Daily Archives: January 2, 2023

Ukraine Crisis Coverage | Institute for the Study of War

Posted: January 2, 2023 at 6:29 am

ISW is closely tracking developments in and around Ukraine.Click here to see a full list of ISW's Ukraine Conflict Updates. In late February 2022, ISW began publishing these daily synthetic products covering key events related to renewed Russian aggression against Ukraine. These Ukraine Conflict Updates replaced ISWs previous Indicators and Thresholds for Russian Military Operations in Ukraine and/or Belarus, which we maintained from November 12, 2021, through February 17, 2022. That document is no longer updated.

Russia has destabilized Ukraine and sought to return it to the Russian orbit for years and may now seek to do so through force. ISWs Russia team predicted and then exposed Russias effort to integrate Belarus into the Russian military in 2020 and 2021. Now, over a hundred thousand Russian troops are massed on Ukraines borders, including in Belarus, where they could support a third front in a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In the winter of 2021-2022, ISW and CTP launched a forecast series in response to the Russian military build-up on Ukraine's border. The reports in this series are listed below.

Click here to read Part 3:Putins Likely Course of Action in Ukraine - Updated Course of Action Assessment

January 27, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin is using the crisis he created by mobilizing a large military force around Ukraine to achieve two major objectives: first, advancing and possibly completing his efforts to regain effective control of Ukraine itself, and second, fragmenting and neutralizing the NATO alliance. Russian military preparations can support a massive invasion of Ukraine from the north, east, and south that could give Putin physical control of Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities, allowing him to dictate terms that would accomplish the first objective. Such an invasion, however, might undermine his efforts to achieve the second objective because it could rally the NATO alliance around the need to respond to such a dramatic act of aggression. An invasion would also entail significant risks and definite high costs. A Russian military action centered around limited military operations in southern and southeastern Ukraine coupled with a brief but widespread and intense air and missile campaign could better position Putin to achieve both aims as well as reduce the likely costs and risks to Russia.

Click here to read Part 2: Putin's MIlitary Options

December 11, 2021

Russian President Vladimir Putin is amassing a military force on and near Ukraines borders large enough to conduct a full-scale invasion. Western intelligence agencies have reportedly intercepted Russian military plans to do so by early February. Visible Russian military activities and these plans so clearly support preparations for an invasion that it seems obvious that Putin really might invade if his demands are not met.

Putin is rarely so obvious, however, and a massive Russian invasion of Ukraine would mark a fundamental transformation of the approach he has taken for two decades to advance his interests and respond to threats. We cannot dismiss the possibility that such a transformation has occurred. The United States, NATO, and Ukraine must seriously consider the risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine and prepare military, diplomatic, and economic measures to deter and respond to that threat.

Click here to read Part 1: Putin's Likely Course of Action in Ukraine

December 10, 2021

Russian President Vladimir Putin is amassing a large force near the Ukrainian border and reportedly has a military plan to invade and conquer most of unoccupied Ukraine. Western leaders are rightly taking the threat of such an invasion very seriously, and we cannot dismiss the possibility that Putin will order his military to execute it. However, the close look at what such an invasion would entail presented in this report and the risks and costs Putin would have to accept in ordering it leads us to forecast that he is very unlikely to launch an invasion of unoccupied Ukraine this winter. Putin is much more likely to send Russian forces into Belarus and possibly overtly into Russian-occupied Donbas. He might launch a limited incursion into unoccupied southeastern Ukraine that falls short of a full-scale invasion.

A full-scale Russian invasion of unoccupied Ukraine would be by far the largest, boldest, and riskiest military operation Moscow has launched since the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. It would be far more complex than the US wars against Iraq in 1991 or 2003. It would be a marked departure from the approaches Putin has relied on since 2015, and a major step-change in his willingness to use Russian conventional military power overtly. It would cost Russia enormous sums of money and likely many thousands of casualties and destroyed vehicles and aircraft. Even in victory, such an invasion would impose on Russian President Vladimir Putin the requirement to reconstruct Ukraine and then establish a new government and security forces there more suitable for his objectives.

Click here to read ISW and the Critical Threat Project's reports on the Russian military buildup near and potential invasion of Ukraine. These reports unpack Putin's likely calculations and use them to forecast his strategy. They provide critical insight for US and Western leaders and policymakers.

Click here to read ISW's running assessment of Russia's military activity near Belarus and Ukraine.This document is regularly updated.

Click here to see a list of ISW's Belarus updates. Launched near-daily in late 2020 and early 2021, these reports provide moment-to-moment insight into Russia's efforts to integrate the Belarusian military and subordinate the Belarusian state.

Link:

Ukraine Crisis Coverage | Institute for the Study of War

Posted in Ukraine | Comments Off on Ukraine Crisis Coverage | Institute for the Study of War

Healthline: Medical information and health advice you can trust.

Posted: at 6:27 am

All data and statistics are based on publicly available data at the time of publication. Some information may be out of date. Visit our coronavirus hub and follow our live updates page for the most recent information on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most people who get COVID-19 recover within a few weeks.

But months later, some continue to struggle with symptoms.

Theyve become known as the long haulers. The phenomenon is also called long COVID-19 or post-COVID-19 syndrome.

As things progress, hopefully the terminology will settle on one or another, said Dr. Matthew J. Ashley, a neurologist at the Centre for Neuro Skills in California.

Whatever you call it, the long-term effects of COVID-19 are estimated to affect 25 to 30 percent of people whove had the disease.

Its hard to define what really belongs in this category, Ashley told Healthline.

There are a lot of emerging and serious long-term consequences of COVID-19 that relate back to the illness but are separate and distinct things, he said, such as stroke, heart attack, anoxic brain injury, Guillain-Barr syndrome, pulmonary embolism, DVT, etc., that occur in some patients because of COVID-19 and its consequences.

Then there are the unfortunate people who end up spending weeks in the hospital and ICU who experience associated complications from that, including post-ICU syndrome, PTSD, or the like, Ashley added. Whether this is part of the long-hauler syndrome or not, it certainly causes significant long-term consequences for people and deserves attention.

Some common long-term symptoms are shortness of breath during exercise and an altered sense of smell and taste.

Some people have lingering headache, joint pain, or cough. And many cite brain fog as a problem.

As a neurologist, I dont much care for this term. But it does aptly describe the symptoms of cognitive fatigue and difficulty with attention and focus that many people are describing as a long-term effect, Ashley said.

Some people might just feel a bit off cognitively. Others describe difficulty with even simple things like paying bills or sending an email, he said.

Another problem that can impair daily functioning is fatigue.

Many people who get COVID-19 are experiencing this long-term symptom, Ashley said. The intensity varies from person to person, but many are having difficulty performing even basic daily activities like getting around their living environment or doing their weekly shopping routines, let alone returning to work, parenting, exercise, etc.

Dr. Mady Hornig is a physician-scientist and associate professor of epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

Shes also a long hauler.

The tickle in her throat started in April. Back then, Hornig didnt realize it was probably the first sign of COVID-19.

Then came COVID-19 toes, which became so swollen at one point that she couldnt wear shoes.

That was followed by a 12-day fever.

Along the way, Hornig has had swollen lymph nodes, rapid heart rate, and crisis-level hypertension. Add to that out-of-whack thyroid hormones, high cholesterol, and anemia.

Hornig puts in a full workday, but it still doesnt match her pre-COVID-19 level. She likened the feeling to someone pulling the plug on an electrical device with no battery backup, as in everything goes at once.

COVID-19 has the capacity to infect and affect many different tissues. The ongoing pandemic and other events are stressors and clearly adding to the difficulties for many, Hornig told Healthline.

She recommends considering your body as its own guide.

If youre feeling exhausted, its important to figure out how much sleep youre actually getting. Falling asleep and staying asleep is an issue for many individuals, Hornig said. If youre getting unrefreshing sleep, even though youre in bed a normal number of hours, work on your sleep hygiene.

Returning to exercise can be a challenge. If you cant get back to your pre-COVID-19 level right away, take things slowly and dont push it.

Hornig suggests using a phone app to chart physical activities, so you have a better idea of how much youre really doing.

We dont really understand the mechanism in post-exertion decline or malaise. We do think its prudent to use extreme caution. Be attentive to how you feel. If youre having respiratory issues, be very careful about exercise, Hornig said.

She advises doing exercises such as yoga and partial pushups, during which you can work on controlled breathing.

If you have respiratory symptoms, its really important to allocate your energy, Hornig said.

From her own experience, she knows that pushing the envelope can aggravate matters. Be cautious, slow your pace, and take rest periods.

If you have toe or leg swelling, elevate your legs for 15 to 20 minutes a few times a day.

With a growing number of telehealth options, you dont necessarily have to visit your doctor in person.

Arrange a virtual visit if you have any concerns or questions about how to recover from persistent symptoms after having COVID-19.

Sleep disorders, for example, can be treated.

Sleep is a time when the immune system and brain are doing a lot of work, Hornig said. When youre not getting enough quality sleep, you potentially interrupt these important aspects of the body rebuilding itself to be able to withstand the next round of stressors.

Get in touch with your doctor right away if you have symptoms of a blood clot, which can lead to pulmonary embolism or stroke. And seek immediate medical attention if you have:

Clinics that treat long haulers, such as the Mount Sinai Center for Post-COVID-19 Care and Cleveland Clinics Post-ICU Recovery Clinic, are sprouting up in hospitals around the country. Your doctor can help you locate a clinic in your area.

Symptoms of COVID-19 can look a lot like those of the flu, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and other conditions.

When in doubt, testing can help confirm the cause of your symptoms so you can get the right kind of help.

Report new or worsening symptoms to your doctor and follow up as needed.

COVID-19 research is still in its infancy.

In general, it remains unknown how long these various symptoms, or others that have yet to be identified, can persist, Ashley said.

It also remains unclear what, if any, additional difficulties will arise in people who have encountered the virus and recovered, he said. The only way we will learn more is by doing well-designed and consistent scientific studies as time goes on.

Researchers need your help.

Solve M.E. is an organization that works to advance treatments for ME/CFS, which has some of the same symptoms as COVID-19.

Through its You + ME Registry and Biobank, Solve M.E. is gathering data and biological samples from people with long-haul COVID-19 to compare with data from people with ME/CFS.

Survivor Corps is mobilizing people affected by COVID-19 to help with research efforts. Their website lists national and state-specific research studies and trials.

If youve had COVID-19 and want to donate convalescent plasma, use these links to find a location near you:

View original post here:

Healthline: Medical information and health advice you can trust.

Posted in Covid-19 | Comments Off on Healthline: Medical information and health advice you can trust.

China can expect repeat Covid infections with new strains on the way: experts – South China Morning Post

Posted: at 6:27 am

China can expect repeat Covid infections with new strains on the way: experts  South China Morning Post

Read the original here:

China can expect repeat Covid infections with new strains on the way: experts - South China Morning Post

Posted in Covid-19 | Comments Off on China can expect repeat Covid infections with new strains on the way: experts – South China Morning Post

PCR tests for travellers reintroduced around the world as Covid-19 cases surge – The National

Posted: at 6:27 am

PCR tests for travellers reintroduced around the world as Covid-19 cases surge  The National

Excerpt from:

PCR tests for travellers reintroduced around the world as Covid-19 cases surge - The National

Posted in Covid-19 | Comments Off on PCR tests for travellers reintroduced around the world as Covid-19 cases surge – The National

Covid-19 surge after Covid-19 surge has made it impossible for US hospitals to plan for the future – Vox.com

Posted: at 6:27 am

Covid-19 surge after Covid-19 surge has made it impossible for US hospitals to plan for the future  Vox.com

More here:

Covid-19 surge after Covid-19 surge has made it impossible for US hospitals to plan for the future - Vox.com

Posted in Covid-19 | Comments Off on Covid-19 surge after Covid-19 surge has made it impossible for US hospitals to plan for the future – Vox.com

The Jacob Laboratory Translational Neurotechnology

Posted: at 6:23 am

Welcome to the Translational NeuroTechnology Laboratory!

In the Jacob lab, we study complex cognitive functions at the level of individual neurons and their networks. Intelligent, goal-directed behavior is produced by the interaction of populations of neurons in the cognitive brain centers such as the prefrontal cortex, the parietal cortex and the basal ganglia. We are particularly interested in how we learn and memorize behaviorally relevant information on multiple time scales, how this information is transformed into purposeful actions, and how neuromodulators such as dopamine regulate the underlying circuits.

We investigate cognitive mechanisms in animal models and in humans. To study specific brain functions, we design and train controlled behavioral tasks. We then combine multiple state-of-the-art techniques in mice, including large-scale extracellular recordings, optogenetic manipulation of defined cell types and networks, fluorescent imaging and computational analysis and modelling. In a unique interdisciplinary approach, we develop and use technologies for recording from populations of individual neurons in human neurosurgical patients. This translational line of research allows us to work towards a deep understanding of the principles of high-level cognitive functioning.

Cognitive functions are impaired in many neurological and psychiatric disorders. Very little is known about the neuronal mechanisms. Our long-term goal is to contribute to a better understanding of the cellular basis of mental health and disease.

Read the original:

The Jacob Laboratory Translational Neurotechnology

Posted in Neurotechnology | Comments Off on The Jacob Laboratory Translational Neurotechnology

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Experts Come Together In A Play Inspired By Advances In Neurotechnology – India Education Diary

Posted: at 6:23 am

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Experts Come Together In A Play Inspired By Advances In Neurotechnology  India Education Diary

Excerpt from:

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Experts Come Together In A Play Inspired By Advances In Neurotechnology - India Education Diary

Posted in Neurotechnology | Comments Off on Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Experts Come Together In A Play Inspired By Advances In Neurotechnology – India Education Diary

End Of Title 42 Caps Worst Year Of Illegal Immigration Ever

Posted: at 6:20 am

As the year winds down, the border is about to break wide open. In less than a week, the Biden administrations last remaining tool to control illegal immigration, left over from the Trump administration, will be taken away.

Title 42, the public-health order invoked by President Trump during the pandemic that allowed immigration officials to quickly expel most migrants caught crossing the border illegally, will end on Dec. 21 by order of a federal judge.

Once Title 42 is gone, federal agencies at the border will have no choice but to process and release nearly every illegal border-crosser. It will represent a full return to the Obama-era catch-and-release policy. Border Patrol estimates they could see as many as 14,000 arrests per day in the coming weeks, which would totally overwhelm the border.

For migrants, there is now every incentive to do just that. Word of Title 42s demise has almost certainly reached migrants in Mexico already, who now know that if they cross the Rio Grande, they will be allowed to remain in the United States, with work authorization, for years while they await the outcome of an asylum hearing.

Biden, who repealed or severely curtailed nearly every one of Trumps border policies upon taking office in January 2021, has no plan for what to do now. Axiosreported this weekon a vague plan circulating among Biden officials for a temporary (five-month) moratorium on asylum, but the plan hasnt been approved. Its unclear how it would even be implemented with less than a week to go before Title 42 ends.

But even if the feds do impose a temporary halt to asylum, its too late. Thousands of migrants arecrossing into the El Paso sector every day now, many of them having beenbussed into Ciudad Jurez by the Mexican government. They are coming from large caravans that, having heard of the impending end of Title 42, formed for precisely this purpose.

Many of them are from Nicaragua, which means they cant be deported to Nicaragua (the U.S. has no deportation agreement with the authoritarian dictatorship of Nicaraguas president-for-life Daniel Ortega), and they cant be expelled to Mexico, which refuses to take back Nicaraguans. So the U.S. is just letting them in, giving them a court date for an asylum hearing years from now, and releasing them. Never mind that many of these migrants, by their own admission to reporters, are economic migrants who have no valid asylum claims.

Back in August, my colleague Emily Jashinsky and Ireportedon the migrant encampments and shelters in the Mexican border towns of Matamoros and Reynosa across the Rio Grande from Brownsville and McAllen, Texas, respectively. Most of those migrants were Haitian, although they had been living in various South American countries for years, with legal status. They came to the border for a chance to get into the U.S. and pursue what one of them told us was the American dream, a dream for all Haitian people.

The reason so many had been waiting in Mexican shelters was that they feared being deported back to Haiti, where they hadnt lived in many years, or because they had already tried to cross and been expelled back to Mexico under Title 42. They could not afford to pay the cartels for multiple river crossings, and so they were waiting, they told us, for U.S. policy to change.

Their wait is almost over. Once the threat of expulsion under Title 42 is gone, there will be little to hold them back. The border will become a chaotic, ungovernable disaster. We will likely see the appearance of tent-like refugee camps on the U.S. side of the border, as we saw in Del Rio, Texas, in the fall of 2021. To put the figure of 14,000 arrests per day into context, three years ago, during the 2019 border surge, President Obamas DHS Secretary, Jeh Johnson, said that1,000 apprehensions a day overwhelms the system and that he cannot imagine what 4,000 arrests per day would look like.

2022 wasthe worst year for illegal immigration in U.S. history. 2023 will be worse yet. As long as the Biden administration maintains its open-border policies, illegal immigration will increase, the cartels that profit from migrant smuggling will get rich, and the border will descend into chaos.

John Daniel Davidson is a senior editor at The Federalist. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Claremont Review of Books, The New York Post, and elsewhere. Follow him on Twitter, @johnddavidson.

Read more:

End Of Title 42 Caps Worst Year Of Illegal Immigration Ever

Posted in Federalist | Comments Off on End Of Title 42 Caps Worst Year Of Illegal Immigration Ever

Sens To McConnell: Stop Spendathon Till New Congress Can Vote

Posted: at 6:20 am

Sens. Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, and Mike Braun are warning Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell against greenlighting Democrats massive omnibus spending bill before the newly elected, GOP-controlled House of Representatives is officially sworn in.

The coalition of senators sent a letter on Wednesday urging the GOP head to ignore pleas to extend the governments funding beyond when the new Congress takes office to encompass the entire 2023 fiscal year, including increased spending on Ukraine.

We must not accept anything other than a short-term Continuing Resolution that funds the federal government until shortly after the 118th Congress is sworn in, the senators wrote. No additional spending, no additional policy priorities should be included. Any urgent items that require the Senates attention should be considered separately and under their own terms.

If McConnell rushes to pass the omnibus bill without the new Houses input, the Republican senators say he will be guilty of directly contradicting voters wishes.

On November 8, 2022, the American people made their voices heard at the ballot box. Using the Democratic process, millions of Americans sent a message they want divided power in Washington to curb the worst excesses of both parties, the lawmakers wrote.

Already, McConnell has signaled strong support for overruling his voters in favor of showering Washington with more taxpayer dollars.

Theres widespread agreement that wed be better off with an omnibus than a [continuing resolution], McConnell said Tuesday, echoing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumers words.

Lee, Cruz, Scott, and Braun, however, explicitly state that they stand with the voters on this issue.

We believe it would be both imprudent, and a reflection of poor leadership, for Republicans to ignore the will of the American people and rubber stamp an omnibus spending bill that funds ten more months of President Bidens agenda without any check on his reckless policies that have led to a 40-year high in inflation, the senators said.

Already, Americans across the nation are feeling the effects of excessive spending led by President Joe Biden and the Democrats. Their $4.8 trillion increase in the national deficit, the senators note, is weighing on Americans in the form of an average cost increase of $753 per month.

It should be up to the new Congress to set spending priorities for the remainder of this fiscal year, the senators wrote. Now is the time for Republicans to get serious about leading America towards a better future.

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire and Fox News. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.

Link:

Sens To McConnell: Stop Spendathon Till New Congress Can Vote

Posted in Federalist | Comments Off on Sens To McConnell: Stop Spendathon Till New Congress Can Vote

Court: Biden Can’t Force Doctors To Mutilate Sex-Confused People

Posted: at 6:20 am

In a win for religious freedom, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has permanently blocked the Biden administrations attempt to force religious doctors and hospitals to perform so-called gender transition surgeries.

InSisters of Mercy v. Becerra, a coalition of Catholic hospitals, nuns, and a Catholic university that run health clinics for the poor sued the Biden administration over a Department of Health and Human Services mandate that would have compelled religious doctors and hospitals to administer mutilative gender reassignment surgeries even if the surgeries violated the health-care providers conscience.

The mandate, which was first issued in 2016, interpreted the Affordable Care Act to require doctors to perform such surgeries on any patient including children even if the medical provider believed the surgery would harm the patient.

The Eighth Circuits opinion comes after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this past August that the Affordable Care Act could not require doctors to perform cross-gender surgeries if it violated their conscience. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the Louisiana-based appeals court decision.

We agree with these courts and therefore conclude that the district court correctly held that intrusion upon the Catholic Plaintiffs exercise of religion is sufficient to show irreparable harm, the eighth circuit wrote in its decision.

While the Eighth Circuits ruling is not a nationwide injunction (only the named parties are its beneficiaries), it does set a helpful precedent for religious liberty cases in the future.

Todays victory sets an important precedent that religious healthcare professionals are free to practice medicine in accordance with their consciences and experienced professional judgment,Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket Law, said in a press release. The governments attempt to force doctors to go against their consciences was bad for patients, bad for doctors, and bad for religious liberty.

The Biden administration has 60 days to ask the Eighth Circuit to re-hear the case or 90 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.

There is a growing body of research that points to the detrimental effects of cross-gender reassignment surgeries, including but not limited to serious heart conditions, loss of bone density, loss of fertility, and increased cancer risk.

Victoria Marshall is a staff writer at The Federalist. Her writing has been featured in the New York Post, National Review, and Townhall. She graduated from Hillsdale College in May 2021 with a major in politics and a minor in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @vemrshll.

See the article here:

Court: Biden Can't Force Doctors To Mutilate Sex-Confused People

Posted in Federalist | Comments Off on Court: Biden Can’t Force Doctors To Mutilate Sex-Confused People