These word-of-mouth statements are almost consistent with information from the US Senate hearing on a request to fund NASA with a figure of $ 585 million to invest in nuclear-powered propulsion technology in the fiscal year 2022. and other American efforts in this area. This means that Russia’s space nuclear energy program is not only for technical purposes, but also for geopolitical purposes. Russia’s current program has its roots in the Soviet era. The Soviet Union launched a total of 33 military satellites with the function of spying and targeting targets equipped with nuclear reactors into low orbit around the Earth from 1969 to 1988. Most of these satellites used reactors. Buk type nuclear power generation reactor, only 2 of them using advanced thermal electron furnace NPP Topaz with generating capacity from 4.5 to 5.5 kW, however, this project was suspended in 1986 . In the early 1990s, a Russian-American cooperation project aimed at continuing the development of the Topaz furnace, but this project was suspended in 1995. In the period 2000-2007, Russia also tried to find ways to cooperate with China. Nation in this field. Despite the economic decline for a long time, Moscow has been trying to continue its independent efforts in the field of the use of nuclear energy in space since 1998, and during the time of President Dmitry Medvedev in power, the This effort has been identified as a key priority for the Kremlin. The budget for this program of Russia for the period 2010-2018 is 17 billion rubles, divided between Roscosmos 9.8 billion rubles and Rosatom 7.2 billion rubles, equivalent to $560 million in 2010 exchange rates. However, the actual disbursement figure is much smaller. In 2010, only 500 million rubles ($16.5 million) were allocated for this purpose. Over the next decade, total disbursements reached nearly 10 billion rubles ($213 million), according to public information from Roscosmos and Rosatom. The results of these efforts have not been as successful as they initially suggested. For example, the technical requirements of the proposed product are an outer space nuclear reactor with a capacity of 1 MW of electricity and an ion thruster with a capacity of 50 kW. However, the reality shows that Russia is currently only developing nuclear power generation systems YaEU-25M, YaEU-25 and YaEU-50 with a generating capacity of 10-40 kW and propulsion using ionic force. 25 kW. At present, perhaps Russia is just stopping at the computational model run for more powerful reactors and engines. For comparison, NASA is still trying to design a 10 kW outer space nuclear reactor with a Stirling engine for the purpose of increasing efficiency, currently Russia is still revolving around the thermal electron model, and the problem of using Using engines or turbines in combination with reactors is still only a theory. It is hard to believe that Russia will design a nuclear reactor in space with a generating capacity of 1 MW or ion propulsion engines with a larger capacity in the near future. Anyway, Moscow is still trying to turn the results achieved into advanced applications in long-distance space travel or foreign politics. Due to a decline in space research activities in other sub-sectors, coupled with economic weakness, these problems have prompted the Kremlin to look for another trump card. While the development of nuclear reactors for space exploration is far from complete, the Russian government as well as industry is currently looking for the application of nuclear reactors to satellites. military. These satellites can be used for radar reconnaissance or electronic warfare (for example jamming) when they are deployed in low, mid or geostationary orbits. However, no tests of such satellites have yet been conducted, meaning Moscow is not ready to field such satellites in the near future. In addition, the promotion of nuclear-powered spacecraft could be used by Russian space and nuclear industry units as a tool to apply for funding, to promote a slow and risky research program. this. For its part, the Kremlin is still trying to blur its true purpose. They came up with the “Strategy for the development of nuclear energy in space by 2030 in 2019, and issued relevant policies for the first time in 1998. Even if Russian military satellites are used by Russian military satellites. Nuclear power appeared in 2030, it also did not bring about significant changes in the technical and military fields. However, Moscow is still trying to polish it as a tool to help shift political supremacy. First, Russia has consistently supported the ban on placing weapons in outer space. Second, Russia will not be able to stand in the forefront of space technology without cooperating with other countries in the field, so Russian leaders see nuclear technology in space as a way to develop. cooperation, even in times of growing hostility in the West. The Russian SPT-100 series Ion Thruster has been used on satellites since 1994.

When the Covid-19 pandemic first broke out, the vaccine was still just a ray of light at the end of the tunnel. The term “community immunity” is to denote the end of the epidemic. Community immunity means that when enough Americans are protected from the virus, the pathogen is eliminated, New York Times said. Today, more than half of all adults in the United States receive at least one dose of the vaccine. But vaccination rates are declining, and there is consensus among scientists and public health experts that public immunity cannot be achieved, at least in the near future, and perhaps never. hours. They came to the conclusion that the virus could become a controllable threat that will continue to spread in the US for many years to come. It still causes flare-ups with hospitalizations and deaths, but on a smaller scale. Depends on the strain’s ability of the virus How much smaller future outbreaks will be and the number of cases and deaths is uncertain. It depends on how many countries in the world are vaccinated, and more importantly, how the virus evolved. Viruses are evolving too quickly. The new strains spread very quickly. Meanwhile, the immunization speed is too slow. That makes the expectation of community immunity even more distant. The United States is one of the countries with the highest rates of Covid-19 vaccination in the world. Photo: New York Times. Experts believe that vaccinating high-risk groups will be crucial to limit the size of new outbreaks. “The virus is unlikely to go away, but we are doing all we can to see if it is likely to cause only mild infections,” said Rustom Antia, an evolutionary biologist at Emory University in Atlanta, USA. said. To date, experts still cannot be sure what percentage of the population has anti-Covid-19 antibodies. Even for people with antibodies, experts cannot be sure of their immunity to new strains. Dr Anthony S. Fauci, the leading adviser to the Joe Biden administration on Covid-19, admits the change in thinking among experts. “We stopped using the term community immunity. I said, vaccinate a sufficient number of people, the level of infection will drop,” he said. Why is community immunity difficult to achieve When the corona virus begins to spread globally in early 2020, many experts believe that public immunity is the key to escaping the pandemic. That is when enough people have acquired immunity, including through natural infection or vaccination, when the virus will run out of people to infect and go away on its own. 30% of the US population is reluctant to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: New York Times. The concept of public immunity has become a tacit target in many countries, including the United States. Initially, the threshold for achieving public immunity is 60-70% of the infected population. Most experts, including Dr. Fauci, believe that the United States can achieve public immunity before vaccines become available. But when the vaccine started to be distributed, this threshold estimate began to increase. Initial estimates were made based on the spread of the original virus. Variant B.117 – first discovered in the UK – was up to 60% more infectious than the original strain. Experts estimate the new threshold to 80%. If new strains continue to grow and spread, or if scientists find vaccinated people can still transmit the virus, the threshold calculation may need to be revised again. In addition, recent polls show that about 30% of the US population is afraid to be vaccinated. “Theoretically we could get an immunization rate of 90% of the population, but in reality it’s very difficult,” said Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. While vaccination resistance is the main reason why the United States cannot achieve public immunity, it is not the main reason. Community immunity is often seen as a national target, but it’s a vague concept in a country as large as the United States. On a global scale, this possibility becomes even more distant. Immunization is still the key Dr. David M. Morens, senior advisor to Dr. Fauci, said community immunity can vary with population size, human behavior and many other factors. A small outbreak in a low vaccination area could spill over and hit an area where the majority of the population was vaccinated. Immunization remains the key to dealing with the epidemic. Photo: New York Times. At the same time, the connections between the countries of the world, especially when the travel restriction is reduced, underscores the urgency of protection, not only for Americans but for other countries as well. Any new strain of Covid-19 that arises in the world will eventually come to America. At that time, the vaccination rate is the decisive factor for the protection level of the community with the new strains. Many parts of the world lag far behind the United States in immunization. Less than 2% of Indians are vaccinated and less than 1% in South Africa, according to data New York Times . “We will not achieve public immunity as nations, states, even cities, until we have immunity in all populations,” Lauren Ancel Says Meyers, director of the Covid Modeling Organization, University of Texas. By focusing on vaccinating the most at-risk groups, the US has reduced its mortality rate compared to before. If vaccination rates continue to increase over time, the corona virus may become seasonal, similar to the flu. The biggest challenge facing health professionals is convincing people to vaccinate. Many Americans remain skeptical of the vaccine’s effectiveness. Another group lacked access to vaccines, such as homeless people, migrant workers, or certain communities of color. That makes the goal of achieving community immunity even more difficult. The mentality of the vast majority of people is that they want to see someone else embrace something, before they’re willing to try it. Emphasizing the benefits of vaccination may become more effective than the fictional idea of ​​herd immunity. “That will resonate with people more than the elusive concept that experts are still trying to come up with,” said Mary Politi, a specialist in health and health communication, University of Washington. Experts also recommend increasing vaccination rates for children, even babies. Because over time, if there aren’t enough people vaccinated, new strains can develop and disrupt the vaccine’s ability to protect itself.

“Coming back in April, the wind sings in summer. There are such blue horizons. The clouds are far away and the sun is far away ”… It is the hum in the soul of music lovers from Duong Thu’s song. April is the time when you feel spring waving for the last time on the sunny horizon, farewell the green color of leaves, clouds, wind … already dark green, hard, and the flower buds bear fruit to wait for the day to ripen … Spring is gone. The glorious summer was at a glance with all but full of sunshine and wind, with the resounding holy showers and thundering thunder. Yellow gerbera. April brings us many hopes and dreams of a burning summer. It is no coincidence that the students all looked up at the arch of the phoenix, watching the bunches of phoenixes that were about to burn a fiery red fire like a youthful soul. Summer is really the season of youth, the season of aspirations, but the moment of changing season still has things to do with … and that shows in this green April. In recent years, when April comes, when the phoenix has not yet bloomed, the yellow flowers have glittered everywhere like a sunny season has come. In Hanoi, people take lilies as the April messenger of nature. The pure, pure white lilies made the season of April more emotional. Heaven and earth is like that, but nature is not equal to the human soul. It is people with anxious love, full of emotions that make up a green April of life. Green April will lead us to a summer of love to come. Green April has returned, with the sea lover, always go to the sea to watch the new waves every day fading, white and creepy of the cold season, now turning deep blue to the end of the horizon of white clouds. In April, there was no feeling and concept of spring and summer, thanks to poetic music that has created such a lovely moment. Human souls and eyes have made a poetic green April flutter. Duong Trang Huong

This article’s Professor and Doctor of Dermatology Duong Hy Xuyen (China) talk about the history of leprosy and the miracles that humans have fought to overcome this evil disease.

When you hear the word “leprosy”, what comes to mind first?

“Phong Village” is forgotten

Without a doubt, most people have this idea first in mind.

This is a somewhat frightening and remote topic, this bizarre disease has been too distant for us in the 21st century, far enough away to be forgotten.

Fifty years ago, hundreds of thousands of shunned leprosy people were still living in China, now it is hard to see them. The miserable patients are inherently seen as symbols of sin: leprosy and death are equated.

Leprosy is a chronic bacterial illness that can be written as leprosy, but it has nothing to do with madness. Perhaps to avoid such misunderstandings, this disease is often referred to as “leprosy”.

But everyone’s association with it is not only madness, but also represents bright red eyes, short fingers, festering wounds, amputated feet, distorted appearance and even death. miserable.

For thousands of years, leprosy has been considered an evil disease, even a symbol of evil, and under the tragic fate of leprosy patients, they continue to be tortured both physically and mentally, This is beyond our imagination.

In the old era, when medical technology was limited, medical equipment was scarce, leprosy was basically determined to be incurable since it had regionally contagious properties, the only way to Control of fluid growth is isolating the patient.

So, on the mountain, on an isolated island, a group of leprosy villages were built so that the sick lived there. There is no specific medicine or vaccine, and untreated self-resisting patients will continue to develop ulcers and disfigurement until they become paralyzed or even die.

Over time, people misunderstood, dispelled, and feared it, and the “scary” Phong was now a trademark of terror.

The end of the leprosy era

The leprosy history is long, stretching for 1400 years, like an endless nightmare.

It was not until 1874 that the Norwegian physician Hansen (GerhardH.A.Hansen) broke the darkness that he discovered the culprit – the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae.

Symptoms caused by Mycobacterium leprosy bacteria are manifested in the skin, peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract and eyes, if not treated promptly can lead to blindness or deformity, disability and other consequences.

In other words, once leprosy is found, the disability rate will be very high. However, if the disability is detected early and treated promptly, the disability can be cured.

In current medical conditions, leprosy is already an easy-to-diagnose and treatable disease, currently in clinical use mainly a combination of many drugs and chemotherapy treatments, which can cure leprosy. Within 6-24 months, the contagiousness of the disease may disappear after a week of taking the drug.

Usually, if the patient unfortunately gets the disease, the patient does not need to have negative psychology and bewildered when treating this disease, on the one hand it will not be inherited, on the other hand, the survival rate of bacteria in vitro is low.

Generally, they can be destroyed by disinfection, most people have natural immunity (according to survey statistics with 90% or more), extremely low incidence, when infected. Nor does it need isolation, just treatment.

Darkness has long passed, the era when leprosy is “incurable disease” has been shortened by history. At present, there are basically few new cases, there is no so-called “leprosy village”, only more than 3,000 elderly people in community rehabilitation villages have survived the disease, but have also incapable of working, still facing sequelae.

Leprosy is not terrible

Although leprosy is rare, but because it is very similar to the symptoms of other diseases, it is possible to misdiagnose or omit the disease, so the prevention and treatment cannot be relaxed.

On the other hand, leprosy is a disease with a dark history. Even modern people will still have a lack of sympathy towards patients with fear of leprosy, which has become the biggest obstacle to leprosy prevention today.

So sometimes, it is not the terminal illness, but the hearts of people. Of course, society is not without action.

The last Sunday of January every year is “World leprosy Day”, many countries will organize many activities on this day to mobilize social forces to help leprosy patients overcome difficulties in their life. live and work to eliminate prejudice and discrimination.

There are also many volunteers entering the rehabilitation village, sharing, chatting, even eating, living together, giving care, warm care and making their best contributions. can.

The original purpose of writing this article was to hope everyone to have a correct understanding of leprosy, not to be bound by inherent impressions of the past. Leprosy is not as formidable and frightening as we can imagine. It can be seen from a scientific perspective, it will reduce the superficial evaluation and alienate the patient.

• According to The Paper