Connecting lab-grown brain cells provides insight into how our own brains work

INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

 

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RESEARCHERS FROM THE INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO, FIND THAT PROVIDING LAB-GROWN ‘CEREBRAL ORGANOIDS’ WITH CONNECTIONS SIMILAR TO THOSE IN REAL BRAINS ENHANCES THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITY

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CREDIT: INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

Tokyo, Japan – The idea of growing a functioning human brain-like tissues in a dish has always sounded pretty far-fetched, even to researchers in the field. Towards the future goal, a Japanese and French research team has developed a technique for connecting lab-grown brain-mimicking tissue in a way that resembles circuits in our brain.

It is challenging to study exact mechanisms of the brain development and functions. Animal studies are limited by differences between species in brain structure and function, and brain cells grown in the lab tend to lack the characteristic connections of cells in the human brain. What’s more, researchers are increasingly realizing that these interregional connections, and the circuits that they create, are important for many of the brain functions that define us as humans.

Previous studies have tried to create brain circuits under laboratory conditions, which have been advancing the field. Researchers from The University of Tokyo have recently found a way to create more physiological connections between lab-grown “neural organoids,” an experimental model tissue in which human stem cells are grown into three-dimensional developmental brain-mimicking structures. The team did this by linking the organoids via axonal bundles, which is similar to how regions are connected in the living human brain.

“In single-neural organoids grown under laboratory conditions, the cells start to display relatively simple electrical activity,” says co-lead author of the study Tomoya Duenki. “when we connected two neural organoids with axonal bundles, we were able to see how these bidirectional connections contributed to generating and synchronizing activity patterns between the organoids, showing some similarity to connections between two regions within the brain.”

The cerebral organoids that were connected with axonal bundles showed more complex activity than single organoids or those connected using previous techniques. In addition, when the research team stimulated the axonal bundles using a technique known as optogenetics, the organoid activity was altered accordingly and the organoids were affected by these changes for some time, in a process known as plasticity.

“These findings suggest that axonal bundle connections are important for developing complex networks,” explains Yoshiho Ikeuchi, senior author of the study. “Notably, complex brain networks are responsible for many profound functions, such as language, attention, and emotion.”

Given that alterations in brain networks have been associated with various neurological and psychiatric conditions, a better understanding of brain networks is important. The ability to study lab-grown human neural circuits will improve our knowledge of how these networks form and change over time in different situations, and may lead to improved treatments for these conditions.

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The article, “Complex Activity and Short-Term Plasticity of Human Cerebral Organoids Reciprocally Connected with Axons,” was published in Nature Communications at DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46787-7.

 

About Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

The Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo (UTokyo-IIS) is one of the largest university-attached research institutes in Japan. UTokyo-IIS is comprised of over 120 research laboratories—each headed by a faculty member—and has over 1,200 members (approximately 400 staff and 800 students) actively engaged in education and research. Its activities cover almost all areas of engineering. Since its foundation in 1949, UTokyo-IIS has worked to bridge the huge gaps that exist between academic disciplines and real-world applications.

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-024-46787-7 

ARTICLE TITLE

Complex Activity and Short-Term Plasticity of Human Cerebral Organoids Reciprocally Connected with Axons

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

10-Apr-2024

 

How is green and sustainable agriculture evolving in youngest province of China?

HIGHER EDUCATION PRESS

 

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FIGURE 1

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CREDIT: TIANXIANG YU， JICHEN ZHOU, LIN MA , FUSUO ZHANG , ZED RENGEL, WILLIAM J. DAVIES , JIANBO SHEN

With the increasing environmental and resource problems associated with agriculture, the promotion of sustainable agricultural development has been recommended in many areas of China and also beyond its borders. As a contribution to achieving sustainable development goals, the Chinese government first proposed green development in 2015 and implemented the agriculture green development (AGD) program in 2017 to address a range of issues related to the future development of agriculture in China and the well-being of people living in rural areas. In contrast to the concept of traditional agricultural development, AGD is a benign development strategy that integrates environmental sustainability into sustainable economic and social development. Extensive research has shown that quantifying and tracking progress toward sustainable development is essential to guiding the policy development and implementation in different regions. However, there is no broad agreement on how spatiotemporal variation of AGD should be quantified to produce numerical values to represent appropriately the overall performance of AGD.

Prof. Jianbo Shen from China agricultural university and his team developed a systematic index evaluation system to assess the performance of socioeconomic, food production and environmental components in a key economic region (Hainan Province) of China. It is based upon the operation of a modified NUFER (nutrient flows in food chain, environment and resource use) model, used to assess the effects of strategy development and the pathway of AGD over space and time from 1988 to 2019. Scenario analysis was used to predict the future progress of AGD in Hainan Province, providing a reference for the formulation of relevant development policies for the region. The results show that Hainan improved its AGD index (representing the overall performance toward achieving AGD) from 38.8 in 1988 to 40.9 in 2019. The socioeconomic development and agricultural productivity have improved with time; environmental quality declined due to overuse of chemicals from 1988 to 2013, but steadily improved after 2013, indicating positive effects of reducing chemical input. There was a higher AGD index in the coastal vs. central regions and the southern vs. northern regions. Scenarios featuring improved nutrient management or optimized diet structure and reduced waste improved economic benefits and social productivity while concurrently reducing environmental degradation. But high resource input, unreasonable waste management, and high environmental pressure are still the main limiting factors of AGD in Hainan Province.

In the 1988–2013 period, the AGD index showed that the higher the score for economy and social development was, the lower the environmental score was for Hainan Province, indicating it was unsustainable to develop the economy and food productivity. Therefore, the realization of AGD in Hainan depends not only on improved crop yields and economic benefit to the communities, but also on introducing the means/policies to restrict environmental pollution and degradation. Potential adaptations include optimized spatial planning of agricultural communities, rational fertilizer application in agriculture, a healthier diet, and a reduction in food waste. In addition, many countries now place emphasis on land management policies that make room for nature using techniques such as land sparing or land sharing.

The study quantified the spatiotemporal progress toward AGD in Hainan Province, highlighting important implications for future policies. This method can help evaluate the impact on food production, socioeconomic and environment of implementing policies (e.g., the fertilizer-reduction) in regions. These results provide new insights for the future development of green and sustainable agriculture and formulation of agricultural policies in Hainan Province of China and even other developing countries that are facing or will soon face similar challenges.

This study has been published on the Journal of Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering in Volume 11, Issue 1, 2024, DOI: 10.15302/J-FASE-2024538.

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JOURNAL

Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering

DOI

10.15302/J-FASE-2024538 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Spatiotemporal variation and evaluation of agriculture green development: a case study of Hainan Province, China

 

Automation and orchestration of zero trust architecture: Potential solutions and challenges

BEIJING ZHONGKE JOURNAL PUBLISING CO. LTD.

 

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THE SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION OF THIS SURVEY

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CREDIT: BEIJING ZHONGKE JOURNAL PUBLISING CO. LTD.

To date, most network security architectures have used perimeter-based defense to isolate internal networks from external networks. Firewalls, virtual private networks (VPN), and demilitarized zone (DMZ) networks prevent external attacks by creating a network security perimeter. This can effectively prevent external attacks, but it is difficult to prevent internal attacks because once an intruder breaches the security perimeter, further illegal actions will not be hindered. In addition, with the rapid development of digital technologies such as 5G, the internet of things and cloud computing, the number of network users and devices and their security concerns are growing exponentially, as the perimeter of the network is becoming increasingly blurred. This makes it more difficult to protect organizational resources, especially as more data access points, information inputs and outputs are created. Therefore, preventing internal attacks requires a security architecture that does not trust any network.

 

Zero trust architecture (ZTA) is a new concept of network security architecture based on the principle of least privilege, which aims to solve the above problems by restricting the behavior of subjects inside the network. Based on the core idea of “never trust, always verify”, ZTA follows a resource-based security policy: no users, devices, or applications (services) can access the data without authentication and authorization. However, while ZTA provides more robust cyber protection measures, it still faces significant implementation challenges. The implementation of ZTA requires multiple security tools (e.g., firewalls) and policies to work together, and traditional stand-alone security detection approaches may not be applicable. In addition, the large amount of data collected and produced by these security tools can be used for risk analysis, prediction, and evaluation within the framework. Thus, to maximize the security protection performance of ZTA, the components of existing frameworks need to be automated and orchestrated. In this context, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are considered as one of the most suitable technologies to automate and orchestrate ZTA.

 

AI technologies are considered as enablers for the security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) solutions designed to automate and integrate different security tasks and processes in response to incidents. SOAR is also one of the functions to be considered in the execution of ZTA, which provides a reference for AI to perform automation and orchestration across components.

 

Security teams consider ZTA as an enabler to uphold security in their organization′s networks. In particular, ZTA needs to develop capabilities that orchestrate and learn continuously to secure an environment based on hyper-granular access privileges. ZTA automation and orchestration can relieve security personnel from manually assigning and reassigning access credentials throughout the organization′s network. Moreover, permission changes over ZTA should be orchestrated in minutes, eliminating the friction and annoyance of security procedures for employees and devices. The paper published in Machine Intelligence Research by the team of Prof. Gang Li focuses on the potential of AI algorithms in the automation and orchestration for ZTA components.

 

The main purpose of ZTA is to enhance security. Although enterprises or organizations propose different strategies to understand and implement ZTA depending on their application environments, they are all based on the following three principles: 1) Access control should be resource-centric and context-aware. 2) All users and devices must be authenticated and authorized based on dynamic policies before accessing the resources, following the least privilege policy. 3) Improve security by continuously monitoring the integrity and security of owned or associated assets.

 

Although a large number of studies on ZTA have been published, there are a few literature reviews on ZTA. Researchers classify the existing review works based on the following five categories: Q1: Details of ZTA principles. Q2: Comparison of security technologies based on perimeter and non-perimeter. Q3: Categorization and revision of ZTA components. Q4: Challenges of ZTA migration, automation, and orchestration. Q5: Future research directions of ZTA.

 

Existing surveys provide a careful review and analysis of different ZTA theoretical frameworks and application scenarios. However, none of them elaborates on the potential benefits of the automation and orchestration of ZTA using AI techniques. In the wide range of ZTA application scenarios, where ZTA needs to process and analyze huge amounts of data from different sources, researchers have shown increasing interest in AI-driven automation and orchestration, which can provide assistance to ZTA in data classification, authentication and access control. Therefore, researchers’ focus in this survey is to fill the gap by developing a systematic review of AI-focused approaches important for ZTA automation technologies from a technical perspective in conjunction with existing surveys.

 

The main contributions of this paper are summarized as follows: 1) Researchers comprehensively review and compare existing perimetrized-based and deperimetrized-based trust architectures. 2) Researchers provide an in-depth analysis of existing AI technologies for ZTA automation and orchestration. 3) Researchers discuss the challenges of implementing AI-based solutions in ZTA automation and future developments.

 

Section 2 provides a fine-grained categorization of the logical components, data sources of ZTA, and discuss the ZTA automation workflow. Researchers also compare the difference between perimetrized and deperimetrized architecture from seven aspects: principle, privilege, boundary, authentication, authorization, access control and security.

 

In light of the increasing demand for AI technologies in zero-trust, researchers focus on, but are not limited to AI technologies that can be applied to the automation and orchestration of ZTA. There is a figure in Section 3 which shows the categories of ZTA components which can use AI algorithms. Researchers divide ZTA components into four parts: control plane, identity verification, attack detection automation and automated resources monitoring.

 

ZTA automation and orchestration can be considered as the process of reducing frequent mediation by security personnel via automating the detection and prevention of cyber threats. In Section 4, researchers review the AI approaches for ZTA components to ZTA automation and orchestration. There are two Tables in this part that surveyed the recent AI-based approaches to trust evaluation, authentication, attack detection and system monitoring, respectively.

 

Section 5 describes limitations and challenges, and points to future research development. Researchers propose challenges from three aspects: harmonization policy, legacy system, and data inconsistency. And they provide suggestions on future development from the angle of human expertise, data quality, secure access service edge (SASE) and fast communication.

 

This survey provides an insightful analysis of the recent literature on ZTA, revealing gaps in addressing AI in ZTA component automation and orchestration. In addition, this survey has identified trust evaluation, authentication, attack detection, and monitoring as the fundamental classifications that constitute the operation of ZTA component automation. To address the challenges associated with these classifications, an overview of AI-based solutions is provided.

 

See the article:

Automation and Orchestration of Zero Trust Architecture: Potential Solutions and Challenges

http://doi.org/10.1007/s11633-023-1456-2

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JOURNAL

Machine Intelligence Research

DOI

10.1007/s11633-023-1456-2 

ARTICLE TITLE

Automation and Orchestration of Zero Trust Architecture: Potential Solutions and Challenges

 

US building footprints could help identify neighborhood sociodemographic traits

New tools classify building footprints in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston and LA into 5 neighborhood types

PLOS

 

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THE NEW ANALYSIS OF BUILDING FOOTPRINTS IN MAJOR US METROPOLITAN AREAS IDENTIFIES FIVE DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOOD TYPES THAT VARY IN FOOTPRINT SIZE, SHAPE, AND PLACEMENT.

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CREDIT: PUBLICCO, PIXABAY, CC0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/PUBLICDOMAIN/ZERO/1.0/)

An analysis of building footprints in major US metropolitan areas identifies five different neighborhood types that vary in footprint size, shape, and placement, and which are statistically associated with varying neighborhood socioeconomic and demographic traits. Noah Durst of Michigan State University, US, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on April 10, 2024.

People have long studied the shape and placement of human settlements—“neighborhood morphology”—to help inform urban planning and management. Recent technological advancements, such as high-resolution satellite imagery and more powerful computational tools, have opened up novel possibilities for this field.

In their new study, Durst and colleagues applied a set of open-source computational tools that was recently developed, in part, by one of the coauthors for analyzing building footprints. They used these tools, collectively known as Foot, to assess footprint patterns across five of the largest US metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles.

The analysis identified five different neighborhood types based on building footprints. For example, class 1 neighborhoods have smaller buildings with little variation in orientation, meaning most are likely cookie-cutter residential neighborhoods. Class 1 neighborhoods make up a high of about 31 percent of Boston-area neighborhoods and a low of about 19 percent of Los Angeles-area neighborhoods.

The research team also discovered links between the different neighborhood types, where they tend to be located across the urban landscape, and neighborhood sociodemographic traits, such as population density, homeownership, and commuting by car. For instance, class 5 neighborhoods, which have high density and variability of building footprints, tend to be older and located in more central urban areas, and are associated with a mix of renters and homeowners. Meanwhile, class 1 neighborhoods tend to be more recently built suburbs with high rates of homeownership. Class 2 neighborhoods—which have high variability in size, shape, and placement of buildings but with low building density—are typically located on the urban outskirts and have low population density.

These findings highlight the potential for research using tools like Foot to help inform a variety of issues, such as housing policy, infrastructure investment, and residential segregation.

The authors add: “Our study illustrates that neighborhood morphology varies markedly across metropolitan America and that neighborhoods of different types differ in regard to a number of key socioeconomic indicators. These findings point toward neighborhood morphology as a potential link between the various policies that shape urban space (e.g., land use regulations) and the effects of neighborhoods on important societal outcomes (e.g., residential segregation).”

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In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0299713

Citation: Durst NJ, Sullivan E, Jochem WC (2024) The spatial and social correlates of neighborhood morphology: Evidence from building footprints in five U.S. metropolitan areas. PLoS ONE 19(4): e0299713. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299713

Author Countries: USA, UK

Funding: N.D. and E.S received the award #2048562 from the National Science Foundation, https://www.nsf.gov/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0299713 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

The spatial and social correlates of neighborhood morphology: Evidence from building footprints in five U.S. metropolitan areas

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

10-Apr-2024

COI STATEMENT

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

 

Indonesia all set to host “7th Global Conference: ESG Management & Sustainability in August 2024”

The 7th Global Conference: ESG Management & Sustainability will be held from 6th to 8th August 2024, at Universitas Airlangga in Surabaya, Indonesia

CACTUS COMMUNICATIONS

 

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THE 7TH GLOBAL CONFERENCE: ESG MANAGEMENT & SUSTAINABILITY SCHEDULED FOR 6TH TO 8TH AUGUST 2024, WILL BE HOSTED AT THE UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA IN SURABAYA, INDONESIA. THE CONFERENCE WILL BE CO-ORGANIZED BY UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA, THE CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE STUDIES, THE INTERNATIONAL ESG ASSOCIATION, THE APRU SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, AND THE ESG INSTITUTE AT KOREA UNIVERSITY. THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AIMS TO ADDRESS PRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES AND PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PRACTICES. SEVERAL INTERNATIONAL CORPORATIONS, ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES ARE SLATED TO ATTEND THE CONFERENCE.

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CREDIT: PROF. YONG SIK OK

The 7th Global Conference: ESG Management & Sustainability will be held from 6th to 8th August 2024, at Universitas Airlangga in Surabaya, Indonesia. The Center for Environmental, Social, and Governance Studies, Universitas Airlangga, the International ESG Association, the APRU Sustainable Waste Management Program, and Korea University’s ESG Institute will co-organize the conference.

After hosting two successful ESG conferences last year, the International ESG Association is co-organizing the 7th Global Conference: ESG Management & Sustainability in Indonesia, along with the Center for Environmental, Social, and Governance Studies, Universitas Airlangga, the APRU Sustainable Waste Management Program, and Korea University’s ESG Institute. The conference aims to address pressing environmental challenges and promote sustainable business practices through meaningful discussions and expert sessions with a multistakeholder, international audience.

Climate change and its extreme impact threaten the world’s population, warranting an ‘all hands on the deck’ approach towards addressing this global crisis. Indonesia, a developing island country in Southeast Asia, is quite vulnerable to the harsh impacts of climate change, including rising temperatures, sea level rise, and frequently occurring extreme natural disasters. In fact, with about 60 percent of the country’s population residing in coastal areas, sea level rise imperils many Indonesian communities, with the possibility of flooding and inundation. These challenges, along with other environmental concerns, are further exacerbated by unsustainable business practices, thus impacting the country’s socioeconomic landscape and putting millions of Indonesian lives at risk.

In response to these challenges, the Center for Environmental, Social, and Governance Studies (CESGS) and Universitas Airlangga have come together to initiate the 7th Global Conference: ESG Management & Sustainability. The conference is scheduled to take place from 6th to 8th August 2024, at the ASEEC Tower at Universitas Airlangga in Surabaya, Indonesia. The conference is co-organized by the International ESG Association (IESGA), the APRU (Association of Pacific Rim Universities) Sustainable Waste Management (SWM) Program, and the ESG Institute at Korea University.

The primary objective of the conference is to assemble global experts from diverse fields and industries to address pressing environmental issues and promote sustainable business practices. The conference will host distinguished speakers, including Professor Yong Sik Ok, co-president of IESGA, Chair and Director of the APRU SWM Program, and the only Highly Cited Researcher in specific fields of environment and ecology, engineering, biology, and biochemistry. Other speakers include Prof. William Mitch from the School of Sustainability at Stanford University; Prof. Jay Hyuk Rhee, co-President of IESGA and Director of Korea University's Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Research Institute; Prof. Jörg Rinklebe, former President of the International Society of Trace Element Biogeochemistry (ISTEB); and representatives from Nusantara National Capital City and other consulting firms. The different plenary sessions at the conference will cover varied topics, including international trends and prospects of ESG management, climate change and biodiversity, urban resilience, the global ESG lecture series, and critical minerals, batteries, and sustainable plastics.

Besides the expert sessions, the IESGA will also run a networking program along with short-term ESG courses for Korean entrepreneurs at Universitas Airlangga during the conference period. This is intended to facilitate the development and adoption of ESG strategies by Korean companies on topics related to ESG, climate change, critical minerals, biodiversity, waste, plastics, carbon neutrality and net zero, energy, and green hydrogen. The IESGA, in collaboration with ESG researchers at Universitas Airlangga, will also introduce biodiversity evaluation methodologies and ESG management evaluation results of major domestic and foreign companies in Indonesia.

With the 7th Global Conference: ESG Management & Sustainability, CESGS aims to attract over 200 participants from different countries, academic and research institutions, and corporate organizations, and provide them with a platform for knowledge exchange, networking, and the advancement of ESG standards. The conference will also feature a company awarding session for listed companies in Indonesia that have demonstrated exceptional ESG performance in 2023, based on the assessment undertaken by CESGS and the APRU SWM Program. Moreover, the conference will invite ministerial-level officials from different nations for the opening ceremony, welcome speeches, and the ESG management excellence award ceremony. Additionally, the APRU SWM Program’s Leaders of the Pacific Rim Association of Colleges, which has 2.2 million members, 280 Nobel laureates, and scholars from the Pacific Rim Universities Association, will also be participating at the conference. Furthermore, the conference will serve as a crucial precursor to the opening ceremony of Indonesia's Nusantara National Capital City on 17th August 2024, showcasing the country's commitment to sustainable development and environmental stewardship.

The previous two iterations of the conferences were successfully held from 26th to 29th June 2023 in Singapore and from 28th to 30th November 2023 in South Korea. Both these events attracted about 60 experts from nine leading organizing committees, along with 90 speakers and a total of 1,000 participants who attended the conference either online or offline.

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About the International ESG Association (IESGA)

The International ESG Association (IESGA) is a South Korea-based global knowledge network that helps Korean companies become more sustainable in the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) space. The Association was established in 2021, with Prof. Yong Sik Ok and Prof. Jay Hyuk Rhee from Korea University as founders and Presidents. The Association envisions promoting corporate sustainability by creating and disseminating cutting-edge ESG-related knowledge through the global network. Its mission is to build a global knowledge network for guiding ESG criteria, organize ESG-related academic seminars, provide consultancy services for ESG management, and develop new ESG-related educational programs. For more information, visit IESGA’s website.

 

About Professor Yong Sik Ok

Professor Yong Sik Ok is a KU HCR Professor. He is the Chair and Program Director of the Sustainable Waste Management Program for the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) and the President of the International ESG Association and the International Society of Trace Element Biogeochemistry. He maintains a worldwide professional network by serving as the Editor-in-Chief of CleanMat (Wiley Open Access) and the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology (CREST, five-year IF:13.6) at Taylor and Francis. Moreover, Prof. Ok has hosted many conferences and forums focusing on Sustainability, UN SDGs, and ESG. The recently concluded 6th Global Conference on ESG Management & Sustainability marked another milestone in Prof. Ok’s ongoing journey toward achieving sustainability and ESG goals together with Prof. Jay Hyuk Rhee (President, KU ESG Research Institute & President, International ESG Association) at Korea University Business School. Importantly, Prof. Ok will chair the 4th Australian Circular Economy Conference, scheduled to take place in Sydney, Australia, in October 2024, together with Prof. Ali Abbas, Director, Waste Transformation Research Hub and the Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sydney.

 

Niklas Hedman appointed as General Counsel to the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR)

The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) is pleased to announce the appointment of Niklas Hedman as General Counsel

INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON SPACE RESEARCH

The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) is pleased to announce the appointment of Niklas Hedman as General Counsel.

Over the past few years, COSPAR activities have diversified significantly and grown in complexity.

Our portfolio, founded in space exploration, now encompasses such activities as coordinating international partners and entities, both public and private, wishing to develop and manage small satellite projects, or providing specialized advice to the United Nations or other international entities on matters going beyond the harmful effects of space experiments and planetary protection. These two topics were our initial contributions to the United Nations since COSPAR became the first observer to UNCOPUOS in 1962. However, an ever-expanding range of topics now includes:

• the long-term sustainability of outer space activities;
• environmental aspects of orbital and planetary activities;
• the exploration, exploitation and utilization of the Moon and other celestial bodies;
• space weather science and services;
• global navigation satellite systems;
• space mission planning;
• potentially detrimental space activities, such as space debris in LEO or cis-lunar orbits as well as impacts of orbital activities on terrestrial astronomy.

These activities span a range of “traditional” space science disciplines, but also include social sciences and legal aspects, areas that the new COSPAR Panel on Social Sciences and Humanities (PSSH) now covers.

COSPAR needs to continue safeguarding its leading role as a modern, worldwide platform at the forefront of diversified multi-disciplinary space research in the 21st century. Consequently, a General Counsel has now been appointed, to provide expert advice on matters such as:

• ethics
• space law and policy
• international relations and organizations
• protocols to improve matters of Inclusiveness, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA)

The position of COSPAR General Counsel, as a member of the COSPAR Bureau, requires a very solid background in some or all of these areas, and strong experience in managing international organizations dealing with space-related matters, as well as expertise in space law and policy. Mr Niklas Hedman was the logical choice for this appointment.

Mr. Hedman brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his new role, having served in various key positions within the space exploration and policy arena for over two decades. He is no stranger to COSPAR, having served as the Vice-Chair of the COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection (PPP) since 2018, and as Vice-Chair of the Panel on Social Sciences and Humanities (PSSH) since 2022.

He also brings invaluable knowledge and experience from his extensive time at the United Nations, enriching his capacity to navigate complex international diplomatic landscapes for COSPAR. Notably, he retired from the United Nations in September 2023, where he held the position of Acting Director of the Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) since March 2022.

During his distinguished career at UNOOSA, Mr. Hedman served as the Chief of the Committee, Policy, and Legal Affairs Section of UNOOSA for 18 years. In this capacity, he played a pivotal role as Secretary of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses in Outer Space (COPUOS) and its subsidiary bodies, namely the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and Legal Subcommittee, overseeing critical negotiations and agreements on space governance.

Before joining the United Nations in 2006, Mr. Hedman served in the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. His impeccable track record includes representing Sweden at COPUOS for a decade, where he also held various elected roles, including Chair of the multi-year Working Group on the Review of the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III).

Professor Pascale Ehrenfreund, President of COSPAR, says, “We are delighted to have Niklas as General Counsel. His appointment underscores COSPAR's commitment to fostering a robust legal framework for space exploration and ensuring the peaceful and equitable use of outer space for the benefit of all humanity.”

In his new role as General Counsel to COSPAR, Mr. Hedman will continue to leverage his extensive experience and diplomatic acumen to advance the Committee's mission of promoting international cooperation in space research.

Niklas Hedman says “Space activities today are increasingly complex with growing cross-disciplinary diversity in space science and technology, social science, law and policy. COSPAR with its 65-year legacy in space research remains a unique platform for worldwide interaction among scientists in the exploration and peaceful uses of outer space. I am very excited to take on this important function and will work towards fostering the role of COSPAR in the new era of governance of space sustainability in Earth orbit and beyond.”

Mr. Hedman earned his Master of Laws (LL.M) degree from Uppsala University, Sweden, including specialization in petroleum law, maritime law and marine insurance law from Oslo University. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M) degree from the National University of Singapore, including United Nations law, law of the sea, and Chinese business law. He received the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) Distinguished Service Award in 2017.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Leigh Fergus, leigh.fergus@cosparhq.cnes.fr

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Note to Editors

COSPAR, the Committee on Space Research, was created in 1958, at the dawn of the space age, under the aegis of the International Council of Scientific Unions, now the International Science Council (ISC). COSPAR’s objectives are to promote on an international level scientific research in space, with emphasis on the exchange of results, information and opinions, and to provide a forum, open to all scientists, for the discussion of problems affecting space research. In its first years of existence as an entity that ignores political considerations and views all questions solely from the scientific standpoint, COSPAR played an important role as an open bridge between East and West for cooperation in space. When this role became less prominent with the end of the Cold War, COSPAR focused its objectives on the progress of all kinds of research carried out with the use of space means.

COSPAR has played a central role in the development of new space disciplines such as life sciences and fundamental physics in space, by facilitating the interaction between scientists in emerging space fields and senior space researchers. Another recent inclusion in our portfolio concerns social sciences and humanities, which aims to provide opportunities for COSPAR to engage with SSH communities, including in the education area, and gives a role to our organization that is commensurate with today’s interaction of space matters with the broader society.

A recent emphasis is the development of tighter bonds between science and industry, through the establishment of the Committee on Industry Relations, grouping 18 major aerospace companies worldwide, and advising COSPAR on how best to integrate the capabilities of industry into COSPAR’s activities and by doing so, to best serve the interests of industry and science in a synergistic way.

COSPAR strives to promote the use of space science for the benefit of humanity and for its adoption by developing countries and new space-faring nations, in particular through a series of Capacity Building Workshops which teach very practical skills enabling researchers to participate in international space research programs.

COSPAR advises, as required, the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations on space research matters and on the assessment of scientific issues in which space can play a role, for example the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), in which COSPAR is a Participating Organization.  

COSPAR fulfils its responsibilities to provide accepted guidelines on planetary protection to guide compliance with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and other international agreements. This is managed through the work of the COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection.

Lastly, COSPAR is the key entity worldwide in terms of developing, maintaining and promulgating clearly delineated policies and requirements as to the standards that must be achieved to protect against the harmful effects of biological interchange in the conduct of solar system exploration and use.

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New data: UTSA economic development institute added $2.6 billion to Texas’ economy

The Valdez Institute for Economic Development (VIED) at UTSA generated an overall direct economic impact of $2.6 billion for the Texas economy in 2023

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO

 

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LOCAL BUSINESS DIVISION LAUNDRY & CLEANERS WORKED WITH THE VALDEZ INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT'S SAN ANTONIO MBDA ADVANCED MANUFACTURING CENTER.

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CREDIT: UTSA

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — The Valdez Institute for Economic Development (VIED) at UTSA generated an overall direct economic impact of $2.6 billion for the Texas economy in 2023, according to the organization’s 2023 annual report, which was released Tuesday. 

The latest figure represents the work of the institute’s portfolio of time-tested economic development strategies and new innovations that enabled business owners and entrepreneurs to start and grow their small businesses.

During the 2023 fiscal year, the institute:

• Served 41,231 business and community clients
• Helped entrepreneurs establish 545 new business ventures
• Assisted in scaling up 914 existing businesses
• Created 4,042 jobs and retained 7,934 jobs
• Provided trainings and workshops to 29,665 participants
• Completed 7,811 consultations with area businesses

“The Valdez Institute for Economic Development is a prime example of how UTSA is strengthening Texas’ economy. Its work with entrepreneurs across South and West Texas is creating jobs and improving the quality of life for individuals and their families, which in turn is creating revenue for our state,” said JoAnn Browning, UTSA interim vice president for research.

The VIED is part of the UTSA Office of Research. Established in 1979, the institute is home to 10 centers that facilitate economic, community and business development. Since its inception, the institute has helped establish over 6,500 businesses and create more than 70,000 jobs in Texas. It is also the sole agent of the federal government to help replicate the proven methodology of small business development in more than two dozen countries around the world.

The UTSA VIED is unique among U.S. universities in its economic development approach. It receives federal, state and local support for a carefully curated combination of centers and programs that serve startups, existing businesses and policymakers seeking strategic economic growth. Its advisors work locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

While each center has a focused outcome target, the intentional one-stop, synergistic approach of co-locating the centers enables UTSA to better serve all of the institute’s clients.

The VIED offers low or no-cost training, advising, market research, target audience analysis, access to capital, lab-to-market technology transfer, business startups, and new export market discovery. It also connects with and amplifies the work of UTSA students, faculty and researchers through partnerships with the business community, municipal organizations and technology accelerators.

In 2023, the institute advised EMPIRI Inc., a Houston-based firm that has made significant contributions to the advancement of cancer care, from drug development to personalized patient care.

EMPIRI worked closely with advisors in the institute’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Technology Commercialization Center and was able to develop and win a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation, which helps small businesses advance applied research and development and innovation for mankind. Advisors at the center provided expertise to Empiri that was crucial to the competitive proposal it filed for a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation. Empiri secured the grant.

Additionally, the SBDC helped EMPIRI negotiate a better indirect rate on a National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute grant it had been awarded in collaboration with Houston Methodist Research Institute and the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

This applied research and development funding has been critical for the generation of novel cancer treatment innovations that benefit patients.

“The institute’s partnership has not only recognized and harnessed our strengths but also positioned us to make significant advancements in the biotech realm,” said Dave Gallup, biomedical engineer and co-founder of EMPIRI.

Rod McSherry, UTSA associate vice president for innovation and economic development, added, “EMPIRI’s partnership with the Valdez Institute for Economic Development and its accompanying success demonstrate the daily innovation and achievement taking place at the institute. Our team is laser-focused on strengthening Texas’ economy by accelerating the growth of our state’s small businesses.”

Texas is well known for the Fortune 500 companies that locate in the state, however according to the Texas Economic Development Corp, 99.8% of the state's 3.1 million businesses are small businesses. Hispanic and minority-owned businesses account for more than two million employees.

Division Laundry & Cleaners tapped the VIED to explore new growth opportunities. The company is a third-generation family business, founded in San Antonio 85 years ago on the city’s historic West Side with a $100 investment.

Division Laundry’s owners worked with the VIED’s San Antonio MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA ) to obtain help with its expansion into new markets across the United States. With UTSA’s counsel, Division Laundry has maintained sales, accessed new capital, and created jobs.

The VIED is also helping Division Laundry connect with the SBA with the goal to obtain a Defense Health Agency (DHA) enterprise contract that would span multiple states. The DHA is currently working to secure a national contract with one laundry supplier. Division is one of seven businesses in the running for the contract.

"Our advisor at the institute, Charles Castro, has helped open so many doors for us. We’re growing into new markets, new states and new partnerships that we would not typically have easy access to,” said Patrick Garcia Jr., chief financial officer of Division Laundry & Cleaners. “These new connections could lead to some significant growth for us. It’s been so beneficial for us to have a valuable partner like UTSA on our side.”