US Jewish group protests in eight cities for Gaza ceasefire

Kanishka Singh and Hannah Beier
Thu, December 14, 2023




By Kanishka Singh and Hannah Beier

WASHINGTON/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A Jewish group demanding a ceasefire in Israel's war in Gaza held protests on Thursday in eight U.S. cities on the eighth night of Hanukkah, blocking rush hour traffic on busy streets and bridges in Washington and Philadelphia.

In Washington, the group Jewish Voice for Peace said about 90 protesters blocked the overpass to New York Avenue in the northwestern part of the U.S. capital. Police said the demonstration closed the intersection of New York Avenue and North Capitol Street and urged people to use alternate routes.

"On the 8th night of Hanukkah, 8 cities, 8 bridges," Jewish Voice for Peace said on X, formerly called Twitter. "We are here, gathering across the country in massive, growing numbers, to say no more."

Demonstrations also occurred in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle and Portland, Oregon.

In Philadelphia, about 200 protesters briefly blocked the I-76 highway, and more than 30 arrests were made, a Reuters witness said. Protesters held signs and banners that read: "Let Gaza Live" and "Not in our name."

The United Nations on Tuesday demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip where Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas militants.

The war in Gaza has led to pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests in the United States since Oct. 7 when Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that rules Gaza, killed 1,200 Israelis and seized 240 hostages in a cross-border raid.

Since then, Israeli forces have besieged the coastal enclave and laid much of it to waste, with nearly 19,000 people dead, according to Palestinian health officials.

On Wednesday, anti-war activists blocked traffic on a busy Los Angeles highway during the morning rush hour and while some staff from the Biden administration also held a vigil demanding a ceasefire.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Hannah Beier in Philadelphia; Editing by Heather Timmons and Cynthia Osterman)

Over 100 protesters calling for ceasefire in Gaza block Seattle’s University Bridge

Jake Chapman,KIRO 7 News Staff
Fri, December 15, 2023 

Over 100 protesters calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza fully blocked Seattle’s University Bridge on Thursday.

Seattle Department of Transportation cameras showed the demonstrators blocking both sides of the bridge in two separate groups. They were seen holding a banner reading “The whole world is watching.”

Organizers with Jewish Voice for Peace say that politicians like Patty Murray have the power to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“And we are saying ‘Patty Murray, how can you pretend to be a defender of children here or around the world and let this happen in our name with our dollars?’” Michael Grant with the group said.

Grant tells KIRO 7 that different chapters of their group organized similar protests across the country Thursday evening, calling out all politicians and President Biden to take action in the matter.

“Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco have shut down bridges demanding the same thing from both their representatives and from President Biden,” Grant said.

Others at the University Bridge protest say this won’t be the last protest we see in Western Washington or across the country.

“This is not the end. We are not going to let business go on as usual when there is a genocide happening in the name of Jewish safety and our elected officials are doing nothing,” Bennie said.

The bridge was cleared around 6:35 p.m.

Hundreds of protesters block Boston traffic amid rush hour, call for ceasefire in Gaza

Daniel Coates
Thu, December 14, 2023

Hundreds of protesters blocked rush hour traffic on Thursday, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Local Jewish groups and allies made their way from Boston City Hall, down Congress Street, and up to the old Statehouse, chanting for Massachusetts lawmakers to act.

Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren were called upon to help stop the violence in Gaza.

“They haven’t clearly come out and said we need a ceasefire and more importantly they haven’t done anything to make a ceasefire come about,” one protester said.

IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace led the rally, blocking off 15 lanes of traffic on Congress and State Street. The groups lit 8 candles on the pavement for the 9th night of Hannukah.

Signs reading “peace,” “justice,” and “ceasefire” were held while Jewish prayers were recited in Hebrew.

“We can’t just celebrate a holiday happily at home while people are being murdered in our name,” a protester said.

#WATCH: ‘Ceasefire now!’

On the last night of Hanukkah, local Jewish groups, allies are calling for a ceasefire in Palestine outside Boston City Hall.

The group will soon move to a second location close by for a ‘disturbance.’ @boston25 pic.twitter.com/IYyXww5iaV  

— Daniel Coates (@danielcoates_25) December 14, 2023

Commuters voiced their frustration with the traffic.

“I have a final exam in three minutes,” a commuter said. “There’s nothing I can do about it.”

Bostonians were stuck behind the wheel for over two hours while the protest was ongoing.

“I think this will create an extreme alienation against them and their cause that they are subjecting people to this kind of harassment,” said one passerby.

Elizabeth Weinbloom of IfNotNow Boston said the goal of the protest was to disrupt “business as usual” at the height of Boston’s largest intersection.

“We’re sorry to disrupt people’s nights,” she said, “they’re not our target. We’re here to send a message to Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren.”

Weinbloom says she expects more protests like this until Massachusetts leaders speak up and act. She says her group has tried to reach them and feel like demonstrations such as this are their only hope now.

In the meantime, Boston Police say all streets in the downtown area have now reopened.  All streets in the downtown area have reopened. https://t.co/AgUqGnnZlK 

— Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) December 14, 2023

Protesters calling for ceasefire in Gaza block roads near LAX

Vivian Chow
Fri, December 15, 2023 

A large group of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza were blocking streets near the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday night.

The protesters were blocking traffic near an airport entrance at the intersection of Vicksburg Avenue and 96th Street at around 5 p.m.

At one point, the group was seen walking over the 96th Street bridge, impacting access for rideshare drivers.

A group of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza were blocking streets near the Los Angeles International Airport on Dec. 15, 2023. (KTLA)


A group of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza were blocking streets near the Los Angeles International Airport on Dec. 15, 2023. (KTLA)


A group of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza were blocking streets near the Los Angeles International Airport on Dec. 15, 2023. (KTLA)


A group of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza were blocking streets near the Los Angeles International Airport on Dec. 15, 2023. (KTLA)


A group of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza were blocking streets near the Los Angeles International Airport on Dec. 15, 2023. (KTLA)


A group of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza were blocking streets near the Los Angeles International Airport on Dec. 15, 2023. (KTLA)


A group of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza were blocking streets near the Los Angeles International Airport on Dec. 15, 2023. (KTLA)

“Due to protests going on nearby @flyLAXairport, access for Uber and Lyft has been impacted,” LAX officials said in a statement. “The 96th Street bridge is being impacted as well.”

The demonstrators are calling for an end to the war between Hamas and Israel that began on Oct. 7 and has claimed over 18,500 lives so far.

They were heard chanting, “Resistance is justified! Free Palestine and genocide,” and also holding a banner that read, “Let Gaza live.”

The unnamed L.A. coalition described themselves as an “unaffiliated group of Palestinians, Jews, and Angelenos of conscience.” The group is calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the “genocide of the Palestinian people.”

“I’m part of this unnamed coalition that’s gathered today representing the masses of Los Angeles — the working class, organizers, movement leaders, people who are being led by a moral compass that are still very much tuned in and focused on what’s happening and are dedicated to stopping it,” said a protester named Tony.

Earlier this week on Dec. 13, another group of protesters calling for a cease-fire shut down traffic on the 110 Freeway in downtown L.A.

That group, called IfNotNow, described itself as a movement of American Jews supporting the end of U.S. support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

Protesters calling for an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire blocked the 110 Freeway on Dec. 13, 2023. (KTLA)


Anti-war demonstrators are seen blocking the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 13, 2023.


Police, protesters and stopped cars are seen on the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 13, 2023.


Anti-war demonstrators are seen blocking the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 13, 2023.


Anti-war demonstrators are seen blocking the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles in KTLA 5 News coverage on Dec. 13, 2023.

The demonstrators were seen sitting in the southbound lanes of the freeway near 3rd Street behind a large banner reading, “Permanent Ceasefire: Equality, Justice, Safety For All.”

Thousands of drivers were impacted as the protest not only blocked travel on the busy 110 Freeway but also caused heavy congestion on other L.A. freeways and side streets.

A large Jewish Hanukia, or Menorah, had also been placed on the freeway. Traffic was blocked at around 9:30 a.m. for about two hours before the protesters were removed by law enforcement. Around 75 people were arrested, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Although some residents criticized the move to block major roads or freeways, claiming the massive disruption could put lives at risk, protesters said they felt they had no other options.

“I understand that there might be some frustrations or annoyance,” Tony said. “I would also say there are a lot of people on the flip side who were in support of it so that’s what we like to focus on. For those who did have a problem with it, at least they were eventually able to get where they were trying to go. In Gaza, people do not have that luxury, that ability to move so freely.”

Although traffic was backed up in multiple directions near LAX on Friday night, so far, no other impacts to airport entrances have been reported.

“We thank everyone for their patience,” said LAX officials.

UK
Pro-Palestinian rallies continue as Gaza crisis intensifies

Dominic McGrath

EVENING STANDARD
Sat, December 16, 2023 

(PA Wire)


Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have gathered again this weekend to call for an end to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

Organisers Stop the War Coalition listed 57 separate pro-Palestinian events across UK on Saturday, including assemblies and candlelit vigils.

It comes amid growing international concern about the Israeli operation in the region.

The offensive, triggered by the unprecedented October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, has flattened much of northern Gaza and driven 85% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes.

Displaced people have squeezed into shelters mainly in the south in a spiralling humanitarian crisis.

The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has expressed unease over Israel’s failure to reduce civilian casualties and its plans for the future of Gaza, but the White House continues to offer wholehearted support with weapons shipments and diplomatic backing.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration is also facing public anger, after Israeli troops on Friday mistakenly shot dead three hostages.

The army’s chief spokesman said troops found the hostages on Friday and erroneously identified them as a threat. He said it was not clear if they had escaped their captors or been abandoned.

The hostages have been identified as Alon Shamriz, Samer Al-Talalka and Yotam Haim.

Late on Friday, hundreds of protesters blocked Tel Aviv’s main road in a spontaneous demonstration calling for the return of hostages still held by Palestinian militants.

In north London, about 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in Camden to call for a ceasefire, with some shouting “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free”.

Canada to create citizenship path for undocumented immigrants- Globe and Mail

Reuters
Thu, December 14, 2023 

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller speaks at a news conference in Ottawa

(Reuters) - Canada is planning a "broad and comprehensive program" that would allow many undocumented people to apply for permanent residency, the country's Immigration Minister Marc Miller told The Global and Mail.

The announcement complements Canada's ambitious immigration targets, which had already aimed to bring in 500,000 immigrants a year by 2025. The country's population has grown mainly through immigration, and this has helped fuel economic growth in recent years.

An estimated 300,000 to 600,000 people are living in the country without valid documents, many of whom risk deportation because they lack formal status, The Global and Mail quoted Miller as saying.

The new program would also include people who entered the country legally, as temporary workers or international students, and then remained here after their visas expired, the report said.

Miller added that not all those without valid documents will be allowed to apply for permanent residency, including those who have arrived recently in the country.

He plans to submit a proposal to cabinet in the spring on allowing undocumented immigrants to "regularize their status," the report added.

Amid the housing crunch and high inflation, the government last month kept immigration targets unchanged for the next two years and said it would stop ramping up immigration from 2026 onwards.

Canada is targeting 465,000 new residents this year, 485,000 in 2024 before hitting 500,000 in 2025 - a level it aims to maintain in 2026.

(Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

 

Jacob Tsimerman receives Ostrowski Prize in Higher Mathematics

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF BASEL

 

IMAGE: 

PROFESSOR JACOB TSIMERMAN.

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CREDIT: IMAGE COURTESY OF JT.

The Canadian mathematician Jacob Tsimerman has been awarded the International Ostrowski Prize in Higher Mathematics 2023. The Ostrowski Prize is worth 100,000 Swiss Francs and named after Alexander M. Ostrowski, a professor of mathematics who taught at the University of Basel.

Jacob Tsimerman, a professor of mathematics at the University of Toronto (Canada), received the Ostrowski Prize 2023 in recognition of his work at the interface of transcendence theory, analytic number theory and arithmetic geometry, including recent breakthroughs on the André-Oort and Griffiths conjectures.

Shimura varieties are algebraic varieties of great interest. Introduced by Shimura and Deligne in order to generalize modular curves, they nowadays play a central role in the theory of automorphic forms, the study of Galois representations, and in Diophantine geometry.

The André-Oort conjecture describes the distribution of special points, also called points of complex multiplication, on a Shimura variety. The conjecture is an analog of the Manin-Mumford conjecture for Shimura varieties. It lies at the confluence of Diophantine problems and the arithmetic of modular forms. The proof of the general case of the André-Oort conjecture required overcoming a number of highly non-trivial obstacles. It was achieved recently by Tsimerman and collaborators and is the pinnacle result of this type.

Jacob Tsimerman, born 1988, is a Canadian mathematician. He won the International Mathematics Olympiad Gold Medal in 2003 and 2004. He studied mathematics at the University of Toronto and received his doctorate from Princeton University in 2011, under the supervision of Peter Sarnak. He had a post-doctoral position at Harvard University as a Junior Fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows. In July 2014 he was awarded a Sloan Fellowship and started his term as assistant professor at the University of Toronto, where he is now a full professor.

An award rooted in the University of Basel

The Foundation A. M. Ostrowski for an international prize in higher mathematics was etablished by Alexander Markovich Ostrowski (1893–1986), a former professor of mathematics at the University of Basel in Switzerland. Since 1989, the foundation awards every other year a prize for outstanding achievements in the field of pure mathematics and in the foundations of numerical mathematics.

The jury consists of one representative of each of the following institutions: the University of Basel, the University of Jerusalem, the University of Waterloo (Canada), the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. The prize is awarded irrespective of politics, nationality, religion, or age.

The Ostrowski Prize is awarded for the 18th time this year. In 2021, it was conferred to the British mathematician Timothy Austin. The award ceremony will take place at the University of Waterloo in the coming months.

 

New software makes rapid inroads to find viral weapons for germ warfare

Phables computational tool 'beats existing viral identification methods'

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: 

DR VIJINI MALLAWAARACHCHI, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE IN BIOINFORMATICS, FLINDERS ACCELERATOR FOR MICROBIOME EXPLORATION (FAME) LAB, COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

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CREDIT: FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

A new bioinformatics software program at Flinders University is paving the way for a rapid expansion of research into bacteriophages, the viruses or phages that play key roles in controlling bacteria.

Experts at the Flinders University College of Science and Engineering have released a computational tool for researchers around the world to find ‘bacteriophages’ or phages through more accurate genome sequencing.

The new ‘Phables’ computational tool can identify and characterise 49% more complete phage genomes compared to existing viral identification tools, according to a new article in Bioinformatics.

Research into isolating and harnessing bacteriophages paves the way for progress in the emerging field of ‘phage therapy’, a more natural way to target specific bacteria which post a constant risk to immune-compromised, young and elderly patients, as well as ‘super’ bacteria which has become resistant to regular antibiotics.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global risk when broad-spectrum antibiotics no longer work on  ‘superbugs’ created when common bacteria goes through multiple genetic changes.  The WHO has warned that AMR is one of the top public health threats facing humanity in the 21st century and was associated with the death of close to 5 million people in 2019.

“Understanding phages is essential because they can influence everything from the health of ecosystems to the treatment of bacterial infections in humans,” says Flinders University research associate Dr Vijini Mallawaarachchi, from the Flinders Accelerator for Microbiome Exploration (FAME) Lab.

“Traditional methods of studying phages from environmental sequencing data have been limited, often failing to fully capture the complete genetic information of phages. This incomplete picture has been a barrier to fully understanding their roles and impacts.” 

FAME Lab director Professor Robert Edwards, a coauthor of the latest article, says the Phables software can computationally reconstruct the genetic content of phages from environmental sequencing data.

“This marks a major advancement in phage bioinformatics, allowing us to computationally reconstruct complete phage genomes,” says Professor Edwards, from the College of Science and Engineering.  

“It will facilitate the discovery of novel phages and enable their laboratory isolation, which will lead to advancements in medical treatments, environmental management, and a deeper understanding of microbial life. 

“This revolutionary tool not only enhances our understanding of the microbial world but also paves the way for innovative solutions to some of the most pressing health and environmental challenges of our time.” 

Phables uses a new, more effective approach to piece together the genetic information of phages with tests on various datasets showing the new tool can identify more complete contiguous genomes of phages than existing state-of-the-art software tools.

Phables has almost 9000 downloads across different software repositories. The tool was launched at the Australian Society for Microbiology Annual National Meeting 2023 and the Australian Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Society Conference 2023. 

Next year, the Flinders University research team aims to use the Phables tool to discover novel phages, and potentially use these isolated phages in therapies, including new treatment options for individuals with conditions such as cystic fibrosis and inflammatory bowel disease.

Read the article – Phables: From fragmented assemblies to high-quality bacteriophage genomes (2023) by Vijini Mallawaarachchi, Michael J Roach, Przemyslaw Decewicz, Bhavya Papudeshi, Sarah K Giles, Susanna R Grigson, George Bouras, Ryan D Hesse, Laura K Inglis, Abbey L K Hutton, Elizabeth A Dinsdale, and Robert A Edwards has been published in Bioinformatics (Oxford University Press). First published 21 September 2023. DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btad586

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Australian Research Council [DP220102915], and the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange.

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JOURNAL

Bioinformatics

DOI

10.1093/bioinformatics/btad586 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

Phables: From fragmented assemblies to high-quality bacteriophage genomes

Scientists reveal the molecular structure of a complex bacteriophage

For the first time, the molecular structure of a complete tailed virus with a flexible tail has been solved in unprecedented detail

Peer-Reviewed Publication

OKINAWA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (OIST) GRADUATE UNIVERSITY

 

VIDEO: 

STRUCTURE OF AN ENTIRE DT57C BACTERIOPHAGE. THE ENTIRE VIRUS WAS RECONSTRUCTED IN THREE DIMENSIONS AT NEAR-ATOMIC RESOLUTION AND VISUALIZED IN THIS ANIMATION. 

 

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CREDIT: OIST

The word “virus” is often associated with negative connotations. However, it is important to note that not all viruses are harmful. In fact, there are many viruses that live inside our bodies and play important roles in our health. One example is bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria and can be used to keep bacterial infections under control.  

These viruses are known to have more complex shapes and have not been studied in full detail at the atomic level before. They can be engineered to better suit applications of human interest, such as providing an alternative to the use of antibiotics. 

Scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) together with their international collaborators at MSU Moscow and Shenzhen, and Academia Sinica in Taiwan, have studied the molecular architecture of the tequintavirus, also known as T5-like bacteriophages, to understand how these viruses are organized at a molecular level. T5 viruses are nonenveloped viruses with a head that has an icosahedral shape and contains the viral DNA, and a non-contractile flexible tail which acts as the channel for DNA injection into the bacterial host cell. 

The scientists obtained atomic models for all structural components of the virus. This is the first time that a tailed virus with a flexible tail has been revealed in its entirety at this level of detail. The results of their study have been published in the journal Nature Communications and set the basis for future studies on the mechanism of infection of these viruses.  

“To engineer and modify these viruses efficiently for specific purposes, we must know their organization at an atomic level and the mechanisms through which they infect their target bacteria. For these reasons, we decided to use cryo-electron microscopy to visualize the DT57C bacteriophage at high-resolution in its entirety,” Prof. Matthias Wolf, head of the Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit, explained. 

Researchers working on phage therapies which use bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections in agricultural crops, fish aquaculture and other fields, can benefit from the results of this study. “The structural knowledge we have obtained can enable the engineering of bacteriophages with improved ability to kill these bacterial pathogens,” Prof. Wolf added. 

Does this mean that bacteriophages are ‘good’ viruses? Dr. Rafael Ayala, lead author of the research paper, explained that these viruses are ‘good’ when their actions benefit us and ‘bad’ when they cause us harm, as is the case with bacteria.  

An example of how bacteriophages can benefit us is their use in gene therapy. “One of the ways to distribute genes to cells is to put them into a human virus that has been modified in two ways, first to not cause disease, and second to also carry the genes that you want to introduce to cure a specific disease. In this way the virus is used as a vehicle to introduce a cure,” Dr. Ayala said. 

One of the main challenges of the research was to reconstruct the bacteriophage as a whole from electron micrographs in significant detail, and not just some of its components. The DT57C bacteriophage comprises a head, a neck, a tail and a baseplate at the end of the tail. Many of these components are flexible and can move freely, which makes it difficult to visualize their molecular architecture in detail, similar to how difficult it is to take a good photo of an object that is moving fast.  

To deal with this, the researchers developed new methods that they plan to apply to other viruses with complex shapes. “We had to think of new ways to tackle the problems we encountered, and we believe that the methods developed in this study will be of interest to many researchers studying viruses,” Dr. Ayala explained. “Phage therapy is an active area of research, and it is very likely that we are going to see these treatments in our lifetime.” 

Using viruses to modify bacteria is a huge area of interest because bacteria are at the core of many natural and engineered processes, including nutrient recycling, symbiosis, bioremediation (bacteria are used to clean up environmental pollutants), and food production. This research will be useful in designing viruses to combat bacterial diseases that affect humans, plants and other organisms. 

An electron micrograph of the DT57C bacteriophage (IMAGE)

OKINAWA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (OIST) GRADUATE UNIVERSITY

An electron micrograph —  a photograph taken by means of a transmission electron microscope — of the DT57C bacteriophage. These types of images have been used to obtain a three-dimensional structure of the entire virus. Scale bar: 80 nanometers

CREDIT

OIST

JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-43824-9 

ARTICLE TITLE

Nature Communications

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

11-Dec-2023

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=PHAGES

 https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=BIOPHAGES

 https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=PHAGE

 https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=BACTERIOPHAGE

 

PolyU researchers’ innovative Music Therapy System for older adults wins CES 2024 Innovation Award for impactful aging technology

Grant and Award Announcement

THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: 

POLYU RESEARCHERS’ INNOVATIVE MUSIC THERAPY SYSTEM FOR OLDER ADULTS WINS CES 2024 INNOVATION AWARD FOR IMPACTFUL AGING TECHNOLOGYLED BY DR DAPHNE CHEUNG, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF THE POLYU SCHOOL OF NURSING, THE PROJECT TEAM THAT DEVELOPED THE “MUSIC-WITH-MOVEMENT SYSTEM FOR OLDER ADULTS” WON A PRESTIGIOUS GLOBAL CONSUMER PRODUCT AWARD IN THE ACCESSIBILITY & AGING TECH CATEGORY AT THE CES 2024 INNOVATION AWARDS.

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CREDIT: © 2023 RESEARCH AND INNOVATION OFFICE, THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

A ground-breaking therapeutic music-with-movement system invented by researchers of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has won a prestigious global consumer product award in the ‘Accessibility & Aging Tech’ category at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024 Innovation Awards.

This award serves as a testament to the exceptional impact of music-with-movement intervention on older adults and their caregivers. An integral part of the CES, the annual CES® Innovation Award recognizes outstanding innovation in design, evaluating products based on engineering quality, aesthetics and design, practical value, uniqueness and their impact on quality of life.

Dr Daphne CHEUNG, Associate Professor of the PolyU School of Nursing, led the project that developed the “Music-with-Movement System for Older Adults.” The research team merged an existing therapeutic music intervention system with advances in medical research and engineering technology for the ageing population. This ground-breaking system empowers caregivers and staff working in the elderly care sector to effectively and efficiently engage older adults in music intervention.

The music-with movement system combines many elements including songs, Augmented Reality (AR) interactive games and motion sensors in a tablet, a game engineer and a cloud-based management platform. Integrating oldies music with motion sensors and AR makes it the first of its kind in music interventions. The interactive, cognitively stimulating musical games aim to maintain the cognitive and social stimulation levels of older adults. The user-friendly design of this therapeutic programme also helps alleviate issues caused by social isolation.

Dr Cheung said “It’s my greatest honour to receive this award in recognition of the application of our research into aging technology, a key focus in our work related to the increasingly aging population. The music-with-movement programme reinforces sustainable adoption among old adults for their consistent engagement and facilitates effective intervention and communication.”

While the music-with-movement programme was developed for people in Hong Kong with dementia, it later came to involve family caregivers as a dyadic intervention. Integrating current information and communication technology as implementation strategies for music intervention builds effective communication and collaboration and more effective bonding among old adults, caregivers, staff working in elderly centres and health professionals.

The increasing prevalence of dementia is a public health concern amid an increasingly aging population. Multisensory therapy and cognitive stimulation activity such as Music with Movement are applied to improve cognitive functions and health conditions of older adults with cognitive impairment in different settings.

Dr Cheung has conducted research on the effects of Music with Movement intervention on people with cognitive impairment for more than ten years. While research findings have showed promising effects of Music with Movement intervention on people with dementia, the development of a technology-enabled intervention protocol for training and implementation is critical.

Interdisciplinary collaboration, empowered by Information and Technology (I&T), can facilitate the alignment of people from different disciplines and backgrounds, leading to better health outcomes. In the long run, sustainable implementation strategies can help caregivers and staffs become competent in both homecare and nursing home environments. Also, training to nursing students on this portable programme would further expand the scale of community research and benefit a wider range of people with dementia.

A research study of Dr Cheng, “A Home-based Dyadic Music-with-Movement Intervention for People with Dementia and Caregivers: A Hybrid Type 2 Cluster-Randomized Effectiveness-Implementation Design” was published on Clinical Intervention in Aging in October, 2022. The research aimed to evaluate the adoption of Music with Movement intervention using a sustainable approach to improve the psychosocial well-being of people with dementia and their caregivers.

In terms of clinical efficacy, the study found that the intervention is effective in improving anxiety and depressive symptoms in people with dementia and reducing stress levels of family caregivers. While for real practice, information and communication technology is identified as an important enabler to support the delivery of integrated and coordinated primary health care.

The study noted that working closely with external stakeholders, who possess good communication skills and understanding on cultural perspective and human factors, is key to success. Innovative technology helps bridge the science-to-service gap through meaningful collaborations among frontline practitioners, administrators, caregivers and researchers.

PolyU researchers’ innovative Music Therapy System for older adults wins CES 

2024 Innovation Award for impactful aging technology 

By integrating classic songs and several technologies, the music-with-movement intervention stimulates seniors’ cognitive abilities and develops their social skills, which, in turn, helps tackle problems caused by social isolation.

CREDIT

© 2023 Research and Innovation Office, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. All Rights Reserved.

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DOI

10.2147/CIA.S370661 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

 

What do Gifted dogs have in common?

New study reveals characteristics that are shared among a group of uniquely gifted dogs

Peer-Reviewed Publication

EÖTVÖS LORÁND UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: 

SHIRA, 6 -YEAR-OLD, FEMALE, BORDER COLLIE MIX, THAT WAS RESCUED AT A YOUNG AGE. SHE LIVES IN NEW JERSEY, AND KNOWS THE NAMES OF 125 TOYS.

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CREDIT: PHOTO: TRES HANLEY-MILLMAN

All dog owners think that their pup is special. Science now has documented that some rare dogs are…even more special! They have a talent for learning hundreds of names of dog toys. Due to the extreme rarity of this phenomenon, until recently, very little was known about these dogs, as most of the studies that documented this ability included only a small sample of one or two dogs. In a new study published in the Journal Scientific Reports, researchers from the Family Dog Project (ELTE Eötvös Loránd  University, Budapest) shed new light on the characteristics of these exceptional dogs.

In a previous study, the scientists found that only very few dogs could learn the names of object, mostly dog toys. The researchers wanted to understand this phenomenon better and, so they needed to find more dogs with this ability. But finding dogs with this rare talent was a challenge! For five years, the researchers tirelessly searched across the world for these unique Gifted Word Learner (GWL) dogs. As part of this search, in 2020, they launched a social media campaign and broadcasted their experiments with GWL dogs, in the hope of finding more GWL dogs.

“This was a citizen science project” explains Dr. Claudia Fugazza, team leader. “When a dog owner told us they thought their dog knew toy names, we gave them instructions on how to self-test their dog and asked them to send us the video of the test”. The researchers then held an online meeting with the owners to test the dog’s vocabulary under controlled conditions and, if the dog showed he knew the names of his toys, the researchers asked the owners to fill out a questionnaire. “In the questionnaire, we asked the owners about their dog’s life experience, their own experience in raising and training dogs, and about the process by which the dog came to learn the names of his/her toys” explains Dr. Andrea Sommese, co-author.

VIDEO ABSTRACT ABOUT THE RESEARCH

The researchers found 41 dogs from 9 different countries: the US, the UK, Brazil, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Hungary. Most of the previous studies on this topic included Border collies. So, while object label learning is very rare even in Border collies, it was not surprising that many of the dogs participating in the current study (56%) belonged to this breed. However, the study documented the ability to learn toy names in a few dogs from non-working breeds, such as two Pomeranians, one Pekingese, one Shih Tzu, a Corgi, a Poodle, and a few mixed breeds.

“Surprisingly, most owners reported that they did not intentionally teach their dogs toy names, but rather that the dogs just seemed to spontaneously pick up the toy names during unstructured play sessions,” says Shany Dror, lead researcher. In addition, the vast majority of owners participating in the study had no professional background in dog training and the researchers found no correlations between the owners’ level of experience in handling and training dogs, and the dogs’ ability to select the correct toys when hearing its names.

“In our previous studies we have shown that GWL dogs learn new object names very fast” explains Dror. “So, it is not surprising that when we conducted the test with the dogs, the average number of toys known by the dogs was 29, but when we published the results, more than 50% of the owners reported that their dogs had already acquired a vocabulary of over 100 toy names”.

“Because GWL dogs are so rare, until now there were only anecdotes about their background” explains Prof. Adam Miklósi, Head of the Ethology Department at ELTE and co-author. “The rare ability to learn object names is the first documented case of talent in a non-human species. The relatively large sample of dogs documented in this study, helps us to identify the common characteristics that are shared among these dogs, and brings us one step closer in the quest of understanding their unique ability”.

This research is part of the Genius Dog Challenge research project which aims to understand the unique talent that Gifted Word Learner dogs have. The researchers encourage dog owners who believe their dogs know multiple toy names, to contact them via the Genius Dog Challenge website.

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Gani (Ganeshani), 5 -year-old, female, Border Collie from Colorado, USA, knows the names of over 100 toys.

CREDIT

Photo: Cathy Proenza

Basket, 5 -year-old, female, Border Collie from Texas, USA. She knows the names of over 50 toys.

CREDIT

Photo: Elle Baumgartel

JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-023-47864-5 

ARTICLE TITLE

A citizen science model turns anecdotes into evidence by revealing similar characteristics among Gifted Word Learner dogs

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

14-Dec-2023