The discovery of a new kind of cell shakes up neuroscience

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF LAUSANNE

Neuroscience is in great upheaval. The two major families of cells that make up the brain, neurons and glial cells, secretly hid a hybrid cell, halfway between these two categories. For as long as Neuroscience has existed, it has been recognized that the brain works primarily thanks to the neurons and their ability to rapidly elaborate and transmit information through their networks. To support them in this task, glial cells perform a series of structural, energetic and immune functions, as well as stabilize physiological constants. Some of these glial cells, known as astrocytes, intimately surround synapses, the points of contact where neurotransmitters are released to transmit information between neurons. This is why neuroscientists have long suggested that astrocytes may have an active role in synaptic transmission and participate in information processing. However, the studies conducted to date to demonstrate this have suffered from conflicting results and have not reached a definitive scientific consensus yet. By identifying a new cell type with the characteristics of an astrocyte and expressing the molecular machinery necessary for synaptic transmission, neuroscientists from the Department of Basic Neurosciences of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Geneva put an end to years of controversy.

The Key to the Puzzle

To confirm or refute the hypothesis that astrocytes, like neurons, are able to release neurotransmitters, researchers first scrutinized the molecular content of astrocytes using modern molecular biology approaches. Their goal was to find traces of the machinery necessary for the rapid secretion of glutamate, the main neurotransmitter used by neurons. "The precision allowed by single-cell transcriptomics approaches enabled us to demonstrate the presence in cells with astrocytic profile of transcripts of the vesicular proteins, VGLUT, in charge of filling neuronal vesicles specific for glutamate release. These transcripts were found in cells from mice, and are apparently preserved in human cells. We also identified other specialized proteins in these cells, which are essential for the function of glutamatergic vesicles and their capacity to communicate rapidly with other cells," says Ludovic Telley, Assistant professor at UNIL, co-director of the study.

New Functional Cells

Next, neuroscientists tried to find out if these hybrid cells were functional, that is, able to actually release glutamate with a speed comparable to that of synaptic transmission. To do this, the research team used an advanced imaging technique that could visualize glutamate released by vesicles in brain tissues and in living mice. "We have identified a subgroup of astrocytes responding to selective stimulations with rapid glutamate release, which occurred in spatially delimited areas of these cells reminiscent of synapses," says Andrea Volterra, honorary professor at UNIL and visiting faculty at the Wyss Center, co-director of the study.

In addition, this glutamate release exerts an influence on synaptic transmission and regulates neuronal circuits. The research team was able to demonstrate this by suppressing the expression of VGLUT by the hybrid cells. "They are cells that modulate neuronal activity, they control the level of communication and excitation of the neurons," says Roberta de Ceglia, first author of the study and senior researcher at UNIL. And without this functional machinery, the study shows that long-term potentiation, a neural process involved in the mechanisms of memorization, is impaired and that the memory of mice is impacted.

Links With Brain Pathologies

The implications of this discovery extend to brain disorders. By specifically disrupting glutamatergic astrocytes, the research team demonstrated effects on memory consolidation, but also observed links with pathologies such as epilepsy, whose seizures were exacerbated. Finally, the study shows that glutamatergic astrocytes also have a role in the regulation of brain circuits involved in movement control and could offer therapeutic targets for Parkinson's disease.

"In between neurons and astrocytes, we now have a new kind of cell at hand. Its discovery  opens up immense research prospects. Our next studies will explore the potential protective role of this type of cell against memory impairment in Alzheimer's disease, as well as its role in other regions and pathologies than those explored here," projects Andrea Volterra.

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JOURNAL

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41586-023-06502-w 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

Specialized astrocytes mediate glutamatergic gliotransmission in the CNS

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Sep-2023

 

The limestone spheroids of ‘Ubeidiya: Intentional imposition of symmetric geometry by early hominins?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM

 

IMAGE: SPHEROIDS view more 

CREDIT: AUTHORS OF THE PAPER

Limestone spheroids, enigmatic lithic artifacts from the ancient past, have perplexed archaeologists for years. While they span from the Oldowan to the Middle Palaeolithic, the purpose behind their creation remains a subject of intense debate. Now, a study conducted by a team from the Computational Archaeology Laboratory of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with researchers from Tel Hai College and Rovira i Virgili University seeks to shed light on these mysterious objects, offering insights into the intentions and skills of early hominins.

Spheroids are among the most enduring yet least understood archaeological artifacts, often considered as by-products of percussive tasks. However, the team’s research challenges this conventional wisdom. The central question at the heart of this study is whether these spheroids were unintentional by-products or intentionally crafted tools designed for specific purposes.

To answer this question, cutting-edge 3D analysis methods, including spherical harmonics and surface curvature, were applied to a collection of 150 limestone spheroids from the 'Ubeidiya archaeological site, dating back to approximately 1.4 million years ago. These methods were developed at the Computational Archaeology Laboratory of the Hebrew University, directed by Professor Leore Grosman. 'Ubeidiya is presently recognized as the earliest known Acheulean occurrence outside of Africa, making it a crucial location for investigating the evolution of early hominin technology.

The research team meticulously reconstructed the spheroid reduction sequence based on the trends observed in scar facets and geometry. Their findings revealed a remarkable pattern: the spheroids at 'Ubeidiya were crafted with a premeditated reduction strategy. Contrary to the notion that they were accidental by-products, the spheroids did not become smoother during their manufacture; instead, they became markedly more spherical. This transformation towards an ideal sphere required exceptional knapping skills and a clear preconceived goal.

This discovery challenges existing beliefs about the capabilities of early hominins and their relationship with technology. While Acheulean bifaces are traditionally thought to represent the earliest evidence of hominins imposing intentional, symmetrical shapes on stone, the intentional production of sphere-like objects at 'Ubeidiya similarly suggests that these early hominins had a desire for and achieved intentional geometry and symmetry in stone. Slightly older spheroids exist at sites in Africa. If this same intentionality can be demonstrated there, this would represent the oldest evidence of hominins desiring and achieving symmetrical shapes in stone.

The team’s research opens new avenues for understanding the cognitive abilities and technological achievements of our distant ancestors. It also raises questions about the purpose and significance of these spheroids in the daily lives of early hominins.

 

Research Team: Antoine Muller-1, Deborah Barsky-2,3, Robert Sala-Ramos-2,3, Gonen Sharon-4, Stefania Titton-3, Josep-Maria Vergès-2,3 and Leore Grosman-1

Institutions:
1-Computational Archaeology Laboratory, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

2- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain

3-Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya, Spain

4-Multidisciplinary Studies, East Campus, Tel-Hai College, Israel

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israel’s premier academic and research institution. With over 25,000 students from 90 countries, it is a hub for advancing scientific knowledge and holds a significant role in Israel’s civilian scientific research output, accounting for nearly 40% of it and has registered over 11,000 patents. The university’s faculty and alumni have earned eight Nobel Prizes and a Fields Medal, underscoring their contributions to ground-breaking discoveries. In the global arena, the Hebrew University ranks 86th according to the Shanghai Ranking. To learn more about the university’s academic programs, research initiatives, and achievements, visit the official website at http://new.huji.ac.il/en

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JOURNAL

Royal Society Open Science

DOI

10.1098/rsos.230671 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

The limestone spheroids of ‘Ubeidiya: intentional imposition of symmetric geometry by early hominins?

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Sep-2023

 

Human shoulders and elbows first evolved as brakes for climbing apes

Study introduces 'downclimbing' from trees as a driver in early-human evolution

Peer-Reviewed Publication

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

 

IMAGE: DARTMOUTH RESEARCHERS REPORT THAT APES AND EARLY HUMANS EVOLVED MORE FLEXIBLE SHOULDERS AND ELBOWS THAN MONKEYS (ABOVE) TO SAFELY GET OUT OF TREES. FOR EARLY HUMANS, THESE VERSATILE APPENDAGES WOULD HAVE BEEN ESSENTIAL FOR GATHERING FOOD AND DEPLOYING TOOLS FOR HUNTING AND DEFENSE. view more 

CREDIT: LUKE FANNIN, DARTMOUTH

The rotating shoulders and extending elbows that allow humans to reach for a high shelf or toss a ball with friends may have first evolved as a natural braking system for our primate ancestors who simply needed to get out of trees without dying.

Dartmouth researchers report in the journal Royal Society Open Science that apes and early humans likely evolved free-moving shoulders and flexible elbows to slow their descent from trees as gravity pulled on their heavier bodies. When early humans left forests for the grassy savanna, the researchers say, their versatile appendages were essential for gathering food and deploying tools for hunting and defense.

The researchers used sports-analysis and statistical software to compare videos and still-frames they took of chimpanzees and small monkeys called mangabeys climbing in the wild. They found that chimps and mangabeys scaled trees similarly, with shoulders and elbows mostly bent close to the body. When climbing down, however, chimpanzees extended their arms above their heads to hold onto branches like a person going down a ladder as their greater weight pulled them downward rump-first.

Luke Fannin, first author of the study and a graduate student in Dartmouth's Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society program, said the findings are among the first to identify the significance of "downclimbing" in the evolution of apes and early humans, which are more genetically related to each other than to monkeys. Existing research has observed chimps ascending and navigating trees—usually in experimental setups—but the researchers' extensive video from the wild allowed them to examine how the animals' bodies adapted to climbing down, Fannin said.

"Our study broaches the idea of downclimbing as an undervalued, yet incredibly important factor in the diverging anatomical differences between monkeys and apes that would eventually manifest in humans," Fannin said. "Downclimbing represented such a significant physical challenge given the size of apes and early humans that their morphology would have responded through natural selection because of the risk of falls."

"Our field has thought about apes climbing up trees for a long time—what was essentially absent from the literature was any focus on them getting out of a tree. We've been ignoring the second half of this behavior," said study co-author Jeremy DeSilva, professor and chair of anthropology at Dartmouth.

"The first apes evolved 20 million years ago in the kind of dispersed forests where they would go up a tree to get their food, then come back down to move on to the next tree," DeSilva said.

"Getting out of a tree presents all kinds of new challenges. Big apes can't afford to fall because it could kill or badly injure them. Natural selection would have favored those anatomies that allowed them to descend safely."

Flexible shoulders and elbows passed on from ancestral apes would have allowed early humans such as Australopithecus to climb trees at night for safety and come down in the daylight unscathed, DeSilva said. Once Homo erectus could use fire to protect itself from nocturnal predators, the human form took on broader shoulders capable of a 90-degree angle that—combined with free-moving shoulders and elbows—made our ancestors excellent shots with a spear (apes cannot throw accurately).

"It’s that same early-ape anatomy with a couple of tweaks. Now you have something that can throw a spear or rocks to protect itself from being eaten or to kill things to eat for itself. That's what evolution does—it's a great tinkerer," DeSilva said.

"Climbing down out of a tree set the anatomical stage for something that evolved millions of years later," he said. "When an NFL quarterback throws a football, that movement is all thanks to our ape ancestors."

Despite chimps' lack of grace, Fannin said, their arms have adapted to ensure the animals reach the ground safely—and their limbs are remarkably similar to those of modern humans.

"It's the template that we came from—going down was probably far more of a challenge for our early ancestors, too," Fannin said. "Even once humans became upright, the ability to ascend, then descend, a tree would've been incredibly useful for safety and nourishment, which is the name of the game when it comes to survival. We're modified, but the hallmarks of our ape ancestry remain in our modern skeletons."

The researchers also studied the anatomical structure of chimp and mangabey arms using skeletal collections at Harvard University and The Ohio State University, respectively. Like people, chimps have a shallow ball-and-socket shoulder that—while more easily dislocated—allows for a greater range of movement, Fannin said. And like humans, chimps can fully extend their arms thanks to the reduced length of the bone just behind the elbow known as the olecranon process.

Mangabeys and other monkeys are built more like quadrupedal animals such as cats and dogs, with deep pear-shaped shoulder sockets and elbows with a protruding olecranon process that make the joint resemble the letter L. While these joints are more stable, they have a much more limited flexibility and range of movement.

The researchers' analysis showed that the angle of a chimp's shoulders was 14 degrees greater during descent than when climbing up. And their arm extended outward at the elbow 34 degrees more when coming down from a tree than going up. The angles at which mangabeys positioned their shoulders and elbows were only marginally different—4 degrees or less—when they were ascending a tree versus downclimbing.

"If cats could talk, they would tell you that climbing down is trickier than climbing up and many human rock climbers would agree. But the question is why is it so hard," said study co-author Nathaniel Dominy, the Charles Hansen Professor of Anthropology and Fannin's adviser.

"The reason is that you're not only resisting the pull of gravity, but you also have to decelerate," Dominy said. "Our study is important for tackling a theoretical problem with formal measurements of how wild primates climb up and down. We found important differences between monkeys and chimpanzees that may explain why the shoulders and elbows of apes evolved greater flexibility."

Co-author Mary Joy, who led the study with Fannin for her undergraduate thesis and graduated from Dartmouth in 2021, was reviewing videos of chimps that DeSilva had filmed when she noticed the difference in how the animals descended trees than how they went up them.

"It was very erratic, just crashing down, everything's flying. It's very much a controlled fall," Joy said. "In the end, we concluded that the way chimps descend a tree is likely related to weight. Greater momentum potentially expends less energy and they're much more likely to reach the ground safely than by making small, restricted movements."

But as a trail runner, Joy knew the pained feeling of inching down an incline in short clips instead of just hurtling down the path with the pull of gravity, her legs extended forward to catch her at the end of each stride.

"When I'm moving downhill, the slower I'm going and restricting my movement, the more I'm fatiguing. It catches up to me very quickly. No one would think the speed and abandon with which chimps climb down from trees would be the preferred method for a heavier primate, but my experience tells me it's more energy efficient," she said.

"Movement in humans is a masterpiece of evolutionary compromises," Joy said. "This increased range of motion that began in apes ended up being pretty good for us. What would the advantage of losing that be? If evolution selected for people with less range of motion, what advantages would that confer? I can't see any advantage to losing that."

The paper, "Downclimbing and the evolution of ape forelimb morphologies," was published Sept. 6 by Royal Society Open Science. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS 0840110, 0921770, 0922429, GRFP 1840344), the Clare Garber Goodman Fund and the James O. Freedman Presidential Scholars Research Fund at Dartmouth, a Mamont Scholars Grant from The Explorers Club, the Leakey Foundation, and the Primate Society of Great Britain.

The researchers used sports-analysis software to compare the climbing movements of chimpanzees and mangabeys (pictured). They found that chimps support their greater weight when climbing down by fully extending their arms above their heads thanks to shallow, rounded shoulder joints and shortened elbow bones that are similar to those in humans. Mangabeys, which are built more like cats or dogs, have less flexibility and position their shoulders and elbows roughly the same when climbing up or down.

CREDIT

Luke Fannin, Dartmouth

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JOURNAL

Royal Society Open Science

DOI

10.1098/rsos.230145 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Downclimbing and the evolution of ape forelimb morphologies

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Sep-2023

 

Study finds increase in travelers to Massachusetts seeking abortion care post-Dobbs

Analysis led by Brigham researchers showed an increase in out-of-state abortion travelers to Massachusetts from other states including Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia after Dobbs.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL

• Analysis led by Brigham researchers showed an increase in out-of-state abortion travelers to Massachusetts from other states including Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia after Dobbs.
• Use of non-profit funding by charitable organizations for abortion care more than doubled among out-of-state travelers

A rigorous analysis by researchers confirms a rise in out-of-state travelers coming to Massachusetts to seek abortion care. In a new study by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, researchers report an estimated increase of 37 percent in the number of out-of-state residents seeking abortion care in Massachusetts, as well as an increase in non-profit funding covering costs for out-of-state residents. Results are published in JAMA Network Open.

“Before Dobbs, there was conjecture that certain states would get all the interstate traveling patients based on geographic proximity to states with complete abortion bans,” said corresponding author Elizabeth Janiak, ScD, of the Division of Family Planning at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “After Dobbs, we set out to understand how many out-of-state travelers come to Massachusetts for abortion care, and how they cover the cost of care.”

The federal right to provide abortion care was overturned by Dobbs v Jackson’s Women Health Organization in June 2022, resulting in rapid changes to state laws, including 15 complete bans. Since then, there has been a documented increase in interstate travel to access abortion care in permissive states neighboring those with bans. Even before Dobbs, abortions were expensive and 60 percent of patients paid out-of-pocket for their care, in part due to bans on abortion coverage in Medicaid and Medicare programs, a lack of coverage by private insurance, or fear of a confidentiality breach if insurance was used.

“Interstate travelers face elevated financial stress from additional travel expenses and the stigma of abortion, which prompts many people to be secretive about their abortion experiences,” Janiak said. “We wanted to understand how the allocation of funding for abortion care and travel by various non-profits and charities changed after Dobbs, since abortion can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.”

The researchers conducted a retrospective review of 45,797 abortion care records from January 2018 to October 2022 at the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. Then, they used time series analysis, a statistical tool commonly used to understand trends in health service utilization, to estimate the expected number of abortions after Dobbs, based on the observed number before.

“A major strength of our study is the large dataset of pre-Dobbs abortions,” Janiak said. “We used rigorous statistical modeling to understand how the number of abortions in the four months after Dobbs compared to the expected counts we predicted. Because of the large historical dataset, we know that these are real changes and not chance fluctuations.”

When observed counts were compared to expected counts, there was a 6.2 percent increase in the total number of abortions. Notably, when data were stratified by state of residence, there was a 37.5 percent increase in the number of out-of-state residents, which is about 45 additional abortions.

“We’ve always had abortion travelers from New England, but now we see that we have people coming from much farther away like Texas, Louisiana, Florida, or Georgia,” Janiak said.

Notably, the proportion of out-of-state residents receiving abortion funding increased by nearly ten percent post-Dobbs, from approximately 8 percent to 18 percent, while in-state residents’ use of funding increased by only one percent, from 2 percent to 3 percent, over the same period.

“Abortion costs are already well above the average out-of-pocket medical expenditures for reproductive age females in the United States,” Janiak said. “In the post-Dobbs context, interstate travel costs are even higher.”

Thus, although Massachusetts does not border any states with an abortion ban, the number of patients traveling and accessing charitable funding increased after Dobbs.

“In states like Massachusetts, we know the state government as well as advocates and healthcare providers are very invested in ensuring abortion access,” Janiak said. “We hope the data from this study serves as an example of how states across the country that share this commitment can monitor the trends in and needs of interstate travelers.”

Limitations of the study include using data from a single clinical source that might not be representative of the entire state. Still, the rapid and disproportionate increase in out-of-state residents seeking care at the largest abortion care provider in Massachusetts reflects a crucial need to assess and strengthen abortion service infrastructure in non-ban states.

“To my knowledge, this is the first analysis of state-level abortion volume changes post-Dobbs using medical record data, and definitely the first in a non-surge state,” Janiak said. “Next, we want to get a more nuanced picture of the barriers people are encountering and how they're overcoming those barriers to travel for abortion.”

Specifically, her team is surveying interstate travelers and in-state residents seeking abortion care in Massachusetts and beyond. They are tracking gestational age, pregnancy outcomes, underlying healthcare characteristics and the psychosocial stress associated with travel for abortion, with the goal of using study results to promote greater equity in abortion care.

Disclosures: Dr. Fulcher reports being employed as the vice president of data science at Delfina Care.

Funding: None.

Paper cited: Keefe-Oates, B et al. “Use of Abortion Services in Massachusetts After the Dobbs Decision Among In-State vs Out-of-State Residents” JAMA Network Open DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.32400

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JOURNAL

JAMA Network Open

DOI

10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.32400 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Use of Abortion Services in Massachusetts After the Dobbs Decision Among In-State vs Out-of-State Residents

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

6-Sep-2023

COI STATEMENT

Dr. Fulcher reports being employed as the vice president of data science at Delfina Care.

 

Non-binary and transgender Californians suffered alarming levels of physical and sexual violence in the past year

New survey shows victims suffer severe emotional impact, but most violence goes unreported

Reports and Proceedings

THE REIS GROUP

WASHINGTON (September 6, 2023) – An annual survey of physical and sexual violence suffered by Californians documents for the first time the higher incidence of violence among non-binary and transgender people. One in 20 California adults has experienced physical violence (5%) in the past year, a decrease from 8% in 2022, according to The California Violence Experiences Study (CalVEX); but the reported rates for non-binary and transgender individuals were notably higher, 14% and 27%, respectively.

“The new data we have in this year’s report show that rates of violence have declined since levels seen during the pandemic, but these experiences remain too common, especially for our gender diverse and sexually diverse communities,” said Anita Raj, PhD, MS, Affiliate Professor at University of California San Diego and executive director of the Newcomb Institute at Tulane University. “These data have historically lacked information on non-binary and transgender individuals, so we have not had a clear picture of their experiences with violence until now.”

The fourth annual CalVEX survey, covering more than 3,500 adults, also found that one in 11 adults (9%) said that they have been a victim of sexual harassment or assault in the past year, a decrease from 11% in 2022. Past year sexual harassment and assault reported by non-binary and transgender adults was egregiously higher, at 56% and 40%, respectively.

Overall, more than half of all adults in California reported physical or sexual partner violence (54%) against them in their lifetime. Women (54%), non-binary individuals (76%), and transgender individuals (83%) are more likely than men (38%) to have experienced this.

The CalVEX survey also collected data on the rates and occurrences of violence and mental health and found significant effects associations.

Those who experienced physical violence in the past year were:

• More than twice as likely to report severe depression and/or anxiety symptoms (14% vs 6%)
• Four times more likely to report serious consideration of suicide (25% vs 6%)
• More than twice as likely to report recent substance misuse (67% vs 28%)

Those who experienced sexual harassment or assault in the past year were:

• More than twice as likely to report severe depression and/or anxiety symptoms (14% vs 6%)
• Four times more likely to report serious consideration of suicide (22% vs 5%)
• Nearly twice as likely to report recent substance misuse (51% vs 28%)

The study also examined racial/ethnic disparities and economic disparities among those affected by violence and found higher rates of violence among minority and economically distressed people.

“Experiences of violence are affected by gender, and we need to consider the unique vulnerabilities to violence that people face due to their gender as we build our violence prevention efforts,” said Raj. “Our goal with these data is to guide violence-prevention programming and policy development, recognizing the gendered risk attached to it and the socio-economic and health disparities.”

Overwhelmingly, most people who experienced violence did not report it to authorities: 80% of those who experienced physical violence and 95% of those experiencing sexual violence. This suggests that people may feel that there is no benefit to seeking support or recourse. Some may even be concerned that help-seeking could yield further problems for them.

The survey asked Californians about their most recent experience of being approached or stopped by the police. One in eight (12%) said they were treated somewhat or very badly, as reported by 11% of women and 13% of men. The survey also found that one factor discouraging the reporting of violence to the police was that 1 in 25 respondents (4%) said they were victims of police violence.

“This suggests that criminal justice responses may not be useful in addressing violence,” said Raj.

“Health and social welfare services such as conflict-resolution training and support services for families and youth may be a better means of serving victims and preventing perpetration, given the vulnerabilities faced by victims and that most perpetrators are victims as well.”

The survey was conducted online by NORC at the University of Chicago on behalf of University of California San Diego’s Center on Gender Equity and Health (GEH) from March to May 2023. More information about the study is available at https://geh.ucsd.edu/cal-vex/.

###

About the California Violence Experiences Study (CalVEX)

The California Violence Experiences Study (CalVEX) provides insight into the current state of violence and discrimination for adult California residents. The survey provides timely population-level estimates on physical violence, inclusive of knife and gun violence, as well as a range of sexual violence experiences, inclusive of harassment, coercion, and forced sex.

NORC at the University of Chicago conducted the online CalVEX survey on behalf of the University of California San Diego’s Center on Gender Equity and Health (GEH). 3,560 California adult residents ages 18+ were surveyed from March 2023 to May 2023. For complete research methods, including recruitment, weighting variables, and subgroup sample sizes, please contact Nicole Johns at nejohns@health.ucsd.edu.  

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

Biden to hail West Coast dockworker union contract as possibility of UAW strike looms

PUBLISHED WED, SEP 6 2023
CNBC
Emma Kinery@EMMAKINERY

KEY POINTS

Last week the ILWU and the PMA ratified a contract after more than a year of negotiations that prompted the involvement of the Biden administration.

Biden frequently touts his labor chops and his administration has helped mediate several union disputes including averting the rail workers strike last year.

The White House’s embrace of the dockworkers’ contract comes as the United Auto Workers may strike when their contract expires on Sept. 14 if a deal can’t be reached.


The loading and unloading of cargo freighters has been suspended at all 29 U.S. West Coast ports this weekend because of chronic slowdowns on the docks that shippers and terminal operators have blamed on the dockworkers’ union, the companies said Friday.
Bob Riha, Jr. | Reuters

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will celebrate the recent West Coast dockworker contract in a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday.

Leaders from both the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents the workers, and the Pacific Maritime Association, which operates the port terminals, will join Biden at the White House.

Last week, the ILWU and the PMA ratified a contract after more than a year of negotiations that prompted the Biden administration to get involved. The contract is set to last for six years and was approved by 75% of union members who voted. It included increased pay and benefits for 22,000 workers across 29 ports on the West Coast.

“The contract finalized last week represented a prime example of Bidenomics at work, reflecting workers empowered and bargaining together for the wages, benefits, and quality of life they deserve, and company owners recognizing those unions’ right to organize,” a White House official said in a statement.

Chronic worker slowdowns plagued the ports as negotiations lagged on, in some cases diverting shipments and leading to temporary port closures.

The White House’s embrace of the dockworkers’ contract comes as another major union fights over its deal. The United Auto Workers may strike when their contract expires on Sept. 14 if a deal can’t be reached. The UAW, which represents 146,000 workers, is asking for a 46% increase in pay, a 32-hour work week with 40 hours of pay and the return to a traditional pension system.

“The president, vice president are very strong supporters of the collective bargaining process,” National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard told MSNBC Sunday. “They want to see the collective bargaining process work its way through and you know, we are celebrating two successful collective bargaining agreements that were both ratified with overwhelming majority, both UPS Teamsters and also ILWU and the West Coast ports.”

Biden frequently touts his labor chops and his administration has helped mediate several union disputes, including averting the rail workers strike last year.

“When the last guy was here, he looked at the world from Park Avenue,” Biden said Monday at a Labor Day event in Philadelphia, Pa. “I look at it from Scranton, Pa. I look at it from Claymont, Del.”

Amid abaya ban, French school sends girl home for wearing kimono: Lawyer

Human rights lawyer who plans to file complaint says 15-year-old was asked to leave school for wearing Japanese garment.

Schoolchildren arrive on the first day of the new school year after summer break at the College Antoine de Saint Exupery Middle School, in Savenay, France [File: Stephane Mahe/Reuters]

Published On 6 Sep 2023

A schoolgirl in the French city of Lyon has reportedly been sent home for wearing a kimono, a traditional Japanese garment, as the European nation grapples with a controversial law banning the display of religious symbols in public schools.

Human rights lawyer Nabil Boudi, who plans to file a complaint over the incident, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the 15-year-old girl was told by the head teacher to leave the school because of her outfit – jeans, a t-shirt and an open kimono.

“This scenario illustrates the dangerous excesses that could legitimately be expected from the recent orders given by the education minister to his administration,” said Boudi.

“Absolutely nothing, in the mere wearing of a kimono, makes it possible to characterise an ostensible manifestation of belonging to a religion within the meaning of the law of March 15, 2004, without resorting to discriminatory prejudices.”

The student reportedly said that her clothes did not represent any religious affiliation.

Acts of discrimination committed by civil servants are punishable by criminal law, the lawyer said.

Translation: The office was seized today by a young high school student who was excluded this morning by the principal because she was wearing a kimono. A complaint for acts of discrimination on the basis of religious affiliation will be filed. Our press release.


Religious signs in state schools have been strictly banned in France since the 19th century, with laws removing any traditional Catholic influence from public education. French public schools do not permit the wearing of large crosses.

It is also forbidden for students to wear Jewish kippas and, in 2004, France also banned Muslim headscarves in schools, while in 2010 it passed a ban on full face veils in public, angering many in its five million-strong Muslim community.

In its latest move concerning how schoolchildren dress, the government announced last month a ban on the abaya – a loose-fitting, full-length robe worn by some Muslim women – saying it broke the rules on secularism in education.

The decision was welcomed by the political right but the hard left argued it represented an affront to civil liberties.

As a result of the new policy, French public schools sent dozens of girls home for refusing to remove their abayas on Monday, the first day of the school year.

Defying a ban on the garment seen as a religious symbol, nearly 300 girls showed up in the morning wearing abayas, according to Education Minister Gabriel Attal. Most agreed to change out of the robe, but 67 refused and were sent home, he said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Ukraine lashes Putin for saying West put a Jew in power to cloak country’s ‘Nazism’

Kyiv lambastes ‘deep-rooted antisemitism’ in Kremlin’s remarks on Zelensky’s roots, adds: ‘We would like to hear something from Israel’

By LAZAR BERMAN

Today, The Times of Israel

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a media conference at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, May 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)


Kyiv blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday for comments about Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s Jewish background, calling them further evidence of antisemitism in Moscow’s leadership.

On Tuesday, Putin told Russian television that the West put “an ethnic Jew” into power in Ukraine to cover up the country’s “glorification of Nazism.”

Western powers, said the Russian president, “have put a person at the head of modern Ukraine — an ethnic Jew, with Jewish roots, with Jewish origins. So in my opinion, they seem to be covering up an anti-human essence that is the foundation… of the modern Ukrainian state.

“This makes the whole situation extremely disgusting, that an ethnic Jew is covering up the glorification of Nazism and covering up those who led the Holocaust in Ukraine at one time — and this is the extermination of 1.5 million people.”

Putin has repeatedly sought to paint his invasion of Ukraine as an effort to “denazify” the country, a claim rejected by the majority of the international community as baseless propaganda.

Kyiv called on the international community to condemn Putin’s statements.

“Vladimir Putin linked the Jewish origin of the President of Ukraine with the glorification of Nazism,” said Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry. “Putin’s chronic fixation on the ethnic origin of the Ukrainian president is yet another manifestation of the deep-rooted antisemitism of the Russian elites.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry had not responded to Putin’s comments by the time of writing.

Ukraine’s Ambassador Yevgen Korniychuk told The Times of Israel that “we would like to hear something from Israel. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard this from Putin.”

Korniychuk said in a statement that Israel “should understand that Putin, in his harsh words against President Zelensky, only proves once again why Israel should support Ukraine, President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people in their difficult time.”

Putin has commented on Zelensky’s Jewish roots on other occasions since his forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022. In June, Putin claimed that Zelensky was viewed as a “disgrace” to his faith by other members of the religion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin comments on Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s Jewish background to Russian TV, September 5, 2023 (screenshot)

“I have a lot of Jewish friends,” Putin told an annual economic forum in Saint Petersburg. “They say that Zelensky is not Jewish, that he is a disgrace to the Jewish people.”

Putin later noted that Zelensky was “a man with Jewish blood” before adding that “he covers for these freaks, these neo-Nazis, with his actions.”

“Why do you put Nazis on a pedestal?” Putin asked rhetorically regarding Zelensky.

Other senior Russian officials have also made statements about Zelensky’s background that drew furious condemnations as antisemitic.

Putin, in his harsh words against President Zelensky, only proves once again why Israel should support Ukraine, President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people in their difficult time.

In the early months of the war, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the fact that Ukraine’s president is Jewish does not contradict Moscow’s claims that it launched the invasion to “denazify” the country, claiming that even Hitler “had Jewish blood.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov adresses the Commission of the General Council of the United Russia party in Moscow, Russia, February 3, 2023

. (Yury Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)

While Zelensky does not profess to be religious, he identifies as Jewish and told The Times of Israel in 2020 that he was raised in “an ordinary Soviet Jewish family.”

Zelensky has said that his great-grandfather and three of his grandfather’s brothers died as a result of the Nazi invasion of Ukrainian territory. His grandfather and his grandfather’s brothers took up arms against the Nazis in the Red Army; his grandfather was the only one to survive.

Zelensky has also said he has relatives who moved to Israel in the 1990s, during the wave of Jewish emigration from the newly dissolved Soviet Union. As Ukrainian president, he has visited once, for the 2020 Holocaust commemoration shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

In this grab taken from video released by Prigozhin Press Service on Saturday, May 20, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group military company members wave a Russian and Wagner flag atop a damaged building in Bakhmut, Ukraine.

 (Prigozhin Press Service via AP, File)

Russia has put pressure on local Jews in other ways during the war. Last October, Moscow’s exiled former chief rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt encouraged Russian Jews to flee the country after a Moscow official labeled the Chabad Hasidic sect a supremacist cult.

Since July 2022, Russia and Israel have been engaged in a legal dispute over Moscow’s attempts to shutter the Russian branch of the Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental organization that promotes immigration of Jews to Israel.

According to Goldschmidt, since the beginning of the invasion in March 2022, 25 to 30 percent of Jews in Russia have left, or are planning to leave.

Vivek Ramaswamy May Be Ahead of the Curve on Israel

Vivek Ramaswamy's views on Israel are shaped by two competing influences on his politics: libertarianism and national conservatism.

BY ARIF RAFIQ

SEPTEMBER 6, 2023


while Ramaswamy's proposal to phase out U.S. aid to Israel may irk Israel's establishment supporters, it may actual gain traction with supporters of Tel Aviv's far-right government. (Image Credit: Gage Skidmore)

Vivek Ramaswamy’s comments last month suggesting that he’d cut aid to Israel look like a self-exposed wound his rival Nikki Haley continues to hit. But the biotech entrepreneur’s comments — which he’s since qualified — may actually foreshadow where the Republican Party’s younger, America First-types are headed on the question of Israel.

In August, when asked by interviewer Russell Brand whether he would cut aid to Israel, Ramaswamy said, “There’s no North Star commitment to any one country other than the United States of America.” Ramaswamy went on to defend the historic U.S.-Israel partnership, but pledged that “come 2028” — or by the end of his first term — U.S. aid to Israel “won’t be necessary.”

Republicans and Israel

While progressive Democrats are increasingly vocal in calls to condition or reduce aid to Israel, the very idea of any downgrade in ties with Tel Aviv is an anathema for a Republican Party in which Christian Zionists are big players.

It wasn’t always this way. Past Republican presidential candidates Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul called for ending aid to Israel. Their influence lives on in today’s Republican Party dominated not just by the MAGA movement, but also by a libertarianism — often paranoid — that is pushing back against the post-9/11 surveillance state.

Ramaswamy’s politics synthesize these two styles. While the businessman has little to show in terms of past allegiance to the Republican Party, he’s had what can be described as libertarian tendencies since college. He’s also expressed an affinity for Ron Paul. Ramaswamy’s use of the term “neocons” to disparage his Republican opponents is a telling sign of where he stands ideologically.

Yet Ramaswamy, unlike Paul, is keen on gaining the evangelical Christian vote. His comments on Israel, like his praise for India’s Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi, could damage his prospects with evangelical Christian Zionists, who see Israel not just as an ally, but also as the realization of Biblical prophecy.

While Ramaswamy has adopted an ecumenical notion of “faith” in his campaign, there’s really no way he — a practicing Hindu — can embrace a religious justification for U.S. support for Israel.

Instead, Ramaswamy speaks of U.S.-Israel relations in secular terms. His language is positive — he told Brand he thinks “our relationship with Israel has advanced American interests.” But, at the moment, it is the religious narrative that provides the bilateral relationship with a buffer today against the volatility of Israeli politics and Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. Without the garb of exceptionalism, Israel may have less leeway in Washington. Already, the pro-Israel consensus is fraying.

A Gallup survey conducted earlier this year reveals not just a growing partisan gap on Israel, but also a generational one. Millennials across party lines have greater sympathy for the Palestinians than Israelis compared to older Americans.

In the near term, support for Israel among Republicans is by no means in jeopardy. But beyond this election cycle, two ideas brought to the fore by Ramaswamy — the secularization of U.S. policy toward Israel and the idea that there are limits to which Washington will support it — could shake up the status quo on the bilateral relationship.

Today, nearly half of Republican voters favor an isolationist foreign policy, according to a Morning Consult tracking poll. As the conservative movement evolves, inward-looking millennial and Gen Z Republicans, like progressive Democrats, may question the rationale for providing aid to Israel, a high-income country. (Israel’s gross domestic product per capita is higher than that of France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.)

From Christian Zionism to National Conservatism

But Ramaswamy isn’t all bad news for Israel. In fact, he may be simpatico with Israel’s far-right. He’s spoken out against U.S. interference in Israeli politics. In other words, a Ramaswamy presidency wouldn’t force Israel to roll back the controversial so-called “judicial reforms.”

Ramaswamy has also said he admires Israeli border policy and nationalism. Some may find this odd given that as a brown son of Indian Hindu immigrants, he’d be excluded from an American variant of Israeli ultranationalism. But Ramaswamy’s comments are probably a nod to the ideas of far-right Israeli ideologue Yoram Hazony.

Hazony’s “national conservatism” rejects global liberalism (aka “globalism”) and liberal internationalism and argues instead for the defense of sovereign nation-states anchored by religious virtues, social traditionalism, and free enterprise economics.

Somewhat paradoxically, Hazony and Co. have amassed supporters from various nationalist and ultranationalist groups and movements, including CPAC in the U.S. and Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz in Hungary. They convene at the annual National Conservatism Conference (or NatCon) organized by the Edmund Burke Foundation.

In 2021, Ramaswamy addressed one of these gatherings, telling the audience that “wokeism” is the merger of “German Nazism” and “Soviet Marxism.”

Ramaswamy and Hazony are bound by another connection: Peter Thiel.

Billionaire investor Thiel is a signatory to the National Conservatism’s statement of principles. He’s also backed numerous Ramaswamy ventures, including his “anti-woke” Strive Asset Management fund.

When Ramaswamy speaks about a pathway toward ending U.S. aid to Israel, it isn’t clear whether it’s the libertarian or the national conservative in him speaking. He, like Thiel, straddles the boundary between libertarianism and national conservatism. One might call him a conservatarian.

Either way, while Ramaswamy’s proposal to phase out U.S. aid to Israel may irk Israel’s establishment supporters, it may actually gain traction with supporters of Tel Aviv’s far-right government.

In July, Jacob Siegel and Liel Leibovitz argued in the right-leaning Tablet for ending U.S. aid to Israel, claiming it “undermine[s] Israel’s domestic defense industry, weaken[s] its economy, and compromise[s] the country’s autonomy.” Some may find their contention laughable, but the point is that such an argument is being made by those adjacent to Israel’s right. Indeed, in practice, aid cuts could actually reduce Washington’s leverage with Tel Aviv and accelerate its far-right turn.

So, regardless of his motives, Ramaswamy may be pushing the U.S.-Israel relationship into unchartered territory.


Arif Rafiq is the editor of Globely News. Rafiq has contributed commentary and analysis on global issues for publications such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the New Republic, the New York Times, and POLITICO Magazine. He has appeared on numerous broadcast outlets, including Al Jazeera English, the BBC World Service, CNN International, and National Public Radio.