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Monday, May 6, 2019

The second International Student Olympiad in Neurosurgery for the prize of the Governor of Tyumen Oblast, Russia took place in the first week of April at the Federal Center for Neurosurgery in Tyumen. The competition was attended by 46 people from cities within Russia as well as from Aktobe, Kazakhstan. Wikinews attended the event, and talked to some of those involved.

This was the second consecutive student Olympiad in neurosurgery. Six of the country’s eight federal district capitals were reportedly scheduled to send contestants. The winners are awarded free tuition at the academic department of Neurosurgery at First Moscow State Medical University (First MSMU), also called Sechenov University.

Madina Bizheva, in her fourth year at Kabardino-Balkarian State University, won this second Olympiad. The other two places at Sechenov University were awarded to Oleg Titov, fifth year at the First MSMU, and Irina Borovikova, fifth year at Ural State Medical University. Bizheva said: “I give my victory to my mother, who inspired me to study at a neurosurgeon. After she had a stroke, the dream of becoming a doctor began to turn into reality. I was seriously preparing for the Olympiad. One hand rocked the child, the other held a book on neurosurgery. If a person strives for and desires something, then everything will work out.” ^{((ru))Russian: ????? ?????? ? ???? ????, ??????? ?????????? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ????????????. ????? ????, ??? ? ??? ???????? ???????, ????? ????? ?????? ????? ???????????? ? ??????????. ? ???????? ?????????? ? ?????????. ????? ????? ?????????? ???????, ?????? ??????? ????? ?? ?????????????. ???? ??????? ? ???? ?????????? ? ????-?? ????? ??????, — ??? ?????????.}

• Contestants came from many parts of Russia and from Kazakhstan. Image: ??????? ???????.

• Participants waiting for the start of the test. Image: ??????? ???????.

• Olympiad participants complete a theory test. Image: ??????? ???????.

The chairman of the organizing committee of the Olympiad and the head physician of the center, Albert Sufianov, is also the head of the academic department of neurosurgery in the First MSMU. The three best performers in this contest are awarded the opportunity to study for free in his department in the residency of the Sechenov University.

The event was supported financially by Tyumen Oblast. The new governor of the region, Alexander Moor, during his message to the regional parliamentarians read out on November 22, just offered to diversify the economy, reducing the focus on oil and gas from the third Baku and cultivating medical tourism: “Now the annual volume of our exports — non-row materials and non-energy — has come close to a billion dollars. In the next year, this must be given priority. And here, too, non-standard approaches will be required, in which trends of various origins will organically merge across the traditional industry nomenclature. For example, it is time to perceive Tyumen medicine as a full-fledged export-oriented industry, while closely associated with the tourism business. Medical tourism is growing rapidly all over the world, and in terms of price and quality, Tyumen is more than competitive — if not on a global scale, then on a scale of the whole continent Eurasia exactly. Here the themes of several national projects intersect at once!” ^{((ru))Russian: ??????? ??????? ????? ?????? ???????? – ??????????? ? ????????????????? – ???????? ??????????? ? ????????? ????????. ? ????????? ???? ???? ??? ???? ?????. ? ??? ???? ??????????? ????????????? ???????, ? ??????? ?????? ???????????? ?????????? ???????????? ????????? ?????????? ?????? ?????????? ?????????????. ??????, ????????? ???????? ??? ???? ???????????? ??? ??????????? ?????????-??????????????? ???????, ??? ???? ????? ????????? ? ????????????? ????????. ??????????? ?????? ????? ?????? ?? ???? ????, ? ?? ?????????? ???? ? ???????? ?????? ????? ??? ?????????????????? – ???? ?? ? ?????????? ????????, ?? ? ???????? ????? ???????????? ?????????? ?????. ????? ???????????? ???????? ????? ?????????? ???????????? ????????!}

According to Professor Sergey Dydykin, who is both co-chairman of the organizing committee and head of the academic department of operative surgery and topographic anatomy of the First MSMU, in the United States and Europe it is not customary to teach manual skills, such as manual surgical techniques, to undergraduates; conducting surgical competitions for students is a Russian practice.

During the Olympiad, students had to perform simulated practical tasks. For example, in the final part of the competition, the contestants had to mill away the shell of a raw egg without damaging the membranes beneath. This exercise simulates endoscopic drilling.

According to Sufianov, the Olympiad shows young people the “social elevators” available to them. He suggesnted student Ibrahim Salamov as an illustration of his words. A year ago, this native of the Dagestan village took first prize, and he is now one of the organizers of the Olympiad.

Regarding which part of the competition was most difficult for aspiring neurosurgeons, Sufianov said it was English language. From his view, this is a nationwide problem in Russia — there are many skilled surgeons in the country, but their knowledge of foreign languages is not very strong. In his opinion, a specialist has almost no chance to become a very high level professional without knowledge of English.

Alexander Gagay of Yekaterinburg, who took third place last year, is currently a fourth year student at Ural State Medical University. This year, he said, he came to support his fellow Yekaterinburgers. In his opinion, the most difficult part was the theoretical tasks, and not English. In his view, the federal neurosurgery centers like Tyumen created within the framework of the national health project are on the same level with their foreign counterparts. In his view, there are strong opportunities to become a very good specialist without leaving Russia.

Several people returned to the Olympiad after attending last year. One is Denis Kovalchuk, a sixth year student at Buryat State University. He said he was interested in neurosurgery from the first year, but in his home region there are no suitably equipped facilities as there are in Tyumen. Kovalchuk also said that, after the first Olympiad, a community of young neurosurgeons emerged on social networks, numbering about 400 people. Students exchange professional literature in it and give each other tips for use in practical situations.

• Ibrahim Salamov, last year’s winner. Image: ??????? ???????.

• Alexander Gagay, who took third place in 2018. Image: ??????? ???????.

• Denis Kovalchuk, a 2-year participant. Image: ??????? ???????.

This year, the jury decided two participants in addition to the official winners performed at such a high level and Albert Sufianov provided them with his personal grant for residency training at First MSMU. These were Ivan Shelyagin and Valentina Sidorenko from Tyumen State Medical University.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

As many as eight people have been injured after two cable cars collided at the Nevis Range near Fort William in Scotland.

Two RAF helicopters, an air ambulance, four ambulance crews, police, fire brigade and a mountain rescue team are among those present. Police have confirmed that three people have been injured, including one child. Injuries include broken legs, head and chest injuries. The Scottish Ambulance Service have reported that up to seven people had been thrown on to the hillside. A reporter at the scene said one car near the top of the mountain had slid down a cable, hitting another and then one of the cars fell to the ground.

Northern Constabulary have stated “It’s understood that two gondolas would appeared to have collided and a number of casualties have been reported. The local mountain rescue team, Inverness helimed and other air support are in attendance to remove casualties”.

The Doppelmayr gondola system is made up of eighty six-seat closed cabins running on a continuous 4.6km steel cable.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

The Australian House of Representatives heard the traditional right-of-reply to the Budget released May 9, from the Australian Labor Party, led by Kim Beazley (Labor, Brand), plus Budget replies from minor parties in the Australian Senate.

While the Budget is politically popular, having as one of its main features significant tax reform, Beazley focused on the omissions in the Budget, such as the failure to address a skills shortage.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained leader of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar marked her 62nd birthday today, still under house arrest, where she has spent most of the past 17 years.

About 250 supporters met at the National League for Democracy (NLD) headquarters in Yangon, not far from Suu Kyi’s home, and held a rally calling for her release. Doves and balloons were released into the air, under the watchful eyes and video cameras of around 50 plainclothes police officers, who were stationed across the street.

The police force was augmented by a dozen truckloads of members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association, the political arm of the State Peace and Development, the junta that rules Myanmar.

“The doves symbolise peace. We also released colourful balloons, which rise like her prestige when they fill the sky,” NLD women’s wing leader Lai Lai was quoted as saying by Agence France Presse.

With the party marking marking Suu Kyi’s birthday as “Myanmar Women’s Day,” Lei Lei read out a statement at the ceremony, calling Suu Kyi “irreplaceable” and praising her “honesty, bravery and perseverance.”

Security was beefed up around Suu Kyi’s lakeside home on University Avenue, which is usually open to traffic during daytime, but is closed on significant anniversaries such as Suu Kyi’s birthday or the May 30 anniversary of her detention.

NLD supporters said police were also watching their homes.

“Plainclothes police circled around my house on their motorcycles last night until dawn,” Su Su Nway, 34, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. She was arrested on May 15 with 60 others during a prayer rally for Suu Kyi in Yangon, and was released for health reasons on June 7. She said around 52 NLD supporters were still in custody.

Suu Kyi is generally barred from receiving visitors, so she spent the day alone. Except for her maid, a personal physician, a dentist and an eye specialist, the only other person to visit with Suu Kyi in the past year was United Nations Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari, whom she met for one hour last November at a government guest house.

Winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 11 of the past 17 years, continuously since 2003. Her National League for Democracy won a landslide election in 1990, but the military, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, refused to honor the results. The country is also known as Burma, but the military government renamed it Myanmar in 1989.

Calls for Suu Kyi’s release have been issued by the NLD, various world bodies and other countries, but the pleadings have been met by no response from the generals.

“In our view, until their constitution is ratified, she will not be released,” Sann Aung, a Bangkok-based leader of the Burmese government-in-exile was quoted as saying by Reuters.

“They are worried that she will be a threat to the National Convention and the referendum,” he told Reuters, referring to the planned national referendum on a new constitution that is being written by the generals.

The Nation newspaper in Bangkok marked Suu Kyi’s birthday with an editorial, saying that sanctions against the Myanmar regime have been ineffective.

“The junta has earned huge amounts of foreign revenue from oil and gas exports, with prices jacked up many times over. With rich mineral resources, energy hungry countries have been attracted to Burma despite the repressive nature of the junta,” the editorial said, also making note of a recent deal that Russia has made to build nuclear reactor in Myanmar.

The paper also said Myanmar bodes ill for the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional grouping.

“As long as Aung San Suu Kyi remains incarcerated, ASEAN’s reputation and the group’s international standing will be tarnished. Asean leaders have repeatedly appealed to the Burmese junta to free her, but to no avail … today, Burma is the black sheep of ASEAN. Without any current provisions for sanctions, Burma will remain as intransigent in the future as it is today.”

Saturday, April 30, 2005

The British Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced a recall of foods containing banned dyes which increase the risk of cancer. The food products were sold at the Tesco, Waitrose, and Somerfield supermarkets.

A Bristol company called “Barts Spices” found the illegal Para Red substance in their Barts Ground Paprika, which was sold in 48g and 46g jars with a “Co-op” label. The batch codes on the affected products are 5032 and 5089 (expiration Dec 2007), and 5075 (expiration February 2007).

Tesco also found that their 130g package of BBQ rice cakes (expiration November and December 2005) contained both Para Red and Sudan I.

“It would be very prudent to assume that it could be a genotoxic carcinogen,” FSA scientific advisers told reporters.

“As a company committed to supplying only the very finest quality food ingredients, we took the immediate decision to withdraw our ground paprika spice from all outlets selling the product and advertised a product recall in the national press,” a Barts Spices spokesman said in a statement.

Sudan I is only authorized for industrial use to colorize petroleum products, such as shoe polish. Para Red and Sudan I are banned under the British Colours in Food Regulations of 1995.

Britain last went through a major food recall in February, when Worcester Sauce was found to contain chili powder dyed with Sudan 1.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

A National Academy of Sciences report (.pdf) last year said that while the milk and meat from cloned animals would not likely make anyone sick, more research should be performed. Now, a new US-Japan study published in the April 11 online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that milk and meat from cloned cattle does indeed appear to meet industry standards and appears to be safe for human consumption.

As BBC News reports, the scientists, led by Professor Jerry Yang from the University of Connecticut, compared the produce from two beef and four dairy clones, all derived from a single Holstein dairy cow and a single Japanese black bull, with the produce from normal animals of similar age and breed.

The meat was analysed against more than 100 physiological, tissue and cellular components, while the milk was analysed for protein, fat and other variables. No significant differences between the produce of cloned and normal cattle were found. Higher levels of fat and fatty acids were found in the cloned cow meat, but they still fell within beef industry standards.

While the study showed the cloned produce to be within the range approved for human consumption, the scientists stressed that the research was still in its early stages. Their findings, they said, provide “guidelines” for further research with larger numbers of clones from different genetic backgrounds.

Cloning livestock may one day increase yields by copying those animals that are especially productive and especially resistant to disease.

“The milking production levels in the US are three to four times higher than levels in China; maybe even five times or more compared to cows in India and some other countries,” Professor Jerry Yang told BBC News. “Therefore cloning could offer technology for duplicating superior farm animals. However, all the products from these cloned animals must be safe for human consumption. …and it is a major issue for scientists to provide a scientific basis for the data and information to address this question.”

As USA Today reports, there is currently no law governing the sale of meat or milk from the estimated 1,000 to 2,000 cloned farm animals in the USA. But since 2003, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked producers to voluntarily keep the meat and milk of these animals, and that of their offspring, out of the food supply.

Wired News reports that companies like ViaGen and Cyagra, which offer livestock-cloning services, have also been waiting for several years for a final say from the FDA.

“For the United States agricultural industry, (cloning) can reduce the number of cows necessary for milking,” said Jerry Yang “They can have a pleasant environment and produce even more milk.” He also said that cloning cattle from the United States, where genetic breeding is more advanced, could save developing countries 50 years of breeding.

The idea of cloning animals for human consumption is not without its critics. First, there are the welfare concerns, as most cloned animals do not make it to term before being born, and many of those that do are born deformed or prone to illness. The Humane Society of the United States has asked for a ban on milk and meat from clones for just this reason. Second, there is still the concern that healthy clones may have subtle defects that could make their food products unsafe to eat.

As the Washington Post reports, some critics are asking why it is necessary to clone cows that produce huge amounts of milk when surpluses, rather than shortages, are the main problem facing the U.S. dairy industry today.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

According to media reports, a Colombian air force AC-47 (registration FAC1670) spy plane carrying five people has crashed near the Colombian city of La Dorada, in the department of Caldas.

All on board the plane are believed to have been killed, according to Colombia Reports. Among the dead, according to Monsters and Critics, are two technicians, a major and two second lieutenants. ABS-CBN News reports that the dead included three high ranking officials and two lower ranking ones.

Jorge Ballesteros, a Colombian air force official, says that the plane took off from an air force base in the city of Puerto Salgar and was on an exercise mission when it crashed. He also states that although it was on a training exercise, the plane was carrying bombs and machine guns.

A military team has been dispatched to the area to investigate the incident, but they have already put the blame on mechanical failure. Ballestero noted that investigators have ruled out a rebel attack and terrorism as possible causes.

AC-47’s have been used by the Colombian air force for nearly 20 years, most of which were donated from the United States. They were provided to the country in an attempt to fight the illegal drug market and to defend citizens and the military against rebel attacks. They are also used to gather intelligence and come equipped with a state-of-the-art communications system, radar and infrared detection systems.