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Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for more details |
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San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, April
8, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 69
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Escazú pedestrian killed
by two men on motorcycle By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A man believed to be between the ages of 25 and 30 was killed near the San Rafael de Escazú Catholic church in Escazú just before midnight Sunday. The man, who had yet to be identified, was walking along a public path before two persons on a motorcycle pulled up and attacked him, according to the Judicial Investigating Organization. One of the assailants supposedly shot the victim numerous times on the left side of his back and his arm. Initial reports suggest that the two assailants fled once the man fell onto the public roadway. Agents from the organization's homicide department are seeking to determine the man's identity, as well as tracking down possible killers and their motive. Legal holiday approaching and so is Semana Santa By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Friday is the Día de Juan Santamaría, which marks the 1856 Battle of Rivas in which Costa Rican troops defeated Nicaraguan and U.S. filibusters. Juan Santamaría distinguished himself by carrying a torch and igniting an enemy strong point. The effort cost him his life. The day is a legal holiday, and most government offices will be closed, as will embassies. Many government offices are closing Friday and will not reopen until April 21, the Monday after Easter. That includes the Ministerio de Comercio Exterior and the Registro Nacional. Semana Santa, which begins Monday, is either a perfect vacation time or a period of religious reflection. April 17 and 18 also are legal holidays. Nearly every Christian church has some form of Easter observance. In the city, there will be processions most days with the big one being the burial of Jesus the afternoon of Friday, April 18. This is a major tourist attraction. Dominical residents to meet over plan to cut down trees By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Dominical residents who oppose a plan to cut some of the trees in the community have been invited to a meeting today at 1 p.m. in the local school. That was announced by resident Richard Hennessy. He said that the municipality plans to cut as many as 100 trees in the beach community in order to construct a concrete boardwalk. He said that so many trees were involved that municipal workers who were to mark the ones to be cut ran out of paint. He said: "Is it not clear to all of us that cutting down so many precious, shade providing trees threatens to do far more damage to our town and to our tourism based economy than good?" He said that Jacó, Puntarenas and Quepos are communities where trees have been cut.  Consejo
Nacional de Vialidad
photo
Traffic
around Villa Briceño in Golfito
will be facing construction delays
through Friday due to replacement
of deteriorated drainage, said the
Consejo Nacional de Vialidad.Police seek to reduce toll from motorcycle crashes By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
So far this year 31 persons died in motorcycle crashes. The Policía de Tránsito said this is 41 percent of all vehicle deaths. So they have launched an effort to reduce the motorcycle toll. Monday police blanketed the downtown area and checked out motorcycle drivers for safety equipment and proper licensing. Police also want messengers to put baskets or some sort of device to hold packages instead of carrying them in their arms while driving. Although the effort started in the downtown, police are aware that most of the motorcycle deaths happen in rural areas, so they will be continuing the inspections in those parts of the country. Internet updating means a late newspaper today By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The newspaper is being published about an hour late today because of problems with the Tigo Internet service. A worker said that the company is redoing servers and other equipment and has cut off selected sections of the service area. Consequently, the newspaper was published from an alternate location using services of Radiográfica Costarricense S.A.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, April 8, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 69 | |
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| Energy firm seeks to tap the market for
wood pellets here and abroad |
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By Michael Krumholtz
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff A relatively young alternative energy method has started hooking the attention of some Costa Rican businesses. Wood pellets, which can act as a bio fuel that burns cleaner than coal, make up an international energy industry that has boomed since 2008's economic collapse. Representatives from green technology company Grupo Con Brio said that they are currently looking for an avenue from which to join the bustling market. “We're trying to put together a nice looking Costa Rican pellet that can be exported,” said partner Nestor Zúñiga Arias. “Eventually we believe we can scale up, maybe go into bigger markets like Brazil.” From within Costa Rica, possible advantages in the wood pellet industry are met with sizable handicaps. According to U.S. businessman Richard Sims, because of the nation's size, it could never compete as a major player in the exporting scene. However there is one tree species, the gmelina arborea, that grows fast enough under the Costa Rican rain for businesses to have a consistent supply of pellets at the ready for any potential buyers. “Today the demand is much more than the supply,” said Sims, who is working as an adviser for Grupo Con Brio. “And the wood pellet technology is now much better than it was ten years ago.” In addition to the abundance of gmelina trees, Costa Rica also has two well-established shipping ports in Limón and Caldera. As the company searches for buyers and lays down the foundation needed for infrastructure, Zúñiga estimated the potential markets for pellets should be around and thriving for the next 20 years. Wood pellets are being used primarily for heating residences and for supplying commercial energy uses. The residential end of business is where Grupo Con Brio intends to concentrate its efforts, and this sector can pay up to 20 percent more than the industrial side, according to Sims. Studies from Europe, where the pellet is becoming a major import, show a pellet-using factory can generate a carbon footprint five times smaller than a an equivalent coal-burning plant. Sims said that any factory in Costa Rica would need at least 5,000 hectares of land to churn out an adequate energy supply. He proposed Limón as a perfect location because of its proximity to shipping and its space for production. The ideal result for the country would be a joint production that can also serve domestic markets with saw wood or leftover supply, he said. "The best case scenario is a mixed plantation that would service the wood sector for additional saw wood for local needs and also provide new energy source in speed-stock for wood pellets," Sims said. Grupo Con Brio is considering building a green industrial park in San José to begin production. Zúñiga said they have been in contract talks with a big buyer from Europe and some sellers from the United States. There are some players locally, like the Bridgestone factory in Belén, that can allow for steady business. But both Sims and Zúñiga agreed that the wood pellet industry in Costa Rica would depend on exporting to flourish. Pelletics in San Carlos is the only current wood pellet factory in the country, and its business stays in-country through Costa Rican cement production clients like Cemex and Holcim. |
 University of
Minnesota/Paul Bolstad
This is an
8-year-old stand of gmelina arborea trees in a
plantationZúñiga said it could be beneficial for any wood pellet producer to make a deal with the local municipalities, who don't have the necessary services or funding to keep up with most alternative energies. The son of former finance minister Guillermo Zúñiga said so much of the energy in Costa Rica is filtered through illegal means, so a more privatized approach could benefit the nation's energy stability. "In Costa Rica it's hard to believe anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of water and energy costs are stolen," he said. "There's a big gap between what we're actually collecting and what we can actually give to the people. Municipalities would love to have these services." The future of this alternative bio fuel presents a chance for any energy business, and Costa Rica comes equipped with the resources and infrastructure to help define that future. Though rocketing demand in European countries like Italy and England is too much for the country to fulfill alone, it still provides a big opportunity for a small country. "Can Costa Rica cover all of that? Absolutely not. We're just too little. But we can make a difference," Zúñiga said. |
| Tourism officials and local firms
seeking more business from China |
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By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
The Instituto Costarricense de Turismo joined seven domestic businesses to travel to the China Outbound Travel & Tourism Market in Beijing which runs from Wednesday through Friday. Officials are confident that their presence at the fair will attract a rather immediate flow of Chinese travelers to Costa Rica. Allan Flores, the minister of Turismo, said China's population numbers alone tell why its an obvious target for travel marketing. “Exploring new market options to promote and position Costa Rica as an excellent tourism destination has been one of the challenges constantly in front of us,” Flores said. “We're working on the execution of effective strategies in key markets, and in this case China represents a business opportunity due to the level of supply and demand that Chinese citizens give.” After waiving Russian visa requirements last week, Flores and the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo are stressing initiatives that could draw in a different demographic to Costa Rica. This year marks the second time the country has participated in the Chinese travel fair. According to Ireth Rodríguez, marketing director at the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo, this event allows for valuable face-to-face communication between travel agencies and potential tourists. |
Agents
are able to schedule appointments, answer any
questions, and provide direct information that they
otherwise could not. “The participation in this fair is a step towards the strengthening of Costa Rica as a tourist destination,” Ms. Rodríguez said. “It's consistent with the strategy of attracting new tourists while using these exploratory trips as a resource that serve to analyze needs and preferences, as is the case in China.” More than 120 Chinese businessmen have been invited to a presentation hosted by the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo and set for today. Tourism employees said they intend to discuss the country's worth as a consistent destination. The seven Costa Rican travel businesses are planning on setting up shop at the Costa Rican Embassy in China to clear any doubts or concerns about visa processes. The World Trade Organization has data estimating China as the biggest source for tourists in the world. In the first nine months of 2013, their tourism spending amount increased by 28 percent, surpassing travelers from both Germany and the United States. More than 4,000 interested Chinese professionals and citizens plan to attend the travel fair. The audience will be made up of government officials, hotel workers, tour operators, real estate agents, and more. Last year Costa Rica recorded nearly 8,000 international arrivals from China. |
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| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, April 8, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 69 | |||||
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| Migraine suffers can share
their pain on Twitter and be counted |
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By the University of
Michigan news service
Someone's drilling an icicle into your temple, you're throwing up, and light and sound are unbearable. Yes, it's another migraine attack. But now in 140 characters on Twitter, you can share your agony with other sufferers. It indicates a trend toward the cathartic sharing of physical pain, as well as emotional pain on social media. "As technology and language evolve, so does the way we share our suffering," said principal investigator Alexandre DaSilva, assistant professor and director of the Headache and Orofacial Pain Effort at University of Michigan School of Dentistry. "It's the first known study to show the instant and broad impact of migraine attacks on modern patients' lives by decoding manually each one of their individual attack-related tweets." DaSilva's team worked with 50 students and residents to categorize 21,741 tweets. They eliminated advertising, metaphor and non-related migraine tweets, which has not been done in previous studies. Further, they analyzed the meaning of each individual migraine tweet. "We sought to evaluate the instant expression of actual self-reported migraine attacks in social media," DaSilva said. Results generated unique information about who suffers from migraines and what, how, where and when they use social media to describe their pain. The findings overlapped significantly with other traditional epidemiologic migraine studies, DaSilva and colleagues said. |
Among
other things, they examined the most common
descriptors for migraines, including profanities,
tweet times and locations, and impact on
productivity and mood. Only 65 percent of the
migraine tweets were from actual sufferers of
migraines posting in real-time. Other tweets were
advertising, general discussion, retweets, etc.,
indicating that not everything in social media is
meaningful to the patient, DaSilva said. Among the findings: • Females accounted for about 74 percent of migraine tweets. Males accounted for 17 percent. • The higher global peak of migraine tweets occurred Mondays at 14:00 GMT, or 10 a.m Eastern Daylight Saving Time. • The U.S. accounted for 58 percent of migraine tweets, followed by Europe at 20 percent. • In the U.S., migraine tweets peaked at 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays. The morning tweets peaked later on weekends. • Roughly 44 percent of tweets reported that migraine attacks immediately impacted mood. • The most common migraine descriptors were "worst" at nearly 15 percent and "massive" at 8 percent. Migraines pose a huge public health problem, harming mood, productivity and overall quality of life. An estimated 12 percent of the Western world population suffer migraine attacks, and of those, 75 percent see reduced functionality and 30 percent require bed rest. |
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
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| A.M.
Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, April 8, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 69 | |||||
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| More signals
heard in ocean considered encouraging sign By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
Australian and U.S. Navy officials said they have detected more acoustic signals that may belong to a black box from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet. However, they are stressing that the airliner's location cannot be confirmed until wreckage from flight MH370 is spotted on the surface or under the Indian Ocean. Authorities Monday said they are very encouraged, but nonetheless remain cautious, amid the clearest indications yet of where the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 could be. The best clues during the month-long search have been picked up by U.S. Navy black box detection equipment being towed by an Australian naval ship in deep waters more than 1,500 kilometers northwest of Perth, Australia. Retired air chief Angus Houston, the leader of the Australian team coordinating the international search effort, said the first detection of acoustic signals on a frequency of 37.5 kilohertz was held for 2 hours 20 minutes. The second detection, on a return leg, was heard for 13 minutes. "Significantly, this would be consistent with transmissions from both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder. Clearly this is a most promising lead," said Houston. A British naval vessel, the HMS Echo, is heading to an area where a Chinese patrol ship, the Haixun-01, using a hydrophone dangled over the side of the boat, detected acoustic pings Friday and Saturday about two kilometers apart. Houston said the vessels are in a race against time to receive further underwater signals. "The life of the batteries must be getting somewhere close to the end of life. It's what, 31 days, so we're already one day past the advertised shelf life. We hope that it keeps going for a little bit longer," said Houston. Royal Australian Navy Commodore Peter Leavy said searchers hope to use equipment to begin exploring the ocean floor if they detect more of the suspected black box signals. "If they gain another acoustic event on that towed pinger locator that would be the trigger, at the moment, to launch the autonomous underwater vehicle with the underwater sonar and, potentially, camera for mapping and visually looking at the ocean floor," said Leavey. In the area where the acoustic pulses have been detected, the ocean floor is about 4,500 meters below the surface. That is the limit of the operating depth for the autonomous underwater vehicle. Officials caution it could be weeks, or possibly months, before anything is found at that depth over what is still a wide search area. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared on March 8 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The aircraft was carrying 239 people. Most of the passengers were Chinese. Two westerners gunned down by airport guard in Somalia By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
Two Europeans working for the United Nations were shot dead in Somalia's Puntland region. Multiple sources identified the men as Simon Davies, a British citizen and former Scotland Yard officer, and Clement Gorrissen. France said Gorrissen was a French citizen, while other sources identified him as Canadian. In an interview, Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said a mentally ill security guard shot the two men Monday as they arrived at an airport in the city of Galkayo. The president said the shooter was immediately arrested by police and an investigation is under way. The U.N. mission in Somalia confirmed both shooting victims worked for the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. The men had come to Puntland to help with the construction of a prison, according to Ali. Last week, a new 500-bed prison, built with the help of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, opened in Puntland's capital, Garowe. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the cold-blooded killings. He urged authorities to fully investigate the shootings and quickly bring the perpetrators to justice. U.N. representative to Somalia Nicholas Kay said there can be no justification for such a callous attack. He said the United Nations remains committed to supporting the Somali people as they emerge from decades of conflict. Rampage at Fort hook lasted eight minutes with 35 shots By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
The Fort Hood soldier who killed three people and wounded 16 others last week began his eight-minute rampage on the sprawling U.S. Army post after an argument related to taking leave. A spokesman for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command told a news conference Monday that Specialist Ivan Lopez drove his car slowly through the central Texas base as he carried out the rampage. The spokesman said Lopez began the shooting spree after being denied a request for leave, but he did not describe the circumstances behind the request. A spokesman for Lopez's family said last week that Lopez was upset he was granted only a 24-hour leave to attend his mother's funeral in November. That leave was then extended to two days. The shooting spree Wednesday ended when Lopez killed himself with his .45-caliber pistol after confronting a female military police officer. In all, investigators say Lopez fired more than 35 shots. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are scheduled to attend a memorial service Wednesday at Fort Hood. Dutch priest in Syria dies from apparent targeted hit By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
The Vatican says a Dutch priest has been shot dead at his monastery in the besieged Syrian city of Homs. The 75-year-old Jesuit priest, Frans Van Der Lugt, had lived in Syria for decades and had refused to leave Homs despite more than a year of intense fighting there. Witnesses say the priest appeared to have been directly targeted. They say an unknown gunman entered the monastery Monday, took Van Der Lugt to the garden and shot him in the head. Van Der Lugt was a well-known figure in Homs, a rebel-held city that has been under a government siege for more than a year. The priest was respected by many for his efforts to get a blockade lifted so that aid could enter the city. A Vatican spokesman, Federico Lombardi, said Van Der Lugt showed great courage in remaining loyal to the Syrian people despite an extremely risky situation. A U.S. State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki said the United States is saddened by the news of Van Der Lugt's death. She said the priest worked to mitigate the immense suffering in Homs. The spokeswoman also deplored continued threats against Christians in Syria. Some Islamist militants among Syria's rebels have targeted Christians, forcing more than 450,000 of them to flee their homes. Before the civil war, Syria had an estimated Christian population of 2.5 million. New blood test may reveal cancers within human body By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
Detecting many forms of cancer may soon be as easy as a simple blood test, according to a new study. The blood test, developed by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, could also be used to monitor the amount of cancer in a patient’s body, say the researchers, as well as measure their response to various treatments. The test, called CAPP-Seq, for Cancer Personalized Profiling by deep Sequencing, is a refinement of past approaches to measuring the level of tumor DNA in the patient’s bloodstream, according to the study. The new method was able to “accurately identify about 50 percent of people in the study with stage-1 lung cancer and all patients whose cancers were more advanced,” according to the researchers. Researchers said that cancer cells are continuously dividing and dying, and as they do, they release DNA into the bloodstream. They called these traces of DNA “tiny messages in a bottle.” Reading these messages, researchers said, can allow better diagnoses and better monitoring of treatment. This blood test would go far toward finding the one mutation in 1,000 or 10,000 that come from cancer cells. “The vast majority of circulating DNA is from normal, non-cancerous cells, even in patients with advanced cancer,” said Scott Bratman, another author in a statement. “We needed a comprehensive strategy for isolating the circulating DNA from blood and detecting the rare, cancer-associated mutations.” Those not involved in the study were hopeful. “I think it’s an important advance in the field,” said Abhijit Patel from Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital, where he does similar research. “The goal is to detect very small, early stage tumors.” Patel said one of the major breakthroughs of the test is the ability to monitor changes in DNA mutations in cancer patients who are already receiving treatment and may develop a resistance to a specific medicine. He also said the test was very unlikely to produce false positives because cancer DNA mutations are unlikely to be found in healthy people. The study examined patients suffering from non-small-cell lung cancer, but the researchers said the test could be applicable to many different solid tumors throughout the body. In the future, the researchers said the test could be used to screen healthy or at-risk populations for signs of trouble. “It may be possible to develop assays that could simultaneously screen for multiple cancers,” said Maximilian Diehn, an author of the study. “This would include diseases such as breast, prostate, colorectal and lung cancer, for example.” Patel added that while the breakthrough was promising, it’s likely going to be five or 10 years before a screening test would be available to the general public. “To monitor treatment responses or resistance to treatment, it would be closer,” he said. The researchers describe their findings in a paper published online April 6 in Nature Medicine. Senate approves extension of unemployment insurance By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
After months of delays, the U.S. Senate has approved an extension of benefits for the long-term unemployed by a vote of 59 to 38. The measure faces significant opposition in the Republican-led House of Representatives. Democratic lawmakers will trumpet the issue on the campaign trail if the effort is blocked. Midterm elections are seven months away, but lawmakers are positioning themselves for the battle ahead. Republicans repeatedly blast President Barack Obama’s signature health care law and urge free market solutions to the nation’s challenges. Democrats are honing a populist economic message, championing an increase in the minimum wage and an extension of benefits for workers left jobless for more than six months. The Democratic-led Senate approved the latter item Monday. Majority Leader Harry Reid had a message for the House of Representatives: “Hopefully Republicans in the House will have soft hearts and strong minds and allow this to pass over there. It is in their hands. We hope they will be considerate to the 2.8 million long-term unemployed across the country. Perhaps struggling Americans will finally get the relief they deserve," said Reid. House Speaker John Boehner says the real solution is more jobs, not more government benefits for the unemployed. “If we were going to consider extending emergency unemployment, we ought to do something about creating better jobs in America, higher wages in America. To help get the economy moving again, that is the real issue," said Boehner. The issue is not entirely partisan. Sen. Dean Heller, a Republican of Nevada, where unemployment remains high, helped craft the bill. Backers from both parties say their goal is to help Americans survive a weak job market. Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat, says the jobless need help. “The meager checks give a little bit of stability so they can do what is necessary to look for work. It helps them keep their car insurance, so they can ride to interviews. It helps them meet mortgage payments, so they can keep a roof over their heads, or rent payments," said Booker. Republican opponents of the bill counter that Democrats’ real goal is to boost their electoral prospects. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of holding show votes that reveal them to be obsessed with Nov. 4. That is the date when one-third of the Senate and all House seats will be contested. Democrats accuse House Republicans of similar motives in holding dozens of votes to try to repeal Obamacare. America’s unemployment rate is at 6.7 percent, down significantly from the depths of the economic recession in 2009, but still far higher than normal four years into a recovery. Supreme Court will not hear photog's gay wedding case By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a photographer who objected to taking pictures of a same-sex wedding. The high court's denial Monday leaves in place a decision by the supreme court in the western state of New Mexico. That court ruled Elane Photography violated the state's anti-discrimination law when it refused to take pictures of a lesbian couple's commitment ceremony. The co-owner of the photo studio, Elaine Huguenin, said taking the photos would violate her religious beliefs that marriage should be between a man and a woman. The state court ruled the photo studio's action was discriminatory in the same way as if it had refused to photograph a wedding of a racially mixed couple. The United States is in the midst of an extended public debate over gay rights. Seventeen of the country's 50 states and Washington D.C. have legalized same-sex marriages, with several judges overturning bans that had prohibited them. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits and allowed gay couples to marry in the country's most populous state, California. But the court has yet to rule whether there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriages. Venezuelan television figure kidnapped near Caracas home By the A.M. Costa
Rica wire services
A Venezuelan TV journalist has been reported kidnapped by armed, masked men in the western section of the capital, Caracas. According to her father, Globovision news channel chief correspondent Nairobi Pinto was taken captive Sunday at the entrance to her apartment building. Her whereabouts remain unknown. In a local radio broadcast, Pinto's father asked the kidnappers to see sense and release his daughter. Police officials have not commented on the case. Venezuela is among the most violent countries in Latin America. During the past month and a half of ongoing protests, demonstrators have complained about high crime rates, along with soaring inflation and the scarcity of basic goods. Kidnappings, especially for ransom, are not uncommon in Venezuela, and a number of diplomats, as well as businessmen and athletes, have been abducted during the past years. While the majority of those kidnapped for ransom are released hours or days after they are taken, some kidnap victims have been killed or died from injuries sustained during their ordeal.  University
of Basel/ Kanko from Nagasaki,
Japan
Green tea
reported to boost working memory.Green
tea can increase
memory, Swiss study says By the University of
Basel news service
Green tea is said to have many positive effects on health. Now, researchers at the University of Basel are reporting first evidence that green tea extract enhances the cognitive functions, in particular the working memory. The Swiss findings suggest promising clinical implications for the treatment of cognitive impairments in psychiatric disorders such as dementia. The academic journal Psychopharmacology has published the results. In the past, the main ingredients of green tea have been thoroughly studied in cancer research. Recently, scientists have also been inquiring into the beverage's positive impact on the human brain. Different studies were able to link green tea to beneficial effects on the cognitive performance. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this cognitive enhancing effect of green tea remained unknown. In a new study, the researcher teams of Christoph Beglinger from the University Hospital of Basel and Stefan Borgwardt from the Psychiatric University Clinics found that green tea extract increases the brain's effective connectivity, meaning the causal influence that one brain area exerts over another. This effect on connectivity also led to improvement in actual cognitive performance: Subjects tested significantly better for working memory tasks after the admission of green tea extract. For the study healthy male volunteers received a soft drink containing several grams of green tea extract before they solved working memory tasks. The scientists then analyzed how this affected the brain activity of the men using magnetic resonance imaging. The imaging showed increased connectivity between the parietal and the frontal cortex of the brain. These neuronal findings correlated positively with improvement in task performance of the participants. The research results suggest promising clinical implications: Modeling effective connectivity among frontal and parietal brain regions during working memory processing might help to assess the efficacy of green tea for the treatment of cognitive impairments in neuropsychiatric disorders such as dementia. Heavy Twitter use hurts relationships, study reports By the University of
Missouri news service
Twitter and other social networking services have revolutionized the way people create and maintain relationships. However, new research shows that Twitter use could actually be damaging to users’ romantic relationships. Russell Clayton, a doctoral student in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, found that active Twitter users are far more likely to experience Twitter–related conflict with their romantic partners. Clayton’s results showed that Twitter-related conflict then leads to negative relationship outcomes, including emotional and physical cheating, breakup and divorce. In his study, Clayton surveyed 581 Twitter users of all ages. Clayton asked participants questions about their Twitter use such as how often they log in to Twitter, tweet, scroll the Twitter newsfeed, send direct messages to others, and reply to followers. Clayton also asked how much, if any, conflict arose between participants’ current or former partners as a result of Twitter use. For example, Clayton asked: “How often do you have an argument with your current or former partner because of too much Twitter use?” Clayton found that the more often a respondent reported being active on Twitter, the more likely they were to experience Twitter-related conflict with their partner, which then significantly predicted negative relationship outcomes such as cheating, breakup and divorce. “The aim of this study was to examine whether the findings of Claytons’ recent study, which concluded that Facebook use predicted Facebook-related conflict, which then led to breakup and divorce were consistent with another social networking site platform: Twitter.” In his previous research on Facebook, Clayton found that Facebook-related conflict and negative relationship outcomes were greater among couples in newer relationships of 36 months or less. In his new research regarding Twitter, Clayton found these outcomes occurred regardless of duration of relationship. “I found it interesting that active Twitter users experienced Twitter-related conflict and negative relationship outcomes regardless of length of romantic relationship,” Clayton said. “Couples who reported being in relatively new relationships experienced the same amount of conflict as those in longer relationships.” If Twitter users are experiencing Twitter-related conflict with their partner, Clayton recommends couples of all ages limit their daily and weekly use of social networking sites to more healthy, reasonable levels. “Although a number of variables can contribute to relationship infidelity and separation, social networking site usage, such as Twitter and Facebook use, can be damaging to relationships,” Clayton said. “Therefore, users should cut back to moderate, healthy levels of Twitter use if they are experiencing Twitter or Facebook – related conflict. Some couples share joint social networking site accounts to reduce relationship conflict, and there are some social networking site apps, such as the 2Life app, that facilitates interpersonal communication between partners.” Researchers in Europe say dengue epidemic is likely By the Umeå
University news service
The risk of dengue fever beginning to spread in Europe is imminent. According to researchers from Umeå University in Sweden, this is no longer just an issue for the scientific community but also for politicians and policy makers, who need to be prepared and develop preventive measures. With a changing climate and rising temperatures in Europe, the incidence of the Aedes aegypti mosquito has also increased. The mosquito is the main vector of dengue that can cause hemorrhagic fever. Although no outbreak of the disease has yet occurred in Europe, researchers at the Epidemiology and Global Health unit at Umeå University claim that there is now good living conditions for the mosquito in Europe and that it is therefore only a matter of time before we see an epidemic here. The Aedes albopictus mosquito has already established itself in large parts of Europe. Even though it is not as competent a vector as Aedes aegypti, several domestic cases of the disease have been observed in countries such as France and Croatia. “The last outbreak of dengue in Portuguese Madeira when several thousand became ill, shows that it is no longer a theoretical possibility that the disease can take hold in Europe. It is a reality that can strike at any time,” says Raman Preet, researcher and scientific project manager of the Dengue Tools project at the Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University. “When the disease shows up in Europe it has probably accompanied travelers in areas in the world where the disease is established. Then it will be spread with the help of the Aedes mosquito”. The risk for Swedish travelers to be infected by dengue is highest when going to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, while most cases in Sweden stems from trips to Thailand. There is currently no vaccine that can protect against dengue, nor is there any treatment when the illness strikes. Symptoms are similar to those of severe cold with fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, or upset stomach. The disease can be life threatening when it affects children, the elderly and chronically ill. In severe cases it can develop into a hemorrhagic fever. The previous models used to study the spread of dengue and especially the living conditions for the Aedes mosquito has taken up the average temperature in different areas. Jing Helmersson, a doctoral student at Umeå University, demonstrates in her studies that it is not enough. These calculations must also include the diurnal temperature distribution in different areas and temporal trends when assessing the potential for an epidemic caused by dengue. Therefore, Ms. Helmersson has developed a climate model with historical data from 1901 to the present day, whose projections extend to 2099. The results show a strong link between climate change and increased ability for mosquitos to spread the disease in Europe. “In our analyses, we can see that climate change, including the extreme weather with large daily temperature fluctuations in different areas of Europe, causes a large relative increase in the potential for epidemic spread of dengue fever,” says Ms. Helmersson. “It mainly concerns areas in southern and central Europe where the potential for proliferation previously has been small. At the same time we see that the spread potential will decrease in warm areas of the world, because the temperatures get too high.” Following the results of the research project, Ms. Helmersson said she believes that it is important to continue with the mapping of future risks of dengue infection, especially in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Increased globalization and the influx of viruses carried by flight passengers further heightens the risks. “Perhaps the most important of these studies is that they give us a better understanding of the risks of a future epidemic of dengue fever,” said Ms. Helmersson. “This type of modeling where we use weather and climate data makes it possible to forewarn the authorities in countries that are at risk of dengue epidemics, so that they in turn can prepare and start to act.” |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, April 8, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 69 | |||||||||
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U.S.
kids exposed to arsenic score lower on IQ tests By the Columbia
University news service
A study by researchers at Columbia University reports that schoolchildren from three school districts in Maine exposed to arsenic in drinking water experienced declines in child intelligence. While earlier studies conducted by the researchers in South Asia, and Bangladesh in particular, showed that exposure to arsenic in drinking water is negatively associated with child intelligence, this is the first study to examine intelligence against individual water arsenic exposures in the U.S. Findings are reported online in the journal, Environmental Health. The research team, led by Joseph Graziano, professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, assessed 272 children in grades 3 to 5, who were, on average, 10 years old, from three school districts in Maine where household wells are the predominant source for drinking water and cooking. The Augusta area in particular was studied because of earlier research indicating higher than normal exposures. Using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, the most often-used assessment tool for measuring intelligence in children ages 6 to 16, the researchers found that arsenic in household water was associated with decreased scores on most indexes. After adjusting for maternal IQ and education, characteristics of the home environment, school district, and number of siblings, the children who were exposed to greater than five parts arsenic per billion of household well water showed reductions in four areas, including verbal comprehension. Water samples were taken at the point of entry into the home via connection to the garden hose and at the consumption point, the kitchen sink. The researchers also considered drinking habits, length of residence in the home, well construction and use of filtering procedures. On average, water arsenic levels were measured at the kitchen tap. “The strength of associations found in this study is comparable to the modest increases that have been found in blood lead, an established risk factor for diminished IQ,” said Graziano. Analogous to the earlier work in Bangladesh with similarly aged children, the researchers found negative associations between water arsenic and performance that persisted upon adjustment for similar socio-demographic data. However, in Bangladesh, IQ tests were slightly modified to increase cultural appropriateness, and not precisely the same test as administered in Maine. Also significant, in Bangladesh and other such countries, children’s nutritional and health status, as well as their regularity of school attendance, differs from that of U.S children. Most noteworthy, Graziano emphasizes that water arsenic concentrations in the previously studied settings ranged far higher than in these U.S. communities, but also included low levels. “Our findings of adverse impact in a U.S. sample, particularly in performance-related functioning, gives confidence to the generalizability of findings from our work in Bangladesh, where we also observed a steep drop in intelligence scores in the very low range of water arsenic concentrations,” said Graziano. “Collectively, our work in Bangladesh and in Maine suggests that aspects of performance intelligence, particularly perceptual reasoning and working memory, are impacted by exposure to arsenic in drinking water.” “Even though purchasing a standard filter at the hardware store is inadequate for treating well water, the good news is that there are steps one can take to ameliorate the situation,” noted Graziano. Although somewhat expensive, Graziano and other experts recommend installing a reverse osmosis system to alleviate the effects of water arsenic. A series of outreach programs are also underway to educate families in the region. |
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| From Page 7: Small businesses take advantage of festival By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff
Products from small businesses are on display at the Festival de las Artes in Parque la Sabana. The products are from firms involved with the Banca de Desarrollo of Banco Nacional. The products range from furniture produced by the Esparza firm Puff Own, ice cream from Los Helados de Sorbetera “Doña Chela," which is located in la Garita and Herencias de Antaño, which produces candy and jellies. There even are products for pets. They come from Piyiyo, which produces clothing for dogs. Of course there is a coffee producer. It is Café los Abuelos from the Zona de los Santos, which will have their coffee for sale. |
