- ‘A Pretty Big Deal’: U.S. Makes COVID-19 Technologies Available for Use in Developing Countries
- Can AI Predict Whether COVID Patients Will Live or Die?
- Georgia: Explore the Black Sea Region where Beaches and Snowy Peaks Collide
- The World’s Plastic Waste has been Mapped from Space for the First Time Ever
- Spectacular World's Longest Suspension Footbridge Opens in Czech Republic-- article with video
- Spain Approves Plans to Become the First European Country to Introduce Paid 'Menstrual Leave'
KMU Weekly: News around the World
Issue 19 - May 23, 2022
‘A Pretty Big Deal’: U.S. Makes COVID-19 Technologies Available for Use in Developing Countries
一件大事：美國讓COVID-19技術可以用於開發中國家
Sciences
The U.S. government has agreed to put licenses for 11 medical technologies developed at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) into a so-called patent pool, a move that promises to make it easier for low- and middle-income countries to gain access to vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics for COVID-19. President Joe Biden made the announcement on May 12 at the Global COVID-19 Summit. The government cut a deal to provide the federally funded inventions with the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO then turns over the licenses to a nonprofit, the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), which negotiates with manufacturers interested in using the technologies to make products that can be sold worldwide. MPP forges deals with drugmakers that allow companies in the least developed countries to pay the lowest royalty fees—and some pay nothing at all.
--from Sciece news
美國政府已同意將美國國立衛生研究院（NIH）開發的11種醫療技術的許可放入所謂的專利池中，此舉允諾使中低收入國家更容易獲得COVID-19的疫苗、藥物和診斷方法。喬．拜登總統5月12日在全球COVID-19峰會上宣布了此消息。政府決議將聯邦政府資助的發明提供予世界衛生組織（WHO）成立的COVID-19技術存取池。世衛組織隨後將許可證移交給非營利組織藥品專利池 （MPP）；MPP與有興趣使用這些技術生產可全球銷售之產品的製造商談判。MPP與製藥商達成協議，同意低開發國家的公司僅支付最低的專利使用費—有些甚至不支付任何費用。
--摘錄翻譯自Science news
Can AI Predict Whether COVID Patients Will Live or Die?
人工智能（AI）可以預測COVID患者將生或死嗎？
Health
A tool has been developed to help healthcare professionals identify hospitalised patients most at risk of dying from COVID-19 using artificial intelligence (AI). The algorithm could help doctors to direct critical care resources to those in most immediate need, which the developers of the AI tool say could be especially valuable to resource-limited countries. And with no end in sight for the coronavirus pandemic, with new variants leading to fresh waves of sickness and hospitalisation, the scientists behind the tool say there is a need for generalised tools like this which can be easily rolled out. They found the algorithm predicted with high accuracy the survival or death of hospitalised patients up to nine days before either outcome occurred.
--from Euronews
一項協助專業醫療照護人員使用人工智能（AI）辨識「最有可能死於 COVID-19的住院患者」的工具已被開發。此工具的電腦算法可以幫助醫生將重症照護資源導向最急需的人，該AI工具的開發人員表示，這對資源有限的國家特別珍貴。由於新冠病毒疫情看似無止盡，新的變種引發新一波的病情和住院治療，支持該工具的科學家表示，需要像這樣可以普及、使用簡便的工具。他們發現，該算法可以在任何結果發生前9天，高度精準地預測住院患者的生死存亡。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews
Georgia: Explore the Black Sea Region where Beaches and Snowy Peaks Collide
喬治亞：探索海灘和雪白山峰交會之黑海區域
Culture
Dive into the diverse landscapes of Adjara and you’ll discover the historical Georgian region is teeming with ancient architectural gems, breathtaking nature and scintillating adventure – not to mention a wine scene that even UNESCO approves of. Situated at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, the “Pearl of the Black Sea” is Georgia’s most up-and-coming tourism destination. And, as global travel ground to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, Adjara was excitedly planning its comeback. Georgia was one of the first European countries to reopen its borders to international tourists. Currently, visitors only need to show a COVID-19 vaccination certificate or a negative PCR test to enter the country. Monuments, monasteries, arch bridges and authentic mountain villages all come together in Adjara, giving tourists 8,000 years’ worth of human history to explore.
--from Euronews
置身阿扎拉自治共和國多樣的地貌，你會發現歷史悠久的喬治亞區域充滿古老的建築瑰寶、驚人的大自然及奇趣的探險，遑論聯合國教科文組織認證的葡萄酒產區景致。坐落於歐亞交界處，「黑海之珠」是喬治亞最新興的旅遊勝地。全球旅遊於疫情期間停頓，阿札拉正興奮地規劃它的回歸。喬治亞是首先對國際遊客重啟國界的歐洲國家之一，遊客現在只需出示COVID-19疫苗接種證明或PCR檢測陰性報告即可入境。紀念碑、修道院、拱橋及正宗山間村落都匯聚在阿札拉，供遊客探索8000年人類歷史價值。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews
The World’s Plastic Waste has been Mapped from Space for the First Time Ever
有史以來第一次自太空繪製出世界上的塑料垃圾分布圖
Sciences
A cutting edge new tool has been created that uses satellites and AI to map thousands of piles of plastic waste from space. Global Plastic Watch can detect plastic waste sites as small as 5 by 5 metres, creating an interactive “living” map of plastic pollution in near real-time. This free, publicly available tool has been developed by Australian non-profit, the Minderoo Foundation. The data gathered is believed to be a world-first, providing a historic insight into one of the planet’s most complex environmental challenges - how to stop plastic from flowing into our oceans.
--from Euronews
一項使用衛星和人工智能從太空來繪製數千堆塑料垃圾分布圖的尖創新工具已被創造出來。Global Plastic Watch系統可以偵測到小至5 x 5米的塑料垃圾場，並近乎同步地創造出互動式「現場」塑料污染地圖。此免費供大眾使用的工具是由澳大利亞非營利組織Minderoo基金會所開發。其收集到的數據被認為是世界首創的，為地球上最複雜的環境挑戰之一「如何阻止塑料流入海洋」提供具歷史意義的見證。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews
Spectacular World's Longest Suspension Footbridge Opens in Czech Republic-- article with video
壯觀的世界最長人行吊橋於捷克共和國正式開放
Culture
Walking from one mountain to another, suspended high above ground with only a vast valley yawning below, isn't for the fainthearted. But thrill-seekers -- and lovers of infrastructure -- will be flocking to the Dolní Morava vacation resort in the northeast of the Czech Republic to scale the new world's longest suspension footbridge. Under construction for the past two years, the 721-meter-long-span (2,365 feet), appropriately named Sky Bridge 721, officially opened on May 13. The walkway promises spectacular views of the cloud-shrouded Jeseníky mountains, and an overall electrifying, albeit slightly terrifying, experience. The 1.2-meter-wide Sky Bridge is open to children of all ages and heights, but is not suitable for people with pushchairs or wheelchairs.
--from CNN news, article with video
從一座山走到另外一座，高懸在空中的吊橋下方只有廣闊的山谷，請膽小者止步。但尋求刺激者與結構設施愛好者會蜂擁至捷克共和國東北部的Dolní Morava度假勝地，以體驗現今世界最長的人行吊橋。歷經兩年的建設，這座長721米（2365英尺）的吊橋，被貼切地命名為「天空之橋721」（Sky Bridge 721），於5月13日正式開放。在走道上保證能飽覽雲霧繚繞的Jeseníky山脈壯麗美景，並獲得「儘管有點可怕卻令人悸動」的體驗。1.2米寬的吊橋對所有年齡及身高的孩童開放，但不適合嬰兒車或輪椅使用者。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN news，原文含影片
Spain Approves Plans to Become the First European Country to Introduce Paid 'Menstrual Leave'
西班牙通過法案，成為歐洲第一個實施帶薪生理假的國家
Health
Spain's government has greenlit plans to allow women to take unlimited paid "menstrual leave" from work, in a European first. Under the agreed plans, women would need to obtain a doctor's note, with leave being paid by the country's social security system from their first day off work. Worldwide, menstrual leave is currently offered only in a small number of countries including Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea and Zambia. According to the Spanish Gynaecology and Obstetrics Society, around a third of women who menstruate suffer from severe pain known as dysmenorrhea. Symptoms include acute abdominal pain, diarrhoea, headaches and fever.
--from Euronews
西班牙政府已經通過法案，允許女性無限制申請帶薪「生理假」，此為歐洲首見。根據通過的法案，女性需要取得醫生證明，則自請假第一天起的薪資，便由該國的社會安全系統支付。放眼全球，目前僅有少數幾個國家有生理假，包括日本、臺灣、印尼、南韓和尚比亞。根據西班牙婦產科學會的數據，大約三分之一的婦女在經期間會受嚴重經痛所折磨，症狀包括急性下腹痛、腹瀉、頭痛和發燒。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews