Congress Urges Pentagon to Fund COVID-19 Detection Dog Study

By: Heather Mongilio

December 8, 2022 6:11 PM

COVID-19 detection canine Poncho indicates a positive sample from multiple items presented on a canine training wheel in 2020. US Army Photo

COVID-19 research in the military is going to the dogs. COVID-19 detecting dogs, to be specific.

Language from the text of the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, approved by the House on Thursday, calls for the continued funding of Army research that uses scent detection dogs to sniff out diseases like COVID-19 in their early stages.

While there is no provision for the funding in the version of the NDAA that went before the House and will go to the Senate, the summary of the compromise bill, released Tuesday night, urges the Department of Defense to fund the third phase of the research project.

“This research effort will soon complete Phase 2 and has shown promising results, including an accuracy rate of 89 percent in COVID-19 detection from samples,” according to the summary. “It is important that the Department of Defense fund Phase 3 of this research effort to determine whether the use of working dogs is a feasible method of responding to emerging disease threats in a low-cost, timely, and widely applicable manner.”

The first phase of the project, conducted by the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center with the University of Pennsylvania, used samples of urine and saliva from people who were COVID-19 positive and negative, according to an Army news release. The second phase involved collecting shirts that a person wore overnight.

The second phase, involving the t-shirts, will test if the dogs were able to detect if a person has been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, even if a person is asymptomatic.

As of phase one of the study, the dogs were able to detect a COVID-19 positive person days before a rapid test, according to the news release.

The idea behind the study is that dogs could be able to identify people who are positive for COVID-19 in a large military gathering, according to a news release from the University of Pennsylvania.

The study could also lead to more research into dogs’s abilities to detect other biological threats, Jenna Gadberry, a researcher at the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center, said in the release.

”The way that we’ve been posing this capability to folks is not necessarily a COVID-19 detection capability; it’s a biological threat detection capability,” Gadberry said in the statement. ”We know that this isn’t going to be the last time we see some sort of a virus or pandemic, but we’re demonstrating the ability for dogs to be able to find a positive person or threat. We can take what we learn from the dogs to actually apply it to some of our handheld detectors or laboratory detection systems. They’re able to detect far different elements at this point in time than our laboratory equipment can.”

Dogs have been used to sniff out COVID-19 in other non-military situations as well. Florida International University has been testing dogs to see if they can detect COVID-19, with dogs going to elementary schools to sniff the kids for the disease, according to an NPR article.

The Miami Heat and NASCAR have also used COVID-19 detection dogs, according to the University of Pennsylvania release.

The military’s COVID-19 research extends beyond detection dogs, with various units across the branches getting involved since the beginning of the pandemic.

One such unit was the Naval Medical Research Center, which conducted a study looking at Marine Corps recruits during the pandemic. The study, conducted by Naval Medical Research Center with Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Princeton University, found that men and women had different immune responses to COVID-19, with women having worse symptoms but less viral load.

Women tested in the study had a higher innate immune system activation, Stuart Sealfon, the lead author on the study paper, told USNI News. That early immune response is what causes symptoms when a person gets infected, he said.

“So, the women are mounting a somewhat more vigorous response, which is associated with having more symptoms but less virus,” Sealfon said.

So while women might feel more ill because they have worse symptoms, like a higher fever, their outcome, on average, tended to be better than that of men.

The study captured a baseline level of a protein called interferon, which helps the body attack a pathogen, in the recruits prior to any COVID-19 infection, said Cmdr. Andrew Letizia, science director at Naval Medical Research Unit-2.

The women had higher levels, which helped with their better immune responses, and allowed them to recover quicker, Letizia said.

The study population was overwhelmingly male, given that there are more male recruits than female, but there were still about 200 women in the study, which gave the researchers a large enough sample population.

What made the Navy study stand out is that it was able to follow a population from March to November 2020, Letizia said. During that time frame, the Marine recruits got sick and recovered from COVID-19, allowing the researchers to study their immune responses, while also having a baseline from before they fell ill.

While it was a short amount of time, there were numerous infections, allowing the researchers to collect ample data, Sealfon said.

“It’s a quirk of the pandemic that we were able to have this view of a large number of people before they were affected, during the infection and after infection,” he said. “We have blood samples [to] be able to look at the molecular measurements, that’s not something that would ever happen again.”

The Marine Corps could not shut down during the pandemic, and they still needed to bring in new recruits, Letizia said. That made it possible to do the study, especially since other parts of the country were on lockdown.

The service needed to understand how the virus spreads among a congregate population with a lot of interaction as well as how quickly a person could return to training safely following infection, he said. The study’s goal was to answer some of the fundamental questions and inform mitigation strategies.

Studying the Marine recruits had its pros and cons. While they were able to get the data, the group was healthy 18 to 21-year-olds who were in good physical health, Sealfon said. That means the results of the study cannot be extrapolated to the general public without more research.

The immunological response is just one analysis to come out of the study, Letizia said. The study has produced 10 peer-reviewed papers so far. Another planned analysis is looking at long COVID in the recruits that were infected, he said.

WAR ON YOUTH

UK extremists 'increasingly radicalised by internet content'

People aged 20 and under now account for a third of detained terror suspects

Plots from attackers radicalised online were most likely to be foiled, research suggests. PA

Soraya Ebrahimi

Dec 08, 2022

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Extremists are now more likely to be radicalised through online content, but plots hatched on the internet are prone to failure, research suggests.

The role the internet played in the radicalisation of 437 convicted offenders in England and Wales was examined by academics and published in a study by the UK's Ministry of Justice.

The study found that the internet is “increasingly prominent” in radicalisation but plots from attackers radicalised online were “most likely” to be foiled.

READ MORE

Terror expert claims extremists exploit luxury markets to generate funds for atrocities

It comes as Home Office figures, published separately on Thursday, show children and young adults aged 20 and under now account for a third of detained terror suspects.

The proportion of prisoners holding Islamist extremist views has fallen to its lowest level on record while the number of those categorised as adhering to an extreme right-wing ideology has risen to its highest level in the past year, the figures also reveal.

A third of the sample of criminals surveyed in the research had mental health problems or personality disorders.

The conditions most commonly reported included Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) and depression, with these “most common” among those mainly radicalised online, the findings indicated.

Analysis of specialist reports from 2010 to the end of last year also suggested the biggest increase in online radicalisation over time was among female offenders and people aged over 25, researchers said.

“Findings suggest that the internet has become increasingly prominent in radicalisation pathways and offending over time for convicted extremists in England and Wales,” said the report.

“Technological advances have led to changes in the types of applications/platforms used over time.”

The report added: “For attackers specifically, those exposed to online influences in their radicalisation pathway were more likely to use the online domain for attack-planning behaviours.

“Those attackers reported as being primarily radicalised online were found to be the least successful in plotting attacks and most likely to see their plots foiled at the planning stage.”

The research was carried out by Nottingham Trent and Bournemouth universities with the Prison and Probation Service and follows on from a report published last year.

Lead author Jonathan Kenyon said the study provided a “contemporary picture” of the online activities of convicted extremists in England and Wales until the end of 2021 and found “marked differences” in behaviour and offending between those who were radicalised on the internet, in person or a mixture of both.

This highlights the importance of taking these factors into account when “assessing risk” and considering how to tackle terrorism, he said.

Jens Binder, associate professor of psychology at Nottingham Trent University's School of Social Sciences, said mainstream websites and apps were “routinely” used, “sometimes to reach out to the many users there and to lead some of them to more secluded online locations”, which is “likely to require a more proactive and transparent approach from tech companies” so radical content is reported.

UK increases terrorism threat level to 'severe' — video

UK increases terrorism threat level to 'severe'

Christopher Baker-Beall, senior lecturer in crisis and disaster management at the Bournemouth University Disaster Management Centre, stressed the findings were “not suggesting that those with mental illness represent a community from which terrorists are more likely to originate”.

“Nor does the report suggest that mental illness be viewed as a predictor of terrorist intent,” he continued.

“Instead, it highlights the importance of providing mental health support to those convicted of extremist offences to ensure they do not go on to reoffend or commit further acts of terrorism”.

The Ministry of Justice said the views expressed in the report are those of the authors and “are not necessarily shared” by the department and added: “Nor do they represent government policy”.

Last month, MI5 director general Ken McCallum described extreme right-wing terrorism as now a “diffuse online threat”.

“From the comfort of their bedrooms, individuals are easily able to access right-wing extremist spaces, network with each other and move towards a radical mindset,” he said.

Updated: December 08, 2022, 3:51 p.m.

New Mexico seeks tougher provisions for US nuclear dump

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN

today

1 of 3

This undated file image provided by the U.S. Department of Energy shows an electric continuous miner machine run by Randy Wilson, left, and Blas Castaneda, chewing through a wall of salt during the excavation of Panel 8 at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M. On Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, New Mexico officials outlined new conditions for a proposed permit for the U.S. government to continue disposing of nuclear waste in the southeast corner of the state as part of a multibillion-dollar federal cleanup program.

 (Samuel Moon Christensen/U.S. Department of Energy via AP, File)


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico officials outlined new conditions Thursday for a proposed permit for the U.S. government to continue the disposal of nuclear waste in the southeast corner of the state, part of a multibillion-dollar federal cleanup program.

As a hedge against becoming the nation’s only permanent dumping ground, New Mexico wants to raise the bar with its proposal by demanding federal officials produce a full accounting of materials still needing to be cleaned up and shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP.

The state also is putting Congress on notice that the permit would be revoked if lawmakers expand the type of waste accepted at WIPP. Currently, the repository is licensed to take what is known as transuranic waste, or waste generated by the nation’s nuclear weapons program that is contaminated with radioactive elements heavier than uranium.

There are a few other commercial facilities in the U.S. that accept low-level waste, but none involves hoisting it into an ancient salt formation about a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) deep.

The idea is that the salt from which the subterranean landfill is carved will shift and eventually entomb the barrels and special boxes that are stacked within disposal rooms. The containers are packed with lab coats, rubber gloves, tools and other contaminated debris.

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and members of the state’s congressional delegation have relayed to top federal officials the concerns of New Mexicans about any plans that would call for opening WIPP to high-level waste such as diluted plutonium.

Top state officials also have criticized the federal government for prioritizing cleanup in other states rather than getting more waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory — the once top-secret birthplace of the atomic bomb — shipped to WIPP.

Prioritizing waste from New Mexico would be another condition in the permit, and state officials also want the federal government to submit annual reports on steps being taken to site another underground repository elsewhere in the U.S.

State Environment Secretary James Kenney told The Associated Press in an interview that the proposed conditions represent more than just a wish list, but rather a framework for holding the government accountable.

“One thing the federal government has taught me greatly in this job is that unless they’re told to do something, they may not do it,” Kenney said, adding that the proposed permit conditions would enable the state to leverage outcomes that are in New Mexico’s best interest.

The Environment Department plans to release the full draft permit Dec. 20, opening a 60-day public comment period that will be followed by a public hearing and negotiations with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The DOE is expected to push back on several conditions, and it could take a year before a final permit is hashed out and approved.

The agency did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.

Nuclear watchdogs were pleased with the details shared by the state Thursday, saying those steps, if adopted, would help prevent the state from being steamrolled by the federal government.

Kenney recalled being at a gas station in eastern New Mexico when he learned the DOE reached an agreement with Idaho to prioritize cleanup there and ship most of the waste to WIPP. New Mexico was never consulted, he said.

The proposed permit is aimed at reclaiming the state’s authority and prioritizing public health and environmental protections in ways that haven’t been seen in years, Kenney said.

“When you’re talking about various things coming to WIPP, your first call, before any other state, needs to be to New Mexico,” he said. “All roads lead from WIPP. They don’t lead to WIPP and we will not be put in the position — and I think this permit shows that — that we will be the last one consulted.”

The Ukraine War in data: Russia’s $160 billion war plans

The Russian economy is expected to shrink further in 2023. But a new budget suggests military spending will soar.


Grid; STRINGER/ Getty Images
GLOBAL

Alex Leeds Matthews, Data Visualization Reporter, Tom Nagorski, Global Editor, Justin Rood, Investigations Editor, and Mariana Labbate, Global Editorial Assistant
December 8, 2022

Nine months into a war that was met with a raft of sanctions aimed at punishing Russia’s economy, Russia has announced a 2023 defense budget that comes in at $84 billion, more than 40 percent higher than originally planned. Adding in spending for security operations, which are counted separately (such as policing the newly annexed territories in Ukraine), the total rises to nearly $160 billion for 2023.

These may be necessary outlays, given the prospects for a long and drawn-out war in Ukraine that has not gone well from the Russian perspective. But it will no doubt punish ordinary Russians, given that the overall economy is forecast to contract by 3.6 percent this year and 3 percent next year, according to the recently published Bloomberg consensus forecast.

The Kremlin may find solace in the fact that Russia has weathered the sanctions better than most expected; it’s one more surprise in a war that has upended many expectations — the poor performance of the Russian army and the unity of NATO, to name two significant examples.

But experts expect the bite of sanctions to worsen — and that makes these figures potentially problematic for the Russian economy and for ordinary Russians as well

Meanwhile, some notes for perspective: While the $160 billion figure represents a spike in costs for Russia, other global powers spend considerably more on defense. A study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies put the most recent estimate for China’s military budget at between $229-293 billion. The U.S. figure for 2023: $858 billion.

We offer a more comprehensive set of data points on the war in Ukraine below. Grid originally published this document on March 24, the one-month anniversary of the war. We update it every Thursday to provide a fuller picture of the conflict.

Civilians killed: at least 6,700 (probably thousands more)

On June 7, a Ukrainian official said at least 40,000 Ukrainian civilians had been killed or wounded since the war began. The official offered no breakdown of dead versus wounded civilians. The United Nations’ latest estimate of civilians killed is more than 6,700, but it consistently notes the figure is an underestimate, as is its estimate of total casualties — a combination of deaths and injuries — given as more than 17,000. (Updated Dec. 7; source, source, source.)

Ukrainian soldiers killed: at least 13,000

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, estimated in early December that 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the war began; in late August, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s commander in chief, said the country had lost about 9,000 troops. In early November, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, estimated that both sides had about 100,000 soldiers killed or injured. (Updated Dec. 7; source, source.)

Russian soldiers killed: 5,937 to more than 92,000

From the early days of the war, casualty counts for Russian soldiers have varied widely — depending on the source. Ukraine raised its estimate of Russian soldiers killed in the conflict to more than 92,000 on Wednesday. These numbers have been updated frequently through the Facebook page for the country’s General Staff of the Armed Forces. In its first update on casualties since March, Russia claimed in late September that there had been 5,937 Russian military deaths. Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov said in April that there had been “significant losses of troops, and it’s a huge tragedy for us.”

Russia has also suffered a high rate of casualties among senior officers. Thirteen Russian generals have been killed, according to Ukrainian authorities; the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency puts the figure at between eight and 10. Grid’s Tom Nagorski and Joshua Keating previously reported on the possible explanations for this “inconceivable” toll: poor communications and command-and-control structures within the Russian military. (Updated Dec. 7; source.)

Total displaced Ukrainians: more than 14 million

There are more than 7.9 million Ukrainian refugees currently reported in other European countries. United Nations data indicates more than 15 million Ukrainians have crossed the border since the start of the war, but millions have returned home, largely from Poland, as Nikhil Kumar and Kseniia Lisnycha reported. In late October, the International Organization for Migration’s latest survey of internally displaced Ukrainians found more Ukrainians returning home from within Ukraine, but 6.5 million remained displaced within their own country. (Updated Dec. 7; source; source.)

Internally displaced Ukrainians: more than 6.5 million

An overview of the violence

Global food markets: Wheat prices down 11 percent after an initial spike as of Wednesday, after weeks of fluctuation

Recent Grid coverage

• ‘No Dumb Questions’: Why has the war in Ukraine lasted so long? (Dec. 7)
• Putin’s propagandists have a new message about Ukraine: If we don’t win, we’ll all be tried for war crimes (Dec. 6)
• Dispatch from Kherson: Inside Ukraine’s battle to win the infrastructure war (Dec. 5)
• The Crimea question: Why Ukraine’s final battle might be the Western alliance’s toughest test (Dec. 2)
• Ukraine has an insatiable need for ammunition, but the doesn’t have an endless supply (Nov. 28)

Learn more: Grid’s 360s on the Ukraine War

• 360: What led to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II
• 360: Casualty of war in Ukraine: The global food supply
• 360: War in Ukraine: How we got here — and what may come next
• 360: Russia’s billionaires: Who they are, what they own — and can they influence Vladimir Putin?
• 360: Why danger still looms at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants

• 
  Alex Leeds Matthews

  Data Visualization Reporter

  Alex Leeds Matthews is a data visualization reporter at Grid.

  alex_leedsmatts
• 
  Tom Nagorski

  Global Editor

  Tom Nagorski is the global editor at Grid, where he oversees our coverage of global security, U.S.-China relations, migration trends, global economics and U.S. foreign policy.

  TomNagorski
• 
  Justin Rood

  Investigations Editor

  Justin Rood is the investigations editor for Grid, overseeing our team of award-winning investigative and data reporters.

  justinrood
• 
  Mariana Labbate

  Global Editorial Assistant

  Mariana Labbate is the editorial assistant for Grid's Global team.

  labbate_mariana

COP15
Indigenous people seek stronger land rights at Montreal nature summit

Indigenous groups have a range of concerns about the UN summit negotiations, with many fearing deal to protect 30% of Earth by 2030 could be used to take away their land under the guise of conservation

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Indigenous groups agreed that any summit deal should deliver more authority to Indigenous people in deciding what happens on their lands. (Reuters Archive)

Negotiations on a deal to protect 30 percent of the Earth by 2030 are woefully behind in addressing the concerns of native people, whose land holds the majority of the world's remaining biodiversity, Indigenous advocates told the Reuters news agency at the UN nature summit in Montreal.

Indigenous participation is seen as key to reaching that so-called "30-by-30" target within an ambitious new agreement to halt further nature loss and degradation.

While Indigenous groups account for about 5 percent of the world's population, their lands safeguard about 80 percent of Earth's remaining plant and animal species, according to the World Bank.

At least 40 percent of the world's remaining plant species are in trouble. The global insect population is declining at an unprecedented rate of up to 2 percent per year.

"This process around biodiversity needs to put Indigenous people at the centre," said Dinamam Tuxa, a lawyer for Brazil's largest Indigenous umbrella group, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil.

While Indigenous groups in many countries have limited authority or recognition over their territories, they often rely on these environments for their livelihoods — through traditional hunting, fishing or harvesting materials from forests such as honey, rubber sap or firewood.

But many of these territories are under increasing pressure thanks to weak conservation laws in some countries and growing demand for natural resources such as metals.

READ MORE: UN chief slams MNCs, warns 'humanity has become weapon of mass extinction'

Not ambitious enough

Indigenous groups have a range of concerns about the UN summit negotiations.

While some fear the 30-by-30 target could be used to take away their land under the guise of conservation, others have said the 30 percent goal is not ambitious enough.

Groups agreed that any summit deal should deliver more authority to Indigenous people in deciding what happens on their lands.

"The states must recognise and protect their rights," said Aquilas Koko Ngomo, spokesperson for the National Alliance for the Support and Promotion of Indigenous and Community Heritage Areas and Territories in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The good old ways of 'we decide what we want, and we don't care what the indigenous want' is becoming more and more a thing of the past," Canada's Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said in an interview.

Canada on Wednesday pledged $589 million over seven years starting in 2023-24 for up to four Indigenous-led conservation initiatives that could collectively protect up to 1 million square kilometres.

READ MORE: UN chief blasts oil firms profiting from energy crisis

'We want it all'

The move would help Canada's strategy of roughly doubling its protected land to meet the 2030 target.

Yet clashes between some First Nations communities and provinces over resource extraction on land these groups want to protect remain obstacles.

The First Nations community of Grassy Narrows in Canada said it opposes what it calls proposed demands by Ontario to allow logging on 20 percent of their land in 2024.

"We don't want them to just give us 80 percent, we want it all," said Grassy Narrows negotiator Joseph Fobister, of their estimated 7,000-sq-km territory. Fobister said Grassy Nations has asked Canada to protect the land as part of 30-by-30.

Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said it has worked with Grassy Narrows and other Indigenous communities as it develops options for a new 10-year forest management plan starting in 2024.

READ MORE: Study: Brazil's Indigenous lands block deforestation of Amazon


Turkish marine exhibition at UN highlights need to protect waters

IMPEACH THOMAS & ALITO
Pastor Says He Took Advantage of US Supreme Court’s Lack of Ethics to Lobby Against Abortion


AFP
Last Updated: DECEMBER 09, 2022, 
Washington, United States


US Supreme Court justices pose for their group portrait at the Supreme Court in Washington, US (Image: Reuters)

It was revealed the US Supreme Court Justice Alito allegedly leaked to a couple how the court was going to rule in a matter related to contraceptionFollow us:

Aformer activist from the US religious right told Congress Thursday how he took advantage of the US Supreme Court’s lack of a code of ethics to conduct an intense lobbying campaign aimed at its conservative judges.

Pastor Robert Schenck, 64, detailed his efforts — which included prayers, dinners and trips — during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee focused on the ethics rules, or lack thereof, for Supreme Court justices.

Unlike their colleagues in federal courts, or elected members of Congress, the nine Supreme Court justices do not have to disclose gifts given to them nor any meetings with lobbyists, and are not legally required to recuse themselves in the event of a conflict of interest.

Pastor Schenck said he took advantage of this vacuum to run a 20-year influence campaign called “Operation Higher Court."

The stealth campaign “involved my recruitment of wealthy donors, as stealth missionaries, who befriended justices that shared our conservative social and religious sensibilities," Schenk said, mentioning conservative Justices Samuel Alito and the late Antonin Scalia by name.

The aim was “to shore up their resolve to render solid, unapologetic opinions, particularly against abortion."

Some of his “stealth missionaries" prayed with the judges, others invited them to dinner with their wives, even to their homes, and were invited back in turn by the justices, he said.

Unlike Congress, where the dollar value of gifts are limited, “we knew that there was a great deal of liberty and latitude there…it made our operation…much easier," Schenck said.

He alleged that in 2014, during one of these dinners, Alito “leaked" to a couple the content of an upcoming decision on contraception.

Schenck had written over the summer to the court’s chief justice about the Alito incident, but the letter was not reported by US media until late November.

Alito and the dinner attendees have all denied the charge. During the hearing, Republican lawmakers accused Schenck of lying.

He insisted that he discovered late in life that politics corrupts religion, and now wanted to tell “the truth."

Alito was the author of the June ruling that overturned the US nationwide right to abortion.

In a highly uncommon occurrence, that decision was leaked before its publication, causing shockwaves across the country.

A bill has passed a House committee that would increase the transparency requirements for US Supreme Court justices, but it is not expected to advance before Republicans take over control of the House in January, when it will likely be thrown out.