysis as well as having initiated and conducted multicenter studies and having led large research consortia is meriting.

Considering the existing lack of knowledge regarding male reproduction, having research competence in studying male fertility and infertility is a merit, however not a requirement.

After an overall assessment of the expertise and merits of the candidates, Karolinska Institutet will judge which of the candidates that have the best potential to contribute to a positive development of the activities at Karolinska Institutet. Since the intended employment is about developing the research area and future leadership, personal qualifications such as the ability to cooperate and building networks is highly meriting.

The applicant shall also have completed courses of 10 weeks of higher education training in teaching (or have equivalent competence) in accordance with the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions recommendations for qualification as a higher education teacher. If the person appointed for the position is lacking such education at the time of the employment, the appointee must undergo such education during the first two years of employment.

Good knowledge of Swedish, Norwegian or Danish is a merit.

A creative and inspiring environment full of expertise and curiosity. Karolinska Institutet is one of the worlds leading medical universities. Our vision is to pursue the development of knowledge about life and to promote a better health for all. At Karolinska Institutet, we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. Karolinska Institutet is a state university, which entitles to several benefits such as extended holiday and generous occupational pension. Employees also have access to our modern gym for free and receive reimbursements for medical care.

Location: Solna

Department of Womens and Childrens HealthYour career continues here

An application must contain the following documents in English: Resum, qualifications and description of planned research, presented in accordance with Karolinska Institutets qualifications portfolio (http://ki.se/qualificationsportfolio).

The applications will be reviewed by external reviewers in English. All the submitted documents shall therefor be written in English.

Welcome to apply!

The application is to be submitted through theVarbi recruitment system.

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Senior Lecturer in Experimental Reproductive Biology and Medicine | - Nature.com

Church, anti-abortion groups seen threatening women’s health bill in Kenya – Devdiscourse

Anti-abortion and church groups in Kenya are spreading false information about a bill to tackle teenage pregnancy and maternal death, women's rights campaigners said on Friday, warning that lawmakers could be influenced and vote against it.

The Reproductive Healthcare Bill, which is set to be sent to the Senate for debate in the coming days, includes provisions for sex education in schools, assisted reproduction such as surrogacy, and access to safe abortion services when necessary. "If this legislation is not approved, teenage pregnancies, school dropouts, maternal mortality will all get worse," said Stephanie Musho, a human rights lawyer, specialising in sexual and reproductive health issues.

"There has been a lot of false information being put out about the bill which is not helpful," said Musho, adding that this could influence Kenya's male-dominated upper house of parliament. A similar bill was brought before the Senate in 2014, but failed to pass. If the bill passes in the Senate, it will then go to the National Assembly - or lower house - to be voted on, she said.

Some anti-abortion and faith groups in the mainly Christian nation have said the legislation normalises underage sex and would allow LGBT+ people to have children through surrogacy, something women's groups say is not contemplated in the bill. Critics of the proposed law say it also promotes widespread abortion, which is only permitted under Kenya's constitution when a woman's life or health is in danger and emergency treatment is required.

The bill would not change that, women's groups say, but could save the lives of thousands of women who die from botched abortions in backstreet clinics. An estimated 2,600 women and girls die annually in Kenya from complications related to unsafe abortions, according to Health Ministry data. That accounts for 35% of all maternal deaths.

The bill also stipulates that every health care provider is obliged to provide family planning services to women who need them and directs authorities to provide free antenatal care, delivery care and postnatal care for all women and girls. Plans for the provision of sex education for children aged 10-17 and for adolescents to be able to access sexual and reproductive health services would help reduce high rates of unwanted teenage pregnancy, women's groups say.

According to data from the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, more than 23% of Kenyan girls get pregnant before they are 18. No date has been set for the bill to be sent to the Senate, but groups such as the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) urged the chamber in a letter last month to scrap it.

"The bill normalises underage sex and goes further to open the children between the ages of 10-17 that they should receive contraceptives, safe abortion, and comprehensive sex education which teaches that sex is for pleasure and sexual pleasure is a right," said the letter, which was also sent to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Such behaviour would lead to increase demand for abortion and eventually unstable families in Kenya," it said.

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Insect Biodiversity Center to promote insect conservation, healthy ecosystems – Penn State News

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. A newly launched center at Penn State will create a focal point for the study and conservation of insects and the ecosystems with which they interact.

The Insect Biodiversity Center brings together faculty researchers and educators from eight Penn State colleges, with a goal to celebrate insect diversity in science and practice, according to the center's program coordinator, Natalie Boyle, assistant research professor of entomology in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

"We will strive to explore, understand and promote insect conservation efforts that maintain and restore balance to natural ecosystems, while also mitigating the adverse effects of insect species that harm human health, food production and the environment," she said.

Boyle noted that recent reported declines in insect diversity and abundance worldwide have raised concerns about how human activities may be adversely impacting the world around us. Researchers have postulated that this loss in insect diversity may cause broader ecological disruptions that could threaten the stability of interconnected plant and animal populations.

"In temperate climates, such as here in Pennsylvania, insect pollinators for example, bees, hover flies, butterflies and some beetles facilitate the reproduction of more than 80% of all flowering plants," she said. "Insects such as termites, cockroaches, carrion beetles and flies are invaluable decomposers of animal excrement and remains, as well as woody and herbaceous plant materials."

Natural insect predators, such as lady beetles, lacewings and mantids, can suppress pest populations or maintain ecosystem balance in wild and managed insect communities, Boyle explained.

"In addition, insects often serve as the primary diet for many fish, bird and vertebrate species," she said, "which in turn feed into larger and more complex food webs."

At the same time, she said, the distribution of insect pests and disease vectors has expanded regionally and globally. As examples, Boyle cites the spread of the spotted lanternfly, which is impacting Pennsylvania's ornamental horticulture and agricultural industries, and the 2020 migrations of desert locust populations in East Africa that are devastating farms and threatening the livelihoods of thousands of individuals.

"These observations require us to identify the drivers responsible for changes in insect distributions and to develop practices that could mitigate their health and economic impacts using a variety approaches that bridge research, education and extension," she said.

To foster innovative, transdisciplinary collaborations, the Insect Biodiversity Center draws affiliate faculty members from diverse fields of expertise, according to the center's director, Christina Grozinger, distinguished professor of entomology.

"We are particularly interested in supporting and promoting projects that use innovative technologies, such as remote sensing and machine learning, that advance the center's mission toward insect awareness and conservation," Grozinger said. "We are most excited to support new research that connects technologies in precision agriculture and big data to insect conservation and species distribution modeling."

The success of the Center for Pollinator Research, which was launched in 2009, helped to inspire the creation of the new Insect Biodiversity Center at Penn State.

IMAGE: Sweetaholic via Pixabay

Creation of the new center which receives support from the College of Agricultural Sciences, the Department of Entomology, the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and the Institutes of Energy and the Environment was inspired by the success of the Center for Pollinator Research. That entity, also directed by Grozinger, launched in 2009.

"Considering how heavily insect declines have been featured in the news and in recent scientific literature, we wanted to launch a complementary initiative that more holistically encompassed all other insects, which often are afflicted by the same stressors that are known to reduce and threaten pollinator populations," Grozinger said.

The Insect Biodiversity Center also will sponsor a range of graduate student fellowships that are broad in scope, with connections to diverse fields of study.

"With funding from the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Department of Entomology, we have recruited an outstanding cohort of Insect Biodiversity Graduate Fellows," Grozinger said. "These fellows, who have co-mentors from multiple departments and colleges, study insect biodiversity from the molecular to the ecological level, using tools spanning genomics, bioinformatics and computer science."

Following are the graduate fellows and descriptions of their research:

Codey Mathis, a graduate student in entomology starting this fall, is leading the development of an automated insect detection system that uses machine-learning algorithms to assess the abundance and diversity of insect species. This system will be used to monitor insect populations across landscapes and will serve as a tool for scientists and land managers to identify conservation practices that best support insect biodiversity.

Edward Amoah, a graduate student in ecology starting this fall, is using remote sensing and machine learning to predict the biodiversity and ecology of transboundary pest insects of Africa. These predictive models can allow agricultural producers to anticipate the migration of insect pests into their fields, resulting in greater precision and timing of insecticide applications and higher crop yields.

Laura Laiton, a graduate student in entomology starting spring 2021, will combine large-scale biological data analysis with entomological research. By examining the life history traits and changes in gene expression of the grape berry moth on different grapevine varieties, she will develop varietal-specific degree day models to inform and improve upon current integrated pest management strategies used by the industry.

More information about the Insect Biodiversity Center is available on the center's website.

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Could Bee Venom Be the Key to Treating Triple-Negative Breast Cancer? – BioSpace

A study published in the journal npj Precision Oncology on Sept. 1 featured data that suggested honeybee venom can potentially destroy triple-negative breast cancer and HER2-enriched breast cancer cells.

Dr. Ciara Duffy from the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and The University of Western Australia led the research. She and her colleagues tested the effect of venom on clinical subtypes of breast cancer, using the venom from 312 honeybees and bumblebees from Perth Western Australia, Ireland and England.

"No one had previously compared the effects of honeybee venom or melittin across all of the different subtypes of breast cancer and normal cells, Dr. Duffy said. "We tested honeybee venom on normal breast cells, and cells from the clinical subtypes of breast cancer: hormone receptor positive, HER2-enriched, and triple-negative breast cancer.

Dr. Duffy explained that the goal of the research was ultimately to determine if honeybee venom and its component compound, melittin, had anti-cancer properties.

"We found both honeybee venom and melittin significantly, selectively and rapidly reduced the viability of triple-negative breast cancer and HER2-enriched breast cancer cells, said Dr. Duffy. "The venom was extremely potent."

Melittin, in particular, also had a surprising effect. Within 20 minutes, the compound was able to reduce the chemical messages of cancer cells that are necessary for growth and cell division.

"We looked at how honeybee venom and melittin affect the cancer signaling pathways, the chemical messages that are fundamental for cancer cell growth and reproduction, and we found that very quickly these signaling pathways were shut down, said Dr. Duffy. "Melittin modulated the signaling in breast cancer cells by suppressing the activation of the receptor that is commonly overexpressed in triple-negative breast cancer, the epidermal growth factor receptor, and it suppressed the activation of HER2 which is over-expressed in HER2-enriched breast cancer.

Western Australia's Chief Scientist Professor Peter Klinken noted that this study significantly demonstrates the potential benefits of melittin, and overall, how compounds in nature can be utilized to combat human diseases.

The researchers note that studies will be necessary to formally assess the best way to deliver melittin to patients.

This is not the only positive news that has come out of the breast cancer treatment realm as of late. Athenex also announced on Sept. 1 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had accepted its New Drug Application for oral paclitaxel and encequidar for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, and it has been granted Priority Review.

We see oral paclitaxel as a potentially important alternative to IV infusions, especially during the current pandemic, as it may allow cancer patients to take the oral chemotherapy at home, said Dr. Johnson Lau, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Athenex. We believe the oral paclitaxel program validates our broader Orascovery platform, and we are committed to applying the technology to convert other IV chemotherapies into oral agents.

The NDA is based on data from a Phase 3 study of oral paclitaxel for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. The trial was randomized and controlled, and looked at the safety and efficacy of oral paclitaxel monotherapy against IV paclitaxel monotherapy. It achieved its primary endpoint, demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in overall response rate, along with a lower neuropathy, compared to IV paclitaxel.

The FDA grants Priority Review to NDAs for potential drugs that, if approved, would make significant improvements to the way patients are treated for serious conditions, such as various types of cancer.

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Could Bee Venom Be the Key to Treating Triple-Negative Breast Cancer? - BioSpace

Diversity and prosocial behavior – Science Magazine

Abstract

Immigration and globalization have spurred interest in the effects of ethnic diversity in Western societies. Most scholars focus on whether diversity undermines trust, social capital, and collective goods provision. However, the type of prosociality that helps heterogeneous societies function is different from the in-group solidarity that glues homogeneous communities together. Social cohesion in multiethnic societies depends on whether prosocial behavior extends beyond close-knit networks and in-group boundaries. We identify two features of modern societiessocial differentiation and economic interdependencethat can set the stage for constructive interactions with dissimilar others. Whether societal adaptations to diversity lead toward integration or division depends on the positions occupied by minorities and immigrants in the social structure and economic system, along with the institutional arrangements that determine their political inclusion.

Most Western countries already are or are destined to become multiethnic societies thanks to recent patterns of migration and globalization. Growing immigration to North America and Western Europe (Fig. 1A) has commanded particular attention. Increased ethnic heterogeneity has renewed scholarly interest in intergroup dynamics of cooperation and discrimination and spurred debates over the consequences of ethnic diversity for social trust and democratic integration. Many scholars have concluded that ethnic diversity negatively affects overall levels of trust, social capital, and public goods provision. Instead, we see these changes as an opportunity to ask a more important question: How does prosocial behavior extend beyond the boundaries of the in-group and to unknown and dissimilar others? Answering this question is the key to achieving solidarity and cooperation in the heterogeneous communities we increasingly inhabit today.

(A) Ratio of international migrant stock (1990/2015). Europe and North America saw relatively large increases in national stocks of international migrants in the past two decades. International migrant stock refers to the percentage of foreign-born residents in a given year. Orange indicates higher ratios of migrant stock; teal indicates lower ratios of migrant stock. [Data source: United Nations Population Division] (B) Ethnoracial fractionalization (2013). Fractionalization is higher in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia than in Europe or North America. Fractionalization corresponds to the probability that two randomly chosen residents belong to the same ethnoracial group. Darker colors represent higher ethnoracial fractionalization. [Data source: Historical Index of Ethnoracial Fractionalization]

To function, large collectivities need to foster solidarity and cooperation among their members. Most theories of political orderfrom Enlightenment theories of the social contract (Hobbes and Rousseau) and Tocquevilles Democracy in America to recent work on civil society and social capitalacknowledge the need for a sense of collective identity that allows trust and solidarity to extend beyond the boundaries of the family or clan to the larger community or nation. How does this come about? According to popular models of human behavior, repeated interactions within groups and close-knit networks facilitate the emergence of a shared culture, norms of reciprocity and cooperation, and peer sanctioning, inducing positive outcomes for the collectivity (1). Homogeneous communities readily nurture trust and solidarity through these avenues. In heterogeneous communities, by contrast, social ties between noncoethnics are sparser, which limits coordination and social control. In addition, social norms might not be shared across ethnic boundaries, or there might be uncertainty among members regarding the extent to which they are shared (2). Seen in this light, it makes sense to think of diversity as a challenge to the foundations of our collective social contract.

Nevertheless, most heterogeneous communities still manage to get along. As homogeneous communities become less prevalent and more people experience life in diverse contexts, we need to move beyond traditional understandings of prosociality. In order to achieve solidarity and cooperation, diverse communities may not rely on the same mechanisms as homogeneous ones. More than a century ago, in fact, Durkheim argued that solidarity in complex, differentiated societies relies primarily on interdependence and the division of labor rather than on cultural similarity and mutual acquaintanceship (3). Following this lead, we identify two features of modern societies that have the potential to foster generalized prosociality.

The first feature is social differentiation, which refers to the growing number of identities and group affiliations that people have in their lives. As first theorized by Simmel, in modern societies individuals become less determined by a few ascribed categoriessuch as race, class, or genderand experience a greater ability to choose their group affiliations. As people emancipate from family and community ties, out of choice or necessity, the number of unknown, distant others they will interact with increases, and this has been shown to foster generalized prosociality (4, 5). A second, related feature is economic interdependence: Market-integrated societies in which strangers regularly engage in mutually beneficial transactions exhibit greater levels of generalized solidarity and trust (6, 7).

We should not take for granted that societies will inevitably adapt to increasing diversity in ways that further social integration. Critically important for social integration is the extent to which ethnic differences map onto class, religious, gender, or other differences. Differentiation brings about social integration when lines of social division are cross-cuttingthat is, when ethnic group membership does not wholly predict membership in specific class, religious, gender, or other groups. By contrast, when social cleavages are consolidated, differentiation poses a threat to social integration (8) and democratic stability (9). Ethnic diversity may thereby foster social division.

Indeed, existing studies on the effects of ethnic diversity tend to highlight its negative consequences for social capital, economic growth, and public goods provision. We start by reviewing this literature, which has dominated the debate regarding the consequences of ethnic diversity in Western societies. However, to fully understand the conditions under which heterogeneous societies can achieve social cohesion across lines of ethnic differentiation, we also need to take stock of the status of immigrants and native minorities. Then, we discuss how differentiation and economic interdependencetwo core features that emerge in modern societiesset the stage for a new kind of prosociality that extends beyond the confines of the in-group by enhancing the opportunities for intergroup contact, encouraging superordinate identification, and inhibiting in-groupout-group thinking. Overall, we argue that the type of prosociality that helps heterogeneous societies function likely derives from positive experiences in the context of strategic interactions, such as those in the workplace, and is different from the in-group solidarity that glues homogeneous communities together.

Political economy scholars have looked to ethnic diversity in their attempts to explain societal problems in developing countries, including violent conflicts and stalled economic growth (10). On the whole, however, studies paint a nuanced picture, one in which poverty and political instability, rather than ethnic or religious divisions, increase the risk of civil war (11) and in which ethnic fractionalization is associated with lower growth only in the absence of robust democratic institutions and policies (12, 13).

A second line of work, which focuses mainly on Western European and North American countries, instead probes within-country differences across homogeneous and heterogeneous communities. These studies typically report negative associations between ethnic diversity and desirable outcomes, including civic engagement (14), public goods provision (15), and self-reported trust (16). On the association between diversity and trust alone, a recent review covers nearly 90 studies (17). Although effect sizes are minimal, this scholarship often reaches alarming conclusions about the erosion of civic life at the hands of ethnic diversity.

However, in Western countries, homogeneous and heterogeneous communities differ in systematic ways, which cautions against concluding that diversity per se has negative effects. For one, heterogeneous communities are disproportionally nonwhite, economically disadvantaged, and residentially unstable. Compositional effects related to these differences largely account for the relationship between ethnic diversity and collective outcomes. For example, nonwhites and immigrants tend to report lower trust, and they are overrepresented in heterogeneous communities. Once analyses account for the fact that native whites, who are disproportionately represented in homogeneous communities, also score higher on prosocial indicators, negative associations with ethnic diversity are strongly reduced and even disappear. Similarly, economic hardship takes a toll on prosocial engagement, and diverse communities have much higher rates of concentrated poverty (18). Overall, economic indicators are by far stronger predictors of collective outcomes than are ethnoracial indicators (3, 19).

More generally, the consequences of ethnic diversity likely depend on the extent to which ethnicity constitutes one of many lines of differentiation or instead operates as an organizing principle around which resources are distributed. It matters whether ethnicity intersects with other lines of division and, especially, economic inequality. In their investigation of public goods provision, Baldwin and Huber found that economic inequality between groupsrather than ethnolinguistic or cultural differencesundermines welfare provision (20). They speculate that this happens because richer, more powerful groups prioritize different public goods and exclude others from access. Therefore, resource asymmetries between ethnic groups, and not the multiplicity of ethnic groups per se, undermine collective efforts.

Ethnic fractionalization has been and remains relatively low in Western Europe and North America compared with several countries in Africa and Asia (Fig. 1B). The focus on Western countries is mostly driven by growing immigration (Fig. 1A). Hence, to date, systematic ethnoracial differences between homogeneous and heterogeneous communities are an artifact of studying diversity in contexts such as North America and Europe, where heterogeneity is relatively low and homogeneous communities are, by and large, homogeneously native majority communities.

It follows that although they use measures of heterogeneity and make claims about diversity, studies in Western countries are unable to attribute observed associations to heterogeneity, as opposed to immigrant or minority share. As a result, studies of ethnic diversity rehash the findings of a long-standing literature on how native majorities react to the growing presence of immigrants and minorities. This literature links the size and growth of immigrant and minority populations to perceived threat and greater hostility toward them. For example, survey and laboratory experiments found that U.S. whites who are exposed to information about the growing share of nonwhites express greater opposition to policies and parties seen to benefit nonwhites (21). Observed effects are theorized to stem from broad concerns about native majorities economic well-being, their cultural dominance, and their symbolic status within an intergroup hierarchy from which they derive social and psychological benefits (22).

Diversity, as both a concept and measure, treats groups interchangeably; a community that is 80% white and 20% Black is as diverse as one that is 80% Black and 20% white and one that is 80% Latino and 20% Asian (18). However, where there is differentiation, there is hierarchy: Native majorities, native minorities, and immigrants occupy different positions in the social order. Because intergroup dynamics tend to reproduce status and power asymmetries (23), the dynamics of similarly heterogeneous communities likely vary according to the specific groups represented and their relative sizes. Hierarchy raises another consideration: In heterogeneous contexts, we need to distinguish between benefits that accrue to single groups and those that extend to the whole collectivity (3).

Taken together, these observations caution against making generic claims about the effects of diversity. To ascertain the challenges and possibilities posed by diversity, we first need to disentangle its effects from those of inequality. This entails understanding the social cleavages and asymmetries that govern intergroup relationships in diverse societies.

To what extent and in what domains have immigrants and native minorities achieved economic, political, and social membership in Western countries?

In the United States, immigrants (primarily from Latin America and Asia) and native minorities (primarily Black Americans) contribute to present-day diversity. Regarding the experience of immigrants, scholars are split between those who contend that todays immigrants are on the same upward trajectory as earlier Europeans (24) and those who read, from some groups experiences, evidence of stalled or even downward mobility (25). Evidence of integration comes from the advances made by members of the second generation over their immigrant parents (26). However, longer-term views into the third generation or later reveal remarkable marital homogamy as well as network and residential segregation for some groups, such as Mexican Americans (27).

The experience of Black Americans, the largest native minority group in the United States, challenges the expectation that full economic, political, and social membership necessarily await later-generation Americans. Black households have less wealth and lower incomes than do Asian or Latino households. And despite recent gains, Blacks are still less likely to marry whites and more likely to be residentially segregated from whites than are Asians or Latinos. Persistent, intergenerational disadvantage among Blacks is a consequence of past institutional practices, including Jim Crow segregation and red-lining (28), present institutional practices such as mass incarceration, and contemporary discrimination in the labor market and other domains (29).

In Europe, immigrants from Turkey, Africa, and other regions, including former colonies, contribute to diversity. Their prospects for integration are sobering (30). Evidence of upward economic mobility is tempered by gaps in employment and earnings that may persist into later generations (31). A growing body of field experimental research uncovers discrimination against immigrants, especially Muslim immigrants and/or those of Arab origin, in formal markets such as those for employment and housing (32) and informal, everyday interactions (33, 34). Hostility toward certain immigrant groups is sometimes motivated by their observance and transmission of religious practices and cultural norms that are seen to conflict with liberal principles of gender equality and individual freedom (33, 35). These findings fuel the view that European societies are converging on a discriminatory equilibrium in which discrimination toward some groups drives underinvestments in human capital (30) and furthers the reproduction of values and practices that stall integration in economic and other domains.

The picture is not all negative, however. First, it is worth acknowledging that persistent, later-generation gaps in educational attainment, employment, and earnings coexist with substantial upward mobility, especially between the first and second generations (24). Second, legal status can go a long way toward securing economic mobility, as evidenced by the diverging earnings trajectories of undocumented immigrants and legal permanent residents in the United States as well as the rise in earnings induced by amnesty laws (26). When it comes to political incorporation, government efforts to promote citizenship, whether aimed directly at immigrants or at the community organizations that serve them, boost naturalization and participation through material and symbolic channelsthat is, by signaling immigrants suitability for inclusion (36).

When such resources are not available or when discrimination is prevalent, attachment to a protective ethnic core may provide immigrants and minorities one path to economic, political, and cultural mobility (27, 37). However, insofar as enclaves reproduce segregation and contribute to discrimination by native majorities toward immigrants and minorities, they are a suboptimal and short-term reprieve to the challenges posed by diversity. A more robust solution for the successful integration of immigrants and minorities in multiethnic societies builds on the features of modern societies that facilitate cooperative encounters and shared interests across group boundaries.

The key to solidarity and cooperation in heterogeneous communities is the extension of prosociality beyond close-knit networks and in-group boundaries to unknown, dissimilar others. The large-scale interdependence of life in modern societies requires that individuals follow universal norms of reciprocity and cooperation rather than rely on mutual acquaintanceship or group identification. The observance of such norms is assured by the presence of strong coordinating institutions; for example, we rely on public transportation not because we know the bus driver or identify with them but because we trust that they will competently perform the job that corresponds to their role (3).

The type of prosociality that helps heterogeneous communities function is different from the in-group solidarity that glues homogeneous communities together. A large scholarship has documented the parochial nature of human altruism, convincingly showing that in-group preferences are a staple of human behavior (38). From an evolutionary perspective, parochial altruism emerged from the coevolution of intergroup favoritism and out-group hostility during periods of violent intergroup conflict (39). Although in-group favoritism may have served us well in small-scale societies, it cannot get us far in complex, large-scale societies characterized by heterogeneity. For diverse societies to function, they must to some extent suppress members reliance on in-group identification as the primary basis for prosocial behavior (40). Prosocial behavior in complex societies likely derives from positive experiences in the context of strategic interactions, such as those in the workplace, rather than empathic identification (41). People in modern societies are often pushed outside the comfort zones of their familiar networks to constructively interact with unknown and dissimilar others. We have learned, from a rich literature on intergroup contact, that such interactions have the potential to reduce prejudice, especially under favorable conditions, including equal status, common goals, and lack of competition (42). Here, we discuss how social differentiation, a macrostructural feature of modern societies, may favor the emergence of generalized prosociality and the special role that market integration and economic interdependence can play in facilitating productive intergroup interactions.

Differentiation may be the key, not an obstacle, to social cohesion in modern societies because an increase in the dimensions of differentiation might bring about greater social integration. A greater number of identities and affiliations brings about distinct combinations that can foster even greater cooperation (8). This, however, occurs only when the lines of differentiation are cross-cutting, whereas division follows from consolidated lines of differentiation (Fig. 2). Ethnic heterogeneity can push societies toward either pole. On the one hand, when ethnic differences overlap with status and resource differences, in-group favoritism can operate more efficiently. But far from binding people together (as it does in homogeneous societies), in-group favoritism would deepen inequality and division in heterogeneous ones. On the other hand, when heterogeneity along ethnic lines cross-cuts differences in terms of class, politics, and other dimensions, it both neutralizes in-group favoritism and deepens interdependence, fostering cohesion.

(A to C) The top layers represent various group identities that individuals might have in modern societies (such as ethnicity, class, or sexuality), and the bottom layer describes the social network that emerges from shared membership in these groups. In (A), the two dimensions of differentiation are consolidated and thus bring about social fragmentation. In (B) and (C), the dimensions are cross-cutting, thus favoring social integration. As the number of cross-cutting dimensions increases [(comparing (C) with (B)], so does overall network integration.

Social differentiation refers to the multiplicity of identities and roles that individuals may acquire and inhabit in their day-to-day lives and often leads to greater individualization. Namely, peoples ability to choose, with relative freedom, their identities and group affiliations increases, and their profiles become distinctive. When lines of differentiation are cross-cutting, the process of differentiation and individualization sets the stage for broad-based cohesion through at least three pathways.

The first is by facilitating interpersonal contact beyond close-knit, kinship ties and with others who are dissimilar in terms of some identities, including, most notably, ethnicity. Research supports the claim that generalized trust and other benefits flow from interactions outside dense networks, such as those based on kinship. Cross-societal comparisons have documented greater generalized trust and cooperation in an individualistic society such as the United States than in Japan, where monitoring and sanctioning happen primarily within the confines of close, long-term relationships (4). According to Yamagishis emancipatory theory of trust, strong ties, which are typical of collectivist societies such as Japan, produce a sense of security within the group but prevent trust from developing beyond group boundaries. Similarly, people with strong family and group ties display lower levels of trust toward generalized others in incentivized experiments. By contrast, people who are less embedded in family networks and those who have experienced uprooting events, such as divorce, are more likely to trust strangers, possibly because they have more opportunities and incentives to engage in relationships with unknown others (5). More broadly, seminal work on social networks has exposed the limits of strong ties and close-knit social relationships (43, 44). This work shines a positive light on weak ties and network positions of brokerage for their ability to connect parts of a social network that would be otherwise disconnected, facilitating access to a broader range of information and opportunities. To quote Granovetter, Weak ties, often denounced as generative of alienation...are here seen as indispensable to individuals opportunities and to their integration into communities; strong ties, breeding local cohesion, lead to overall fragmentation [(43), p. 1378].

The second pathway through which social differentiation may foster cohesion is through identification, with or without direct interpersonal contact. In laboratory studies, procedures that encourage identification with a common (or superordinate) identity have been shown to reduce prejudice across group boundaries (45). This is possible when cross-cutting affiliations enable identification with a category that spans ethnic boundaries. An outstanding question is whether identification with a superordinate category can somehow achieve deeper trust and cooperation than can lower-level ethnic identification, perhaps by training individuals to be more flexible about categorization in general. If not, superordinate identification may be an imperfect solution that trades favoritism toward one group for favoritism toward another, larger group. These aspects are ripe for further testing in field settings (46).

A third pathway consists in subverting humans deep-seated capacity to think (and act) in terms of in-groupout-group categories. Category-based inconsistenciesfor example, the Harvard-educated, first-generation Latinainhibit the cognitive processes that compel us to frame encounters in us versus them terms, opening the door to more elaborate cognitive processes in which an alter is more likely to be perceived as an individual rather than an (oppositional) group member [(40), p. 854]. The distinction between this pathway and one that hinges on a common identity is subtle: Category-based inconsistencies can subvert us versus them thinking even if we do not share identities or experiences with a targetthat is, even if we are neither Ivy Leagueeducated, nor Latino, nor the first in our family to attend college.

Critically, the most effective way to secure multiethnic cohesion through this channel is not to promote a few minorities but rather to weaken the covariance between ethnic category membership and life chances writ largethat is, to cultivate a system in which a first-class education is equally accessible to whites and nonwhites, regardless of their family background. There is growing evidence that cross-cutting affiliations can mitigate bias against immigrants and minorities. Experimental evidence shows that U.S. Americans report greater willingness to admit immigrants who are highly educated or have high-status jobs (47). Relatedly, high socioeconomic status mitigates mistrust toward Blacks in a cooperative investment game (48), and signals of cultural integration mitigate bias toward Muslims in Germany (33).

Taken together, the hypothesized pathways are consistent with a model of social cohesion in which cross-cutting differentiation, rather than social closure, is the unifying force. When social cleavages are not cross-cutting but instead consolidatedfor example, when minorities and immigrants are systematically deprived of educational and employment opportunities and thereby relegated to the lower tiers of the social hierarchydisadvantaged groups will continue to be cast in a separate and marginalized social category and discriminated against.

Economic exchanges are the quintessential setting for meaningful, cooperative interactions between dissimilar others. This is partly because of the specific nature of economic transactions: They occur between parties who have different goods (or skills) to exchange and thereby bring together people who may not belong to the same social circles. Along these lines, workplace relationships tend to be less homophilious than relationships in other settings. Moreover, intergroup encounters in economic settings seem to be particularly conducive to generalized prosociality. In a series of cross-cultural studies, Henrich and his colleagues uncovered less prosocial behavior in small-scale societies based on kinship networks than in market-integrated societies in which strangers regularly engage in mutually beneficial transactions. In their words, The more frequently people experience market transactions, the more they will also experience abstract sharing principles concerning behaviors toward strangers [(6), p. 76)]. Market integration not only fosters prosociality toward unknown others; it can also shift boundaries to include noncoethnics. In a nationwide field experiment in Italy, market integration explained variation in prosocial behavior toward both natives and immigrants (7). Similar effects are imputed to globalization, understood as greater worldwide connectedness (49).

Workplaces, more than homes or neighborhoods, may be crucial for fostering the type of prosociality that holds modern societies together. Minorities and immigrants positions in the productive system and their prospects for social mobilityincluding employment opportunities in complementary sectors, and a legal regime that protects their rights as workersare therefore important not only for their own material success but for society as a whole. The economic integration of minorities and immigrants also determines the extent to which they come to identify with mainstream society (50).

Most economic exchangesfor example, hiring someone or renting an apartment from themare strategic in nature, in the sense that a persons behavior is affected by their expectations of the alter. These types of interaction entail risk and uncertainty because people have to overcome difficulties related to coordination, lack of information, and mistrust. Cooperative and prosocial behavior in these settings may still be affected by in-group favoritism but are also based on considerations that go beyond whether an ego likes or dislikes the alter, to encompass the alters trustworthiness, competence, and reputation (40). This calls for a deeper understanding of intergroup dynamics, and the institutional arrangements, that favor prosocial outcomes in the context of strategic interactions. Some field experimental work has made progress in this direction; for example, in a study of public goods provision in diverse Ugandan neighborhoods, Habyarimana and colleagues used behavioral games to disentangle the various motives and mechanisms that bring about collective action in multiethnic contexts (2). Although they did not find evidence of ethnic favoritism, they found that the reciprocity norms and sanctioning opportunities that facilitate cooperation in risky interactions are stronger among coethnics than noncoethnics.

Market integration enhances opportunities for productive interactions across group boundaries. Additionally, the strategic nature of economic exchanges elicits decision-making processes that go beyond in-group favoritism, therefore providing new venues for institutional intervention.

We can approach ethnic diversity through the lens of lost homogeneity. From this perspective, we understand that members of the white majority tend to react negatively to the growth of immigrants and minorities in their communities. However, it would be premature to conclude that diversity or diversification per se are to blame for declining levels of trust and cooperation. In the Western European and North American context, diversity is synonymous with immigrant and minority share and economic disadvantage, and statistical attempts at disentangling their effects will not get us very far.

Beyond questioning the effects of ethnic diversity, scholars should develop a theory of social cohesion in multiethnic societies that considers intergroup dynamics, social cleavages, and asymmetries in resources and power. Crucial to this effort is understanding the conditions under which prosocial behavior extends beyond close-knit networks and the safe confines of the in-group. Here, we have highlighted two features of modern societies, social differentiation and economic interdependence, that set the stage for generalized prosociality to develop. We argue that, in contrast with the in-group solidarity that glues homogeneous communities together, prosociality in heterogeneous societies likely derives from positive experiences in the context of strategic interactions. Further research is needed on the mechanisms and institutional arrangements that foster this higher-level form of cooperation.

The experience of immigrants and minorities is instructive regarding the conditions and institutions that facilitate integration and mobility in Western societies. Of primary importance are employment opportunities in mainstream labor markets, especially under conditions of economic expansion, along with legal and political inclusion. Regrettably, it is precisely these conditions that are in short supply in a historical moment characterized by the rise of right-wing movements, an economic recession induced by a global pandemic, and long-standing institutional practices, such as those of law enforcement, that deepen the divides between ethnoracial groups. Whether societal adaptation to diversity moves toward integration or social division depends as much on microinteractions on the ground as on the economic and political institutions that govern these processes.

J. Habyarimana, M. Humphreys, D. N. Posner, J. M. Weinstein, Coethnicity: Diversity and the Dilemmas of Collective Action (Russell Sage Foundation, 2009).

T. Yamagishi, Trust: The Evolutionary Game of Mind and Society (Springer, 2011).

S. M. Lipset, S. Rokkan, in Cleavage Structures, Party System and Voter Alignments. An Introduction (Free Press, 1967), pp. 164.

P. Collier, The Political Economy of Ethnicity (World Bank, 1998).

R. J. Sampson, Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect (Univ. Chicago Press, 2012).

E. Telles, C. A. Sue, Durable Ethnicity: Mexican Americans and the Ethnic Core (Oxford Univ. Press, 2019).

A. Portes, R. Aparicio, W. Haller, Spanish Legacies: The Coming of Age of the Second Generation (Univ. California Press, 2016).

C. L. Adida, D. D. Laitin, M.-A. Valfort, Why Muslim Integration Fails in Christian-Heritage Societies (Harvard Univ. Press, 2016).

I. Bloemraad, Becoming a Citizen: Incorporating Immigrants and Refugees in the United States and Canada (Univ. California Press, 2006).

H. Tajfel, J. Turner, 1979, An integrative theory of intergroup conflict, in The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations, W. G. Austin, S. Worchel, Eds. (Brooks/Cole, 1979), pp. 3347.

R. S. Burt, Brokerage and Closure (Oxford Univ. Press, 2005).

S. L. Gaertner, J. F. Dovidio, Reducing Intergroup Bias: The Common Ingroup Identity Model (Psychology Press, 2000).

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Diversity and prosocial behavior - Science Magazine

The Year of the Abortion – The Conservative Woman

THIS is proving to be a big year of change in abortion provision in Great Britain.

March saw the expansion of DIY abortions with a law being rushed through Parliament, with almost no scrutiny or guidelines, permitting women to take two powerful abortion drugs without any medical supervision. Despite this being fast-tracked as a temporary measure, using highly dubious arguments, these DIY terminations, accessible with just a brief phone consultation, are likely to become permanent.according to new reports.

The stated premise behind the pills by post measureswas to limit the transmission of Covid-19, so the use of both abortion pills could be approved without the need to attend a hospital or clinic. However abortion clinics remained openall through lockdown, unlike many health centres, so terminations have been as easily accessible as they have always been.

Also in March the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations cameinto force, introducing to Northern Ireland one of the most extreme abortion regimes in the world and overriding opposition from the Assembly in Stormont.

In June, the latest statistics were released, showingthat abortions in England and Wales have increasedto the highest number ever recorded 207,384 in one year. This is about one every two minutes.

This number is hardly likely to fall since it has become so quick and easy to obtain a medical abortion. Now 73 per cent of abortions are medical, not surgical, in England and Wales (86 per cent in Scotland).This means that 151,400 women had a medical abortionin 2019 in England and Wales.

As well as convenience, privacy and speed for women, financial cost will undoubtedly have something to do with the increase in medical abortions. With pills there is no need for anaesthetics, a stay in a medical centre, surgical equipment or abortion doctors. By financial cost, I refer to the costs for abortion clinics and, by extension, to the NHS, since 99 per cent of all abortions are now paid for by the NHS (our taxes). The NHS pays for all abortions in hospitals and also pays private abortion clinics to do them. The demand is now so high that 74 per cent take place in private clinics as the NHS does not have the capacity. No doubt, therefore, ever-cheaper home terminations are attractive to a cash-strapped NHS. Abortion clinics are certainly runninga good business,with highly paid managers, well-structured business plans and marketing tactics, powerful advocates in Westminster pushing to remove all limits on abortion, and (conveniently) rising demand for their abortion care packages. There is more than just lives at stake here.

However I have more concern about the health and safety dangers, and psychological harm, for women having medical abortions than I do about the finances.

We hear little about when medical abortions go wrong, but what few realise is how often theydogo wrong.

The chemicals that women take must be powerful enough kill the living human foetus and to ensure the womb contracts enough to expel it, along with the placenta and other pregnancy tissues. The womb is designed to protect the foetus so these drugs need to be strong.

Research on 43,000 women in Finlandfound that 20 per cent had complications after a medical abortion. In one centre in the UK, more than 50 per cent needed surgical evacuation of the foetus after a failed medical abortion. On the basis that 73 per cent of abortions in England and Wales in 2019 were medical, assuming a rate of 20 per cent of these having some complications, this would equate to more than30,000 womenexperiencing some sort of complications from their medical abortion.

However our recording of abortion data is so poor in England and Wales that we just do not know what the situation is and have to reply on data from other countries to inform us of the medical risks that women are taking, as I explain inthis blog.

Common sense however tells us that if women are taking powerful abortion drugs at home with no medical supervision then there is no control over:

The amount or dosage they take;

The timing between taking the two pills;

The method of taking them (if following medical protocols);

Who is taking them(as this news report shows);

The gestation of pregnancy (at least one mother took them at28 weeks,way beyond the recommended 10 weeks);

Where they are being taken;

Any follow-up;

Any coercion into taking them.

I also find it disturbing that there have been almost no studies on the emotional and psychological consequences of having a self-induced abortion at home.

I say almost no studies because one there has been one particularly fascinating peer-reviewed studyon the effects of a drug-induced medical abortion. The research was revealing, especially as it was able to use a proper control group.

It is the first research to investigate the biologicaland behaviouraleffects of medical abortion inan animal model, in this case rats. The rat is one of the primary models for studies of human reproduction, providing valuable insights into how humans function.

I explain more in this blogbut, briefly, theresearch found the rats which had a chemical abortion clearly showed moderate to severe stress, whereas the rats whichwent to a full-term pregnancy, and even those which had a natural miscarriage, did not.It was a controlled, objective and ethical assessment of rat behaviour pre- and post-termination, and no one can argue that rats suffered these adverse consequences because they were reflecting on what they had done, or were being made to feel guilty by society for having an abortion.

At the very least these findings highlight the urgency for objective research into the biological and behavioural effects of medical abortion.

Until such research is carried out, along with this research on rats, we do still have stories women tell:https://www.abortionchangesyou.com/stories

I went to the clinic got the pills and the process started. I have never experienced that much pain, my nights were sleepless and I remember one night I was in so much pain, my boyfriend held me and started praying I was so convinced that I would die that night. Its been a year since then and Im terrified of the dark. I cant talk to anyone about this fear because of how guilty I feel.

They said I was 9 weeks. I took the pill they gave me and went home. The next day, (today), I took the four pills they told me to take. Contractions started and I held it together pretty well. I was sitting in my bathtub, shower running on me when I saw the baby gently floating towards the drain. I grabbed it up in my hands and just sobbed. I couldnt bear the thought of just letting him go down the drain. I saw it was a boy. A little boy. My child that I consented to be killed. I immediately was struck with grief as I realised the gravity of the decision I had made. My heart hurts so badly right now. I dont see this going away any time soon.

Women deserve much more than a quick fix DIY abortion. There are alternatives and other options, there is support available and there are many other women who want to help anyonefacing a crisis or unplanned pregnancy. But of course there is no Government money or fast-tracked legislation to provide alternatives.

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The Year of the Abortion - The Conservative Woman

Pregnant women with coronavirus are more likely to need intensive care and give birth early, finds study – MEAWW

Pregnant women are thought to be a high-risk group for Covid-19 infection and there are concerns about potential adverse effects of the virus on both mother and baby. However, published reviews on Covid-19 in pregnancy quickly become outdated as new evidence emerges. A new study now helps to shed light on the risks of Covid-19 for pregnant women and their babies.

An international team of researchers has found that pregnant women seen at the hospital with suspected or confirmed Covid-19 are less likely to have fever or muscle pain and symptoms of the disease, but seem to be at an increased risk of needing intensive care than non-pregnant women of similar age.

The findings also reveal that pregnant or recently pregnant women with Covid-19 are more likely to give birth prematurely and their newborns are more likely to be admitted to a neonatal unit. Researchers found that 1 in 4 of all babies born to women with Covid-19 were admitted to a neonatal unit, but data on causes of preterm births or indications for admission to neonatal units among these babies are lacking. Stillbirth and newborn death rates, however, are low.

"We found that one in 10 pregnant or recently pregnant women who are attending or admitted to hospital for any reason are diagnosed as having suspected or confirmed Covid-19, although the rates vary by sampling strategy. The Covid-19 related symptoms of fever and myalgia (muscle pain) manifest less often in pregnant and recently pregnant women than in non-pregnant women of reproductive age. Whereas testing for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) in non-pregnant women is based on symptoms or contact history, testing in pregnant women is usually done when they are in hospital for reasons that might not be related to Covid-19," write the authors in the study published in BMJ.

The paper is a living systematic review that compares the clinical features, risk factors and outcomes of Covid-19 in pregnant and recently pregnant women with non-pregnant women of similar age. It has been led by experts at the University of Birmingham, UK, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), and other collaborators. Living systematic reviews are useful in fast-moving research areas such as Covid-19 because they can be updated regularly as new information becomes available.

"With the establishment of several national and global prospective cohorts, we expect the sample size of our meta-analysis to increase further in the coming months. Our living systematic review and metaanalysis, with its regular search and analyses updates, is ideally placed to assess the impact of new findings on the rapidly growing evidence base," the researchers emphasize.

Dr Edward Morris, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, who was not involved in the study, says that while overall risks to pregnant women from coronavirus are low, the findings of this study highlight the particular risks to pregnant women, especially those in the third trimester of pregnancy, should they become unwell with coronavirus. "Pregnant women are included in the list of people at moderate risk as a precaution and pregnant women should, therefore, continue to follow the latest government guidance on social distancing and avoiding anyone with symptoms suggestive of coronavirus," he suggests.

The report is based on 77 studies reporting rates, clinical features (symptoms, laboratory and X-ray findings), risk factors and outcomes for 11,432 pregnant and recently pregnant women admitted to the hospital and diagnosed as having suspected or confirmed Covid-19. The studies were designed differently and were of varying quality, but experts were able to allow for that in their analysis.

Compared with non-pregnant women of reproductive age, the investigators found that pregnant and recently pregnant women with Covid-19 were less likely to report symptoms of fever and muscle pain, but they were more likely to need admission to an intensive care unit and invasive ventilation. The odds of giving birth prematurely was also higher in pregnant and recently pregnant women with Covid-19 compared to those without the disease. A quarter of all babies born to mothers with Covid-19 were admitted to a neonatal unit and were at increased risk of admission than those born to mothers without the disease.

Marian Knight, professor of maternal and child population health, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, who was not involved in the study, emphasizes that reviews such as this can only be as good as the studies they summarise and it is important to note that a high proportion of the included studies have a substantial risk of bias.

"It is also important to recognize that, while this review reports high preterm birth rates, a number of women affected by Covid-19 in pregnancy are still pregnant, and thus are not included in the study data. This may make preterm birth rates appear artificially high. Preterm birth rates are likely to be lower once all women have given birth and their information is included. Nevertheless, some pregnant women affected by Covid-19 may have a subsequent preterm birth, and preventing infection remains essential. Pregnant women should thus continue to pay attention to hand washing and social distancing measures to reduce their risk of coronavirus," recommends Knight.

Evidence currently suggests that people who are non-White, are older, who are overweight and/or have a pre-existing medical condition, are more vulnerable to severe disease due to Covid-19. According to the new findings, pregnant women with Covid-19, who have pre-existing medical conditions, such as diabetes or chronic high blood pressure, or those who are older or overweight, are also more likely to suffer severe health complications due to coronavirus.

"Maternal risk factors associated with severe Covid-19 were increasing age, high body mass index, chronic high blood pressure, and pre-existing diabetes. Pre-existing maternal comorbidity was associated with admission to an intensive care unit and the need for invasive ventilation. These findings underline the need for pregnant women and recently pregnant women to take all precautions to avoid COVID-19 disease, in particular, if they have underlying conditions, says the team.

Researchers point to some study limitations that may have affected their results, including differences in study size, design, and definitions of symptoms, tests and outcomes. However, strengths include the large sample size and robust search methods to minimize the risk of missing studies and duplicate data, they explain.

According to the researchers, healthcare professionals should be aware that pregnant women with Covid-19 and their newborn babies might need access to intensive care and specialist baby care facilities. This is particularly true for pregnant women with Covid-19 alongside other underlying medical conditions. The experts suggest that mothers with pre-existing comorbidities will need to be considered as a high-risk group for Covid-19, along with those who are obese and of older age.

"Clinicians will need to balance the need for regular multidisciplinary antenatal care to manage women with pre-existing comorbidities against unnecessary exposure to the virus, through virtual clinic appointments when possible. Pregnant women with Covid-19 before term gestation might need to be managed in a unit with facilities to care for preterm neonates," the findings state.

The team believes it is crucial to stress that whether or not a woman has Covid-19, her right to a positive pregnancy and childbirth experience must be ensured. "It is also important to recognize the increased stress and anxiety caused by Covid-19, which may be particularly felt by pregnant women, recently-pregnant women, and their partners, children, and families; healthcare providers have a role in responding to pregnant women in an appropriate and compassionate way," suggest authors.

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Pregnant women with coronavirus are more likely to need intensive care and give birth early, finds study - MEAWW

AB Science: New independent research reveals that masitinib has direct anti-viral activity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in vitro and is a promising…

Paris, 02 September 2020, 8.15pm

New independent research reveals that masitinib has direct anti-viral activity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in vitro and is a promising candidate for treating COVID-19

AB Science SA (NYSE Euronext - FR0010557264 - AB) today announced the publication of preclinical study results with masitinib in COVID-19. Research led by scientists from the University of Chicago has been posted on the bioRxiv preprint service as an article entitled, Drug repurposing screen identifies masitinib as a 3CLpro inhibitor that blocks replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. The article [1] is freely accessible online from the bioRxiv site https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.31.274639v1

This article reports results of an independent study led by Professor Savas Tay from the Pritzker School for Molecular Engineering (University of Chicago, USA). Starting from a library of 1,900 clinically used drugs, either approved for human use or in late stage clinical development, masitinib stood-out in its ability to completely inhibit activity of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (3CLpro), thereby blocking viral replication. Remarkably, the research team elucidated masitinibs mechanism of action against SARS-CoV-2, showing that masitinib inhibits 3CLpro, SARS-CoV-2 protease that is crucial for virus infection and reproduction, by directly binding to the protease catalytic site.

This research has shown for the first time that masitinib exerts a direct anti-viral effect on the SARS-CoV-2 virus, under in vitro conditions. Considering these data in conjunction with masitinibs possible action against life-threatening complications arising from COVID-19 related cytokine storm, suggests that it could be an effective treatment of COVID-19. As such, the clinical development program of masitinib in COVID-19, which includes to date one ongoing phase 2 study, is given a new impetus to determine masitinibs potential to treat COVID-19, said Dr Nir Drayman, senior researcher at the Pritzker School for Molecular Engineering (University of Chicago) and one of the articles principal authors.

Masitinibs dual anti-viral and anti-inflammatory action is a highly attractive approach for combatting severe COVID-19 infections and is one that sets this compound apart from the majority of other drugs currently under development to treat COVID-19, said Professor Savas Tay, principal investigator of the study and author of the article (Pritzker School for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago).

These data identify a novel mechanism of action by which masitinib could exert an anti-viral effect against viral diseases by targeting virus protease. In particular, results provide a new compelling biological rationale for the use of masitinib in the treatment of COVID-19. Positive results from masitinibs development in severe uncontrolled asthma also provide a good indication that masitinib could be beneficial in the treatment of respiratory disorders such as COVID-19. Taken together, these data highlight the importance of conducting clinical studies with masitinib in COVID-19, commented Olivier Hermine (President of the Scientific Committee of AB Science and member of the Acadmie des Sciences in France).

Masitinib recently received authorization by the French Medicine Agency (ANSM) to initiate a Phase 2 study evaluating masitinib in combination with isoquercetin for the treatment of COVID-19 [2]. This study (AB20001) is a randomized (1:1), open-label Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of masitinib combined with isoquercetin in hospitalized patients with moderate and severe COVID-19. The study will enroll 200 patients (age 18 without an upper age limit) at medical centers in France and other countries. The primary objective is to improve the clinical status of patients after 15 days of treatment.

[1] Drayman N, Jones KA, Azizi S-A, et al. Drug repurposing screen identifies masitinib as a 3CLpro inhibitor that blocks replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. bioRxiv 2020.08.31.274639; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.31.274639

[2] AB Science press release. May 06,2020. http://www.ab-science.com/years/2020/

About bioRxivbioRxiv (pronounced "bio-archive") is a free online archive and distribution service for unpublished preprints in the life sciences. It is operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a not-for-profit research and educational institution. By posting preprints on bioRxiv, authors are able to make their findings immediately available to the scientific community and receive feedback on draft manuscripts before they are submitted to journals.

About masitinibMasitinib is a new orally administered tyrosine kinase inhibitor that targets mast cells and macrophages, important cells for immunity, through inhibiting a limited number of kinases. Based on its unique mechanism of action, masitinib can be developed in a large number of conditions in oncology, in inflammatory diseases, and in certain diseases of the central nervous system. In oncology due to its immunotherapy effect, masitinib can have an effect on survival, alone or in combination with chemotherapy. Through its activity on mast cells and microglia and consequently the inhibition of the activation of the inflammatory process, masitinib can have an effect on the symptoms associated with some inflammatory and central nervous system diseases and the degeneration of these diseases.

About AB ScienceFounded in 2001, AB Science is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the research, development and commercialization of protein kinase inhibitors (PKIs), a class of targeted proteins whose action are key in signaling pathways within cells. Our programs target only diseases with high unmet medical needs, often lethal with short term survival or rare or refractory to previous line of treatment. AB Science has developed a proprietary portfolio of molecules and the Companys lead compound, masitinib, has already been registered for veterinary medicine and is developed in human medicine in oncology, neurological diseases, and inflammatory diseases. The company is headquartered in Paris, France, and listed on Euronext Paris (ticker: AB).

Further information is available on AB Sciences website: http://www.ab-science.com.

Forward-looking Statements - AB ScienceThis press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts. These statements include projections and estimates as well as the assumptions on which they are based, statements based on projects, objectives, intentions and expectations regarding financial results, events, operations, future services, product development and their potential or future performance.

These forward-looking statements can often be identified by the words "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate" or "plan" as well as other similar terms. While AB Science believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of AB Science and which may imply that results and actual events significantly differ from those expressed, induced or anticipated in the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include the uncertainties related to product development of the Company which may not be successful or to the marketing authorizations granted by competent authorities or, more generally, any factors that may affect marketing capacity of the products developed by AB Science, as well as those developed or identified in the public documents filed by AB Science with the Autorit des Marchs Financiers (AMF), including those listed in the Chapter 4 "Risk Factors" of AB Science reference document filed with the AMF on November 22, 2016, under the number R. 16-078. AB Science disclaims any obligationor undertaking to update the forward-looking information and statements, subject to the applicable regulations, in particular articles 223-1 et seq. of the AMF General Regulations.

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AB Science: New independent research reveals that masitinib has direct anti-viral activity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in vitro and is a promising...

University of Illinois research: Decline in bird numbers related to nicotine-based herbicides – Agri News

URBANA, Ill. Bird biodiversity is rapidly declining in the United States. The overall bird population decreased by 29% since 1970, while grassland birds declined by an alarming 53%.

Valuable for so much more than flight and song, birds hold a key place in ecosystems worldwide. When bird numbers and varieties dwindle, pest populations increase and much-needed pollination decreases. Those examples alone negatively impact food production and human health.

Likely reasons for the far-reaching and devastating declines include intensified agricultural production, use of pesticides, conversion of grassland to agricultural land, and climate change.

A new study from University of Illinois points to increased use of neonicotinoid insecticides as a major factor in the decline, said Madhu Khanna, distinguished professor in agricultural and consumer economics at U of I and co-author on the paper, published in Nature Sustainability.

Khanna said numerous studies have shown neonicotinoids nicotine-based pesticides negatively affect wild bees, honey bees and butterflies, but large-scale studies on the pesticides impact on birds have been limited. She speaks more about the topic in a podcast from the Center for the Economics of Sustainability at Illinois.

This represents the first study at a national scale, over a seven-year time period, using data from hundreds of bird species in four different categories grassland birds, non-grassland birds, insectivores and non-insectivores, she said.

We found robust evidence of the negative impact of neonicotinoids, in particular on grassland birds, and to some extent on insectivore birds after controlling for the effects of changes in land use.

Khanna and co-authors Yijia Li, a graduate student at U of I, and Ruiqing Miao, assistant professor at Auburn University, analyzed bird populations from 2008 to 2014 in relation to changes in pesticide use and agricultural crop acreage.

The authors found that an increase of 100 kilograms in neonicotinoid usage per county a 12% increase on average contributed to a 2.2% decline in populations of grassland birds and 1.6% in insectivorous birds.

By comparison, the use of 100 kilograms of non-neonicotinoid pesticides was associated with a 0.05% decrease in grassland birds and a 0.03% decline in non-grassland birds, insectivorous birds and non-insectivorous birds.

Since impacts accumulate, the authors estimate that, for example, 100 kilograms neonicotinoid use per county in 2008 reduced cumulative grassland-bird populations by 9.7% by 2014.

These findings suggest that neonicotinoid use has a relatively large effect on population declines of important birds and that these impacts grow over time.

According to the study, the adverse impacts on bird populations were concentrated in the Midwest, Southern California and Northern Great Plains.

The researchers say the effect of neonicotinoids could result directly from birds consuming treated crop seeds and indirectly by affecting the insect populations they feed on. Consumption of just a few seeds is enough to cause long-term damage to the birds reproduction and development.

The study included data on bird population and species diversity from the North American breeding bird survey, a comprehensive database with data from about 3,000 bird routes across the United States. The researchers correlated the bird data with pesticide use, as well as satellite data on agricultural crop acreage and urban land use.

They examined whether intensified agricultural production and conversion of grassland to agricultural land also contributed to the bird decline. Results showed a small negative effect on grassland birds related to cropland expansion, but no significant effect on other types of birds.

While the use of other pesticides has been flat or declining, neonicotinoid usage has grown exponentially over the past two decades. Neonicotinoids are considerably more toxic to insects and persist longer in the environment, the researchers note.

This research provides compelling support for the re-evaluation of policies permitting the use of neonicotinoids by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by incorporating considerations of the implications of these pesticides for bird habitats, the authors conclude.

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University of Illinois research: Decline in bird numbers related to nicotine-based herbicides - Agri News

NEET 2020: Important topics, subject-wise revision tips to score better – The Indian Express

By: Education Desk | New Delhi | Updated: September 2, 2020 9:02:16 amNEET 2020 is to be held in September 13 (Representational image)

Written by Devadas Krishnan

NEET 2020: With the National Eligibility Entrance Tests (NEET) just two weeks away, it is time for students to gear up for the last phase of preparation before the D-Day. By now, most have already finished with thorough preparation and these last few days should be about revision, practice, and time management. You can do just that with these few helpful tips and enter the exam hall with confidence:

Do not try new study materials instead, focus on NCERT books for conceptual knowledge and revise the notes you have prepared to date. Distribute equal time for all the three sections of the exam physics, chemistry, and Biology. In each of the subjects, start with topics that carry more weightage.

Here are section-wise revision tips for NEET 2020

Biology: In NEET, biology has more weightage than physics and chemistry as it is an important subject for MBBS and BDS students. Naturally, it is also the tie-breaker when it comes to rank allocation after cut-off is released. If two aspirants are tied on the same score, the one who obtains higher marks in biology gets a higher rank. If both still have the same biology marks, those who score high in chemistry are given preference. The most important topics from which students can expect around 4-5 questions are biological classification, plant kingdom, the animal kingdom, cell, human health and disease, ecosystem, the principle of inheritance and variation, human reproduction. Be very thorough with the diagrams.

Read | Best medical colleges in India

Physics: The questions in this section will be a mix of theory and numerical problems allocate time for both. Start with theory as conceptual clarity is important to interpret and solve the numericals. Focus first on important topics including modern physics and semiconductor devices, magnetism and matter, current electricity, newton laws system of particles, and rotation motion.

Chemistry: Start with revising chemical bonding and molecular structure, S- and P- block elements, equilibrium, chemical kinetics, d and f block elements as these are some of the important chapters. Practice chemical reactions and equations.

Make sure that in these last days you can revise all your notes at least twice. Devote about 10-12 hours each day to studies combined with small breaks for an ideal last month study routine. The complete revision will ensure that you are not stressed out about missing topics or feeling unprepared. Solving mock tests and the last few years question papers will help you identify areas that need more attention along with boosting your confidence about topics you are easily able to tackle. With each test, thoroughly analyse your common and often silly mistakes and constantly work upon them.

JEE Main 2020 LIVE updates

While performing mock examinations, ensure that you are timing yourself according to the timeframe of the actual exam. It is best to create an atmosphere like an examination hall, set a three-hour timer, and perform last years question papers. This helps in determining the number of questions that can easily be solved during the exam will help them devise a strategy for the main examination.

Lastly, relax! Preparation for entrance examinations is indeed stressful that too in these unprecedented times where we have all been restricted to our homes. Ensure that you de-stress every day for an hour through any leisure, entertainment activity of choice. It is important to relax and study as stress hampers productivity and learning. Also, do not get overwhelmed with the preparation of your friends and peers.

The author is CEO, MySchoolPage, a Bengaluru-based ed-tech platform providing personalised online tutoring

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NEET 2020: Important topics, subject-wise revision tips to score better - The Indian Express

A feminist response to the pandemic – Resilience

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the essential roles care work and reproductive labor fulfill in our societies. But will it lead to gender liberation?

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated nearly every kind of social injustice. In the Global North, it has disproportionately killed poor people, Indigenous people and people of color. Working-class women, and especially women of color, are not only more at risk of contracting COVID-19 and dying from it, they are also over-represented in essential care work roles including nursing, elderly care, childcare, food service and domestic labor. Confinement in the home has rendered the double burden of everyday domestic labor into an untenable situation even for white, relatively affluent women.

At the same time, the social crisis of COVID-19 has cast a spotlight on the ways that care workers both paid and unpaid keep us alive. Care work, of course, is overwhelmingly relegated to women, who are perceived as naturally nurturing, loving and gentle. Feminists have always raised issues of life and death. The pandemic has inspired and empowered social movements that place care workers in a position of moral and material leverage to enact change. For the second installment of the ROAR Roundtable series, I posed the following question to a panel of activists and scholars:

In retrospect, we should have asked the question in reverse;What does feminism have to contribute to the fight against COVID-19?Indeed, each respondent has, in her own way, answered that very question. With climate change, mass incarceration, intensified state violence, policing of the movement of people across borders, the twenty-first century is becoming a biopolitical century. Given the rapidly changing attitudes towards care work and reproductive labor as our globalized society combats COVID-19, it may finally be time to recognize gender liberation as a practical and necessary achievement.

Eleanor Finley, Associate Editor

COVID-19 has brutally demonstrated what we [at Barcelona en Com] have been saying in Barcelona for the past five years: that we need to put life at the center of municipal politics. Those who were vulnerable before the pandemic those on low incomes, in precarious jobs, with illness and disabilities, the elderly, or those with weak support networks have now been made even more so.

From a feminist perspective, the coronavirus will have serious consequences not just for women, but for everyone who does not fit the hegemonic model of the rich, white, heterosexual man. The more one deviates from this hegemonic profile, the more they will suffer the health, social and economic impacts of COVID-19. Racial inequalities, poverty, immigration status, culture and sexual-affective diversity are all intersectional factors that accumulate and exacerbate gender inequalities in our neighborhoods.

Care work has always been a feminized task, and therefore socially undervalued and underpaid. In the context of COVID-19, frontline work has become even more dangerous and undesirable, meaning that those who are doing it tend to be the most precarious and vulnerable women often migrant women or single parents. Similarly, female sex workers have seen their incomes dry up overnight.

Another important aspect is the double burden faced at home by women with caring responsibilities whether for children or other dependents. In Spain, we have seen women undertaking care work during the day and teleworking into the early morning, doubling their working hours to get everything done. Those who have male partners have seen them volunteering to go to the supermarket for the first time in a context where this was one of the few reasons to legally leave the house.

All of this is unfolding when reactionary political winds are blowing around the world. Thanks to social discontent and chronic poverty, politicians like Trump, Orbn and Bolsonaro have emerged in a manner that resembles the developments of the interwar period that eventually led to the rise of fascism. Such fascist movements feed off a romanticized vision of a non-existent past, promising a return to a natural order that criminalizes social difference and political dissidence. They promise a return to a time in which women were confined to the domestic sphere.

That is why the transformative power offeminizing politicsis so important. Measures like providing mental health support, investing in childcare and guaranteeing food security implicitly value the care work that sustains life itself. And only care and love, in the broadest and most universal sense of these terms, can trump hate.

Eva Abril, teacher, feminist activist and spokesperson of Barcelona En Com in Catalonia

Initially, while the media was reporting the explosion of domestic violence and a higher than usual number of deaths of women killed by violent partners,Southall Black Sisterswere seeing fewer enquiries for our assistance. It seemed counter-intuitive, but theEuropean Network of Migrant Womenreported the same thing. Their member organizations in Finland and Portugal faced a fall in enquiries. It was a mystery.

We speculated as to whether it was because migrant women had less access to technology, whether their movements were so closely monitored by families and spouses that they were unable to seek support, or whether they expected all services to be closed and were waiting it out. However, the situation did not last long and the enquiries quickly started to come in again.

We embarked on a huge re-organization in order to provide the same level of service virtually. The technology had to be overhauled to allow staff to work from home. Funders were generous enough to respond to the need. We were able to buy phones and phone cards for many of the women so that they could access online counseling and case worker support. Even the support group now meets online twice a week. Workers dropped off food parcels and toiletries for migrant women who have no recourse to public funds.

Finding accommodation for these women was the biggest issue. SBS initiated the COVID-19 crisis project, approaching hotels and hostels to provide free accommodation for three months. At first, they came up with nothing. But then, as a result of their efforts, a much better and cheaper accommodation became available. Yet SBS andSolace Womens Aid, who helped to deliver the project, met with real reluctance from the London mayor to fund the project and set aside enough rooms for migrant women.

They did succeed eventually; the women loved their accommodation. It reinforced their self-esteem. They asked why this could not be a permanent solution.

That is the key question to emerge from this crisis, one which should fire up our future political campaigns: if governments can magically find the funds admittedly in self-interest to treat people with humanity during a crisis, then we should settle for nothing less after COVID-19, all the while keeping an eye on whether this is the revolutionary moment to end a rotten system.

Rahila Gupta is a London-based journalist and author working with Southall Black Sisters (SBS), which provides direct services, information and guidance for women experiencing domestic abuse and violence, focusing on migrant women especially of Asian and African-Caribbean descent.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed many of the social inequalities that shape the life and death conditions of people around the world. It demonstrated, quite graphically, that even in the context of a virus that spreads regardless of ones identity, human-made systems are at the heart of whose lives matter and whose can be discarded. The pandemic provided the occasion to struggle and organize worldwide.

The same groups that have been organizing mutual aid systems in their communities also tend to be those who demand the most radical changes. Black women and women of color have been at the forefront of organizing to meet their communities needs and demands, despite being among the most vulnerable groups affected by the pandemic. Through horizontal, direct actions that aim to solve problems collectively, these people demonstrate that the protection of life is impossible without social reproduction, care work, mutual aid and, frankly, love.

Feminist and revolutionary womens movements have long pointed out that we cannot appeal to the mercy of the state to find solutions to our problems. They recognize that the states bureaucratic system is simply not designed to keep people alive. Managing life and defending life are not the same.

Organizing during the COVID-19 pandemic has in many ways also helped feminize ideas about heroism. During the pandemic, transnational discussions around labor, value and life have bucked romanticized ideas around work and gender and instead asserted that social relations must change. Reforms are not enough for justice; we must change our way of life.

When the Turkish state decided to exclude thousands of political prisoners from COVID-19 amnesty, the Kurdish womens movement reached out to different womens struggles around the world to start an international campaign for the freedom of political prisoners Solidarity Keeps Us Alive.

But why struggle against prisons at such a time?

Despite its role in perpetuating violence, social conflict and injustice, the state often justifies police brutality, surveillance and carceral politics by presenting itself as the sole authority that can grant safety to communities. Who is going to protect you from murderers, rapists and thieves? they ask. The prison is the ultimate institution to represent the notion that human beings are fundamentally flawed, corrupt and evil. This deterministic view of life rejects the possibility of justice through social change; it only serves the authoritarian state.

At the heart of abolitionist perspectives such as those held by the Kurdish womens movement is the idea that freedom and justice are not simply utopias, but are indeed possible. Violence is not fate, but an outcome of systems that can and must be dismantled. In this light, feminists and womens struggles with abolitionist politics present some of the most revolutionary and hopeful visions and practices.

Abolishing injustice means building free societies, as Black abolitionist feminists point out. This mean abolishing rape, domestic violence, poverty and many other issues and not by locking people up but by creating the material conditions for a more just society. And that happens through what the Kurdish womens movement calls a mentality revolution.

Abolishing the system is a call for the radical reorganization of life with social relations that can serve as the new terms of life. In this sense, radical womens struggles embody in the here-and-now that which is necessary to address the COVID-19 crisis and which is imminently realizable: a life without violence and inequality.

Dilar Dirik, Kurdish feminist and research fellow at Oxford University:

As an international alliance of grassroots womens organizations, theInternational Womens Alliancehas witnessed its members battling with all of the contradictions that COVID-19 has exposed and intensified. State and domestic violence against women have reached pandemic proportions as the pressure on families, employment and livelihood increases and the lockdowns confine women at home with abusive partners.

At the same time, women have been forced to double and triple their workloads of unrecognized reproductive labor taking on the care of family, children and elderly relatives as lockdowns suspend schools and public services.

COVID-19 has also been no impediment to continuing wars of aggression by imperialist powers like the US and its allies, including Israels planned annexation of the West Bank and Jordan Valley and Indias growing occupation of Kashmir. While basic health and education systems are weakened, NATO countries are spending billions preparing for war and new ways of dividing the world. In these places, women are on the frontlines of the resistance.

For women, the militarization in response to the COVID-19 crisis also means they will be at risk of suffering more violence through rape, forced displacement, land-grabbing and openly misogynist policies and attitudes promoted by authoritarians like Trump, Bolsonaro, Duterte and Modi. In Latin America, violence against women, which is linked to drug trafficking andmaquiladoraindustries, has reached femicidal proportions. Campaigns to stop this violence are being coordinated across borders and are gaining visibility.

At the same time, COVID-19 has exposed the key role that working women play in society.

In the Global South, small farmers, particularly women, are the majority of food producers. COVID-19 lockdowns have prevented their productive activities. While announcing food scarcity and hunger for themselves and the planet, the monopolization of agribusiness continues unabated.

In the Global North, COVID-19 has starkly revealed the crucial, frontline role of women migrant workers as care workers and in food and agricultural production and distribution. Their plight and precarity as migrant and refugee workers have also been laid bare and sparked struggles and solidarity from other sectors even under the confinement rules.

In the face of all this, women are finding new ways to move forward in struggle through mutual aid, health care and community-based food preparation and distribution. The IWA soon to celebrate its 10th anniversary is connecting from the grassroots to form strong international alliances, build stronger solidarities, exchange analyses and share campaigns.

Members of IWA are at the forefront of food sovereignty struggles both through advocacy and grassroots organizing. Hand-in-hand with the International Migrants Alliance and others, we are helping coordinate struggles that demand fundamental protections and basic rights for migrant workers worldwide.

The very hardships of the COVID-19 crisis are pushing our Alliance forward. Progressive womens movements continue as a vibrant part of struggles for justice and equality by the peoples of the world.

TheInternational Womens Allianceis aglobal alliance of grassroots womens organizations, institutions, alliances, networks and individuals.

In Colombia, as with many other places in the world, the pandemic and the measures taken by the government have had a serious impact on poor communities and informal workers. While the focus of this roundtable is the impact on women involved in womens liberation struggle, it is necessary to highlight that all poor women are going through similar struggles.

The work that most Colombian women do is neither formally recognized nor economically compensated. The lockdowns have had a severe impact on them, because they lost their sources of income necessary to survive the pandemic. These women often rely on the public healthcare system as few can afford private insurance.

For more than a decade, Colombias public healthcare system has suffered cuts and been weakened in favor of a private system. As such, the public system cannot provide high-quality care and those that use the public system are at higher risk if they do get sick.

War in Colombia has also not ceased because of the lockdowns. In fact, many organized communities have reported that the conflict has gotten worse because the government is taking advantage of the situation to militarize many regions.

There has been a noticeable increase in attacks on theGuardias autonomous, unarmed community-based security organizations and the frequency of assassinations of social leaders is also increasing. There have been several cases of rape of Indigenous girls by soldiers, who know that very little can be done in response right now. Due to the focus on the pandemic, this increase in violence has been met with little public outcry.

In its campaign to militarize these regions, this same military has brought the coronavirus to remote parts of the country that had yet to be affected.

Despite these impacts, womens liberation movements and social movements against capitalism gain strength every day, as the current crisis further evidences the need to change the entire system. The means to do so are complicated.

The womens movement participated in the march for dignity walking from Cauca, Arauca and the North East region towards the capital. In the search for shelter, many women have also been participating in massive actions to take back the land in the peripheries of big cities.

The Peoples Congress brings together peasants, Afro-descendants, Indigenous, urban, workers, women, youth in Columbia. Through training, communication and social mobilization, the Congress aims to consolidate popular power in the territories and create an internationalist alternative against patriarchy, capitalism, colonialism and imperialism. The Peoples Congress in Columbia is represented here by Blandine Rachel

Women across the world, besides dealing with intersectional systems of oppression, often do the invisible labor of caring for the most vulnerable. The pandemic exacerbated the vulnerability of many women involved with care work, while simultaneously activating mutual aid networks focused precisely on these very issues. In our international project to gather stories about COVID-19 mutual aid, Colectiva Sembrar have found hopeful models of revolutionary care from Brazil to Portugal, Taiwan and beyond.

In Hsin-Kang, a rural community in Taiwan, the population is largely aged, and most of its households are poor peasant families. At a communal dining space in Hsin-Kang, where elders come and gather, a woman in her 60s contributes by cooking for the people every day. Despite having severe rheumatoid arthritis and constant physical pain, she still insists on providing for those in her community who are older and more vulnerable.

Similar examples of frontline community work can also be found in Lisbon, Portugal. Women in Lisbon have come together to form Plataforma Geni, an online platform to empower migrant women whose vulnerability has been exacerbated during the pandemic. Shortly after the Portuguese government announced that Lisbon would go under lockdown, these women started an online campaign connecting women who could offer free legal and counseling services with women in need of these services.

The platform also collected money to redistribute among undocumented, unhoused or unemployed women whose labor is often invisible, undervalued and overlooked. Plataforma Genis decolonizing feminist practices show us a more equitable future built upon redistribution of power and in which the structural inequalities of race, gender and nationality that sustain colonialism will not prevail.

So far, the governments of Taiwan and Portugal have contained with COVID-19 relatively successfully. However, other governments, such as Brazils, have utterly failed, making networks of care even more important.

In Brazil, again, these networks are led by women. Suzi Soares, who comes from an artistic collective in the periphery of So Paulo, has mobilized thousands of families. Helena Silvestre, also from So Paulo, used the power of Abya Yala, a feminist school she had previously founded, as a hub to provide material, psychological and legal support for mostly Black and Indigenous women in the peripheries andfavelasof the city.

In all cases, this mutual care work is done mainly by women and often remains hidden in the shadows. Yet, this work represents the possibility of a communal and better future. It must not only be made visible, but also redistributed and decolonized.

Chia-Hsu Jessica Chang, Lais Gomes Duarte and Vanessa Zettler of Colectiva Sembrar are co-authors ofPandemic Solidarity: mutual aid during the COVID-19 crisis(Pluto Press).

Teaser photo credit: By Vivian Morales C. from San Antonio, Chile 08/03/2020 Marcha Da Internacional de la Mujer 8M San Antonio, Chile, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=87872539

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A feminist response to the pandemic - Resilience

The Renewal of the Socialist Ideal – Monthly Review

John Bellamy Foster is editor of Monthly Review and a professor of sociology at the University of Oregon.

This article is a revised and extended version of a talk presented on July 12, 2020, to the concluding session (of the Main Forum) of the Seventh South-South Forum on Sustainability: Climate Change, Global Crises, and Community Regeneration. The Conference/Webinar was organized by Lau Kin Chi and Sit Tsui through Lingnan University in Hong Kong.

Any serious treatment of the renewal of socialism today must begin with capitalisms creative destruction of the bases of all social existence. Since the late 1980s, the world has been engulfed in an epoch of catastrophe capitalism, defined as the accumulation of imminent catastrophe on every side due to the unintended consequences of the juggernaut of capital.1 Catastrophe capitalism in this sense is manifested today in the convergence of (1) the planetary ecological crisis, (2) the global epidemiological crisis, and (3) the unending world economic crisis.2 Added to this are the main features of todays empire of chaos, including the extreme system of imperialist exploitation unleashed by global commodity chains; the demise of the relatively stable liberal-democratic state with the rise of neoliberalism and neofascism; and the emergence of a new age of global hegemonic instability accompanied by increased dangers of unlimited war.3

The climate crisis represents what the world scientific consensus refers to as a no analogue situation, such that if net carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion do not reach zero in the next few decades, it will threaten the very existence of industrial civilization and ultimately human survival.4 Nevertheless, the existential crisis is not limited to climate change, but extends to the crossing of other planetary boundaries that together define the global ecological rift in the Earth System as a safe place for humanity. These include: (1) ocean acidification; (2) species extinction (and loss of genetic diversity); (3) destruction of forest ecosystems; (4) loss of fresh water; (5) disruption of the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles; (6) the rapid spread of toxic agents (including radionuclides); and (7) the uncontrolled proliferation of genetically modified organisms.5

This rupturing of planetary boundaries is intrinsic to the system of capital accumulation that recognizes no insurmountable barriers to its unlimited, exponential quantitative advance. Hence, there is no exit from the current capitalist destruction of the overall social and natural conditions of existence that does not require exiting capitalism itself. What is essential is the creation of what Istvn Mszros in Beyond Capital called a new system of social metabolic reproduction.6 This points to socialism as the heir apparent to capitalism in the twenty-first century, but conceived in ways that critically challenge the theory and practice of socialism as it existed in the twentieth century.

In the United States, key sectors of monopoly-finance capital have now succeeded in mobilizing elements of the primarily white lower-middle class in the form of a nationalist, racist, misogynist ideology. The result is a nascent neofascist political-class formation, capitalizing on the long history of structural racism arising out of the legacies of slavery, settler colonialism, and global militarism/imperialism. This burgeoning neofascisms relation to the already existing neoliberal political formation is that of enemy brothers characterized by a fierce jockeying for power coupled with a common repression of the working class.7 It is these conditions that have formed the basis of the rise of the New York real-estate mogul and billionaire Donald Trump as the leader of the so-called radical right, leading to the imposition of right-wing policies and a new authoritarian capitalist regime.8 Even if the neoliberal faction of the ruling class wins out in the coming presidential election, ousting Trump and replacing him with Joe Biden, a neoliberal-neofascist alliance, reflecting the internal necessity of the capitalist class, will likely continue to form the basis of state power under monopoly-finance capital.

Appearing simultaneously with this new reactionary political formation in the United States is a resurgent movement for socialism, based in the working-class majority and dissident intellectuals. The demise of U.S. hegemony within the world economy, accelerated by the globalization of production, has undermined the former, imperial-based labor aristocracy among certain privileged sections of the working class, leading to a resurgence of socialism.9 Confronted with what Michael D. Yates has called the Great Inequality, the mass of the population in the United States, particularly youth, are faced with rapidly diminishing prospects, finding themselves in a state of uncertainty and often despair, marked by a dramatic increase in deaths of despair.10 They are increasingly alienated from a capitalist system that offers them no hope and are attracted to socialism as the only genuine alternative.11 Although the U.S. situation is unique, similar objective forces propelling a resurgence of socialist movements are occurring elsewhere in the system, primarily in the Global South, in an era of continuing economic stagnation, financialization, and universal ecological decline.

But if socialism is seemingly on the rise again in the context of the structural crisis of capital and increased class polarization, the question is: What kind of socialism? In what ways does socialism for the twenty-first century differ from socialism of the twentieth century? Much of what is being referred to as socialism in the United States and elsewhere is of the social-democratic variety, seeking an alliance with left-liberals and thus the existing order, in a vain attempt to make capitalism work better through the promotion of social regulation and social welfare in direct opposition to neoliberalism, but at a time when neoliberalism is itself giving way to neofascism.12 Such movements are bound to fail at the outset in the present historical context, inevitably betraying the hopes that they unleashed, since focused on mere electoral democracy. Fortunately, we are also seeing the growth today of a genuine socialism, evident in extra-electoral struggle, heightened mass action, and the call to go beyond the parameters of the present system so as to reconstitute society as whole.

The general unrest latent at the base of U.S. society was manifested in the uprisings in late May and June of this year, which took the form, practically unheard of in U.S. history since the U.S. Civil War, of massive solidarity protests with millions of people in the streets, and with the white working class, and white youth in particular, crossing the color line en masse in response to the police lynching of George Floyd for no other crime than being a Black man.13 This event, coming in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic depression, led to the June days of rage in the United States.

But while the movement toward socialism, now taking hold even in the United States at the barbaric heart of the system, is gaining ground as a result of objective forces, it lacks an adequate subjective basis.14 A major obstacle in formulating strategic goals of socialism in the world today has to do with twentieth-century socialisms abandonment of its own ideals as originally articulated in Karl Marxs vision of communism. To understand this problem, it is necessary to go beyond recent left attempts to address the meaning of communism on a philosophical basis, a question that has led in the last decade to abstract treatments of The Communist Idea, The Communist Hypothesis, and The Communist Horizon by Alain Badiou and others.15 Rather, a more concrete historically based starting point is necessary, focusing directly on the two-phase theory of socialist/communist development that emerged out of Marxs Critique of the Gotha Programme and V. I. Lenins The State and Revolution. Paul M. Sweezys article Communism as an Ideal, published more than half a century ago in Monthly Review in October 1963, is now a classic text in this regard.16

In The Critique of the Gotha Programmewritten in opposition to the economistic and laborist notions of the branch of German Social Democracy influenced by Ferdinand LassalleMarx designated two historical phases in the struggle to create a society of associated producers. The first phase was initiated by the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat, reflecting the class-war experience of the Paris Commune and representing a period of workers democracy, but one that still carried the defects of capitalist class society. In this initial phase, not only would a break with capitalist private property take place, but also a break with the capitalist state as the political command structure of capitalism.17 As a measure of the limited nature of socialist transition in this stage, production and distribution would inevitably take the form of to each according to ones labor, perpetuating conditions of inequality even while creating the conditions for their transcendence. In contrast, in the later phase, the principle governing society would shift to from each according to ones ability, to each according to ones need and the elimination of the wage system.18 Likewise, while the initial phase of socialism/communism would require the formation of a new political command structure in the revolutionary period, the goal in the higher phase was the withering away of the state as a separate apparatus standing above and in antagonistic relation to society, to be replaced with a form of political organization that Frederick Engels referred to as community, associated with a communally based form of production.19

In the later, higher phase of the transition of socialism/communism, not only would property be collectively owned and controlled, but the constitutive cells of society would be reconstituted on a communal basis and production would be in the hands of the associated producers. In these conditions, Marx stated, labor will have become not a mere means of life but itselfthe prime necessity of life.20 Production would be directed at use values rather than exchange values, in line with a society in which the free development of each would be the condition for the free development of all. The abolition of capitalist class society and the creation of a society of associated producers would lead to the end of class exploitation, along with the elimination of the divisions between mental and manual labor and between town and country. The monogamous, patriarchal family based on the domestic enslavement of women would also be surmounted.21 Fundamental to Marxs picture of the higher phase of the society of associated producers was a new social metabolism of humanity and the earth. In his most general statement on the material conditions governing the new society, he wrote: Freedom, in this sphere [the realm of natural necessity], can consist only in this, that socialized man, the associated producers, govern the human metabolism of nature in a rational wayaccomplishing it with the least expenditure of energy in the process of promoting conditions of sustainable human development.22

Writing in The State and Revolution and elsewhere, Lenin deftly captured Marxs arguments on the lower and higher phases, depicting these as the first and second phases of communism. Lenin went on to emphasize what he called the scientific distinction between socialism and communism, whereby what is usually called socialism was termed by Marx the first, or lower phase of communist society, whereas the term communism, meaning complete communism, was most appropriately used for the higher phase.23 Although Lenin closely aligned this distinction with Marxs analysis, in later official Marxism this came to be rigidified in terms of two entirely separate stages, with the so-called communist stage so removed from the stage of socialism that it became utopianized, no longer seen as part of a continuous or ongoing struggle. Based on a wooden conception of the socialist stage and the intermediary principle of distribution to each according to ones labor, Joseph Stalin carried out an ideological war against the ideal of real equality, which he characterized as a reactionary, petty-bourgeois absurdity worthy of a primitive sect of ascetics but not of a socialist society organized on Marxist lines. This same stance was to persist in the Soviet Union in one way or another all the way to Mikhail Gorbachev.24

Hence, as explained by Michael Lebowitz in The Socialist Imperative, rather than a continuous struggle to go beyond what Marx called the defects inherited from capitalist society, the standard interpretation of Marxism in the half-century from the late 1930s to the late 80s introduced a division of post-capitalist society into two distinct stages, determined economistically by the level of development of the productive forces. Fundamental changes in social relations emphasized by Marx as the very essence of the socialist path were abandoned in the process of living with and adapting to the defects carried over from capitalist society. Instead, Marx had insisted on a project aimed at building the community of associated producers from the outset as part of an ongoing, if necessarily uneven, process of socialist construction.25

This abandonment of the socialist ideal associated with Marxs higher phase of communism was wrapped up in a complex way with changing material (and class) conditions and eventually the demise of Soviet-type societies, which tended to stagnate once they ceased to be revolutionary and even resurrected class forms, heralding their eventual collapse as the new class or nomenklatura abandoned the system. As Sweezy argued in 1971, state ownership and planning are not enough to define a viable socialism, one immune to the threat of retrogression and capable of moving forward on the second leg of the movement to communism. Something more was needed: the continuous struggle to create a society of equals.26

For Marx, the movement toward a society of associated producers was the very essence of the socialist path embedded in communist consciousness.27 Yet, once socialism came to be defined in more restrictive, economistic terms, particularly in the Soviet Union from the late 1930s onward, in which substantial inequality was defended, post-revolutionary society lost the vital connection to the dual struggle for freedom and necessity, and hence became disconnected from the long-term goals of socialism from which it had formerly derived its meaning and coherence.

Based on this experience, it is evident that the only way to build socialism in the twenty-first century is to embrace precisely those aspects of the socialist/communist ideal that allow a theory and practice radical enough to address the urgent needs of the present, while also not losing sight of the needs of the future. If the planetary ecological crisis has taught us anything, it is that what is required is a new social metabolism with the earth, a society of ecological sustainability and substantive equality. This can be seen in the extraordinary achievements of Cuban ecology, as recently shown by Mauricio Betancourt in The Effect of Cuban Agroecology in Mitigating the Metabolic Rift in Global Environmental Change.28 This conforms to what Georg Lukcs called the necessary double transformation of human social relations and the human relations to nature.29 Such an emancipatory project must necessarily pass through various revolutionary phases, which cannot be predicted in advance. Yet, to be successful, a revolution must seek to make itself irreversible through the promotion of an organic system directed at genuine human needs, rooted in substantive equality and the rational regulation of the human social metabolism with nature.30

Building on G. W. F. Hegels philosophy, Engels famously argued in Anti-Dhring that real freedom was grounded in the recognition of necessity. Revolutionary change was the point at which freedom and necessity met in concrete praxis. Although there was such a thing as blind necessity beyond human knowledge, once objective forces were grasped, necessity was no longer blind, but rather offered new paths for human action and freedom. Necessity and freedom fed on each other, requiring new periods of social change and historical transcendence.31 In illustrating this materialist dialectical principle, Lenin acutely observed, we do not know the necessity of nature in the phenomena of the weather. But while we do not know this necessity, we do know that it exists.32 We know the human relation to the weather and nature in general inevitably varies with the changing productive relations governing our actions.

Today, the knowledge of anthropogenic climate crisis and of extreme weather events is removing human beings from the realm of blind necessity and demanding that the worlds population engage in the ultimate struggle for freedom and survival against catastrophe capitalism. As Marx stated in the context of the severe metabolic rift imposed on Ireland as a result of British colonialism in the nineteenth century, the ecological crisis presents itself as a case of ruin or revolution.33 In the Anthropocene, the ecological rift resulting from the expansion of the capitalist economy now exists on a scale rivaling the biogeochemical cycles of the planet. However, knowledge of these objective developments also allows us to conceive the necessary revolution in the social metabolic reproduction of humanity and the earth. Viewed in this context, Marxs crucial conception of a community of associated producers is not to be viewed as simply a far-off utopian conception or abstract ideal but as the very essence of the necessary human defense in the present and future, representing the insistent demand for a sustainable relation to the earth.34

But where is the agent of revolutionary change? The answer is that we are seeing the emergence of the material preconditions of what can be called a global environmental proletariat. Engelss Condition of the Working Class in England, published in 1845, was a description and analysis of working-class conditions in Manchester, shortly after the so-called Plug Plot Riots and at the height of radical Chartism. Engels depicted the working-class environment not simply in terms of factory conditions, but much more in terms of urban developments, housing, water supply, sanitation, food and nutrition, and child development. The focus was on the general epidemiological environment enforced by capitalism (what Engels called social murder and what Norman Bethune later called the second sickness) associated with widespread morbidity and mortality, particularly due to contagious disease.35 Marx, under the direct influence of Engels and as a result of his own social epidemiological studies twenty years later while writing Capital, was to see the metabolic rift as arising not only in relation to the degradation of the soil, but equally, as he put it, in terms of periodical epidemics induced by society itself.36

What this tells usand we could find many other illustrations, from the Russian and Chinese Revolutions to struggles in the Global South todayis that class struggle and revolutionary moments are the product of a coalescence of objective necessity and a demand for freedom emanating from material conditions that are not simply economic but also environmental in the broadest sense. Revolutionary situations are thus most likely to come about when a combination of economic and ecological conditions make social transformations necessary, and where social forces and relations are developed enough to make such changes possible. In this respect, looked at from a global standpoint today, the issue of the environmental proletariat overlaps with and is indistinguishable from the question of the ecological peasantry and the struggles of the Indigenous. Likewise, the struggle for environmental justice that now animates the environmental movement globally is in essence a working-class and peoples struggle.37

The environmental proletariat in this sense can be seen as emerging as a force all over the world, as evident in the present period of ecological-epidemiological struggle in relation to COVID-19. Yet, the main locus of revolutionary ecological action in the immediate future remains the Global South, faced with the harsh reality of imperialism in the Anthropocene.38 As Samir Amin observed in Modern Imperialism, Monopoly Finance Capital, and Marxs Law of Value, the triad of the United States, Europe, and Japan is already using the planets bio-capacity at four times the world average, pointing toward ecological oblivion. This unsustainable level of consumption of resources in the Global North is only possible because

a good proportion of the bio-capacity of society in the South is taken up by and to the advantage of these centers [in the triad]. In other words, the current expansion of capitalism is destroying the planet and humanity. The expansions logical conclusion is either the actual genocide of the peoples of the Southas overpopulationor, at the least, their confinement to ever-increasing poverty. An eco-fascist strand of thought is being developed which gives legitimacy to this kind of final solution to the problem.39

A revolutionary process of socialist construction aimed at building a new system of social reproduction in conformity with the demands of necessity and freedom cannot occur without an overall orienting principle and measure of achievement as part of a long-term strategy. It is here, following Mszros, that the notion of substantive equality or a society of equals, also entailing substantive democracy, comes into play in todays struggles.40 Such an approach not only stands opposed to capital at its barbaric heart but also opposes any ultimately futile endeavor to stop halfway in the transition to socialism. Immanuel Kant spelled out the dominant liberal view shortly after the French Revolution when he stated that the general equality of men as subjects in a state coexists quite readily with the greatest inequality in degrees of the possessions men have. Hence, the general equality of men coexists with great inequality of specific rights of which there may be many.41 In this way, equality came to be merely formal, existing merely on paper as Engels pointed out, not only with respect to the labor contract between capitalist and worker but also in relation to the marriage contract between men and women.42 Such a society establishes, as Marx demonstrated, a right of inequality, in its content, like every right.43 The idea of substantive equality, consistent with Marxs notion of communism, challenges all of this. It demands a change in the constitutive cells of society, which can no longer consist of possessive individualists, or individual capitals, reinforced by a hierarchical state, but must be based on the associated producers and a communal state. Genuine planning and genuine democracy can only start through the constitution of power from the bottom of society. It is only in this way that revolutions become irreversible.

It was the explicit recognition of the challenge and burden of twenty-first-century socialism in these terms that represented the extraordinary threat to the prevailing order constituted by the Venezuelan Revolution led by Hugo Chvez. The Bolivarian Republic challenged capitalism from within through the creation of communal power and popular protagonism, generating a notion of revolution as the creation of an organic society, or a new social metabolic order. Chvez, building on the analyses of Marx and Mszros, mediated by Lebowitz, introduced the notion of the elementary triangle of socialism, or (1) social ownership, (2) social production organized by workers, and (3) satisfaction of communal needs.44 Underlying this was a struggle for substantive equality, abolishing the inequalities of the color line and the gender line, the imperial line, and other lines of oppression, as the essential basis for eliminating the society of unequals.

In Communism as an Ideal, Sweezy emphasized the new forms of labor that would necessarily come into being in a society that used abundant human productivity more rationally. Many categories of work, he indicated, would be eliminated altogether (e.g. coalmining and domestic service), and insofar as possible all jobs must become interesting and creative as only a few are today. The reduction of the enormous waste and destruction inherent in capitalist production and consumption would open up space for the employment of disposable time in more creative ways.

In a society of equalsone in which everyone stands in the same relation to the means of production and has the same obligation to work and serve the common welfareall needs that emphasize the superiority of the few and involve the subservience of the many will simply disappear and will be replaced by the needs of liberated human beings living together in mutual respect and cooperation. Society and the human beings who compose it constitute a dialectical whole: neither can change without changing the other. And communism as an ideal comprises a new society and a new [human being].45

More than simply an ideal, such an organizing principle in which substantive equality and substantive democracy are foremost in the conception of socialism/communism is essential not only to create a socialist path to a better future but as a necessary defense of the global population confronted with the question of survival. Dystopian books and novels notwithstanding, it is impossible to imagine the level of environmental catastrophe that will face the worlds peoples, especially those at the bottom of the imperialist hierarchy, if capitalisms creative destruction of the metabolism of humanity and the earth is not stopped midcentury.

According to a 2020 article on The Future of the Human Climate Niche in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, based on existing trends, 3.5 billion people are projected to be living in unlivable heat outside the human climate niche by 2070, under conditions comparable to those of the Sahara desert.46 Even such projections fail to capture the enormous level of destruction that will fall on the majority of humanity under capitalist business as usual. The only answer is to leave the burning house and to build another now.47

Although untold numbers of people are engaged in innumerable struggles against the capitalist juggernaut in their specific localities all around the world, struggles for substantive equality, including battles over race, gender, and class, depend on the fight against imperialism at the global level. Hence, there is a need for a new global organization of workers based on the model of Marxs First International.48 Such an International for the twenty-first century cannot simply consist of a group of elite intellectuals from the North engaged in World Social Forum-like discussion activities or in the promotion of social-democratic regulatory reforms as in the so-called Socialist and Progressive Internationals. Rather, it needs to be constituted as a workers-based and peoples-based organization, rooted from the beginning in a strong South-South alliance so as to place the struggle against imperialism at the center of the socialist revolt against capitalism, as contemplated by figures such as Chvez and Amin.

In 2011, just prior to his final illness, Chvez was preparing, following his next election, to launch what was to be called the New International (pointedly not a Fifth International) focusing on a South-South alliance and giving a global significance to socialism in the twenty-first century. This would have extended the Bolivarian Alliance for Peoples of Our America to a global level.49 This, however, never saw the light of day due to Chvezs rapid decline and untimely death.

Meanwhile, a separate conception grew out of the efforts of Amin, working with the World Forum for Alternatives. Amin had long contemplated a Fifth International, an idea he was still presenting as late as May 2018. But in July 2018, only a month before his death, this had been transformed into what he called an Internationale of Workers and Peoples, explicitly recognizing that a pure worker-based International that did not take into account the situation of peoples was inadequate in confronting imperialism.50 This, he stated, would be an organization, not just a movement. It would be aimed at the

alliance of all working peoples of the world and not only those qualified as representatives of the proletariatincluding all wage earners of the services, peasants, farmers, and the peoples oppressed by modern capitalism. The construction must also be based on the recognition and respect of diversity, whether of parties, trade unions, or other popular organizations of struggle, guaranteeing their real independence. In the absence of [such revolutionary] progress the world would continue to be ruled by chaos, barbarian practices, and the destruction of the earth.51

The creation of a New International cannot of course occur in a vacuum but needs to be articulated within and as a product of the building of unified mass organizations expanding at the grassroots level in conjunction with revolutionary movements and delinkings from the capitalist system all over the world. It could not occur, in Amins view, without new initiatives from the Global South to create broad alliances, as in the initial organized struggles associated with the Third World movement launched at the Bandung Conference in 1955, and the struggle for a New International Economic Order.52 These three elementsgrassroots movements, delinking, and cross-country/cross-continent alliancesare all crucial in his conception of the anti-imperialist struggle. Today this needs to be united with the global ecological movement.

Such a universal struggle against capitalism and imperialism, Amin insisted, must be characterized by audacity and more audacity, breaking with the coordinates of the system at every point, and finding its ideal path in the principle of from each according to ones ability, to each according to ones need, as the very definition of human community. Today we live in a time of the perfect coincidence of the struggles for freedom and necessity, leading to a renewed struggle for freedom as necessity. The choice before us is unavoidable: ruin or revolution.

Read more:
The Renewal of the Socialist Ideal - Monthly Review

Trillion Trees: Reducing Wildfire Risk, Protecting People and Wildlife – USDA.gov

Posted by Aurora Cutler, Office of Sustainability and Climate, USDA Forest Service in Forestry

Aug 28, 2020

An opaque, autumn haze smothers much of the western United States from the millions of acres burning across forests in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains. Fire size and severity are rising in tandem with record heat, low winter snowpack, decreased summer rains, and abundant forest fuels. Wildfires in the West doubled in total size between 2000-2015 compared to the previous 15 years, burning an average 6.8 million acres annually in the last decade. This trend has wide-ranging consequences on the health and productivity of our national forests, our drinking water supplies, and wildlife habitat.

Thats why the U.S. Chapter of 1t.org (us.1t.org), launched today, and supported by the USDA Forest Service, will enhance the long-term resilience of national forests by planting trees and restoring ecosystems over the next 10 years. Planting trees after catastrophic wildfire is becoming increasingly more important to the sustainability of our forests, especially in areas where wildfire wipes out entire stands and the seed source necessary to forests natural regrowth.

The USDA Forest Service manages national forests using a variety of active management techniques to increase resource resilience while sustaining the many benefits and services wildlife and people need and enjoy. Healthy forests support natural stream systems and watersheds, filtering drinking water for 180 million Americans. Our national forests are an important source of rural prosperity, providing forest industry jobs to more than 2.5 million Americans. Wildlife thrives in our national forests.

In areas where we have lost forests to fire, the trillion trees platform provides an opportunity to accelerate the renewal or reproduction of forest benefits, like carbon sequestration and clean water, over natural rates by tapping the expertise and resources of our many partnership groups and other state and local agencies. Currently, the USDA Forest Service has opportunities to increase reforestation rates on 1.3 million acres of national forests, including 700,000 acres of tree planting and 600,000 acres of activities to ensure successful natural regeneration.

Current active forest management techniques, to regenerate, replace, and grow more resilient forests in the future, reduce the likelihood of severe wildfire. By using novel planting techniques we can create forests with more resilience to future wildfires.

The USDA Forest Service is protecting lives and property in forest adjacent communities, with timber harvests, reducing high fuel risk stands, and hazardous fuel treatments, including mechanical thinning and prescribed burning. Our primary tools to address these risks are reducing the amount of hazardous fuels and limiting the number of healthy trees on specified terrain. Hazardous fuel treatments on national forests protect roughly 60 million to 200 million trees per year from wildfire. This year, the USDA Forest Service plans to treat 3.5 million acres of hazardous fuels.

With the momentum of trillion trees platform, it is evident how active forest management can ensure sustainable and resilient forests will endure for future generations.

See original here:
Trillion Trees: Reducing Wildfire Risk, Protecting People and Wildlife - USDA.gov

How Birth Control Can Help Us Reimagine The Future – Boing Boing

Authors and former io9 majordomos Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders have a fortnightly podcast called Our Opinions Are Correct, which covers all sorts of nerd culture and science-related topics. In the December 3 episode, "Birth Control of the Future," Newitz and Anders discuss reproductive and contraceptive technologies, both real and imagined, and the various ramifications they might have on society.

There's a lot of interesting ground here, from artificial wombs to morning after pill vending machines to the impact of coronavirus (and potentially other pandemics) on child-rearing responsibilities. Also the fact that human penises are curiously not designed for aggression, unlike many other mammal phalluses. But Newitz and Anders offer two observations over the course of the 45-minute podcast that really stood out for me.

First, in terms of language. For the sake of both clarity and simplicity, the hosts deliberately refer to "People with Eggs" and "People with Sperm," rather than by sex or gender. Because sex and gender are complicated; basic reproductive requirements, less so. "Male/female" and "man/woman" have always been frustratingly opaque termsnot just because the words have such a binary dependent relationship with each other, but also, because of how we define them. Despite what some people think, "biological sex" (for lack of a better term) has been determined solely by an X or Y chromosome; that's true for humans as well as other animals. Hell, humans are as likely to be intersex as they are to have red hairit's a minority, sure, but it's something most of still encounter on a fairly regular basis (when not in quarantine). When you're specifically talking about people in terms of reproductive functioningand you need a shorthand, catch-all way to broadly refer to them"People with Eggs" and "People with Sperm" is inclusive, and efficient.

I was also struck by this notiondiscussed throughout the podcastthat while technological advancements in birth control can shape the future of our societies, it's just as important to change the ways that we currently view and think about sex and reproduction. Our perceptions are inherently limited by our pre-existing assumptions about these things, and that frames how we approach issues like healthcare (read: abortion). It made me think about an article I wrote in 2016 about a male birth control pill study that was cancelled, sending the internet into a furor. The details that got picked up (and mocked) in the headlines were the fact that the study was cancelled, and that some of the men involved had reported PMS-like symptoms. The joke, as it were, was that this was a clear case of masculinity-so-fragilethat these people with sperm couldn't handle something that people with eggs dealt with on a regular basis.

While I certainly understood the Schadenfreudic satisfaction there, the problem was: it wasn't true. The study was cancelled was because it was a shit study that neglected to control for things like diet, culture, and pre-existing mental health conditions. And of the few hundred people involved in the study, some were permanently sterilized, some of them died by suicide, and some of them tried to die by suicide. It reached a point where there was simply nothing else that be gained, learned, or achieved by continuing a study that also risked harming people.

Where it gets even messier, however, is the fact that the invention of birth control for people with eggs was just asif not moreinhumane than that 2016 birth control study for people with sperm.

Theshort versionof the story: Puerto Rican women and asylum inmates were forced to participate in early trials for female birth control pills in1955. In fact, in Puerto Rico, where contraception and abortion were legal and available butforced sterilizationwas also occurring, the researchers specifically sought out the "ovulating intelligent" in medical school, where the trials became a required part of their curriculum. If they dropped out or refused to participate, they'd be expelled from school.

Later, when the drug was tested underslightlymore humane circumstances,there were still some big problems:The researchersenticed womenwith the "no pregnancy" part while conveniently leaving out the details about the potential side effects of the pills.If the recent male trial that got everyone up in arms was bad by modern standards (which it was), then these adverse effects weremonstrous:17% of participants had serious complaints, three people may or may not havediedas a result, and one of the researchers even straight up admitted that there were "too many side reactions to be generally acceptable."

This, I think, represents a good microcosm about why our pre-existing assumptions about reproductive and contraception cloud the way that we approach them in the future. First, there's how we actually conduct our studies. As I wrote in 2016:

TheFood and Drug Administrationrequires20,000 menstrual cycles' worth of safety data for women.But since men don't cycle, no one has determined how long men's birth control would need to be tested to be deemed safe.

Coupled with the difficulty of establishingplacebo controlsfor contraceptives (giving someone a sugar pill and telling them it's fine to have unprotected sex isgenerallyfrowned upon), the potential rewards of thisparticularstudy were really, really unreliable.

In other words: our current regulatory framing of "birth control pills" is inherently gendered, in a way that does not translate to people with sperm. In order to create a birth control pill for those people, we need to completely eradicate and reconstruct that framework. We can't use the past to build a better future.

There's also the fact that the OG birth control pill for people with eggs was a byproduct of violent eugenics that exploited people because of their race, class, and gender. But hey, it all worked out in the end, right? With a largely positive outcome for everyone else who wasn't involved in those trials? Sure. Maybe. But if we're going to use that same oppressive foundation to address birth control for people with sperm, then what are we really gaining by building a "better" future on a pile of corpses?

Anyway. Check out the podcast. You can also checkout the hosts' new books. Annalee Newitz's upcoming nonfiction book, Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, comes out in February 2021. Charlie Jane Anders released a novel titled The City in the Middle of the Night last year, and has the first book in a new YA series, Victories Greater Than Death, coming in April 2021.

Birth Control Of The Future [Our Opinions Are Correct]

I looked into the backstory of male birth control. Turns out, it's a racist, sexist mess. [Thom Dunn / Upworthy]

Image: Ceridwen/Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 2.0)

View post:
How Birth Control Can Help Us Reimagine The Future - Boing Boing

Reproduction numbers tend to 1 and the reason could be behavioural | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal – voxeu.org

The graph below shows the baseline prediction of an epidemiological model where infected people who recover from a virus are immune thereafter.Notice that the share of the population who are infected at any given time rises from zero to a peak and then falls thereafter. The peak point, where the growth rate in the number of new daily cases turns from positive to negative, is the point at which herd immunity has been achieved. Beyond that point, there are too few people who are still susceptible to the virus to become infected in numbers greater than those who are recovering, and so the total number of infected people starts to drop off. That is the herd immunity threshold (Atkeson 2020).

What is really important is that such a point can be identified for those models if you know R0 the basic reproduction number which is the number of people someone who becomes infected with Covid-19 will themselves infect. The peak point arises when a share of people who are not immune is equal to 1/R0; that is, 1 - 1/R0 have been infected. For Covid-19, R0 was estimated between 2.5 and 3.5. (For something like measles, it is more like 12-18 and for influenza 1.5-1.8). Thus, the peak point of infections for Covid-19 would involve one third of the population (assuming R0 = 3) before dropping off to claim another third before it died out. If you can intervene and drive R0 down (by, say, social distancing or mask-wearing) and keep it there, you decrease the herd immunity threshold and so the number of people who at some point are infected.

R0 is the reproduction number that contains the potential for the outbreak and how bad it might get. Overtime, the effective reproduction rate how many people are added to the pool of infected compared to how many are removed (through recovery or death) changes. It is denoted Rt or simply R. When R > 1, there are more people being added to the infected pool than removed and so prevalence how many people are dangerous is rising. When R < 1, the reverse is true. The figure above has R > 1 until a peak is reached and then R < 1 after that. Thus, the peak is at a point where R = 0 or there is no change in the size of the infected pool. Standard epidemiological models allow for public interventions (lockdowns, mask-wearing, testing) to push R down but the path of the virus if left alone follows the single speak, up and then down, prediction. (See Berger et al. (2020) for a clear formal exposition and Gans (2020a) for a longer discussion.)

Where are we at the moment? For the US, to date, there have been 4.5 million recorded cases for Covid-19, or 1.3% of the population. So it does not seem like the US is anywhere near herd immunity based on epidemiological estimates of R0. This isnt surprising because while R0 may be high, policies and other changes had an impact too. Thus, if we look at how the US has fared we get a graph like this (from epiforecasts.io):

Notice that Covid-19 started out at an R of about 3 but quickly fell to 1 and has stayed around that level even during the additional and more significant outbreaks that happened in June and July throughout Florida, Texas, Arizona and California.

Thus, if you had followed a standard epidemiological model, your prediction for Covid-19 would have been incorrect. But, of course it would. We all reacted in March and behaviour changed. Some of this was by virtue of policy, such as the very strong lockdowns in New York or the take up of mask-wearing later on. But US policy interventions have been far weaker post-May. There is more going on here. Indeed, this pattern of R falling to about 1 happens across all states in the US and many countries in the world. To be sure, some countries actually suppressed the outbreak with R falling to 0 but for the majority, movement around 1 or just below it seems to be the norm. This regularity has been carefully documented by Atkeson et al. (2020).

What happened was people are people and when they know they can catch an infectious disease by physical contact they adjust their behaviour accordingly. Perhaps the clearest study of this comes from Goolsbee and Syverson (2020). They use mobile phone data to track visits to 2.5 million businesses in the US between March and May 2020. And they pay particular attention to counties that were in lockdown states that are next to counties in non-lockdown cases.

Here is an illustration of that for Illinois (lockdown) versus Iowa (no lockdown).

You can see here that having a government-mandated lockdown did mean fewer visits to various store types in Illinois but the difference was small compared to the reductions in visits that were as a result of peoples choices. Basically, overall activity seemed to drop by 60% on average but legal restrictions probably only accounted for 7% of that. Moreover, this traffic drop-off started before those restrictions were even in place. As it turns out, people were changing their behaviour more than just rushing for scraps of toilet paper. People also seemed to be reacting more to deaths near to them than just infections per se. Likewise, when counties started to open up, the increases in visits were modest.

There are several recent papers that use behavioural assumptions namely, rational economic agents of the type pioneered by Gersovitz and Hammer (2004) that show what this means for the path of the virus (Toxvaerd 2020, McAdams 2020, Gans 2020b). People generally condition their behaviour on how likely certain activity is likely to get them infected. So, when prevalence is high and there are relatively more infected people out there, people will cut back on physical interactions and take more care to protect themselves. What does that do? It pushes R down and with it the size of the pool of infected people. By contrast, when prevalence is low, people relax and take more risks. That pushes R up again and so infections start to rise again. In the end, there is a tendency towards an equilibrium point where R = 1 and the size of the infected pool is stable. In that situation, people settle into their behaviour and the end result is that the growth in the virus is mitigated. The bad news, of course, is that the opposite occurs when the virus is on the decline, reversing that work. Thus, human behaviour leads to a situation where the virus just persists that is, is endemic for some time. Thus, what really happened is more like the purple line drawn below.

What will see is something like this but then also, because small effects can sometimes lead to large changes, occasional outbreaks that bump R back up for a time before a change in behaviour wrestles the outbreak back towards a steady state. So expect a bumpy ride until there is a vaccine or some stronger, coordinated government action.

When people understand that there is a dangerous coronavirus circulating, they engage in behaviour that reduces the rate at which they are infected even without governments ordering them to do so. Thats the good news.

The bad news is that these people who react to what the virus is actually doing and similarly going to react when governments put in place various policies. If the government puts in policies that cause people to stay in place and have law enforcement patrolling the streets as they did recently in Melbourne, then there isnt much scope for people to react. But what if we engage in more modest policies such as testing, tracing and isolating which reduces the risk of being infected if you go out or we encourage mask-wearing with a similar desired effect? In that case, because their risk equation changes, peoples behaviour might change and this may have the perverse effect of increasing infection rates or, more assuredly, most reducing them by as much as might be hoped.

Atkeson, A (2020), On Using SIR Models to Model Disease Scenarios for COVID-19, Quarterly Review 41(1): 1-35.

Atkeson, A, K Kopecky, and T Zha (2020), Four Stylized Facts about COVID-19, NBER Working Paper No. 27719.

Berger, D, K Herkenhoff and S Mongey, An SEIR infectious disease model with testing and conditional quarantine, Covid Economics 13.

Gans, J S (2020a), Economics in the Age of Covid-19, MIT Press.

Gans, J S (2020b), The economic consequences of ^R = 1: Towards a workable behavioural epidemiological model of pandemics, Covid Economics 41.

Gersovitz, M and J S Hammer (2004), The economical control of infectious diseases, The Economic Journal 114(492): 127.

Goolsbee, A and C Syverson (2020), Fear, lockdown, and diversion:Comparing drivers of pandemic economic decline 2020, NBER Working Paper.

McAdams, D (2020), Nash SIR: An economic-epidemiological model of strategic behaviorduring a viral epidemic, Covid Economics 16.

Toxvaerd, F (2020), Equilibrium social distancing, Covid Economics 15.

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Reproduction numbers tend to 1 and the reason could be behavioural | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal - voxeu.org

‘We roll up our sleeves and get it done.’ More than 60000 COVID tests, and counting – Source

As the coronavirus pandemic drags on, Larimer County Director of Public Health Tom Gonzales and CSU President Joyce McConnell talk every day, by phone, text or video meeting. But they had not met in person until Friday, when the public health team paid a visit to the CSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which is processing an average of 1,000 COVID-19 tests from county residents and Colorado skilled nursing facilities every day.

In the early days of the pandemic, university health and research leaders recognized that the laboratory was uniquely positioned to contribute to Larimer Countys testing capacity. In April, lab director Dr. Kristy Pabilonia worked with CSUsHealth and Medical Center and the office of the Vice President for Research to obtain Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certification for laboratory testing performed on humans.

Since then, the lab has processed more than 60,000 COVID-19 tests, in addition to 95,000 veterinary cases, for pathogens such as rabies and tularemia. In a normal year, the lab processes over half a million animal tests.

People might not realize that weve been so strong in veterinary diagnostics for a long time. To make the transition to human testing so quickly demonstrates the wisdom of a university and all of its teams to be able to pull together and make that happen. I want to recognize Kristy and the people here the way they have mobilized has been extraordinary, McConnell said.

The conversion of the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory to serving human clinical needs during COVID is a great story that involves many across campus, Alan Rudolph, CSUs vice president for research, said after the tour. Indeed, the VDL has been amazing in executing 3,000-5,000 tests per week that have been supporting the state senior care workforce and saving lives. The lab is processing those tests as part of the Columbine Health Systems Center for Healthy Agings research project testing asymptomatic health care workers and residents in skilled nursing facilities.

As positive cases continue to rise, Gonzales (a 1996 CSU Environmental Health alum) and his team came away from the visit with bolstered confidence about the integrity of the testing process. The public can access the latest data on Larimer Countys dashboard.

We feel very confident that when a test is positive, its positive, and that helps with contact tracing, said Gonzales as he watched scientists handling samples behind thick glass in the labs Biosafety Level 3 facility. Seeing the people in action, the great work thats going on here, it is phenomenal. Its helping us to beat this pandemic.

The BSL-3 lab tests highly infectious bacteria and viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, using high-throughput equipment (real-time polymerase chain reaction assay) that can test 96 samples at a time. Machines run continuously and the staff has been working overtime to keep up with the rising demand. Labs across the country share hard-to-find supplies, even basics like alcohol and pipette tips.

Our public health system is fragile, fragile enough that sometimes we cant even get pipettes, McConnell said. Understanding the points in our process that are fragile is very important for the public to know. The entire system needs support.

Click to learn more about supporting the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Emerging Infectious Disease fund.

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'We roll up our sleeves and get it done.' More than 60000 COVID tests, and counting - Source

The Secret Social Lives of Giant Poisonous Rats – Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

The African crested rat (Lophiomys imhausi) is hardly the continents most fearsome-looking creaturethe rabbit-sized rodent resembles a gray puffball crossed with a skunkyet its fur is packed with a poison so lethal it can fell an elephant, and just a few milligrams can kill a human. In a Journal of Mammology paper published yesterday, researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, University of Utah and National Museums of Kenya found the African crested rat is the only mammal known to sequester plant toxins for chemical defense, and they uncovered an unexpected social lifethe rats appear to be monogamous and may even form small family units with their offspring.

Its considered a black box of a rodent, said Sara Weinstein, lead author, Smithsonian-Mpala postdoctoral fellow and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utah. We initially wanted to confirm the toxin sequestration behavior was real and along the way discovered something completely unknown about social behavior. Our findings have conservation implications for this mysterious and elusive rat.

People in East Africa have long suspected the rat to be poisonous. A 2011 paper proposed these large rodents sequester toxins from the poison arrow tree (Acokanthera schimperi). A source of traditional arrow poisons, Acokanthera contains cardenolides, compounds similar to those found in monarch butterflies, cane toads and some heart medications for humans. Cardenolides, particularly the ones in Acokanthera, are highly toxic to most animals.

The initial 2011 study observed this behavior in only a single individual, said co-author Denise Dearing from the University of Utah. A main goal of our study was to determine how common this exceptional behavior was.

When threatened, the African crested rat lives up to its name and erects a crest of hair on its back to reveal a warning on its flanksblack-and-white stripes running from neck to tail on each side of its body. The 2011 study hypothesized that the rats chew the Acokanthera bark and lick the plant toxins into specialized hairs at the center of these stripes.

In the new study, researchers trapped 25 African crested rats, the largest sample size of the species ever trapped. Using motion-activated cameras, they documented nearly 1,000 hours of rat behavior. For the first time, they recorded multiple rats sequestering Acokanthera toxins and discovered the rats appear to be monogamous and may even form small family units with their offspring.

Everyone thought it was a solitary animal, said Bernard Agwanda, curator of mammals at the National Museums of Kenya, co-author of this study and the 2011 paper. Ive been researching this rat for more than 10 years, so you would expect there to be fewer surprises. This can carry over into conservation policy.

A Rich Social Life

As a Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow at the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya, Weinstein first searched for the rats with camera traps, but found that they rarely triggered the cameras. Weinstein was then joined by Katrina Nyawira, the papers second author and a graduate student at Oxford Brookes University. Together, they spent months experimenting with live traps to capture the elusive rodents.

We talked to rangers and ranchers to ask whether theyd seen anything, said Nyawira. Eventually they figured out that loading the traps with smelly foods like fish, peanut butter and vanilla did the trick. Out of 30 traps, we finally got two animals. That was a win. This rat is really rare.

Those two animals changed the course of the study. They first caught an individual female, then caught a male at the same site two days later.

We put these two rats together in the enclosure and they started purring and grooming each other, Weinstein said. Which was a big surprise, since everyone we talked to thought that they were solitary. I realized that we had a chance to study their social interactions.

Weinstein and Nyawira transformed an abandoned cow shed into a research station, constructing stalls equipped with ladders and nest boxes to simulate their habitat in tree cavities. They placed cameras in strategic spots of each pen and then analyzed nocturnal hours, tracking the total activity, movement and feeding behavior. The aim was to build a baseline of normal behavior before testing whether behavior changed after the rats chewed the toxin cardenolides from the poison arrow tree.

Theyre herbivores, essentially rat-shaped little cows, Weinstein said. They spend a lot of time eating, but they walk around, mate, groom, climb up the walls, sleep in the nest box.

The footage and behavioral observations strongly support a monogamous lifestyle. They share many of the traits common among monogamous animals: large size, a long life span and a slow reproductive rate. In addition, the researchers trapped a few large juveniles in the same location as adult pairs, suggesting that offspring spend an extended period of time with their parents. In the pens, the paired rats spent more than half of their time near each other and frequently followed each other around. The researchers also recorded special squeaks, purrs and other communicative noises making up a wide vocal repertoire. Further behavioral studies and field observation would uncover more insights into their reproductive and family life.

After the researchers established a baseline of behavior, they offered the rats branches from the poison arrow tree. Although the rats did not sequester every time the plant was offered, 10 rats did. They chewed it, mixed it with spit and licked and chewed it into their specialized hairs. Exposure to the Acokanthera toxins did not alter rat behavior and neither did eating milkweed, the same cardenolide-enriched plant used as chemical defense by monarch butterflies. Combined, these observations suggest that crested rats are uniquely resistant to these toxins.

Most people think that it was a myth because of the potency of the tree, Nyawira said. But we caught it on video! It was very crazy.

The rats were selective about using Acokanthera cardenolides, suggesting that rats may be picky about their toxin source, or that anointed toxins remain potent for a long time, just like traditional arrow poisons from the same source.

African Crested Rat Conservation

The African crested rat is listed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but there is little actual data on the animals. Agwanda has studied African crested rats for more than a decadeand sees indications that they are in trouble.

We dont have accurate numbers, but we have inferences, said Agwanda, who continues to monitor the populations. There was a time in Nairobi when cars would hit them and there was roadkill everywhere. Now encountering them is difficult. Our trapping rate is low. Their population is declining.

The research team is planning future studies to better understand the rats physiology and behavior. We are particularly interested in exploring the genetic mechanisms that allow the crested rats and their parasites to withstand the toxic cardenolides said co-author Jess Maldonado, research geneticist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and Weinsteins Smithsonian-Mpala Postdoctoral fellowship co-advisor.

We are looking at a broad range of questions influenced by habitat change, Agwanda said. Humans have cleared forests to make farms and roads. We need to understand how that impacts their survival. In addition, Agwanda is building an exhibit at the Museums of Kenya to raise awareness about this unique poisonous animal.

About the Smithsonians National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

The Smithsonians National Zoo andConservation Biology Institute leads the Smithsonians global effort to save species, better understand ecosystems and train future generations of conservationists.As Washington, D.C.s favorite destination for families, the Zoo connects visitors to amazing animals and the people working to save them.In Front Royal, Virginia, across the United States and in more than 30 countries worldwide, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists and animal care experts tackle some of todays most complex conservation challenges by applying and sharing what they learn about animal behavior and reproduction, ecology, genetics, migration and conservation sustainability to save wildlife and habitats. Follow the Zoo on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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The Secret Social Lives of Giant Poisonous Rats - Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

England’s Covid tier allocation to be based on areas’ latest data – The Guardian

Data released in the next few days will determine which areas will enter each of the new tiers being proposed across England, as hopes emerge of the coronavirus reproduction number dropping below dangerous levels.

The UK transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said an areas placement in a specific tier after the lockdown ends on 2 December will be determined by its number of cases, and factors such as the speed of rising cases and the numbers of people aged over 60 testing positive for the virus.

New data is coming out in the next day or so, which is why the actual specification of which tier goes into which place will be announced on Thursday, and it will be on the basis of a number of cases, Shapps said in an interview with Sky News. For example, the number of cases in the over-60s, where it is much more likely or possible that it could be fatal. And things like the speed at which coronavirus is rising or falling in a particular area and a couple of other measures along those lines.

He told BBC Breakfast that although half the country might be placed in the strictest tier 3 alert level, this would still allow for more freedoms than the national lockdown currently in place for England.

I think it is the case that we do need to be a bit tighter on the tiers tier 3 in more places is a strong possibility but theres still a difference between that and what were doing now.

For example, in terms of the number of people that can meet outside in a public place, and a number of other things. Weve been living through this nightmare for a long time now, we all know the only way to defeat this virus is, Im afraid, to keep people apart and separate from the most natural thing, which is human contact.

From 2 December will be divided into three different tiers of restrictions. They are slightly amended from the previous system.

Across all tiers, shops, personal care, gyms and the wider leisure sector are set to reopen. Collective worship and weddings with a maximum of 15 in attendance can also resume.

Tier one

Under the new system hospitality businesses in England can stay open until 11pm with table service only but last orders must be made by 10pm, in an effort to stagger departures. Therule of sixwill also remain in place indoors, meaning social household mixing is still allowed.

Spectator sport is set to resume, albeit with limits on numbers and abiding by social distancing. In tier 1, there will be a maximum crowd capacity outdoors of 50% of occupancy of the stadium or 4,000 people, whichever is smaller. Indoors, the maximum capacity is 1,000.

In tier 1, people will be encouraged to minimise travel and work from home where possible. Support bubbles which allowed a single household to join with another household are also being broadened across all tiers. Parents with a child under one will be able to form a support bubble, as well as those with a child under five who needs continuous care, such as a child with a disability. Also, in cases where there is a single adult carer, for a partner with dementia for example, they would also be able to form a support bubble.

How was it before?

In the least restrictive tier, also known as alert level medium, the rule of six applied indoors and outdoors, meaning up to half a dozen people from different households could gather. Hospitality businesses, such as pubs and restaurants, could stay open but were forced to shut by 10pm a move that prompted much criticism, including from Conservative backbenchers.

Tier two

Under the new system, although hospitality venues will be allowed to stay open until 11pm with last orders at 10pm only those that serve substantial meals can operate. It means pubs and bars that do not will have to close.

As before, social mixing outside of households or support bubbles will not be allowed indoors. The rule of six will apply outdoors.

Spectators will be allowed to watch sport in tier 2, with a maximum crowd capacity outdoors of 50% of the capacity of the stadium or 2,000 people, whichever is smaller. Indoors, the maximum capacity is 1,000.

Indoor entertainment venues, such as cinemas, casinos and bowling alleys, must also close.

How was it before?

In the high alert level tier people were prohibited from mixing socially indoors with anybody outside of their household or support bubble but the rule of six remained in place outdoors. Hospitality businesses, such as pubs and restaurants, could open until 10pm but people were only allowed to visit with their household or support bubble.

Tier three

Hospitality venues will have to close, except for delivery and takeaway service. In tier 3, hotels and other accommodation providers must also close, except for specific work purposes where people cannot return home. Outdoor sports, including golf and tennis, will be allowed to continue in all tiers, as will amateur team sports such as football. Unlike the first two tiers, spectators will not be allowed to watch sport in tier 3.

How was it before?

In the most restrictive tier, known as the very high alert level that was endured by vast swathes of the north of England, mixing socially indoors between households unless a support bubble was in place was banned. Under baseline measures hospitality venues serving substantial food could remain open until 10pm. Up to six people from different households could socialise outdoors in public spaces, such as parks, beaches or public gardens.

Simon MurphyPolitical correspondent

You can only breach that in a certain number of places and I think weve made our decisions as a country that that has to be for things like education and work while we get through this winter.

He agreed, however, that the countrys test-and-trace system needed to be improved, adding that the government had no choice but to spend a great deal on it during the crisis. We have to get through this coronavirus and Im afraid there has been no other option but to spend a lot of money, Shapps told Sky News. Weve said that we want test and trace to be a lot better.

The system, which has to date cost 22bn, has been heavily criticised after a series of high-profile failures since its launch earlier this year.

The government has also announced that travellers arriving in England from 15 December will be able to end their quarantine period with a negative coronavirus test after five days.

Whitehall has said passengers who arrive from a destination not on the governments travel corridors list can reduce the 14-day period by paying for a test from a private firm after five days at a cost of 65 to 120.

We still wanted to make sure we had testing available for doctors, nurses and teachers and any others before turning to travellers, and weve done that by turning to the private sector for these tests, Shapps said.

What can I leave home for?

Government say the list is not exhaustive, and other permitted reasons for leaving home may be set out later. People could face fines from police for leaving their home without a legally permitted excuse.

Can different households mix indoors?

No, not unless they are part of an exclusive support bubble, which allows a single-person household to meet and socialise with another household.

Parents are allowed to form a childcare bubble with another household for the purposes of informal childcare, where the child is 13 or under.

Can different households mix outdoors?

People are allowed to meet one person from another household socially and for exercise in outdoor public spaces, which does not include private gardens.

Can I attend funerals, weddings or religious services?

Up to 30 people will still be allowed to attend funerals, while stone settings and ash scatterings can continue with up to 15 guests.

Weddings and civil partnership ceremonies are not permitted except in exceptional circumstances. Places of worship must remain closed except for voluntary services, individual prayer and other exempt activities.

Can I travel in the UK or abroad for a holiday?

Most outbound international travel will be banned. There is no exemption for staying away from home for a holiday. This means people cannot travel internationally or within the UK, unless for work, education or other legally permitted exemptions.

Which businesses will close?

Everything except essential shops and education settings, which include nurseries, schools and universities, will close.

Entertainment venues will also have to close. Pubs, restaurants and indoor and outdoor leisure facilities will have to close their doors once more.

However, takeaway and delivery services will still be allowed, while construction and manufacturing will stay open.

Parents will still be able to access registered childcare and other childcare activities where reasonably necessary to enable parents to work. Some youth services may be able to continue, such as one-to-one youth work, but most youth clubs will need to close their doors.

Public services, such as jobcentres, courts, and civil registration offices will remain open.

There is no exemption for grassroots organised team sports. Elite sports will be allowed to continue behind closed doors as currently, including Premier League football matches.

Aaron Walawalkar

The transport secretary said the tests to reduce the quarantine period for travellers were not just for business travellers, despite their cost.

He told BBC Breakfast: I expect what will happen as this market gets going is well see the cost of tests being driven down, particularly as some of these new types of tests have come around. And rather than specifying people have heard terms like PCR tests and lab tests and lateral flow rather than specifying a type of test, weve specified a specification standard for these tests medical experts have.

Its up to companies to innovate. If they can produce a test for much less money, or indeed much faster turnaround, then theyre welcome to do that as long as it meets the very exacting standards.

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England's Covid tier allocation to be based on areas' latest data - The Guardian