What do you do if you don't have a breathtaking room full of ancient bones and fossils
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 7-Nov-2013
ShareContact: Dino Knudsen
dinoknudsen@hum.ku.dk
45-28-14-44-38
University of Copenhagen
In the 1970s, a network of businessmen, politicians, and academics from the US, Europe, and Japan, also known as the Trilateral Commission, changed the way international politics was conducted. Informal links between Commission members, governments, and organisations paved the way for recognition of the new economic superpower Japan as an equal partner in international politics, concludes University of Copenhagen historian Dino Knudsen, who is the first researcher to get access to the Commission's own archives.
In 1973, American financier David Rockefeller formed the Trilateral Commission out of fear that the world's three industrial centres the US, Europe, and Japan were drifting apart. The aim of the Commission was to ensure that particularly the American government understood that it had to collaborate and negotiate with Europe and new economic superpower Japan. The Trilateral Commission is still active and has headquarters in Washington, Tokyo, and Paris.
"The Trilateral Commission must be credited with the inclusion of Japan as an equal partner of Europe and the US; the launch of the G7 meetings, which Japan took part in, was in many respects merely a formalisation of the Commission's informal political and diplomatic efforts," explains PhD Dino Knudsen, the first historian who has gained access to the Trilateral Commission's own hitherto closed archives.
He has just published the results of his extensive archival research in the PhD dissertation 'The Trilateral Commission The Global Dawn of Informal Elite Governance and Diplomacy', which he defended at University of Copenhagen 4 November 2013.
Hidden elitist governance
In the beginning of the 1970's, in the context of the Vietnam War, many Americans began to voice demands for a democratisation of foreign policy decision-making processes. But with the foundation of the Trilateral Commission, elite circles got a refuge from public scrutiny, where they could seek influence on foreign policy without being held accountable.
"The Commission's modus operandi constitutes an obvious democratic dilemma; it is an exclusive, elitist organisation that attempts to exert influence on the political sphere but secretly," Dino Knudsen points out and adds:
"It is important for the Commission to strike a balance between being independent from state bodies but at the same time having strong ties to formal political power. Many members hold or have held political office or top positions in businesses, and many are influential opinion makers with important networks in formal political circles, e.g. Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, George W. H. Bush, Mario Monti, and Romano Prodi.""
Dino Knudsen concludes that we need to reconsider the way we think of decision-making in international politics in light of the Trilateral Commission's work. Today, politics and diplomacy are, thanks to the Trilateral Commission and similar organizations, the results of collaborative processes in transnational elite networks. And these networks are informal but highly influential actors on the political stage.
###
Contact
PhD Dino Knudsen
University of Copenhagen
Phone: + 45 28 14 44 38
Mail: dinoknudsen@hum.ku.dk
Press officer Carsten Munk Hansen
Faculty of Humanities
Phone: + 45 28 75 80 23
Mail: carstenhansen@hum.ku.dk
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 7-Nov-2013
ShareContact: Dino Knudsen
dinoknudsen@hum.ku.dk
45-28-14-44-38
University of Copenhagen
In the 1970s, a network of businessmen, politicians, and academics from the US, Europe, and Japan, also known as the Trilateral Commission, changed the way international politics was conducted. Informal links between Commission members, governments, and organisations paved the way for recognition of the new economic superpower Japan as an equal partner in international politics, concludes University of Copenhagen historian Dino Knudsen, who is the first researcher to get access to the Commission's own archives.
In 1973, American financier David Rockefeller formed the Trilateral Commission out of fear that the world's three industrial centres the US, Europe, and Japan were drifting apart. The aim of the Commission was to ensure that particularly the American government understood that it had to collaborate and negotiate with Europe and new economic superpower Japan. The Trilateral Commission is still active and has headquarters in Washington, Tokyo, and Paris.
"The Trilateral Commission must be credited with the inclusion of Japan as an equal partner of Europe and the US; the launch of the G7 meetings, which Japan took part in, was in many respects merely a formalisation of the Commission's informal political and diplomatic efforts," explains PhD Dino Knudsen, the first historian who has gained access to the Trilateral Commission's own hitherto closed archives.
He has just published the results of his extensive archival research in the PhD dissertation 'The Trilateral Commission The Global Dawn of Informal Elite Governance and Diplomacy', which he defended at University of Copenhagen 4 November 2013.
Hidden elitist governance
In the beginning of the 1970's, in the context of the Vietnam War, many Americans began to voice demands for a democratisation of foreign policy decision-making processes. But with the foundation of the Trilateral Commission, elite circles got a refuge from public scrutiny, where they could seek influence on foreign policy without being held accountable.
"The Commission's modus operandi constitutes an obvious democratic dilemma; it is an exclusive, elitist organisation that attempts to exert influence on the political sphere but secretly," Dino Knudsen points out and adds:
"It is important for the Commission to strike a balance between being independent from state bodies but at the same time having strong ties to formal political power. Many members hold or have held political office or top positions in businesses, and many are influential opinion makers with important networks in formal political circles, e.g. Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, George W. H. Bush, Mario Monti, and Romano Prodi.""
Dino Knudsen concludes that we need to reconsider the way we think of decision-making in international politics in light of the Trilateral Commission's work. Today, politics and diplomacy are, thanks to the Trilateral Commission and similar organizations, the results of collaborative processes in transnational elite networks. And these networks are informal but highly influential actors on the political stage.
###
Contact
PhD Dino Knudsen
University of Copenhagen
Phone: + 45 28 14 44 38
Mail: dinoknudsen@hum.ku.dk
Press officer Carsten Munk Hansen
Faculty of Humanities
Phone: + 45 28 75 80 23
Mail: carstenhansen@hum.ku.dk
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Lyoto Machida made a huge impact in the middleweight division with his first-round knockout over Mark Munoz at UFC Fight Night 30 in London. "The Dragon" returns to the Octagon on Feb. 8 in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil, against Gegard Mousasi, and he needs a win to keep chasing the middleweight title.
"Mousasi is a tough fighter, I’ve seen his fights before and he won titles in other promotions, but I will only focus on his game in my last four or five weeks of camp," Machida said during a Q&A with the fans in Goiania, Brazil on Wednesday.
"He is right below me in the UFC rankings and a win over him would make me achieve even more in this division. But if I lose this fight, it would be complicated. I would fall from fifth place to hell [laughs]," Machida said.
Machida believes he could earn a shot at the middleweight title with a win over Mousasi, a former DREAM and Strikeforce champion who returns to the middleweight division after going 7-1-1 as a light-heavyweight.
"I'm ready (to fight for the title) already, but I have to follow the rankings," he said. "I don’t like to rush things. The right moment will come. I want to keep fighting because it's important for me to keep this rhythm. I want to feel well in this division, this is my place."
Anderson Silva, Machida’s teammate, fights Chris Weidman on Dec. 28 for the middleweight belt at UFC 168, and "The Dragon" doesn’t plan to fight another friend inside the Octagon.
"He said he would never fight me, that we are like brothers," Machida said. "Anderson told me he has other goals, that he was the champion for a long time and he's focused on other goals now, like superfights. He said he would even leave the title to not fight me.
"But we’ll see what happens. I still have to fight Gegard Mousasi in Jaragua do Sul, in February, and I want to think on this fight first. One step at a time."
Singer talks to MTV News about penning two songs on the soundtrack, one for Christina Aguilera.
By Brenna Ehrlich, with reporting by Nadeska Alexis
Singer talks to MTV News about penning two songs on the soundtrack, one for Christina Aguilera.
By Brenna Ehrlich, with reporting by Nadeska Alexis
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 6-Nov-2013
ShareContact: Jessica Eagan
Jessica.W.Eagan@nasa.gov
256-544-3749
NASA/Johnson Space Center
We may not be driving flying cars to work yet, but that doesn't mean we don't have a lot to be excited about from technology advances related to the space age. Instead of zipping past traffic jams, International Space Station-derived robotic capabilities are giving us a fast pass to life-saving surgical techniques with cancer-fighting finesse.
According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 232,340 women and 2,240 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer by the end of 2013 alone. From that, about 39,620 women and 410 men will not survive.
The goal for a team of collaborative researchers with the Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation (CSii) in Canada is to reduce those numbers significantly. They are scheduled to enter an advanced platform into clinical trials this fall for use in the early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
The main player besides the medical staff is a robot. But not just any robot. This one's technology was designed for use aboard the International Space Station by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Researchers created the Image-Guided Autonomous Robot (IGAR) from a long line of computerized heavy lifters and maintenance performers for the space shuttle and space station: CSA's Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dextre. In dealing with breast cancer, IGAR is expected to provide increased access, precision and dexterity, resulting in highly accurate and minimally invasive procedures.
"The IGAR platform moves the use of robotics in surgery to a new dimension, allowing the robot to act in an automated fashion after programming by a physician," said Dr. Mehran Anvari, chief executive officer and scientific director at CSii. "This technology has been practiced in manufacturing and in space, but is new to medicine."
IGAR is designed to work in combination with an MRI scanner, which is highly sensitive to early detection of suspicious breast lesions before they possibly turn into a much larger problem. The radiologist uses specially designed software to tag the potential target and tell IGAR what path to take. The software then helps the radiologist to make sure he or she is accurately hitting the right area. IGAR has a special tool interface that can be used to define adaptors for any needle-based biopsy device or a wide range of instruments that remove body tissue, known in the medical world as needle-based ablation devices.
"Our automated robot is capable of placing the biopsy and ablation tools within 1 mm (about three-tenths of an inch) of the lesion in question with a high degree of targeting accuracy, improving sampling, reducing the morbidity and pain of the procedure, reducing time in the MRI suite and saving significant dollars as a consequence," said Anvari. "It also will allow all radiologists to perform this procedure equally well, regardless of the number of cases per year and move the site of treatment from operation room to radiology suite for a significant number of patients."
The radiologist can operate in the challenging magnetic environment of the MRI, providing access to leading tumor-targeting technology. The robot fits on the patient bed, so it can travel in and out of the MRI opening easily. This in turn simplifies the flow of patients in the department, which can be challenging to many radiologists, optimizing patient time to diagnose.
IGAR removes most of the "manual" aspects of the procedure and reduces user-dependence and the level of training required. This allows for a standard process regardless of experience. An expert will program remotely once the patient is in the MRI suite. A physician will then supervise only to make sure the patient is comfortable and there are no complications, even if he or she has limited knowledge of the procedure.
"I've been teaching MRI-guided breast biopsy for years and there are many steps in the procedure that are operator-dependent," said Dr. Nathalie Duchesne, co-investigator on the clinical study and breast radiologist at the Hospital Saint-Sacrement in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. She will be performing the first of three clinical trials. "These steps may prevent good sampling of the lesions if it's not done properly. I believe IGAR will take care of this. It will subsequently decrease the time of the exam, ensure good sampling and increase patient's comfort during the exam. We think that IGAR will improve sample collection because it will be less operator dependent and it will be constant from one doctor to another, from one patient to the other, from one lesion to the other."
"This technology lays the foundation for a family of telerobotic systems," said Anvari. "It has the potential to change the way we think about performing these interventions and ensures that specialized, highly-trained doctors are focusing on the activities to which their training is best suited. We believe this technology will improve efficiency in the health care system by streamlining clinical workflow and allowing highly-skilled radiologists to extend their care to a wider population through teleoperation."
This robotic technology is not limited only to biopsies. "I think IGAR is paving the way for the minimally-invasive excision and treatment of small tumors that are often found incidentally during pre-op MRI," said Duchesne.
The trend toward breast preservation has brought on the importance of lumpectomies. For tumors that may require this procedure because they are invisible to ultrasound and X-ray mammography, researchers are currently developing the ability for IGAR to deploy a radioactive seed -- smaller than a grain of rice -- near the area of interest. During surgery, the seed can be located with a detector, allowing the doctor to identify the lesion and remove it with increased accuracy and patient comfort. It's expected that follow-up surgeries also will be greatly reduced.
So, from the space station to the ground, robotic arms lend a hand, whether it be to grab an arriving resupply vehicle or to help save more lives.
Sandra Kay Yow, head coach of the North Carolina State Wolfpack women's basketball team from 1975 to 2009 and an advocate of breast cancer awareness, once said before she lost her battle in 2009, "When life kicks you, let it kick you forward." With researchers taking to the International Space Station and then bringing their beneficial technologies back down to help lives on Earth, we are on a journey forward hopefully to one day make cancer history.
###
By Jessica Eagan
International Space Station Program Science Office
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 6-Nov-2013
ShareContact: Jessica Eagan
Jessica.W.Eagan@nasa.gov
256-544-3749
NASA/Johnson Space Center
We may not be driving flying cars to work yet, but that doesn't mean we don't have a lot to be excited about from technology advances related to the space age. Instead of zipping past traffic jams, International Space Station-derived robotic capabilities are giving us a fast pass to life-saving surgical techniques with cancer-fighting finesse.
According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 232,340 women and 2,240 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer by the end of 2013 alone. From that, about 39,620 women and 410 men will not survive.
The goal for a team of collaborative researchers with the Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation (CSii) in Canada is to reduce those numbers significantly. They are scheduled to enter an advanced platform into clinical trials this fall for use in the early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
The main player besides the medical staff is a robot. But not just any robot. This one's technology was designed for use aboard the International Space Station by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Researchers created the Image-Guided Autonomous Robot (IGAR) from a long line of computerized heavy lifters and maintenance performers for the space shuttle and space station: CSA's Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dextre. In dealing with breast cancer, IGAR is expected to provide increased access, precision and dexterity, resulting in highly accurate and minimally invasive procedures.
"The IGAR platform moves the use of robotics in surgery to a new dimension, allowing the robot to act in an automated fashion after programming by a physician," said Dr. Mehran Anvari, chief executive officer and scientific director at CSii. "This technology has been practiced in manufacturing and in space, but is new to medicine."
IGAR is designed to work in combination with an MRI scanner, which is highly sensitive to early detection of suspicious breast lesions before they possibly turn into a much larger problem. The radiologist uses specially designed software to tag the potential target and tell IGAR what path to take. The software then helps the radiologist to make sure he or she is accurately hitting the right area. IGAR has a special tool interface that can be used to define adaptors for any needle-based biopsy device or a wide range of instruments that remove body tissue, known in the medical world as needle-based ablation devices.
"Our automated robot is capable of placing the biopsy and ablation tools within 1 mm (about three-tenths of an inch) of the lesion in question with a high degree of targeting accuracy, improving sampling, reducing the morbidity and pain of the procedure, reducing time in the MRI suite and saving significant dollars as a consequence," said Anvari. "It also will allow all radiologists to perform this procedure equally well, regardless of the number of cases per year and move the site of treatment from operation room to radiology suite for a significant number of patients."
The radiologist can operate in the challenging magnetic environment of the MRI, providing access to leading tumor-targeting technology. The robot fits on the patient bed, so it can travel in and out of the MRI opening easily. This in turn simplifies the flow of patients in the department, which can be challenging to many radiologists, optimizing patient time to diagnose.
IGAR removes most of the "manual" aspects of the procedure and reduces user-dependence and the level of training required. This allows for a standard process regardless of experience. An expert will program remotely once the patient is in the MRI suite. A physician will then supervise only to make sure the patient is comfortable and there are no complications, even if he or she has limited knowledge of the procedure.
"I've been teaching MRI-guided breast biopsy for years and there are many steps in the procedure that are operator-dependent," said Dr. Nathalie Duchesne, co-investigator on the clinical study and breast radiologist at the Hospital Saint-Sacrement in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. She will be performing the first of three clinical trials. "These steps may prevent good sampling of the lesions if it's not done properly. I believe IGAR will take care of this. It will subsequently decrease the time of the exam, ensure good sampling and increase patient's comfort during the exam. We think that IGAR will improve sample collection because it will be less operator dependent and it will be constant from one doctor to another, from one patient to the other, from one lesion to the other."
"This technology lays the foundation for a family of telerobotic systems," said Anvari. "It has the potential to change the way we think about performing these interventions and ensures that specialized, highly-trained doctors are focusing on the activities to which their training is best suited. We believe this technology will improve efficiency in the health care system by streamlining clinical workflow and allowing highly-skilled radiologists to extend their care to a wider population through teleoperation."
This robotic technology is not limited only to biopsies. "I think IGAR is paving the way for the minimally-invasive excision and treatment of small tumors that are often found incidentally during pre-op MRI," said Duchesne.
The trend toward breast preservation has brought on the importance of lumpectomies. For tumors that may require this procedure because they are invisible to ultrasound and X-ray mammography, researchers are currently developing the ability for IGAR to deploy a radioactive seed -- smaller than a grain of rice -- near the area of interest. During surgery, the seed can be located with a detector, allowing the doctor to identify the lesion and remove it with increased accuracy and patient comfort. It's expected that follow-up surgeries also will be greatly reduced.
So, from the space station to the ground, robotic arms lend a hand, whether it be to grab an arriving resupply vehicle or to help save more lives.
Sandra Kay Yow, head coach of the North Carolina State Wolfpack women's basketball team from 1975 to 2009 and an advocate of breast cancer awareness, once said before she lost her battle in 2009, "When life kicks you, let it kick you forward." With researchers taking to the International Space Station and then bringing their beneficial technologies back down to help lives on Earth, we are on a journey forward hopefully to one day make cancer history.
###
By Jessica Eagan
International Space Station Program Science Office
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
