 |
| A.M.
Costa Rica Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday |
||
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
Jo
Stuart |
|
Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for more details |
 |
| A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page | |
|
San
José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 13, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 51
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|
March Saturday will challenge
nation's link with Catholicism By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Some Costa Ricans would like to eliminate the clause in the Constitution that establishes the Roman Catholic Church as the state religion. This opinion has been expressed more lately during discussions over artificial fertilization, homosexuality and abortion. A group that seeks a lay state said Wednesday that it would march Saturday starting at 1 p.m. from Parque Central to Casa Amarilla, the foreign ministry. The citizens also said that they have been unable to obtain the full outline of a proposed agreement that Costa Rica is making with the Vatican. Despite meeting with Enrique Castillo, the foreign minister, the citizens say they have not been privy to the document. Castillo took office faced with requests by the Catholic Church for more influence in schools and in the nation. President Laura Chinchilla is believed to have discussed the issue when she was in Rome. The group, which calls itself the Movimiento Invisibles, said that the agreement with the church infringes on human rights. Traffic police crack down on speeding in school zones By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Some expats might be surprised to learn that there are speed restrictions in the vicinity of Costa Rican schools. They could be forgiven not knowing this because there are few, if any signs saying this. Still traffic police in what they call a pilot project, have issued 107 traffic tickets to motorists exceeding the 25 kph limit in front of schools. This is the first time in recent memory that traffic police have been enforcing this rule. And they only have been doing so at eight schools. Two are in San José and the rest are around the country. For the rest of the month, traffic officers will be concentrating on some 86 schools that are considered to be at risk for speeding vehicles. Speeding fines at schools can range up to 198,000 colons, some $370. Minister meets with group fighting bribery, corruption By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Ana Isabel Garita, Costa Rica’s minister of Justicia y Paz has participated in a meeting of the anti-corruption working group of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The anti-corruption group began in 1994 as part of the organization's convention that treats, among other aspects, corrupt trade practices. Ms. Garita said that Costa Rica shares these same philosophies against corruption that are highlighted by the convention. “Costa Rica has made significant strides in the battle against corruption and is ready to implement even higher standards,” Ms. Garita said. “The adoption of the anti-corruption convention is another step along this path to becoming the type of country that we want to be.” Costa Rica is seeking to obtain membership in the organization. “By participating in the working group on bribery, Costa Rica would undergo major revisions to its anti-corruption laws,” Ms. Garita said. “The Ministerio de Justicia is more than willing to continue working alongside this organization to strengthen international tools to ensure international business transactions follow the principles outlined in the convention.” Members of the organization will review Costa Rica's application to become a working member. In 2013 the two sides began talks for Costa Rica to be included as a member in 2015.  Archive Nacional
photo
The first page of the 'Libro de
los Niños.'Elementary
reader taught
good habits years ago By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Spanish and Latin American version of the McGuffey Reader is being displayed by the Archivo Nacional to celebrate the national day of the librarian. The McGuffey Readers were the most popular scholastic books in the 19th century in the United States. For Costa Rican youngsters at the same time there was the "Libro de los Niños" by Francisco Martínez de la Rosa. The Archivo Nacional has an 1869 copy of the book, and this one is the 43rd edition. Like much of the reading material in those days, the books were published in Madrid, Spain. And children in the early grades had to read about spring, summer, fall and winter, whatever they are. The book is part of a collection of 253 volumes from the 18th to the middle of the 20th century, according to a summary. Like most school books of the time, the author tried to instill good habits and has on one page a prayer for going to bed and on another a song for the dinner hour. The national archives, which is in Zapote considers this book one of its jewels.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 13, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 51 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
 |
| Water activists plan a march today against private hydro
projects |
|
|
By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Protestors are calling for a national movement to ensure that water resources are focused on the communities they flow through and not for private firms Representatives of more than 23 community-based committees across Costa Rica are coordinating a march today at 11 a.m. The group of students, environmental organizations and other social activists will rally at the Secretaría Técnica Nacional Ambiental in Barrio Escalante before they march to the Asamblea Legislativa. On the boulevard outside the Asamblea they will meet with legislatures |
while
participating in informative cultural activities, they said. The complaints stem from a possible expansion of hydroelectric projects according to a bill on the legislative docket. If the Ley de Contingencia Eléctrica is passed by legislatures, private electric companies would be able sell and export electricity to other countries. With 60 private hydroelectric projects now in place, there is some pressure on the monopoly of state-owned Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad. The community protestors are demanding that reforms be made to assure water to the public domain and keep it from the hands of private enterprises. |
| Chiquita
expected to save U.S. tax money with its merger |
 |
|
|
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Chiquita Brands International, Inc. and Fyffes plc have announced a merger. Both firms are involved in agriculture for exporting from Costa Rica. The combined value of the two companies is more than $1 billion, Chiquita said in a news release. It also predicted significant savings. The new company name will be ChiquitaFyffes plc although Chiquita will have a majority interest. Analysts note that Fyffes is located in Ireland, and they said they expect Chiquita to transfer more of its activities there to stay out of the reach of U.S. tax collectors. The announcement said that the new firm would be domiciled in Ireland. The new firm will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Chiquita used to be the United Fruit Co., and U.S. |
businessman Minor
Keith was involved in the amalgamation that created the firm. That was at the end of the 19th century. In 1870 the firm's predecessor was the first to export bananas to the United States. The fruits came from Costa Rica. Chiquita has a global presence with operations in 70 countries, a sizable presence in the U.S. market and widely recognized brands including Chiquita Bananas and Fresh Express, the announcement said. Fyffes is a leading international marketer and distributor of top quality tropical produce, marketed under a variety of well-known brands including Fyffes and Sol, it added. It is known for its pineapples. The two firms have a total of 24,000 hectares in Central America. That is nearly 60,000 acres. Chiquita shareholders will own 50.7 percent of the new entity. |
|
| Commercial sector fears a work stoppage this week at the
Moín port |
|
|
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Those who import or export have expressed concerns that the union of workers for the government agency that runs the Caribbean docks will close the port this week. The Cámara de Industrias expressed this view Wednesday and noted that the union discontent stems from the firing of a dock worker for a private firm. Most of the members of the union work with the Junta de Administración Portuaria y de Desarrollo Económico de la Vertiente Atlántica de Costa Rica, a government agency. |
But the discharged
worker also is a union member adn that is why the uion is
supporting him, the chamber said. The port union staged a three-hour stoppage three weeks ago at the docks in Moín, and the chamber said that the cost to those using the port was great. The firm that employed the stevedore, CADESA, paid off the worker as required by law, the chamber said. The union is trying to force the private company to rehire the man, said the chamber. |
 |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
 |
|
||||
| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 13, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 51 | |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Scientist predicts warming to continue despite recent tiny increase | |
|
By
the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
A new NASA study shows Earth's climate likely will continue to warm during this century on track with previous estimates, despite the recent slowdown in the rate of global warming. This research hinges on a new and more detailed calculation of the sensitivity of Earth's climate to the factors that cause it to change, such as greenhouse gas emissions. Drew Shindell, a climatologist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, found the Earth is likely to experience roughly 20 percent more warming than estimates that were largely based on surface temperature observations during the past 150 years. Shindell's paper on this research was published March 9 in the journal Nature Climate Change. Global temperatures have increased at a rate of 0.22 F (0.12 C) per decade since 1951. But since 1998, the rate of warming has been only 0.09 F (0.05 C) per decade even as atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to rise at a rate similar to previous decades. Carbon dioxide is the most significant greenhouse gas generated by humans. Some recent research, aimed at fine-tuning long-term warming projections by taking this slowdown into account, suggested the Earth may be less sensitive to greenhouse gas increases than previously thought. The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was issued in 2013 and was the consensus report on the state of climate change science, also reduced the lower range of Earth's potential for global warming. To put a number to climate change, researchers calculate what is called Earth's transient climate response. This calculation determines how much global temperatures will change as atmospheric carbon |
dioxide continues
to increase – at about 1 percent per year -- until the total amount of
atmospheric carbon dioxide has doubled. The estimates for transient
climate response range from near 2.52 F (1.4 C) offered by recent
research, to the climate panel's estimate of 1.8 F (1.0 C). Shindell's
study estimates a transient climate response of 3.06 F (1.7 C), and
determined it is unlikely values will be below 2.34 F (1.3 C).
Shindell's paper further focuses on improving understanding of how
airborne particles, called aerosols, drive climate change in the
Northern Hemisphere. Aerosols are produced by both natural sources –
such as volcanoes, wildfire and sea spray – and sources such as
manufacturing activities, automobiles and energy production. Depending
on their makeup, some aerosols cause warming, while others create a
cooling effect. In order to understand the role played by carbon
dioxide emissions in global warming, it is necessary to account for the
effects of atmospheric aerosols. While multiple studies have shown the Northern Hemisphere plays a stronger role than the Southern Hemisphere in transient climate change, this had not been included in calculations of the effect of atmospheric aerosols on climate sensitivity. Prior to Shindell's work, such calculations had assumed aerosol impacts were uniform around the globe. This difference means previous studies have underestimated the cooling effect of aerosols. When corrected, the range of likely warming based on surface temperature observations is in line with earlier estimates, despite the recent slowdown. One reason for the disproportionate influence of the Northern Hemisphere, particularly as it pertains to the impact of aerosols, is that most man-made aerosols are released from the more industrialized regions north of the equator. Also, the vast majority of Earth's land masses are in the Northern Hemisphere. This furthers the effect of the Northern Hemisphere because land, snow and ice adjust to atmospheric changes more quickly than the oceans of the world. |
Here's reasonable medical care
Costa Rica's world class medical specialists are at your command. Get the top care for much less than U.S. prices. It is really a great way to spend a vacation. See our list of recommended professionals HERE!amcr-prom
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
 |
||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 13, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 51 | |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
 |
|
| Searchers fail to turn up debris from missing plane By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Malaysia's civil aviation chief said there is no sign of debris in an area where Chinese satellite images showed potential objects floating in the water near the last known location of a missing Malaysian Airlines plane. Datuk Azharuddin Adbul Rahman said planes flew over the area in the South China Sea Thursday, but did not find anything. Vietnamese officials said earlier the area had already been thoroughly searched. China released the images Wednesday, with state media saying they showed three fairly large objects floating between Malaysia and the southern tip of Vietnam. The images were taken Sunday, one day after the Boeing 777 disappeared, and cover an area near its original flight path toward China. Ships and aircraft from 12 countries are involved in a sprawling search that covers 93,000 square kilometers in the waters on both sides of Malaysia. There were 239 people on board Flight 370 when it disappeared Saturday on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The last known position of the plane was over the Gulf of Thailand less than an hour after the plane took off. Malaysian air traffic controllers did not receive any messages indicating the plane may have been in trouble, and said their communications with the pilots were routine. Malaysia's military said Wednesday its radar had picked up signs of what could have been a jet flying to the west of the country over the Malacca Strait about an hour after the last contact with Flight 370. If the radar data is from the Malaysian Air flight, the plane would have taken a sharp westward turn, and leaves open greater possibilities for where it ended up. LEGO has fans worldwide after more than 50 years By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
One of the most recognized toy names in the world, known by children and adults alike, is LEGO. It has gone beyond bricks to video games and even a full-length film. The LEGO building block may be more than 50 years old, but its fans continue to grow across all ages. While many adults miss the sense of wonder they felt as children about what their imaginations could create, some grownups can still capture that feeling through tiny bricks. “That sound to me is the sound of creativity," said Peter Abrahamson. He said it’s his favorite sound. He has been playing with LEGO bricks for more than 40 years. “The amazing thing I always found about LEGO was the ability of a toy to make other toys,” he said. Abrahamson builds LEGO creations at home, with his daughter, and connects with other fans at the LEGO Users Group of Los Angeles. There are adult fan clubs like this around the world, where creations are displayed and fans buy, sell and trade LEGO pieces. Available in 53 different colors the LEGO bricks sold in one year would circle the globe five times. Mariann Asanuma makes a living selling LEGO creations. She said when she was a child, more boys played with LEGO bricks than girls. And that's still mostly true. “If you go to a convention or something that’s about five percent women to 95 percent men,” she said. Adult men who are willing to spend money on LEGO sets for themselves says Paul Hollingsworth, whose zombie prison displayed at the fan meeting is worth around $600. “If I look around at some of these models, I see hundreds of dollars spent. I know my wife would much rather have a purse or handbag or a pair of shoes or a dress, whereas guys would rather have 50 zombies or a giant space ship,” he said. But as LEGO toys continue to be popular, they are now being marketed to girls as well as boys. “Playing with LEGO is something I can do with my daughter who is seven years old,” said Hollingsworth. His daughter Hailee even has a YouTube show, telling her audience how to build LEGO creations. Nathan Sawaya also has a global audience. But instead of the virtual world, he shows his LEGO creations in contemporary art galleries and exhibitions. "We’ve been to Singapore, Taiwan, Shanghai, South Africa," he explained. His art work attracts people of all ages. ”Art made out of LEGO bricks is very accessible," Sawaya said. "People have LEGO bricks at home so they can connect to the art in a different way.” While some people connect with LEGO creations at an art exhibit, others experience the LEGO world through LEGOLAND amusement parks or at the theater, with "The LEGO Movie," released worldwide. “We love the movie we’ve seen it twice,” said LEGO fan Paul Lee. LEGO bricks are timeless for a reason. “The LEGO brick they sell today is still compatible with the brick they made 30 years ago,” he added. Many of these fans say they will pass on their LEGO bricks to their children and hope their grandchildren will still be playing with them as the family LEGO collection continues to grow with each generation. U.S. judge throws out case against Indian diplomat By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A U.S. federal judge has dismissed an indictment against an Indian diplomat whose arrest and strip search late last year in New York frayed diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Washington. The judge ruled Wednesday that Devyani Khobragade had diplomatic immunity when she was indicted in January on charges of fraudulently obtaining a work visa for her housekeeper and lying about the maid's pay. Prosecutors accused the diplomat of forcing her maid to work for far less than the U.S. minimum wage and then lying about it on the housekeeper's visa application. India responded by lifting some diplomatic immunity for U.S. officials in New Delhi, and ordered the U.S. embassy to restrict service at an embassy club for diplomats. Ms. Khobragade was India's deputy counsel-general in New York at the time of her arrest in December. Faced with criminal prosecution, she left the United States in January, after India rejected a U.S. request to waive her diplomatic immunity. She now is reported to be working for India's Foreign Affairs Ministry in New Delhi. New York explosion kills at least three, mayor says By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says at least three people are dead and nine still missing after a blast caused by a gas leak destroyed two buildings in Harlem. At least 63 people were hurt. "This is a tragedy of the worst kind because there was no indication in time to save people," said Blasio. The mid-morning explosion occurred in Harlem shortly after one resident in a nearby building reported the smell of leaking natural gas. The utility serving the neighborhood, Consolidated Edison, said it dispatched two crews to the scene but that they arrived just after the explosion. Thick smoke from the buildings could be seen throughout much of Manhattan. Debris littered sidewalks across the neighborhood and covered part of a commuter rail line, suspending train service. More than 200 firefighters responded to the five-alarm fire that followed the blast, with many of them perched on ladder trucks aiming high-pressured hoses at the demolished buildings. Both buildings collapsed to the first floor and debris from the explosion littered sidewalks for blocks. The site of the explosion is adjacent to railroad tracks, and mainline train services out of the city's Grand Central terminal were suspended as a result. Death row inmate exonerated after 30 years in prison cell By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
It's the kind of story movies are made of. A U.S. man who spent nearly three decades on death row is now walking free. Glenn Ford, the longest-serving death row prisoner in the state of Louisiana, was released after new evidence showed he was innocent of the murder that put him behind bars. A judge in the city of Shreveport ordered the 64-year-old Ford released after prosecutors petitioned the court to set aside his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence. Ford, a black man, was convicted by an all-white jury in the 1983 murder of Isadore Rozeman, a jeweler in Shreveport. Ford had done occasional yard work for Rozeman. But Ford's attorneys say the new evidence corroborates his claim that he was not present or involved in Rozeman's death. Exiting the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola Tuesday, Ford said it feels good to be free. Asked if he harbors any resentment for his wrongful imprisonment, he said, "Yeah, because I was locked up almost 30 years. For something I didn't do." He said when he went to prison, his sons were babies. Now, they are grown men, with babies of their own.  Voice of America/J. Taboh
The painting 'Aspiration' by
Augustus Vincent Tack is seen at The Phillips Collection.Stunning
collection of art
back home for new show By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Following an acclaimed four-year world tour, more than 200 works by some of America’s finest artists are back on the walls of The Phillips Collection in Washington. The exhibit curator talks about these special masterworks, and reveals how the museum founder helped American art become a significant global force after World War II. "Red Sun" by Arthur Dove. "Egg Beater No. 4" by Stuart Davis and John Graham's "Blue Still Life." These are just a few of the works of American art on display in a new exhibit called "Made in the USA: American Masters from The Phillips Collection." The works by more than 100 American artists spanning over a century, from 1850 to about 1970, were collected by the museum's founder, Duncan Phillips, from the end of World War l to his death in 1966. Curator Susan Frank says one focus of the show is to highlight the fact that 80 percent of the works in the museum are by American artists, acquired by Phillips at a time when European artists were more in favor. “He was determined,” said Ms. Frank, “that he would dedicate this museum to living American artists and lift up American art out of obscurity and give it the same presence that European works were given by his contemporary collectors and other museums.” The exhibit is organized by theme, beginning in the late 19th century with work from artists like Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins and George Inness, who were considered heroes of American Modernism. It ends with an extraordinary display of Post-war abstract expressionism by such artists as Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb and Bradley Walker Tomlin. Ms. Frank said Phillips was often drawn to art that represented human emotion, as depicted in a series of cityscapes. John Sloan’s "Clown Making Up" provides an intimate behind-the-scenes look that suggests a sense of isolation of modern life during the first decade of the 20th century. And Walt Kuhn’s "Plumes" depicts the sad expression of a showgirl, which evokes that same feeling of loneliness. “Phillips was so predisposed to these universal ideas of finding humanity in these subjects and having a kind of personal engagement with the object and the subject and understanding that the artist brought something very personal to that painting,” said Ms. Frank. “The same can be said for Edward Hopper’s "Sunday" that Phillips acquired in 1926,” added Ms. Frank; “This really extraordinary early work by Hopper of a single figure sitting on a lonely sidewalk, and Phillips understanding this tension between a beautiful composition and the loneliness of modern life that Hopper had captured.” Duncan Phillips had an appreciation for these artists who were not being collected by other museums but who Phillips was eager to add to the museum’s collection, according to Ms. Frank. Throughout his directorship, Phillips often developed a personal relationship with the artists whose work he collected. That included a few pioneers of American impressionism such as Childe Hassam, Julian Alden Weir and Maurice Prendergast, among others. Sometimes those relationships even extended to financial support. “Most well-known of course is his engagement with the abstract American artist Arthur Dove,” Ms. Frank added, whose work Phillips discovered in the mid-1920s. “At the end of Dove’s life,” she said,” just a few months before his death, he wrote a thank-you note to Duncan Phillips about that support, telling him that it had meant everything to him.” Phillips also lent his support to many immigrant artists. “Phillips always believed and championed American art as including all of the world because so many artists were immigrants who came here from being foreign-born, who brought their cultural aesthetics with them and synthesized them with their American experience and produced something that was unique," she said. Japanese-born immigrant artist Yasuo Kuniyoshi’s "Maine Family," and "Political Exiles" by Peppino Mangravite, who is of Italian descent, are just a couple of examples in the exhibit that reflect the immigrant experience which Phillips was so drawn to. “We are a country of immigrants,” Ms. Frank added, “and Phillips really embraced this idea very early on in the 1920s and ‘30s. “He celebrated their approach to their American experience as being something that enriched us,” said Ms. Frank. The museum is hoping that the exhibit will not only enrich, but excite people about the breadth and diversity of American art in the first half of the 20th century and publicize the important role Phillips played in elevating American modern art to the same level as European masterworks of the time. Scientists say they found a gene linked to obesity By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Scientists say they have found what they believe is the gene strongly linked to obesity. The study published in the scientific journal Nature shows that mice bred without the IRX-3 gene were 30 percent lighter than mice bred with the gene. Both groups of mice ate the same diet and exercised the same. But the thin mice were found to be resistant to diabetes and burned energy more efficiently. The researchers say there is a similar gene in humans, and that their findings could lead to a drug to treat obesity and diabetes -- a disease sometimes linked to being overweight. Scientists from the University of Chicago led the study. Obesity is a major global health problem, killing millions of people every year. Poor diet and little exercise are among the major causes of obesity, while the problem may be genetic in others. Bitcoins resurrected in plan by secure private network By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The digital currency known as bitcoin, a peer-to-peer form of encrypted payment that exists only virtually, has been clouded recently by incidents of theft and fraud. But two firms, the Ireland-domiciled Perseus Telecom and the New York company Atlas ATS, have announced plans to broaden the appeal of bitcoin and other digital currencies by offering institutional investors a global private network with top-level security. Executives at Perseus Telecom, which provides secure ultra-high-speed telecommunications and business connectivity services, and Atlas ATS, a digital currency marketplace, said that if their new platform succeeds, online currency will quickly become a valuable new way for the world’s largest investors to trade and store assets. Shawn Sloves, chief executive officer of Atlas ATS, contrasts the new platform with current trading methods, which he called “bitcoin 1.0.” “The problem before was typically deployed on web-based infrastructure, it was very retail-focused and it didn’t have a lot of the regulatory compliance security that institutions are accustomed to trading on,” he said. "The new platform will attract investors with the advantages of digital currency minus those drawbacks. It allows you to move money instantaneously around the world without having to deal with borders,” he said, adding that he used it recently to move a large sum of his own money from Russia to the United States. “On my own server, I was able to transfer the entire value of that on bitcoin within three minutes,” he said. “It’s global, it’s borderless. It’s also a public ledger, so it’s shared by everybody and ownership transfer is publicly stored, and shows the rights of the owner of that coin,” he said. “But we also see it from a trading perspective as a major revolution, because today, traditional asset classes like equities can take three days to settle. We can transfer security ownership instantaneously.” There are 180 digital currencies already in existence, Sloves said, with about six major ones. Bitcoin is the largest, but he said the new platform will trade others as well. He called it a “disruptive” innovation, with the same potential to remake business as did the Internet in the 1990s, by offering real-time transfers of assets both for investors and e-commerce companies - who will pay much smaller fees than those charged by current online pay services like Pay Pal. “We expect over the next five years at least a fivefold increase in commission dollars generated from just U.S.-dominated bitcoin,” Sloves said, further predicting that commissions would exceed $1 billion. Andrew Kusminsky, the chief operating officer of Perseus Telecom, said his company’s wireless networks are already built within major trading venues in cities around the world. “We’ve got network assets in places like Brazil, all over Europe, all over Canada, all over Asia, and some of the most sophisticated customers are already on these networks,” he said. “Adding bitcoin and Atlas into those existing locations, tied together with our wireless infrastructure, makes perfect sense for the most sophisticated prop shops that care about every nanosecond being utilized across the network." And he asserted that it would be hack-proof. “You have to have the right technology partners protecting this data as though it is actual currency behind a vault inside a bank,” he said. “It’s something that should be easily protectable.” There are skeptics, however, who doubt that bitcoin is ready for prime time. Some note that anyone can set up a digital currency. What would happen to the value of bitcoins, currently valued at $650 a coin, if another currency gained a larger following? The Financial Regulatory Industry Regulatory Authority, which regulates securities firms in the United States, recently issued a report addressed to individual investors that characterized bitcoin as risky and volatile, noting that it was susceptible to fraud, theft, and hacking, and was used by some engaged in crimes such as drug dealing and money laundering. Sloves and Kusminksy view such issues as bitcoin 1.0 concerns, and said that large investors, like those they hope will use their platform, can only do business in compliance with federal rules. Sloves said they expect that federal financial regulators will soon step in with guidelines and rules for trading in bitcoin, too, whether it’s the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.” As for the plethora of digital currencies already existing, he said, different ones offer different advantages, and do not pose a threat to bitcoin. Even nations may establish their own digital currencies, Sloves noted. “We know that Canada has already issued its own digital currency and is trying to find a way to get it more widely adopted. There is a company in Iceland giving out digital coins to people, since currency in Iceland has been devalued to nothing, and they need a general currency across the country. So, it would make sense that governments would use it, too,” he said. Mineral from deep in Earth offered as proof of water By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Scientists have discovered the first-ever earthly sample of a water-rich mineral they say provides new proof that there are vast oceans of water deep beneath the Earth’s surface. The team, led by Graham Pearson from Canada’s University of Alberta, found a mineral called ringwoodite in a sample of rock taken from a Brazilian riverbed. Ringwoodite is a form of the gem-quality mineral peridot. Scientists believe there’s a sizable amount of peridot in part of Earth’s mantle called the transition zone, a high-pressure area located between the lower and upper mantle. While ringwoodite has been found in meteorites, it hadn’t been previously detected in earthen samples. Its color can range from deep blue to red, violet, or it can even be colorless. Scientists have not been able to do the kind of research to locate ringwoodite because of the depths that would be involved in searching for and retrieving the mineral from its theorized location. The sample of ringwoodite found by the research team was designated a water-rich mineral after the scientists conducted an analysis that indicated that 1.5 percent of its total weight is water. Researchers said the presence of this water confirms the theories that there are vast bodies of water being held somewhere between 410 and 660 kilometers below the surface of the Earth. “This sample really provides extremely strong confirmation that there are local wet spots deep in the Earth in this area,” said Pearson. “That particular zone in the Earth, the transition zone, might have as much water as all the world’s oceans put together.” Pearson said that their discovery almost didn’t happen since he and his team were originally looking for another mineral when they first obtained a little hunk of what they referred to as a “three-millimeter-wide, dirty-looking, commercially worthless brown diamond” in 2009. They didn’t spot the ringwoodite until they happened to dig beneath the diamond’s surface. “It’s so small, this inclusion, it’s extremely difficult to find, never mind work on,” Pearson said, “so it was a bit of a piece of luck, this discovery, as are many scientific discoveries.” The brown diamond sample Pearson’s team worked with was found in shallow river gravels by Brazilian miners in 2008. The scientists believe the diamond made it to Earth’s surface via a volcanic rock called kimberlite, which has been known to contain diamonds. Formation of kimberlite takes place deep within the Earth’s mantle and is considered to be one of the deepest of all volcanic rocks. The research team analyzed their sample of ringwoodite for several years. Among the techniques that were used to confirm the find were Raman and infrared spectroscopy as well as X-ray diffraction. The team measured the water content of the mineral at Pearson’s Arctic Resources Geochemistry Laboratory at the University of Alberta. Scientists have debated the structure of Earth’s transition zone; some say the region of the mantle is full of water, while others insist is dry. Pearson and his team say being able to provide some proof that water does exists deep within the Earth will provide insight to those who study volcanism as well as plate tectonics. “One of the reasons the Earth is such a dynamic planet is the presence of some water in its interior,” Pearson said. “Water changes everything about the way a planet works.” The Pearson team’s research and findings are featured in Nature. Elderly should eat protein, Japanese study suggests By
the American Geriatrics Society news service
A diet high in protein, particularly animal protein, may help elderly individuals maintain a higher level of physical, psychological, and social function, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Due to increasing life expectancies in many countries, increasing numbers of elderly people are living with functional decline, such as declines in cognitive ability and activities of daily living. This can have profound effects on the health and well-being of older adults and their caregivers, as well as on health care resources. Research suggests that as people age, their ability to absorb or process protein may decline. To compensate for this loss, protein requirements may increase with age. Megumi Tsubota-Utsugi of the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Japan, and her colleagues in Tohoku University and Teikyo University, Japan, wondered whether protein intake might affect the functional capabilities of older adults. They designed a study to investigate the relationship between protein intake and future decline in higher-level functional capacity in older community-dwelling adults in Japan. Their analysis included 1,007 individuals with an average age of 67.4 years who completed food questionnaires at the start of the study and seven years later. Participants were divided into four groups, according to their intake levels of total, animal, and plant protein. Tests of higher-level functional capacity included social and intellectual aspects as well as measures related to activities of daily living. Men in the highest group of animal protein intake had a 39 percent decreased chance of experiencing higher-level functional decline than those in the lowest group. These associations were not seen in women. No consistent association was observed between plant protein intake and future higher-level functional decline in either sex. "Identifying nutritional factors that contribute to maintaining higher-level functional capacity is important for prevention of future deterioration of activities of daily living,” said Dr. Tsubota-Utsugi. “Along with other modifiable health behaviors, a diet rich in protein may help older adults maintain their functional capacity.” |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M. Costa
Rica's sixth news page |
|
||||||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, March 13, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 51 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
||
|
Bipolar condition
is linked to multiple genes in study By
the University of Bonn news service
First on top of the world and then in the depths of despair: This is what the extreme mood changes for people with bipolar disorder are like. Under the direction of scientists from the University of Bonn Hospital, the Central Institute of Mental Health of Mannheim and the University of Basel Hospital, an international collaboration of researchers discovered two new gene regions which are connected with the prevalent disease. In addition, they were able to confirm three additional suspect genes. In this unparalleled worldwide study, the scientists are utilizing unprecedented numbers of patients. The results are now being published in the journal Nature Communications. Throughout the course of their lives, about 1 percent of the population suffers from bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive disorder. The patients undergo a roller coaster of emotions: During extreme shifts, they experience manic phases with delusions of grandeur, increased drive and a decreased need for sleep as well as depressive episodes with a severely depressed mood to the point of suicidal thoughts. The causes of the disease are not yet fully understood, however in addition to psychosocial triggers, genetic factors play a large role. "There is no one gene that has a significant effect on the development of bipolar disorder," says Markus M. Nöthen, Director of the Institute of Human Genetics of the University of Bonn Hospital. "Many different genes are evidently involved and these genes work together with environmental factors in a complex way." In recent years, scientists at the Institute of Human Genetics were already involved in decoding several genes associated with bipolar disorder. The researchers, working with Marcella Rietschel from the Central Institute of Mental Health of Mannheim, Markus M. Nöthen from the University of Bonn Hospital and Sven Cichon from the University of Basel Hospital, are now using unprecedented numbers of patients in an international research collaboration: New genetic data from 2,266 patients with manic-depressive disorder and 5,028 control persons were obtained, merged with existing data sets and analyzed together. In total, data on the genetic material of 9,747 patients were compared with data from 14,278 healthy persons. "The investigation of the genetic foundations of bipolar disorder on this scale is unique worldwide to date," says Ms. Rietschel from the Central Institute of Mental Health of Mannheim. The search for genes involved in manic-depressive disorder is like looking for a needle in a haystack. "The contributions of individual genes are so minor that they normally cannot be identified in the background noise of genetic differences," explains Cichon. Only when the DNA from very large numbers of patients with bipolar disorder are compared to the genetic material from an equally large number of healthy persons can differences be confirmed statistically. Such suspect regions which indicate a disease are known by scientists as candidate genes. |
| |
| Costa Rican News |
AMCostaRicaArchives.com |
Retire NOW in Costa Rica |
CostaRicaReport.com |
| Fine Dining
in Costa Rica |
The CAFTA Report |
Fish
fabulous Costa Rica |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by A.M. Costa Rica.com Ltda. 2014 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| From Page 7: Local firm gets rave reviews as place to work By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Akamai Technologies has been named one of the 10 best companies to work at in Central America and the Caribbean by the Great Places to Work Institute. The cloud platform company offers user-friendly navigation on a range of technological devices. Great Places to Work also named it among the five best places to work in Costa Rica and as one of the 119 best in categories of camaraderie and collaboration. Qualified as a small company with less than 1,000 employees, Akamai was measured through data from a confidence index questionnaire and a culture audit. The survey inquired into workplace environment and overall company opportunities, while the audit focused on factors like cultural practices and policies, the company said. “We're proud to be on the list of Excellent Places to Work in Central America and the Caribbean,” said Robert Hughes, Akamai's president of international operations, in a release. “This recognition validates our efforts to create an inspiring and rewarding work environment and what we receive in return is invaluable as we continue to invest in this important region.” Managers of the Costa Rican branch said they plan to add nearly 100 more jobs before the end of 2015. |
