Data shows that advice to women to 'lean in,' be more confident doesn't help

by Leonora Risse, The Conversation

Promotion probabilities are estimated for 2013 using hope for success responses.collected in 2012. Categories at the lower levels are grouped due to small sample sizes. Credit: Source: Author’s analysis using the HILDA Survey

"Just be more confident, be more ambitious, be more like a man."


These are the words of advice given over and over to women in a bid to close the career and earnings gaps between women and men.

From self-help books to confidence coaching, the message to "lean in" and show confidence in the workplace is pervasive, propelled by Facebook Executive Sheryl Sandberg through her worldwide Lean In movement:

"Women are hindered by barriers that exist within ourselves. We hold ourselves back in ways both big and small, by lacking self-confidence, by not raising our hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in."

The efforts are well intended, because women are persistently underrepresented in senior and leadership positions.

But where is the proof they work?

Repeated advice needn't be right

As a labor economist, and a recipient of such advice throughout my own career, I wanted to find out.

So I used Australian survey data to investigate the link between confidence and job promotion for both men and women. The results have just been published in the Australian Journal of Labour Economics.

The nationally-representative Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey includes a measure of a person's confidence to take on a challenge.

The measure is called achievement motivation.

It is made up of hope for success which we measure by asking people how much they agree with statements such as
when confronted by a difficult problem, I prefer to start on it straight away
I like situations where I can find out how capable I am
I am attracted to tasks that allow me to test my abilities

And it is made up of fear of failure which is measured by a person's agreement with statements such as
I start feeling anxious if I do not understand a problem immediately
In difficult situations where a lot depends on me, I am afraid of failing
I feel uneasy about undertaking a task if I am unsure of succeeding

More than 7,500 workers provided answers to these questions in the 2013 HILDA survey.


Confidence matters, with a catch

Using a statistical technique called Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition I investigated the link between their answers and whether or not they experienced a promotion in the following year.

After controlling for a range of factors, including the job opportunities on offer, I discovered higher hope for success was clearly linked to a higher likelihood of promotion.

But there was a catch: the link was only clear for men.

For women, there was no clear evidence stronger confidence enhanced job promotion prospects.

Put differently, "leaning in" provides no guarantee of a payoff for women.

Promotion rate for men and women by hope for success

Personality traits reveal further gender patterns.

Men who display boldness and charisma, reflected by high extraversion, also experience a stronger likelihood of promotion. As do men who display the attitude that whatever happens to them in life is a result of their own choices and efforts, a trait we call "locus of control".

But again there is no link between any of these traits and the promotion prospects for women.

Collectively these findings point to a disturbing template for career success: be confident, be ambitious… and be male.

Be male and unafraid

This template for promotion also prescribes: don't show fear of failure. Among managers, though not among workers as a whole, fear of failure is linked to weaker job promotion prospects—but more profoundly for men than women.

This echoes the way society penalizes male leaders for revealing emotional weakness. Both men and women are hindered by gender norms.

So what's the harm in confidence training?

For women, it could do more harm than good. In a culture that does not value such attributes among women, contravening expected patterns carries risks.

'Fixing' women is itself a problem

Imploring women to adopt behaviors that characterize successful men creates a culture that paints women as "deficient" and devalues diverse working styles.

A fixation on fixing women—without proof it pays off—steers resources away from anti-discrimination initiatives that could actually make a difference.

In any case there is very little evidence confidence makes good workers. Overconfident workers can be liabilities.

Workplaces would be served better by basing their hiring and promotion decisions on competency and capability rather than confidence and charisma.

My study is one of a steadily growing number suggesting gender equity shouldn't be about changing women, it should be about changing workplaces.


Explore furtherWomen and men executives have differing perceptions of healthcare workplaces
Provided by The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Measures for appointing more female professors prove effective

by Ger­trud Lind­ner, ETH Zurich

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Since 2014, "equal! The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity" has documented the status of equal opportunities for men and women at ETH Zurich in an annual Gender Monitoring report. The latest report has been renamed "Equality Monitoring," as it also addresses the topic of diversity.


The recently published report, Equality Monitoring 2019/20, records an encouraging peak in the number of female professors at ETH Zurich. This leap forward owes much to the endeavors of the President and the Departments to appoint more women in a targeted way. In 2019, half of all new appointments to assistant professorships went to women, and 21 percent of permanent professorships. "I'm delighted to see that the bundle of measures we've taken is now having an impact on appointments. But these are just the first steps," says ETH Zurich President Joël Mesot.

Indeed, there's still much to be done: Women are still underrepresented at every academic career stage at ETH Zurich. For example, across all degree programs, just under a third of students are women—with only a tenth in some, and well over half in others. Only one in seven permanent professorships is filled by a woman.

Losses along the career path

Little has changed in the leaky pipeline. "The proportion of women declines from Master and doctorate level up to professor level, and this drop is more pronounced in some departments than others," says Renate Schubert, the ETH President's delegate for Equal Opportunities with responsibility for Equality Monitoring.

By means of the Gender Parity Index (GPI), ETH Zurich departments can be divided into three categories: those with a high overall proportion of women among students, doctoral students, academic staff, professors and technical-administrative staff, those with a medium and those with a very low overall proportion. Departments in the latter category, in particular, have now launched a raft of activities to ramp up the proportion of women. "We've noticed that the departments in the midfield are not really endeavoring to attract more women," states Schubert.

Even in departments with a high proportion of female Bachelor's and Master's students, the proportion decreases from doctoral level onwards. Nonetheless, Renate Schubert is optimistic. A growing number of female professors are proving that they are excellent and that a commitment to research, teaching and innovation is compatible with family life. This, she believes, will encourage young women to tackle the next academic level.


Diversity begets excellence

The authors of Equality Monitoring consider that a diversity strategy is crucial for universities, and it also fosters excellence. People working in a diverse research environment are more creative; they come up with unconventional research questions that generate innovative ideas, which are then transferred to practice. For students too, diverse learning environments are more stimulating and instructive, and therefore more productive than homogeneous ones.

But to achieve such diversity, the recruitment process and research and teaching evaluations must be designed to harness and develop the talent pool of very many, very different people. Maintaining and promoting diversity is costly and calls for considerable effort. It is something ETH Zurich has committed to with a number of initiatives, such as the Gender Action Plan, the Respect Code of Conduct, the Fix-the-Leaky-Pipeline Program, the creation of Gender and Diversity Advocates in appointment committees, and the implementation of the concerns of LGBTIQIA+ and other groups. These activities are to be consolidated and enhanced.

Painting a clearer picture

The Equality Monitoring report documents the degree of internationalization and the gender and age structure of ETH members. Other aspects of diversity, such as religion, sexual identity, or physical and mental disabilities, are sensitive data that is not currently collected at ETH Zurich. "It would be great if these aspects could be recorded in staff and student surveys in the future," says Renate Schubert. Such information would be provided voluntarily. For ultimately, "only if we have pertinent data can we grasp the crux of the diversity issue," she asserts.

Valuing diversity will create great opportunities, and ETH Zurich is right on track here. But there's still potential to increase diversity in all areas of the university; the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity will not be short of work any time soon.


Explore furtherTargets bring more women on boards, but they still don't reach the top
More information: ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/assoc … eport_19-20_engl.pdf
Provided by ETH Zurich
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Young women who suffer a heart attack 

have worse outcomes than men

by European Society of Cardiology
Figure showing risk factors, and clinical presentation, management and outcomes for men and women Credit: European Heart Journal

Women aged 50 or younger who suffer a heart attack are more likely than men to die over the following 11 years, according to a new study published today (Wednesday) in the European Heart Journal.


The study found that compared to men, women were less likely to undergo therapeutic invasive procedures after admission to hospital with a heart attack or to be treated with certain medical therapies upon discharge, such as aspirin, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors and statins.

The researchers, led by Ron Blankstein, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a preventive cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, U.S., found no statistically significant differences between men and women for deaths while in hospital, or from heart-related deaths during an average of more than 11 years' follow-up. However, women had a 1.6-fold increased risk of dying from other causes during the follow-up period.

Prof. Blankstein said: "It's important to note that overall most heart attacks in people under the age of 50 occur in men. Only 19% of the people in this study were women. However, women who experience a heart attack at a young age often present with similar symptoms as men, are more likely to have diabetes, have lower socioeconomic status and ultimately are more likely to die in the longer term."

The researchers looked at 404 women and 1693 men who had a first heart attack (a myocardial infarction) between 2000 and 2016 and were treated at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in the US. During a myocardial infarction the blood supply to the heart is blocked suddenly, usually by a clot, and the lack of blood can seriously damage the heart muscle. Treatments can include coronary angiography, in which a catheter is inserted into a blood vessel to inject dye so that an X-ray image can show if any blood vessels are narrowed or blocked, and coronary revascularisation, in which blood flow is restored by inserting a stent to keep the blood vessel open or by bypassing the blocked segment with surgery.


The median (average) age was 45 and 53% (1121) had ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), a type of heart attack where there is a long interruption to the blood supply caused by a total blockage of the coronary artery. Despite being a similar age, women were less likely than men to have STEMI (46.3% versus 55.2%), but more likely to have non-obstructive coronary disease. The most common symptom for both sexes was chest pain, which occurred in nearly 90% of patients, but women were more likely to have other symptoms as well, such as difficulty breathing, palpitations and fatigue.

Prof. Blankstein said: "Among patients who survived to hospital discharge, there was no significant difference in deaths from cardiovascular problems between men and women. Cardiovascular deaths occurred in 73 men and 21 women, 4.4% versus 5.3% respectively, over a median follow-up time of 11.2 years. However, when excluding deaths that occurred in hospital, there were 157 deaths in men and 54 death in women from all causes during the follow-up period: 9.5% versus 13.5% respectively, which is a significant difference, and a greater proportion of women died from causes other than cardiovascular problems, 8.4% versus 5.4% respectively, 30 women and 68 men. After adjusting for factors that could affect the results, this represents a 1.6-fold increased risk of death from any cause in women."

Women were less likely to undergo invasive coronary angiography (93.5% versus 96.7%) or coronary vascularisation (82.1% versus 92.6%). They were less likely to be discharged with aspirin (92.2% versus 95%), beta-blockers (86.6% versus 90.3%), angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) or angiotensin receptor blockers (53.4% versus 63.7%) and statins (82.4% versus 88.4%).

The study is the first to examine outcomes following heart attack in young men and women over such a long follow-up period. It shows that even after adjusting for differences in risk factors and treatments, women are more likely to die from any cause in the longer term. The researchers are unsure why this could be. Despite finding no significant difference in the overall number of risk factors, they wonder whether some factors, such as smoking, diabetes and psychosocial risk factors might have stronger adverse effects on women than on men, which overcome the protective effect of the estrogen hormone in women.

Prof. Blankstein added: "As fewer women had STEMI and more had non-obstructive myocardial infarction, they are less likely to undergo coronary revascularisation or to be given medications such as dual anti-platelet therapy, which is essential after invasive heart procedures. Also, the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease may raise uncertainty regarding the diagnosis and whether such individuals truly had a myocardial infarction or have elevated enzymes due to other causes.

"While further studies will be required to evaluate the underlying reasons for these differences, clinicians need to evaluate and, if possible treat, all modifiable risk factors that may affect deaths from both cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular events. This could lead to improved prevention, ideally before, but in some cases, after a heart attack. We plan further research to assess underlying sex-specific risk factors that may account for the higher risk to women in this group, and which may help us understand why they had a heart attack at a young age."

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Marysia Tweet, assistant professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Minnesota, U.S., writes that "it is essential to aggressively address traditional cardiovascular risk factors in young AMI [acute myocardial infarction] patients, especially among young women with AMI and a high burden of comorbidities. Assessing clinical risk and implementing primary prevention is imperative, and non-traditional risk factors require attention, although not always addressed". Examples include a history of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and ovary removal and she points out that depression was twice as common among women in this study compared to men; "young women with depression are six times more likely to have coronary heart disease than women without depression."

She concludes: "This study . . . demonstrates the continued need—and obligation—to study and improve the incidence and mortality trajectory of cardiovascular disease in the young, especially women. We can each work towards this goal by increasing awareness of heart disease and 'heart healthy' lifestyles within our communities; engaging with local policy makers, promoting primary or secondary prevention efforts within our clinical practices; designing studies that account for sex differences; facilitating recruitment of women into clinical trials; requesting sex-based data when reviewing manuscripts; and reporting sex differences in published research."

Limitations of the research include: the researchers were unable to account for some potential factors that might be associated with patient outcomes or management, such as patient preferences or psychosocial factors; there were no data about whether patients continued to take their prescribed medications, or on sex-specific risk factors, such as problems relating to pregnancy; the small number of women in the study may have affected the results; and deaths before reaching hospital were not counted.


Explore further 

Study provides hope for young women after heart attack
More information: Ersilia M DeFilippis et al, Women who experience a myocardial infarction at a young age have worse outcomes compared with men: the Mass General Brigham YOUNG-MI registry, European Heart Journal (2020).

DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa662

Journal information: European Heart Journal

Provided by European Society of Cardiology

First results from new study examining the impact of COVID-19 on working-class women

 in the UK published today

by Sheila Kiggins, University of Warwick


Working class women have borne the brunt of the cuts to working hours as employers struggle to ride out the pandemic, according to new findings published today by social inequality researchers.


Almost half of working class women (43 percent) did no hours of work in April compared to just 20 percent of women in professional or managerial roles. By June fewer than half of all women in work (48 percent) were still working full-time hours.

Professor Tracey Warren (University of Nottingham) and Professor Clare Lyonette (University of Warwick) are working with the Women's Budget Group to understand how working-class women are responding in real-time to the pressures imposed by the virus.

Today's briefing paper—"Carrying the work burden of the COVID-19 pandemic: working class women in the UK: Employment and Mental Health"—focuses on patterns of employment and mental health in the first three months of lockdown, as revealed by data from the monthly Understanding Society COVID-19 UK survey, and explores to what extent the experience of working class women differs from middle class women and from men.
The first wave of results reveals that many more working class women than men or women in middle class jobs saw their hours cut to zero in the first months of lockdown, with potentially severe financial consequences.
Those working class women still at work are far less likely to be working from the relative safety of home than women in managerial or professional roles—80 percent of working class women said they were "never" working from home in June.
Working class women are also the most likely to be keyworkers in roles with close contact with customers, clients and patients—such as undertaking personal care in care homes and looking after children—with greater potential to be exposed to the virus.

Professor Tracey Warren said, "Our research shows that working-class women are disproportionately furloughed compared to men and other women—and if they are working, there is a greater potential for women to be exposed to health risks due to the nature of their roles as key workers.

"We know these women also care for children and relatives, so with the added stress of worrying about if they were to contract coronavirus or how their household will cope with the loss of 20% of their salary due to furlough, it is no wonder their mental health is suffering."


Professor Lyonette added, "Although the very high levels of psychological distress among working class women in particular have dropped slightly since lockdown restrictions were lifted, they are still much higher than before the pandemic.

"The government announced yesterday a 3-tier system of local restrictions for England, with many working class areas included in the higher tier groups. The effects of a Tier 3 lockdown, could be far-reaching and extremely damaging for working class women who provide vital work, both paid and unpaid."

Dr. Mary-Ann Stephenson, director of the UK Women's Budget Group, said, "Working class women have been more likely to be furloughed and are at high risk of redundancy as the furlough scheme is rolled back.

"The Government's national replacement scheme creates little incentives for employers to keep these women on. Low paid women in areas where lock down is being re-imposed will be entitled to additional help if they are in a closed down sector, but for workers on the minimum wage or just above, two thirds of current earnings is likely to mean poverty.

"At the same time the increase in universal credit introduced at the start of lockdown is due to end in March so low paid workers and those who lose their jobs will be worse off. If the Government is serious about building back better, it needs to take urgent action to protect the employment and incomes of working class women."

Key findings:

Keyworkers

60% of women in semi-routine and routine jobs are keyworkers, in roles that have a high level of social contact.
Keyworking is highest among working class women—60% of women in semi-routine and routine jobs are keyworkers
Women keyworkers are concentrated in face-to-face roles such as health and social care, child care and education. These are roles with high levels of social interaction and possible virus exposure.

Working from Home

Working class women are very unlikely to be working from home:
Only 9% of working class women said they were "always" working from home in June, compared to the average for all women of 30%. 80% were working outside of the home.
44% of women in professional or managerial roles said they "always" worked from home in June.

Furlough and working hours

Working class women were more likely to be furloughed than women in middle class jobs and men.
Almost half of working class women (43%) did no hours of work in April compared to just 20% of women in professional or managerial roles.
In April less than half of all women in work (43%) were working full-time hours. 58% of men were still in full time work.

Mental heath

Across all classes, more women than men reported feeling psychological distress.
Levels of distress for men and women dropped between April and June
In April 41% of working class women were experiencing distress, the highest proportion across classes. This fell in June to 30%.

Future Briefing Notes will explore housework and childcare, and changes in employment and financial impacts.


Explore further COVID-19 has hit women hard, especially working mothers
More information: warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pr … _note_1_13-10-20.pdf
Provided by University of Warwick

Maltreatment tied to higher inflammation in girls

by Allyson Mann, University of Georgia

Katherine Ehrlich. Credit: University of Georgia

New research by a University of Georgia scientist reveals that girls who are maltreated show higher levels of inflammation at an early age than boys who are maltreated or children who have not experienced abuse. This finding may forecast chronic mental and physical health problems in midlife.


Led by psychologist Katherine Ehrlich, the study is the first to examine the link between abuse and low-grade inflammation during childhood.

Inflammation plays a role in many chronic diseases of aging—diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, obesity—as well as mental health outcomes, and the findings suggest that maltreatment's association with inflammation does not lie dormant before emerging in adulthood. Instead, the study shows that traumatic experiences have a much more immediate impact.

"We and others have speculated that there's something about the immune system that's getting calibrated, particularly during childhood, that might be setting people up on long-term trajectories toward accelerated health problems," said Ehrlich, assistant professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "What I'm struck by is just how early in development we can see these effects. What our study highlights is that, even as early as childhood, we can see that a substantial portion of the children have levels of inflammation that the American Heart Association considers 'moderate risk' for heart disease. This is concerning from a public health perspective and suggests that these children may be at risk for significant health problems at an earlier age than their nonmaltreated peers."

Participants in the study included 155 children aged 8-12 from low-income backgrounds who attended a weeklong day camp. The sample was racially diverse and included maltreated and nonmaltreated children.

Researchers captured detailed information on children's exposure to abuse by utilizing Department of Human Services records about maltreatment experiences in families. The children-documented experiences included neglect (55%), emotional maltreatment (67%), physical abuse (35%) and sexual abuse (8%). Many children experienced more than one type of abuse, and 35% of children experienced abuse across multiple developmental periods.

The team measured five biomarkers of low-grade inflammation using non-fasting blood samples from the children.

Results revealed that childhood maltreatment—for girls—was associated with higher levels of low-grade inflammation in late childhood. Girls who had been abused over multiple periods or had multiple kinds of exposures had the highest levels of inflammation. Girls' greatest risk for elevated inflammation emerged when they were abused early in life, before the age of 5.

For boys in the study, exposure to maltreatment was not reflected in higher levels of inflammation, but Ehrlich cautioned against drawing conclusions without additional research targeted to boys.

"One question is, are these variations due to developmental timing differences?" she said. "We know that girls mature faster than boys in terms of their biological and physical development. If we tested these same boys two years later, would we find the same patterns of inflammation that we found for the girls?"


Explore further

Young adult women abused as adolescents report higher levels of pain
More information: Katherine B. Ehrlich et al, Maltreatment exposure across childhood and low‐grade inflammation: Considerations of exposure type, timing, and sex differences, Developmental Psychobiology (2020). 

DOI: 10.1002/dev.22031
Provided by University of Georgia

Major study shows waterbirths as safe as traditional births

by Allina Health
  

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A new U.S. study of waterbirths found that hospital-based births involving water immersion had no higher risk of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or special care nursery admission than comparable deliveries in the control group without water immersion. The primary purpose of the study is to address the lack of methodologically sound research regarding maternal and neonatal outcomes for waterbirths. The study has been published in the journal, Obstetrics and Gynecology.


The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the professional organization that sets standards for obstetric practice, previously concluded that water immersion during the first stage of labor (when a woman is in labor but is not fully dilated) is safe for women with full-term, uncomplicated pregnancies. In fact, water immersion during labor provides benefits of pain relief, reduced analgesic need, shorter labor, and increased patient satisfaction. However, ACOG also identified an absence of well-designed studies to aid in the determination of the risks and benefits of water immersion during the second stage of labor (when a woman is fully dilated and can actively push during contractions).

"This study demonstrates that the system we put in place provides waterbirth in the context of a strong clinical program that ensures safety," said Dr. Lisa Saul, a perinatologist, president of Allina Health's Mother Baby service line and study coauthor. "As a health system, we want to offer women as many choices as possible to help them manage pain during labor. Our primary focus is always on the safety of mothers and newborns so we need to ensure we are basing our practices on the best evidence available."

In order to address the lack of quality research on waterbirth outcomes during the second stage, Allina Health led a multi-site study. The study includes data from 583 births over 4-years (2014-2018) from eight hospitals in the Allina Health and HealthPartners systems and a matched comparison group of 583 births to women who met the criteria for waterbirth but did not have water immersion during labor. As waterbirth has become more popular in the United States, it is important for practitioners to be able to inform their practices and guidelines in the context of U.S. clinical standards. Prior to this study, there were only a few studies examining waterbirth outcomes in the US, and those mostly focused on deliveries outside of a hospital setting (such as home births or birth centers).


Prior studies on waterbirths, conducted primarily in Europe, had varied clinical protocols that were often not described making it hard to understand how outcomes might be affected by clinical protocols. Additionally, prior studies often lacked strong study designs and thus were subject to potential sources of bias. The current study brings new methodological strengths not found in many prior studies, such as a large sample size and matching techniques used to ensure comparability between the women delivering in water and the comparison group. In alignment with ACOG recommendations, Allina and HealthPartners, established rigorous protocols for candidate selection, tub maintenance and cleaning, monitoring of women and fetuses, and moving women from tubs if maternal or fetal concerns or complications develop. The sites also developed rigorous training program to credential providers for water immersion deliveries, and a quality assurance process.

"Women and families deserve safe and evidence based care regardless of their birth preferences," said Kathrine Simon, study coauthor, a certified nurse midwife and Midwifery Lead for Allina Health who conducts provider training for water immersion deliveries. "This study demonstrates that waterbirth is a safe option for women during labor in addition to supporting provider and nursing training and support."

The study found that the proportion of deliveries with NICU or special care nursery admission was significantly lower for women with second-stage immersion (2.9%) than the control group (8.3%). There was no difference in NICU or special care nursery admissions for deliveries with first-stage immersion only. Of the secondary neonatal outcomes examined (i.e., respiratory distress, anemia, sepsis, asphyxia, or death), there were no significant differences between the water immersion groups and matched deliveries in the control group.

A possible benefit identified in the study for women was reduced likelihood of lacerations during delivery. Women in the second stage water immersion group were half as likely as women in the comparison group to experience any perineal lacerations. This measure did not differ for women who had first-stage only immersion cases.

"Women are often grateful for the opportunity for labor and birth in the water. Many are surprised by the lack of pelvic pressure and a sense of the baby gliding out," said Simon. "This study confirms that waterbirths, conducted in alignment with a strong clinical protocol, are at least as safe as traditional birthing methods."


Explore further Birthing pool not the place to deliver, new guidelines say
More information: Abbey C. Sidebottom et al, Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes in Hospital-Based Deliveries With Water Immersion, Obstetrics & Gynecology (2020). DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000003956
Journal information: Obstetrics and Gynecology , Obstetrics & Gynecology
Provided by Allina Health

Governments use pandemic to crack down on online dissent: watchdog

A human rights watchdog says in a report that China is leading global efforts to suppress dissent with new technologies, often using the pandemic as justification for increased surveillance

Governments around the world are using the pandemic as a justification to expand surveillance and crack down on dissent online, resulting in a 10th consecutive annual decline in internet freedom, a human rights watchdog report said Wednesday.


The report by Washington-based Freedom House said authorities in dozens of countries have cited the Covid-19 outbreak "to justify expanded surveillance powers and the deployment of new technologies that were once seen as too intrusive."

This is leading to increasing censorship of dissent and the expansion of technological systems for social control, according to the report.

"The pandemic is accelerating society's reliance on digital technologies at a time when the internet is becoming less and less free," said Michael Abramowitz, president of the nonprofit group.

"Without adequate safeguards for privacy and the rule of law, these technologies can be easily repurposed for political repression."

Freedom House's index of internet based on a score assigned on a 100-point scale to 65 countries shows a drop in internet freedom for a 10th straight year.

The scale is based on 21 indicators pertaining to obstacles to access, limits on content and violations of user rights.

China was the worst-ranked country for the sixth consecutive year, according to the report.

It said Chinese authorities "combined low- and high-tech tools not only to manage the outbreak of the coronavirus, but also to deter internet users from sharing information from independent sources and challenging the official narrative."

The report said these trends are showing a growing trend toward Chinese-style "digital authoritarianism" globally and a "splintering" of the internet as each government imposes its own regulations.

Freedom House said that of the estimated 3.8 billion people using the internet, just 20 percent live in countries with a free internet, 32 percent in countries "partly free," while 35 percent were in places where online activities are not free. The remainder live in countries that weren't among the 65 assessed.

The report cited notable declines in countries where authorities have imposed internet shutdowns including Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and India, and in Rwanda for its use of "sophisticated spyware to monitor and intimidate exiled dissidents."

The United States remained among those counties ranked free but saw its score decline in light of increased surveillance used by law enforcement against protest movements, executive orders on social media regulations, disinformation propagated by President Donald Trump and moves to ban Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat.

The app bans were described as "an arbitrary and disproportionate response to the genuine risks" from those services.


Explore further

Social media disinformation, surveillance growing: watchdog

© 2020 AFP

Cyber warriors sound warning 

on working from home

by Polina Kalantar

'Large scale use of remote work has attracted spies, thieves and thugs,' says Jaak Tarien, head of NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence

Cyber warriors on NATO's eastern edge are warning that the growing number of people working from home globally due to the pandemic is increasing vulnerability to cyber attacks.


The Baltic state of Estonia hosts two cyber facilities for the Western military alliance—set up following a series of cyber attacks from neighbour Russia more than a decade ago.

"Large scale use of remote work has attracted spies, thieves and thugs," Jaak Tarien, head of NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), told AFP in an interview.

The increased amount of information travelling between institutional servers and home networks is creating new challenges for employers.

"Tackling these new challenges is complicated and requires a lot of resources as well as a different kind of approach," Tarien said.

"We are likely only scratching the surface in assessing the magnitude of malicious activities taking place in the COVID-era busy cyberspace."

An EU-wide survey in September found that around a third of employees were working from home.

Boom in online courses

The concerns are echoed at NATO's Cyber Range—a heavily-guarded facility protected by barbed wire in the centre of the capital Tallinn run by Estonian defence forces.

The NATO Cyber Range CR14 centre was set up after a series of cyber attacks on Estonian websites in 2007

The server rooms inside serve as a platform for NATO cyber security exercises and training.

"Specialists have set up the work infrastructure, but they cannot control the way people use their home internet or how secure it is," said Mihkel Tikk, head of the Estonian defence ministry's cyber policy department.

Tikk said the latest cyberattacks have targeted Estonia's health sector and Mobile-ID—the mobile phone based digital ID.

The coronavirus pandemic has also affected operations at the cyber facilities themselves, forcing the cancellation of offline exercises.

But the NATO Cyber Defence Centre said the silver lining is the growing popularity of the cyber security courses it is putting online.

The online courses include "Fighting a Botnet Attack", "Operational Cyber Threat Intelligence" and "IT Systems Attack and Defence".

There were 6,411 students by September 1 and the centre is aiming for 10,000 by the end of 2020.


'A massive mistake'

The Cyber Defence Centre was set up following a series of cyberattacks of unprecedented sophistication on Estonian websites in 2007.

The unit's base in Tallinn, Estonia, is heavily guarded

The Russian pro-Kremlin youth organisation Nashi later claimed responsibility.

These days, Estonia faces a "continuous flow of attacks" and repelling them requires constant work, Defence Minister Juri Luik told AFP.

But he said the country was in "a pretty good situation" since it has had time to learn from past experience.

"We have worked diligently to guarantee that the computer networks are difficult to break in and the communication is encrypted –- both military but also civilian communication.

"So I think it is relatively more difficult to harm Estonia than many other countries who perhaps are not so used to working via cyberspace and haven't given too much attention to cyber defence," he said.

The minister underlined that all this work would be for nothing without basic cyber hygiene, including password protection.

"This is extremely important and should be remembered—especially now that many people work from home via computer.

"At home you might let your guard down and that's of course a massive mistake."


Explore further  Estonia hosts NATO cyberdrill with focus on infected tablets

© 2020 AFP

Alphabet's X lab announces "Mineral" project to increase sustainable food production

by Bob Yirka , Tech Xplore

Credit: X lab

Alphabet's X lab, formerly a Google division, has announced via blog post that it has formally named its newest "moonshot" project Mineral. The project will be geared toward using new and novel methods to increase sustainable food production. Alphabet X has also set up a web page outlining the goals of the project.


As noted on the team's blog post, to feed the billions of people expected to be populating the Earth in the coming years, changes are required in food production. The team at Mineral suggests that such changes should involve the use of new approaches, techniques and tools. Such tools and techniques, they say, should involve the development of new kinds of hardware, software and the way they are built and used in agricultural efforts.

One example is a robotic buggy that the team has deployed in several locations. Each of the robots drives over cropland along the same paths used by tractors so as to not disturb the plants, autonomously collecting data. Each plant is photographed and sensors collect data about the plant and the soil in which it is growing. The data from the robots is then analyzed and used to make changes to farming practices that will result in greater yields.

The team at Mineral readily acknowledges that the work is still in an experimental stage—the focus for now remains on coming up with new ideas. For that to happen, the team is adding members from a wide variety of fields: farming, robotics, agriculture, artificial intelligence and computer and software engineering. Initial work will involve taking a close look at how plants grow in ways that have not been done before. The team wants to learn as much as possible about the process, from soil preparation, to planting and harvesting. They then plan to make changes by asking questions about the way things are done now, such as, what if farmers begin growing plants that are both consumable and nutritious but have never been considered a food crop? The team hopes to find the answers to such questions and to use that information to feed the people of the future.


Explore furtherLongevity gene discovered in plants
More information: Mineral: x.company/projects/mineral/

© 2020 Science X Network

Solar-powered system extracts drinkable water from 'dry' air

by Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A prototype of the new two-stage water harvesting system (center right), was tested on an MIT rooftop. The device, which was connected to a laptop for data collection and was mounted at an angle to face the sun, has a black solar collecting plate at the top, and the water it produced flowed into two tubes at bottom.Credit: Alina LaPotin

Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have significantly boosted the output from a system that can extract drinkable water directly from the air even in dry regions, using heat from the sun or another source.


The system, which builds on a design initially developed three years ago at MIT by members of the same team, brings the process closer to something that could become a practical water source for remote regions with limited access to water and electricity. The findings are described today in the journal Joule, in a paper by Professor Evelyn Wang, who is head of MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering; graduate student Alina LaPotin; and six others at MIT and in Korea and Utah.

The earlier device demonstrated by Wang and her co-workers provided a proof of concept for the system, which harnesses a temperature difference within the device to allow an adsorbent material—which collects liquid on its surface—to draw in moisture from the air at night and release it the next day. When the material is heated by sunlight, the difference in temperature between the heated top and the shaded underside makes the water release back out of the adsorbent material. The water then gets condensed on a collection plate.

But that device required the use of specialized materials called metal organic frameworks, or MOFs, which are expensive and limited in supply, and the system's water output was not sufficient for a practical system. Now, by incorporating a second stage of desorption and condensation, and by using a readily available adsorbent material, the device's output has been significantly increased, and its scalability as a potentially widespread product is greatly improved, the researchers say.

Wang says the team felt that "It's great to have a small prototype, but how can we get it into a more scalable form?" The new advances in design and materials have now led to progress in that direction.

Instead of the MOFs, the new design uses an adsorbent material called a zeolite, which in this case is composed of a microporous iron aluminophosphate. The material is widely available, stable, and has the right adsorbent properties to provide an efficient water production system based just on typical day-night temperature fluctuations and heating with sunlight.

The two-stage design developed by LaPotin makes clever use of the heat that is generated whenever water changes phase. The sun's heat is collected by a solar absorber plate at the top of the box-like system and warms the zeolite, releasing the moisture the material has captured overnight. That vapor condenses on a collector plate—a process that releases heat as well. The collector plate is a copper sheet directly above and in contact with the second zeolite layer, where the heat of condensation is used to release the vapor from that subsequent layer. Droplets of water collected from each of the two layers can be funneled together into a collecting tank.


In the process, the overall productivity of the system, in terms of its potential liters per day per square meter of solar collecting area (LMD), is approximately doubled compared to the earlier version, though exact rates depend on local temperature variations, solar flux, and humidity levels. In the initial prototype of the new system, tested on a rooftop at MIT before the pandemic restrictions, the device produced water at a rate "orders of magnitude" greater that the earlier version, Wang says.

While similar two-stage systems have been used for other applications such as desalination, Wang says, "I think no one has really pursued this avenue" of using such a system for atmospheric water harvesting (AWH), as such technologies are known.

Existing AWH approaches include fog harvesting and dew harvesting, but both have significant limitations. Fog harvesting only works with 100 percent relative humidity, and is currently used only in a few coastal deserts, while dew harvesting requires energy-intensive refrigeration to provide cold surfaces for moisture to condense on—and still requires humidity of at least 50 percent, depending on the ambient temperature.

By contrast, the new system can work at humidity levels as low as 20 percent and requires no energy input other than sunlight or any other available source of low-grade heat.

LaPotin says that the key is this two-stage architecture; now that its effectiveness has been shown, people can search for even better adsorbent materials that could further drive up the production rates. The present production rate of about 0.8 liters of water per square meter per day may be adequate for some applications, but if this rate can be improved with some further fine-tuning and materials choices, this could become practical on a large scale, she says. Already, materials are in development that have an adsorption about five times greater than this particular zeolite and could lead to a corresponding increase in water output, according to Wang.

The team continues work on refining the materials and design of the device and adapting it to specific applications, such as a portable version for military field operations. The two-stage system could also be adapted to other kinds of water harvesting approaches that use multiple thermal cycles per day, fed by a different heat source rather than sunlight, and thus could produce higher daily outputs.


Explore further

Drinking water sucked from the dusty desert air
More information: Alina LaPotin et al. Dual-Stage Atmospheric Water Harvesting Device for Scalable Solar-Driven Water Production, Joule (2020). 

DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2020.09.008
Journal information: Joule


Provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology