Posted by Joseph Brouwer | Apr 27, 2021
Earlier this year, efforts to unionize China’s seven million food-delivery drivers were battered by the arrests of Chen Guojiang, or “Mengzhu” to his thousands of social media followers, and a host of other prominent labor leaders. Drivers and couriers work long, dangerous hours and receive dismal pay, if they receive pay at all an Ele.me courier’s self immolation over unpaid wages went viral in January. At Labor Notes earlier this month, Karl Hu wrote about
Chen set up 16 chat groups on the popular Chinese social media app WeChat, reaching about 15,000 delivery workers over the last two years. A public Delivery Riders Alliance channel which he operates on the app provides free legal consultations and various kinds of assistance to delivery workers. This has included mediating disputes with restaurants and security guards, towing and repairs of motorbikes, negotiations with insurance companies, and even providing free or cheap accomm
Thailand projects lens effectiveness in slowing myopia progression
Thailand projects lens effectiveness in slowing myopia progression 28 April 2021 | News
Image credit- Hoya Vision
Thailand based HOYA Vision Care has shared the results of a three-year follow-up clinical study on its award winning MiYOSMART spectacle lens with patented Defocus Incorporated Multiple Segments (D.I.M.S.) Technology after releasing the information at the recent European Academy of Optometry and Optics (EAOO) 21 conference.
The new study, published in March 2021 in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, was conducted by the Centre for Myopia Research at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and follows-up on the two-year study which previously demonstrated evidence of the effectiveness of the lens in slowing down the progression of myopia in children ages 8-13.
Bacteria could âtrapâ microplastic and stop it polluting the ocean 28 Apr 2021
Microplastics pose a major risk to food chains and human health (Credit: Shutterstock) Bacteria could trap microplastic particles and prevent them from polluting the ocean, the developers of a new technique have said.
Developed by researcher Yang Liu and colleagues at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the method uses bacterial biofilms – a sticky substance created by micro-organisms – to trap microplastic particles. The biofilm is then processed and dispersed, releasing the plastic for processing and recycling.
Microplastics pose a major risk to food chains and human health. Smaller than 5mm in diameter, they enter the environment from a number of sources, including breakdown of larger plastic pieces, washing of synthetic clothes, breakdown of car tyres and plastic waste directly from industry.
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Today at the Microbiology Society s Annual Conference, Yang Liu, researcher at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, will discuss a new technique to trap and recover microplastics.
The method uses bacterial biofilms, a sticky substance created by micro-organisms, to trap microplastic particles. The biofilm is then processed and dispersed, releasing the microplastic particles for processing and recycling.
Liu and colleagues used the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa to capture microplastics in a bioreactor. This species of bacteria is found in all environments and has previously been shown to colonise microplastics in the environment.
P. aeruginosa biofilms cause the microplastics to aggregate together, eventually causing them to sink. In bioreactors, this makes the microplastics more convenient to collect, according to Liu. Once the microplastics were captured by the biofilms and had sunk to the bottom of the reactor, the researchers used a biofilm-dispersal gene, which
First Thing: Joe Biden unveils plan to overhaul US social infrastructure Molly Blackall
Good morning.
The White House has announced a $.18tn plan to overhaul the US’s social infrastructure, from childcare, to education and health. Key aspects of the American Families Plan include:
A national childcare programme.
Health insurance subsidies.
Tax cuts for low and middle-income workers.
A national family leave program – the US is the only wealthy nation that does not have a federal policy for paid maternity leave, and is one of very few that does not offer paid paternity leave.
The proposal would be funded by undoing Donald Trump’s tax cuts for the wealthy and closing their tax loopholes, and by increasing the capital gains rate for millionaires and billionaires.