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José, Costa Rica, Monday, Oct. 12, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 201
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 Virginia Tech
photo
The
naturally occurring bacteria on this bullfrog's skin could be themost important tool for helping the animal fight off a deadly skin disease. Natural
bacteria may halt deadly fungus
By the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University
news staff The naturally occurring bacteria on a frog’s skin could be the most important tool for helping the animal fight off a deadly skin disease, according to an experiment conducted by researchers. Antibiotics to get rid of normal bacteria don’t significantly alter the rate of fungal infection, but caused the frogs to lose weight, suggesting that having their normal bacteria is important for frog health. However, naturally occurring skin bacteria can respond to infection and adjust structure and function to compensate for it, according to the team at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. “It turned out that in this experiment, it wasn’t about a single bacterium being protective, but rather the structure of the whole community was important in infection and frog health,” said Jeni Walke, a postdoctoral associate in biological sciences in the College of Science. Because bacterial communities are unique to each frog species, the trick will be determining which environmental and biological factors cause some frogs to develop protective communities while others do not, said Lisa Belden, an associate professor of biological sciences. Professor Belden’s team has long been interested in how a frog’s skin microbiome, or the collection of bacteria on its skin, helps it survive chytrid fungus exposure. Chytrid fungus causes a disease called chytridiomycosis, which is rapidly spreading across the world and already threatens about 500 amphibian species. The disease disrupts amphibian skin, potentially resulting in death. The fungus is epidemic in Costa Rica. Scientists believe chytrid fungus may be the greatest disease-caused loss of biodiversity in recorded history. Many factors are at play, including amphibian behavior, biological defenses, and environmental conditions. Human-driven changes such as climate change, invasive species, pollution, and habitat degradation further complicate the problem. For this latest experiment, Belden’s team collected bullfrogs from a pond in Giles County, Virginia. About half of the frogs were already infected with the fungus that can cause disease in some amphibian species. The team divided them into six experimental groups to explore the infection rate differences between those treated with antibiotics, which reduced the normal bacteria, those treated with an anti-chytrid bacterium and those not treated at all. These treatments resulted in differences in microbial structure on the frogs’ skin, which in turn influenced infection levels and frog growth. Because some frogs were infected with the fungus and others weren’t, the scientists were also able to demonstrate that the fungus affects the microbial structure of the bacteria living on frog skin. In this experiment, it wasn’t a single bacterium that was protective, but rather the structure of the whole community that was important for frog health. The next step is to further explore the capabilities of other naturally occurring bacteria, and which environmental factors allow some frog bacteria to successfully fight off the fungus. “Factors that contribute to microbial community assembly and maintenance on amphibian skin, including host factors, habitat, diet, and the available microbial species pool, may ultimate influence disease dynamics,” said Professor Belden. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation. “Chytrid disease is devastating large numbers of amphibian communities in many parts of the world,” said Simon Malcomber, program director in the National Science Foundation’s Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research. “The study shows the importance of amphibian microbiomes in mediating the effects of chytrid disease, and offers hope of limiting the infection.”  Judicial Investigating Organization
photo
Here
are some of the boxes that were confiscated.
Millions of
nails are fakes, agents say
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Anyone who got a really good deal on a box of nails ought to check with judicial investigators. Agents reported Friday that they had confiscated 7 million nails, some 250 boxes, because the nails are suspected to be counterfeit. The agency said that using counterfeit nails can jeopardize the integrity of constructions. The Judicial Investigating Organization said that agents made two raids to confiscate the nails at two firms in Goicoechea. Agents said that the nails had been imported from Asia. They were being marketed as if they were a recognized brand of nails, agents said. Holiday today recognizes nation's cultures By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Today, El Día de las Culturas, is a national holiday but most retail establishments will be open. Some private clubs have reduced hours. The U.S. Embassy also will be closed, as it is for all U.S. and Costa Rican holidays. Today also happens to be Canadian Thanskgiving because the day is the second Monday in October. It is a legal holliday in most of Canada. Banks and government offices are closed here. A.M. Costa Rica's sales office in Barrio Otoya is closed today, but the newspaper is being published as usual. Traffic police has lifted their license plate restriction for today. Normally vehicles with the last plate digit of 1 or 2 are prohibited from traveling in the metro area from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays. Traffic police also will be making some lane adjustments on the Caldera highway, Ruta 27, in anticipation of weekend vacationers headed home to the Central Valley later today. Bell removed from fisheries position By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Instituto Costarricense de Pesca y Acuicultura said Friday that it had dropped Gibert Bell as a member of the Comisión Asesora de Pesca del Caribe, one of the institute's auxiliaries. Bell was detailed last week by investigators who alleged that he was a major supplier of narcotics to the Central Valley. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Oct. 12, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 201 | |
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| Poder Judicial equates taking photo with harassment and
violence |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Poder Judicial is not displaying reflexion in the case of Gerardo Cruz Barquero. The judiciary's Secretaría Técnica de Género issued a strong condemnation of the attack of the 22 year old and linked it to his efforts to embarrass a man who took a photo of the rear of a woman on the pedestrian boulevard in San José. Cruz, who remains in Hospital Calderón Guardia has become a hero because many who are involved in the social networks believe, as does the Poder Judicial, that his stabbing Wednesday night was a result of his online activities. The motive for the attack has not been determined, although law enforcement officials said they have made the case a priority. The man who was photographing is an accountant in the finance ministry and is not a likely suspect in the stabbing. Cruz was on his way to another media interview Wednesday night when a man got out of a car and stabbed him multiple times. |
The Poder
Judicial said that Cruz had the courage to complain through
the social networks about a phenomenon that women have
always suffered: street harassment, an action that is evidence of a
form of violence against women and children that is against human
rights and fundamental liberties. In addition, the Poder Judicial said that international treaties say that women should have full liberty to exercise their civil, economic, political, social and cultural rights and that the state has the duty to act with due diligence to prevent, investigate and punish violence against women. The case caused some supporters of Cruz to hold vigils Thursday night, and there was a small march in support of the young man Sunday. The judiciary's characterization of street harassment and violence seems overbroad because the women did not know about the photograph until Cruz told her. As celebrities who are tormented by paparazzis know, persons in public places are fair game for photographers. The Poder Judicial did not respond Friday when asked which law the man taking photos broke. |
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Doggone lucky pup A coast guard officer in Quepos offers food to a dog that neighbors found suffering on the street. The animal had been slashed with a machete on the neck. A local veterinarian volunteered his services and antibiotics, and now the dog needs a home. |
 Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas
photo
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| Plans continue for a national strike that has been called
for Friday |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
An organization representing many public employee unions has reaffirmed plans to stage a national strike Friday. This is the Bloque Unitario Sindical y Social Costarricense that says it would give more information Tuesday. President Luis Guillermo Solís expressed a desire to derail plans for the strike by meeting with the group, but there have |
been no
announcements of any meeting. The Bloque represents at least 50 to 60 unions, nearly all of them of public employees. The strike is an effort to defend current salaries and the government's plan to restructure them. Individual strikes also are upset by the cost of living and a number of other issues. At least two other organizations plan similar strikes in the following weeks. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Oct. 12, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 201 | |||||
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| Florida RV owner found success despite a brutal knife attack |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
At a moment in history when women still hold fewer than 20 percent of board seats at American companies, Gigi Stetler has not only subverted the paradigm, she's lucky to be alive. Thirty years ago, at the age of 23, she was attacked by a homeless man she had helped with food, clothing and shelter. He charged through the door of her apartment, lunged at her with a knife and stabbed her 21 times, leaving her for dead. Ms. Stetler survived, and throughout her long, slow recovery, she was determined to heal so she could fulfill her dream of becoming a successful businesswoman. “You don’t realize your inner strength and how strong you are when you’re fighting for your life," she said, adding that during her horrific ordeal, she kept thinking "I’m in the middle of my mission, my accomplishments, you’re not going to stop me." Today, at 54, Ms. Stetler is the proud owner of a recreational vehicle dealership in Florida, a company she built from the ground up to compete in an industry sector largely dominated by men. Proud to be the first woman in the U.S. to be founder and CEO of an RV dealership, she calls it a challenge she's been proud to have overcome. “I know exactly what I'm talking about, and they still just cannot help themselves to find out where the man is in my life," she said. "I don't take it personally anymore, now I use it to my advantage. When I do a service estimate, I go out there with my clipboard, my heels and my miniskirt and do an estimate on everything from the engine to the body work.” She wrote about her life in a man's world in a book called "Unstoppable! Surviving is Just the Beginning." Based on her experiences, she is not surprised by the findings of a recent study of women in business. The global accounting firm Grant Thornton surveyed companies listed on stock markets in the United States, India and the U.K. It reported that companies with diverse executive teams |
 Voice
of America photo
Gigi Stetler, with one of her
many RVs at Planet RV in Florida.outperform competitors run by men only, by $655 billion. Ms. Stetler calls that proof women can transform and lead any company, and she advises other leading businesswomen to step down from their boards and start their own companies. “There need to be more women business owners having men work for them than the other way around, because they are the heart of this country," she said. And her advice for young women or even men fresh out of college: “Don't leave school thinking you know everything, because they only train your book smarts, they don't train you street smarts. "Go find the best person you can learn from, and no matter what they pay you, it doesn't matter," she added. "Don't work for money right now. Work to learn." For Ms. Stetler, that was the philosophy that drove her to establish her own successful business. |
Here's reasonable medical care
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| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Oct. 12, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 201 | |||||||
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| Trump and Mrs. Clinton lead in surveys of party members By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump continues to lead the crowded field of U.S. Republican presidential candidates while Hillary Clinton is the top Democrat. A newly-released poll of 1,200 voters by CBS News gives Trump 27 percent support among Republicans. He is followed by another political novice, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, with 21 percent. None of the other 13 Republican candidates gets double-digit support. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz scores 9 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio got 8 percent. The flamboyant Trump has attracted support from Republican voters angered at Washington by taunting his opponents as losers and as weak. On the sensitive issue of gun control, Trump told CBS television's "Face the Nation" Sunday someone carrying a gun might have prevented the recent massacre at an Oregon college and admitted that he sometimes carries a concealed weapon. "I feel much better being armed," Trump said. "I like to have myself protected." On another CBS broadcast Sunday, "60 Minutes," President Barack Obama called Trump a great publicity seeker and a classic reality TV character. But he said Trump will not be the next president. For the Democrats, the CBS poll shows former secretary of state Hillary Clinton far out in front with 46 percent of voter support, followed by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders with 27 percent. Vice President Joe Biden, who has yet to declare his candidacy, has 16 percent. Obama told the "60 Minutes" broadcast that while Mrs. Clinton's use of a single e-mail server for both official and private business when she was secretary of State was a mistake, he does not believe it endangered national security. He said fierce criticism of Mrs. Clinton by many Republicans over the issue is a result of politics. Finally, Obama said if he were allowed by the constitution to run for a third term, he believes he could be reelected. Benghazi prober tells Times he was fired for his efforts By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A former investigator with the Republican-led congressional committee examining the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 says he was fired after resisting pressure to focus his investigative work on Hillary Clinton and the State Department. Air Force Reserve Maj. Bradley Podliska, who describes himself as a conservative Republican, told The New York Times and CNN that in March the panel abandoned its broader investigation of the events that led up to the deaths in Benghazi of four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. Podliska said the committee turned all of its attention to Mrs. Clinton and the State Department after it was revealed that she used a private email server while she was secretary of State. The move de-emphasized other agencies involved with the attacks on the American consulate on Sept. 11, 2012. Podliska said he planned to file a lawsuit for wrongful termination soon that would also make the case that he was fired in part because he participated in required National Guard exercises. Mrs. Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president, and her supporters have accused House Republicans of trying to use the Benghazi committee to hobble her campaign. She recently called it nothing but a partisan exercise. The committee on Saturday forcefully denied the allegations. It said in a statement that Podliska never raised such concerns while with the panel, and that he, himself, had inappropriately used committee resources to create a PowerPoint hit piece on members of the Obama administration, including then-secretary of State Clinton. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy recently linked the committee's work to Mrs. Clinton's sliding poll numbers and drew a rebuke from Republicans and Democrats. The California Republican stepped back from those remarks, but they damaged his effort to become the next House speaker and he dropped out of the race to succeed outgoing Speaker John Boehner. U.S. says it will compensate in Afghan hospital victims By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The United States will offer condolence payments for those killed or injured in the U.S. air strike that mistakenly hit a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, Oct. 3. Defense Department spokesman Peter Cook said that U.S. forces in Afghanistan will work with those affected to determine appropriate payments. If necessary, the administration will seek additional authority from the Congress, he said. Earlier, Cook said the amount of the payments has not been determined. The money will go to civilian non-combatants injured and the families of civilian non-combatants killed as a result of U.S. military operations, he said. The medical group, known by its French acronym MSF, has said the air strike killed 10 patients and 12 of its staff members. The charity said Thursday that 33 people are still missing, including nine patients and 24 staff members. Doctors Without Borders ended its Kunduz operations after the aerial bombardment and has demanded an independent investigation into the attack under the Geneva Conventions. The group says probes under way by the U.S., Afghanistan and NATO are insufficient and has suggested that the attack amounted to a war crime. The Geneva Conventions are a set of international treaties and protocols regulating the conduct of armed conflict and aim to protect people not taking part in hostilities and those who are no longer doing so. U.S. President Barack Obama apologized Wednesday to the medical group's president, Joanne Liu, for the attack. However, the details of U.S. involvement in the attack are murky since the U.S. has changed its account of what happened that day. The U.S. says it will not provide further details about the incident while its military conducts an investigation. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama called Dr. Liu to apologize and express condolences. "In this case, there was a mistake and it's one that the U.S. owns up to," Earnest said. He said Obama is very eager to get to the bottom of what exactly occurred. Obama also called Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to voice his condolences for the innocent loss of lives in the incident, the spokesman said, and to commend Afghan forces for their bravery in the fight to control the northern Afghan city in clashes with Taliban insurgents. Meanwhile, U.S. officials are probing whether the military exceeded its authority for use of force in Afghanistan in launching the air strike. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. John Campbell, says the United States is taking the blame for carrying out the raid after Afghan forces requested it to attack Taliban insurgents it believed were firing from inside the medical facility. But the question remains whether the U.S. should have agreed to the attack. When Obama ended American ground combat operations in Afghanistan last year, he said that the residual force of 9,800 U.S. troops remaining there should focus on training and advising Afghan troops. He limited the use of force to three circumstances: the defense of U.S. and allied troops, support for missions targeting remnants of al-Qaida insurgents in Afghanistan, and assisting Afghan troops facing mass casualties in extreme situations. It is not clear whether the U.S. bombing of the hospital met any of those criteria. Columbus Day generating more mixed opinions in U.S. By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
In the United States, Oct. 12 is significant as the date explorer Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas.The achievement, which is commemorated on the second Monday of October, is a source of pride, particularly within the Italian-American community because Columbus was Italian. But for some the holiday is marked by controversy. John Viola, president of the National Italian-American Foundation, said the significance of the holiday is varied. “It's an opportunity and holiday that we are able to celebrate what we've contributed to this country, to celebrate our history of our ancestors," he said. "I think for the rest of the country, Columbus Day is a vehicle to celebrate this nation of immigrants." To some, Columbus was a great explorer. But others are offended by his legacy. Joe Genetin-Pilawa, history professor at George Mason University, said the explorer enslaved many of the natives he encountered. Hundreds of thousands more died of diseases introduced by the European visitors. “Within 10 years in the initial of landfall in 1492, so by 1502, we estimated that the Taino, the native people who lived in the Bahamas, the population dropped from approximately a million to 500," he said. Robert Holden, deputy director of the National Congress of American Indians, said the history of Columbus is distorted. "It's always been questionable in terms of native people's tribal communities and how we look to what was written by non-native people for a non-native audience,” he said. David Silverman, history professor at George Washington University, said the whole story should be told. "I don't think you need to focus on one aspect of his past and to neglect the other. You bring them both together and so that he becomes a three dimensional figure," he said. Some in the United States choose to celebrate Indigenous People's Day in place of Columbus Day. Genetin-Pilawa said the name of the holiday should be formally changed. "I definitely think that we should question maintaining a federal holiday for Christopher Columbus. As to what day that could become, I support the creation of Indigenous People's Day," he said. But Viola disagreed, saying Native Americans should find another day to celebrate their cultures. Two investigators determine youth's shooting reasonable By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Two outside investigations have found a white Ohio police officer was justified in the fatal shooting of a black 12-year-old boy who was carrying a toy pellet gun. Tamir Rice was killed in November 2014 outside of a Cleveland recreation center. Trainee officer Timothy Loehmann shot Rice within seconds of arriving on the scene following a call about a man carrying a gun. Authorities say the gun in question was a replica pistol that shot plastic pellets, but the orange markings that indicates it was a toy, were removed. The reports were released Saturday by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office ahead of a grand jury hearing to determine whether the officer will be charged in Rice's death. An attorney for Rice's family criticized the reports as a whitewash. "We are not reaching any conclusions from these reports," said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty. "The gathering of evidence continues and the grand jury will evaluate it all." The report prepared by former FBI agent Kimberly A. Crawford, found that Loehmann's use of force did not violate Rice's constitutional rights. "It is my conclusion that Officer Loehmann’s use of deadly force falls within the realm of reasonableness under the dictates of the Fourth Amendment," Crawford wrote. A second report, written by Colorado prosecutor Lamar Sims, found that any reasonable officer could have believed Rice's gun was a real firearm and that actions based on that mistake can be reasonable. "I conclude that Officer Loehmann's belief that Rice posed a threat of serious physical harm or death was objectively reasonable as was his response to that perceived threat," he said. Republicans in Congress still struggled for a leader By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Uncertainty grips the U.S. Congress, where no consensus replacement has emerged to succeed Republican House Speaker John Boehner after his surprise resignation announcement. Amid the chaos, half of Congress is effectively leaderless weeks before America risks defaulting on its national debt and enduring another partial government shutdown. From Sam Rayburn to Tip O’Neill to Newt Gingrich and beyond, giants of America’s political landscape have wielded the gavel as House speaker, one of Washington’s most powerful positions. The speaker is third in the line of presidential succession, behind the vice president, and, except in rare instances, no bill becomes law in America without the speaker agreeing to bring it to the House floor for a vote. With such lofty power on the line, an unlikely paradox has emerged: big-name House Republicans who could potentially rally enough support to become speaker are reluctant to seek the position, while lesser-known representatives eager for the post do not command a following large enough to secure it at present. “We need a fresh start,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a declared contender for speaker, on ABC’s This Week program. “I’ve earned a reputation of being fair, and that I’ll hear all sides from the entire political spectrum. And really the role of the speaker is to be the constitutional officer that makes sure the process is fair, that it’s balanced.” Representing Utah, Chaffetz is chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Governmental Reform. While touting his credentials, Chaffetz says he would withdraw his bid if a colleague favored by Republican Party elders, Congressman and 2012 vice presidential contender Paul Ryan, entered the fray. But Ryan says he doesn’t want to be speaker, a stance repeatedly confirmed by his staff in recent days. Ryan and Chaffetz are both fiscal conservatives committed to shrinking the size of government. But neither is radical enough for a House Republican faction demanding total political warfare against President Barack Obama. The split between establishment and ultra-conservative Republicans has frayed party unity in recent years, and is now on full display as a primary driver of the current chaos on Capitol Hill. “The truth is, they don’t know what they are going to do,” said former Republican congressman Vin Weber, who served during the speakership of Newt Gingrich in the 1990s. If no consensus candidate emerges, Weber suggests an unprecedented move: electing an interim or caretaker speaker. “I think they should buy themselves some time and figure out who, among the existing members or maybe even somebody from the outside could do the job just for a little over the next year, and give Republicans time to sort it out,” Weber said. Democrats and the White House are bystanders to the drama. “There’s a minority group of conservative Republican politicians that places their own extreme ideology ahead of everything else,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest last week. Congress will return from recess next week facing hard deadlines on momentous legislation to raise the federal debt ceiling and fund the U.S. government beyond Dec. 11. At this point, it is not certain a new speaker will be in place before either deadline arrives. Until the crisis is resolved, Speaker Boehner has no choice but to put his retirement on hold. |
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Strong El
Niño linked to dengue cases
By the University of Florida news staff
Epidemics of dengue are linked to high temperatures brought by the El Niño weather phenomenon, a University of Florida scientist working with an international team of researchers has found. The findings are particularly timely as the most intense El Niño in nearly two decades is emerging in the Pacific, raising the concern that a major increase in cases of dengue will occur throughout Southeast Asian countries early next year. The results of the study appear in today’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Biology Professor Derek Cummings is the senior author of the study. He and his colleagues found that an increase in dengue incidence swept through eight countries of Southeast Asia in 1997 and 1998 during a historically intense El Niño weather event. “Dengue infects large numbers of people across the tropics each year, but incidence can vary dramatically from year to year in any setting,” Cummings said. “During years of large incidence, the number of people requiring hospitalization and care can overwhelm health systems. If we can understand the factors that contribute to these increases, we can prepare for them and act to mitigate the impact of the disease.” The dengue virus is transmitted by mosquitoes in the tropics and subtropics. Each year an estimated 390 million infections occur globally. Though there is no specific pharmaceutical treatment, supportive therapy can greatly improve outcomes. A number of vaccine candidates are in development but none are currently licensed. In addition to the finding that increased temperature results in increased incidence across the region, the study also found that urban areas act as dengue epidemic pacemakers, giving rise to traveling waves of large epidemics moving to nearby rural areas. Traveling waves were found to emerge from multiple urban centers across Southeast Asia. Cummings worked with researchers from each of the affected countries and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh to compile 18 years of monthly dengue surveillance reports on a total of 3.5 million reported cases. “The synchronization of incidence across such a large area, spanning thousands of kilometers, is really striking,” Cummings said. “It suggests that continued multi-country coordination of surveillance for dengue is critical to understanding patterns in each individual country.” The international team involved scientists from 18 institutions around the world, including the Ministries of Health in each study country. “This study will contribute toward a better understanding of the cyclical nature of dengue,” said co-author Lam Sai Kit, a professor at the University of Malaya in Malaysia. “Based on the extensive data analyzed and the conclusions reached, it will help to improve early-warning systems for impending large outbreaks in the region. Now that the new El Niño has started, these findings will help us prepare for a worst-case scenario, and immediate measures can be taken to counter its effect in the next few months.” |
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| From
Page 7: Program will seek to place older workers By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The probability of getting a good job in Costa Rica diminishes with age. Employers usually reject applicants who are 40 or more. So Banco Nacional has joined with the Asociación Gerontológica Costarricense to begin a study on the employment situation of the elderly. The program recognizes that the population is becoming older and it is trying to counter the discrimination against older job seekers, said Banco Nacional. The first step, said the bank, is an exploration with business owners and government to determine possible opportunities to generate employment. Later there will be studies of those 45 and older to identify the interests and capacities of these age groups, said the bank. |
