US, Vietnam to Cooperate on Agent Orange Damage

By Matt Steinglass Hanoi 26 June 2007

Download

When Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet met United States President George Bush in Washington last week, they announced new efforts to tackle the damage caused by Agent Orange. Although the countries agreed victims of Agent Orange need help, scientists are still arguing over how harmful the chemical defoliant really was. Matt Steinglass has more from Hanoi.

A group of boys play together at a center for Agent Orange victims in Danang, Vietnam (File)

Vietnam claims about three million of its citizens suffer health problems stemming from Agent Orange, which U.S. forces sprayed on Vietnamese jungles during the Vietnam War. The defoliant contained high levels of the toxic chemical dioxin.

For many years, the United States rejected Vietnamese appeals for compensation for these victims, saying claims that diseases were caused by Agent Orange were not supported scientifically.

But recently, the U.S. has increased funding for medical aid to people with disabilities in Vietnam, and the U.S. Congress has appropriated $3 million for cleanup and treatment of dioxin-related illnesses.

Tom Leckinger, Hanoi representative of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, is pleased.

"I've been involved with Agent Orange literally since like the late '70s [1970s]," he said. "It has moved more in the past two years than it had in the entire the decades prior to that."

At a recent workshop in Hanoi, the U.S. Department of Defense presented Vietnam's Defense Ministry with an exhaustive two-year study showing how much Agent Orange had been stored and sprayed, and where.

Nathan Sage, environment officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development in Hanoi, says such cooperation is part of the countries' increasingly friendly relationship.

"The level of cooperation on this issue has never been better," said Sage. "And we will continue to support them because they asked for the assistance."

Leckinger says attitudes began to shift in late 2005, when a study by a chemical analysis firm, Hatfield Consultants, showed high levels of dioxin contamination on former U.S. bases where Agent Orange was stored, but no contamination in the countryside.

"I believe that freed up the Vietnamese government to finally come forward and say, 'Now we have to address this,' without being concerned about export issues, agricultural and seafood exports," he said.

It also reassured the U.S. that assistance could focus on cleaning up dioxin "hot spots" near former U.S. bases.

Although the governments are cooperating, the scientists still often disagree on how much Agent Orange-related dioxin is in Vietnam, and what the health effects are.

U.S. scientist Alvin Young has been studying Agent Orange since the early 1970s. He says the Hatfield data on dioxin in the central Vietnamese city of Danang, is misleading.

He says much of the dioxin, or "TCDD", that Hatfield found might have come from other sources. Young points to Hatfield's discovery of dioxin in the Vietnamese city of Can Tho, which he says probably came from the open-air burning of trash at a municipal dump.

"My conclusion: it is highly unlikely that Hatfield Consultants detected TCDD from Agent Orange," Young said.

Dr. Le Ke Son, head of the Vietnamese Red Cross's Agent Orange victims program, disagrees. He says he has found clusters of birth defects near Agent Orange storage sites.

Son notes that the U.S. government has recently set aside money to help Agent Orange victims. He says Vietnam appreciates this as a sign that the U.S. sees the problem from a new angle.

For three years, a group of Vietnamese Agent Orange victims has been suing the U.S. manufacturers of the defoliant. The suit was dismissed in 2005, but the Vietnamese appealed and argued their case in New York last week.

Leckinger of the Vietnam Veterans Group says that, even if the suit is reinstated, compensation is a long way off.

"I would bet a month's salary we're looking at 10 years before this thing would come even close to a trial," he said. "So to be implying that there's some level of compensation in any near future time-frame is simply raising people's hopes falsely."

Even if some American scientists still do not accept how serious the damage from Agent Orange was, the U.S. and Vietnamese governments are cooperating to help some of those who Vietnam says are victims. For those long involved in the issue, that counts as progress.

US General Warns Against Early Withdrawal from Iraq

By Al Pessin Pentagon 25 June 2007

Download

A senior American officer involved in training Iraq's new security forces is warning against putting too much responsibility on those forces too quickly, as pressure grows in the United States for the start of a withdrawal of U.S. troops. The officer spoke from Baghdad to reporters at the Pentagon Monday and VOA's Al Pessin reports.

Brigadier General Dana Pittard

As coalition forces move to clear insurgent strongholds like Diyala Province, north of Baghdad, as part of the new 10-day old offensive, the plan is for Iraqi forces to take over and maintain security in those areas. But as he nears the end of a year-long assignment running a training program for the Iraqi Army and police, Brigadier General Dana Pittard issued this warning on Monday.

"It will take time, and we've really got to be careful," the general said.

General Pittard, who was an operational commander in Diyala two years ago, says he was saddened during a visit the provincial capital Baquba, early Monday, when he saw many of the development projects he worked on lying in shambles.

He says that happened, and the province became an insurgent stronghold again, because coalition commanders moved too quickly to withdraw their own forces at the beginning of last year and handed security responsibility to the new, and unprepared, Iraqi forces. The result, he said, is nearly 10,000 U.S. forces are back in the province, working with the Iraqi Army to regain control.

"The lesson learned is, do not move our force structure down too quickly," he said. "Do not draw down too quickly when we think there is a glimmer of success. It will take time. It will take time for the Iraqi security forces to be able to take over from our forces."

Still, General Pittard says the Iraqi forces will eventually be able to take control, if they are given the time to develop the skills, leadership and logistical infrastructure they need. He says that could take "a couple of years" in some areas like Diyala. But he says in many parts of the country Iraqi forces should be able to take responsibility by next spring, as a more senior American general indicated last week.

"Oh, it is realistic in many areas in Iraq," the general said. "But in Diyala Province, the way it is right now it will take some time. It will take a coalition force presence there, partnered with the fifth Iraqi Army division and the Iraqi police to provide lasting stability so that the provincial government can then take control."

General Pittard noted, in particular, progress in the Iraqi National Police, which was heavily infiltrated by militia elements. He says a new national commander replaced several key officers, and entire units were taken out of their stations for a month-long retraining program.

The general says the Iraqi Army is also improving, and has shown a willingness to fight that was not always present in the past. The army has had more training than the police force, but General Pittard says even the army needs "years" to build its capabilities and leadership.

Even next spring is longer than many Americans and members of congress want to wait before starting to withdraw some of the 155,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The congress is demanding a progress report on the new Iraq security plan by September, and many members want a U.S. troop withdrawal to begin shortly afterward. General Pittard appealed for patience.

VOASE0625_Science In the News

25 June 2007

Safety Concerns Put Pressure on US Food and Drug Officials, Congress
The Senate recently approved a bill that would expand the power of the Food and Drug Administration to enforce drug safety. The House of Representatives is also considering a drug safety bill.

Download
Download

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. This week, we tell about America's Food and Drug Administration.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the federal government. The agency enforces the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and several other public health laws.

The pain medicine Vioxx was removed from the market in 2004 after a study showed it increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The F.D.A. is responsible for the safety of most food products and medicines. It guarantees that medical devices and biological products are safe and effective. It also guarantees the safety of beauty products and the country’s blood supply.

The F.D.A. supervises feed and drugs given to animals in the United States. It also is responsible for labeling -- the information included with products. All labels describing substances in a product must be truthful.

VOICE TWO:

The F.D.A. has about nine thousand employees. They supervise the manufacture, import, transport, storage and sale of about one million million dollars worth of products each year. This amount represents one-fourth of all money spent by Americans each year.

The agency makes rules for almost ninety thousand businesses in the United States. F.D.A. investigators inspect more than sixteen thousand manufacturing centers and farms each year. The investigators make sure that products are made correctly and labeled truthfully. Often, they will collect products for label inspections or testing by F.D.A. scientists.

VOICE ONE:

The Food and Drug Administration has several choices if a company is found violating any of the laws the agency enforces. F.D.A. officials can urge the company to correct the problem. Or, they can legally remove, or recall, a bad product from the marketplace.

In addition, F.D.A. investigators will seize products if they appear to fail requirements for public use. About thirty thousand shipments of imported goods are seized at American ports every year.

VOICE TWO:

The federal government has not always been responsible for the quality of food and medicines in the United States. In the nineteenth century, individual states were generally responsible for the safety of locally-made food and drugs.

Then, Americans began pressuring the federal government to protect resources and set safety rules. The Bureau of Chemistry was made responsible for the food and drug supply. The chief chemist at the Bureau was Harvey Wiley. For more than twenty years, he called for a federal law to protect the public from unsafe foods.

VOICE ONE:

Finally, in nineteen-oh-six, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Food and Drugs Act into law. The measure became known as the Wiley Act. It banned the transport and sale of unclean or falsely labeled foods, drinks and drugs.

In nineteen twenty-seven, the Bureau of Chemistry was made into two separate agencies. One was the Food, Drug and Insecticide Administration. Later, its name was changed to the Food and Drug Administration. Today, the F.D.A. is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Since the Wiley Act, Congress has passed other laws to help the Food and Drug Administration carry out its work. Yet, it has become harder for the F.D.A. to control medicines within the past few years. One reason is off-label prescriptions. This is when doctors prescribe, or direct, patients to take medicines for unapproved uses.

For example, some patients have been given antibiotic drugs to treat viruses, or anti-depression medicines for pain. It is not uncommon for a drug to effectively treat more than one health disorder. Yet, the F.D.A. usually approves drugs to treat only one disorder.

VOICE ONE:

A recent study investigated the use of off-label drugs in the United States. The Archives for Internal Medicine reported on the investigation.

Researchers studied information about the drugs most prescribed by American doctors in two thousand one. They found that twenty-one percent of those prescriptions were meant to treat medical conditions for which the drugs lacked F.D.A. approval. About three of every four of the prescriptions were for medical conditions for which there were little evidence of the drug’s safety or effectiveness.

VOICE TWO:

Off-label prescriptions are legal. Yet, they carry unknown risks. Several thousand Americans are believed to become very sick every year after taking drugs for unapproved uses.

Some officials blame drug manufacturers for the rise in off-label prescribing. Sales people representing drug makers give free supplies of their products to doctors. The doctors then give them to patients without knowing all the effects the drugs will have.

VOICE ONE:

The F.D.A. does not directly test drugs before approving them for public use. Instead, it depends on drug manufacturers to prove the safety of their medicines. The manufacturers often negotiate with medical schools or private groups to carry out tests. Drug companies reportedly pay millions of dollars to researchers for their results.

The companies argue that they own the information because they paid for the tests. Yet, drug makers often are accused of only reporting findings that make their medicines look good. That means the public may never know about tests that find a drug useless or even dangerous.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The drug industry gives the Food and Drug Administration millions of dollars every year to speed the approval of medicines. Congress reached this agreement in the nineteen-nineties. Yet, critics say this situation makes it difficult for the F.D.A. to effectively supervise drug companies.

The F.D.A. has also faced trouble with some drugs it approved. In two thousand four, drug maker Merck announced a worldwide withdrawal of its pain medicine Vioxx. Merck acted after a study showed that Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

VOICE ONE:

Recently, more questions have been raised about the drug approval process. Researchers in the American state of Ohio reported last month that a drug commonly used to treat diabetes might increase the risk of heart attacks. About seven million people worldwide use the drug, Avandia. Its manufacturer is GlaxoSmithKline.

The report led to a congressional investigation into why the F.D.A. had delayed warnings about Avandia. Officials with the agency had suggested stronger safety warnings for the drug last year. But only recently did the head of the F.D.A. call for stronger warnings for Avandia and a similar diabetes drug, Actos. He also said the agency is examining conflicting studies of Avandia to fully establish its effects on patients.

VOICE TWO:

The Vioxx and Avandia incidents have intensified congressional concerns about the effectiveness of the F.D.A. Last month, the Senate approved a bill that would expand the power of the agency to enforce drug safety.

The bill would give the F.D.A. power to control advertisements and restrict the use of medicines found to increase health risks. The bill would also give the agency power to order changes in labeling. Drug companies currently can delay changes on their labels for months.

VOICE ONE:

The Senate bill would expand the F.D.A.’s ability to require manufacturers to study the safety of medicines after they have been approved. It also would force them to publicly list drug tests and their results. This kind of government-operated list would make it difficult for companies to hide evidence of safety problems.

Parts of the Senate bill are supported in the House of Representatives. Political observers say a drug safety bill is likely to become law later this year.

VOICE TWO:

Some people believe the F.D.A. needs to improve its rules for food safety. Millions of Americans become sick each year after eating unclean food or products containing harmful substances.

Public health concerns increased earlier this year when food products from China sickened and killed some animals in the United States. The products contained an industrial chemical, melamine. Several members of Congress have proposed creation of a single agency responsible for food safety.

VOICE ONE:

These are just some of the issues facing the Food and Drug Administration. The agency is expected to deal with these and other concerns in the months to come.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Jill Moss. Brianna Blake was our producer. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again at this time next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE0625_Agriculture Report

25 June 2007

Growing Rice and a Cholera Vaccine at the Same Time
Researchers experiment with a plant-based way to protect against the intestinal infection and possibly other diseases.

Download
Download

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Someday, rice plants might not only provide food but also a way to prevent cholera and other diseases.

Cholera is a bacterial infection of the intestines. Today it is found mostly in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Current vaccines to protect against cholera must be kept in cold storage. The need for refrigeration limits use in poor countries.

But research in Japan may lead to rice plants that contain a cholera vaccine that does not need to be kept cold. So far, the research has been carried out only on mice. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States published the study earlier this month.

Hiroshi Kiyono of the University of Tokyo and his team experimented with genetic material from the bacterium responsible for cholera. They placed it into the Kitaake rice plant.

Mice ate the genetically changed rice seeds as a powder. The report says the vaccine was not destroyed by stomach acid; instead, the animals developed antibodies against the cholera toxin. The scientists say the vaccine remained active even after being stored at room temperature for more than a year and a half.

People would take the vaccine as a drug that contains the powder.

Cholera is usually spread through water or food, in places where conditions are dirty and drinking water supplies are unsafe. Cholera infections are often mild. But some people develop severe cases. The World Health Organization says half of them will die if they are not treated.

The researchers say the experimental cholera vaccine produced reactions in the immune system and in areas of mucosal tissue. Mucosal surfaces include the mouth, nose and reproductive organs. Cholera as well as viruses like those that cause influenza and AIDS infect these areas.

The scientists have great hopes for rice-based vaccines as a way to protect large populations against mucosal infections. There would be no need for injection, since the vaccine would be taken by mouth.

Yet scientists have tried for some time to make plant-based vaccines. Researchers in the United States have developed one for Newcastle disease in chickens, but so far there are no products for humans. At the same time, scientists have to deal with concerns about genetically engineered plants accidentally mixing with food crops.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson.

VOASE0624_This Is America

24 June 2007

Valerie Wilson Has a Story to Tell and a Book to Sell, if CIA Will Let Her
How the CIA leak case led to a prison sentence for a former top official in the Bush administration. Also, a visit to the Sisterhood of Spies area at the International Spy Museum.

Download
Download

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Barbara Klein. Our subject this week is women in the spy business.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Valerie Wilson before a US congressional committee

Her husband calls her "Jane Bond." Valerie Plame Wilson may not exactly be as famous as the imaginary British secret agent James Bond. But public attention in what became known as the C.I.A. leak case brought an end to her career in the Central Intelligence Agency.

Valerie Wilson has sold her life story for a Hollywood movie project. And she has written a book about her twenty years in the C.I.A. "Fair Game" is supposed to be published in October. But the C.I.A. has moved to block its release.

The agency objects to her listing her dates of service. Officially, they remain classified information even though her employment dates were made public last year by mistake.

VOICE TWO:

At the end of May, Valerie Wilson and her publisher brought a civil action over the issue of the dates. The lawsuit accuses the C.I.A. of violating her constitutional right of free speech. It says the C.I.A. demands that large parts of her work be removed or rewritten to hide her government service before two thousand two.

Valerie Wilson says the issue is politics. The C.I.A. says the issue is national security.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

People have seen the former operative on television, in newspapers and across the pages of magazines. Some people criticize Valerie Wilson and her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, calling them attention-seekers. But it was unwanted attention that "outed" her as a C.I.A. officer.

Newspaper columnist Robert Novak wrote about her in July of two thousand three. It happened a week after her husband criticized the Bush administration over the Iraq war.

VOICE TWO:

Joseph Wilson had written in the New York Times about a trip he made to Niger in two thousand two. The C.I.A. sent the retired diplomat to investigate a British intelligence report that Iraq had tried to buy yellowcake uranium from Africa. The material can be used to make nuclear weapons.

Joseph Wilson said he did not find any evidence. He suggested that some intelligence was misused to overstate the threat from Iraq's nuclear weapons program and justify an invasion.

VOICE ONE:

After his article appeared, officials within the administration told reporters that Valerie Wilson worked for the C.I.A. The C.I.A. says her employment at that time was classified information.

President Bush ordered an investigation into the leak. No one was ever charged with the crime of identifying an undercover operative. But the investigation led to charges against the top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby

Lewis Libby, also known as Scooter Libby, resigned when he was charged in October of two thousand five. He said in court that he was not guilty.

But in March of this year, after five weeks of trial, a federal jury found him guilty of lying to investigators in an effort to subvert justice. The jury found that he lied about what he had discussed with three reporters concerning Valerie Wilson's employment at the C.I.A.

VOICE TWO:

On June fifth, Judge Reggie Walton sentenced him to thirty months in prison and a fine of two hundred fifty thousand dollars. The judge later ruled that Lewis Libby cannot remain free while his lawyers appeal the case. He may go to prison in several weeks.

His lawyers say he did not purposely make false statements. They say he could not remember details because he had national security concerns on his mind. Also, his lawyers say they believe that the judge wrongly excluded some of the evidence they wanted to present in his defense.

Supporters of Scooter Libby are urging President Bush to pardon him. Others deplore the idea.

VOICE ONE:

After her identity became known, Valerie Wilson moved to another job at the C.I.A. But she told a congressional hearing that being outed had ended her effectiveness as an operative.

She and her husband have moved away from Washington. They now live in the Southwest. But they still have a civil case against Vice President Cheney and, among others, presidential political adviser Karl Rove. The lawsuit accuses them of violating her privacy rights in an effort to punish Joseph Wilson for his criticisms. A judge is considering arguments to dismiss the case.

(SOUND)

VOICE TWO:

Exactly what Valerie Wilson did in her years at the Central Intelligence Agency is not known. But someplace we can learn more about women in espionage is the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.

In fact, one of the most interesting objects there is a small silver tube like millions of women carry. Instead of lip color, it contained a bullet. This lipstick gun was a tool of the KGB, the intelligence and security agency in the former Soviet Union.

VOICE ONE:

At the spy museum we learn how two women in the C.I.A., Sandy Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille, helped catch Aldrich Ames. He was a traitor within the agency.

Aldrich Ames worked for the C.I.A. for many years. In nineteen eighty-five, he began to sell American secrets to the Soviets. He cost the United States most of its intelligence gathering operations against the Soviet Union.

VOICE TWO:

Sandy Grimes describes how the C.I.A. knew it had a traitor and put together a list of one hundred ninety-eight agents. Each person could have been the mole. But she suspected Ames. He had begun to act differently. He seemed more sure of himself. And his expensive new clothing raised a question: Where was he getting the money?

VOICE ONE:

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation spent months on the case. They arrested Aldrich Ames in nineteen ninety-four. He was found guilty of espionage and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

In the Sisterhood of Spies area at the museum, we learn about women in history who spied.

One woman belonged to a team under the command of General George Washington during the American Revolution. She is still known only as Number Three Hundred Fifty-Five. The British caught her in seventeen eighty and she died as a prisoner. Some historians think she came from a family loyal to Britain and probably gathered intelligence at social events.

VOICE ONE:

Belle Boyd is known as the "Cleopatra of the Secession" during the American Civil War in the eighteen sixties. She was a teenager in the South when she started spying for the Confederate states that wanted to leave the Union. She used her beauty to gain secrets from northern soldiers.

As we learn at the spy museum, a Union soldier tried to raise a flag over her family home. Her mother moved to stop him. The soldier pushed her mother and Belle Boyd shot him. A court found her not guilty. After that, she took messages across battle lines to Confederate commanders.

VOICE TWO:

The Union also had its women spies. Sarah Emma Edmonds was an expert at disguise. With different identities, she was able to pass easily through enemy lines to gather information. For example, she dressed like a Union soldier and used the name Frank Thompson. She even fought in battles. But before she could get paid for her war service, she first had to prove that she was Frank Thompson.

VOICE ONE:

Probably the best-known woman spy ever is Mata Hari. Yet the International Spy Museum in Washington says Mata Hari was almost a complete failure as a gatherer of information.

She was born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle in the Netherlands in eighteen seventy-six. She became famous representing herself as an Indian dancer in Paris. Later, when she needed money, European military officers and government officials supported her in return for sex.

Mata Hari decided to spy for Germany during World War One. But she also agreed to spy for its enemy France. The French trapped the double agent and she was executed.

VOICE TWO:

Josephine Baker was a famous African-American dancer who moved to Paris because of racial prejudice at home. After World War Two began, she started working for the French Resistance. She carried orders and maps into German-occupied countries. The orders were written in disappearing ink on the pages of her music. Josephine Baker was never caught. She lived to tell of her life as a secret agent.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Listen again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0624_Development Report

24 June 2007

Banks Look to Expand Microfinance Services
A nonprofit group, Women's World Banking, is working with lenders to go beyond just offering loans to start businesses.

Download
Download

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Officials from some of the world’s leading banks were in the Netherlands last week for a conference on microfinance lending. The Dutch government and the nonprofit organization Women's World Banking organized the two-day meeting.

Mary Ellen Iskenderian is president of New York-based Women's World Banking. She told us from The Hague that people generally think of microfinance only as credit -- a small loan to start a business. But she says her group has found more and more demand for other kinds of services. The organization is working with banks to offer products like, for example, life insurance policies.

She says the question is not if commercial banks can offer microfinance services in a profitable way. The question is how. The bankers discussed things like the use of mobile phone technology in banking, and the ability of banks to offer services in rural areas. Could people do their banking at the point of sale in a village store, for example?

The meeting brought together representatives of the Global Network for Banking Innovation. Women's World Banking formed this network six years ago. It says the aim is to guarantee responsible lending to poor borrowers.

The network is an alliance of twenty-four major banks and microfinance lenders in fifteen countries. Members include Citigroup in the United States, ING and Triodos Bank of the Netherlands, Equity Bank of Kenya and Banco Azteca of Mexico.

Women's World Banking offers support, advice and training to more than fifty microfinance organizations. The group says it has helped twenty-three million people in forty-three countries receive financial services over the last thirty years. Most but not all of the borrowers are women.

As more commercial banks enter microfinance, Mary Ellen Iskenderian says women must continue to be served, to reduce poverty. She says research has shown that for every dollar a female borrower earns from her business, ninety-eight cents is reinvested.

Women use their earnings to educate their children and to improve their homes and communities, she says. A similar male borrower, she says, will reinvest only sixty cents.

The idea for Women's World Banking came out of the first United Nations Conference on Women, held in Mexico City in nineteen seventy-five.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. You can learn more about women's issues at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Faith Lapidus.