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San
José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013, Vol. 13, No.
225
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Campaign seeks
protected area
for ocean off Osa peninsula By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A campaign has picked up steam to create a marine protected area off the Osa Peninsula. The campaign has a Web site that noted "Costa Rica's dolphins, whales, sea turtles and other marine flora and fauna are being decimated at alarming rates due to rampant commercial fishing including long lines, gill nets, shrimp trawling and tuna boats." There is a petition that already has 618 signatures and money is being sought via a crowd funding site linked to the Web page. The campaign is in both English and Spanish. Coordinating is Sierra Goodman, the founder of Vida Marina, who is involved in marine tours off the Osa and also research. The petition seeks a protected area from the Marina Ballena area to Golfo Dulce. Ms. Goodman expressed pleasure Tuesday after she learned that Alvaro Ugalde Víquez, former director of Parque Nacional Corcovado, had sent out a personal email supporting the project. The Web page explains why Costa Rica hosts so much marine diversity: " . . . Costa Rica enjoys one of the most biologically diverse ocean ecosystems in the world. This is mainly because the heart of a vast habitat known as the Costa Rican Thermal Convection Dome, named for its proximity to this country, lies here. Shallow warm waters lie on top of low-oxygen cold water, creating the perfect ecosystem for a vast variety of marine life. The dome off the coast of Costa Rica is the only one in the world that is constant. Such conditions provide the Costa Rican Pacific waters with a very unique scheme of biological richness. Whales, dolphins, tuna, marlin, manta rays, sea turtles, sailfish and more, congregate in this area taking advantage of this year-round thermal dome of ecologically rich waters." In the past Ms. Goodman went so far as to jump in the ocean to help dolphin out of a trawler net. She has been an ardent foe of destructive fishing practices. Former director will return to lead symphonic orchestra By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Chosei Komatsu, the former director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional returns Friday as director emeritus to conduct the 10th concert of the season. Soloists are Andrés Cárdenes on the violin and Andrés Díaz on the Violoncello. Cárdenes has been a soloist in more than 100 concerts, said the orchestra announcement. He and Díaz will perform the "Double Concerto in A minor," Op. 102, by Johannes Brahms. As is the custom, the 8 p.m. Friday performance will be followed by a 10:30 a.m. repeat, both in the Teatro Nacional. Also scheduled are pieces by Sergei Prokofiev and Claude-Achille Debussy, according to the announcement. Two police officers detained on allegation of phone theft By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Judicial police detained two Fuerza Pública officers Tuesday on the allegation that they stole a cell telephone from a motorist they stopped to help. The Judicial Investigating Organization said that the two officers answered a call in January about a suspicious vehicle near Parque de La Paz and found instead an ailing motorist. The driver eventually reported the theft of his cell phone, and agents said they tracked it to a relative of one of the officers who pawned it in a local shop.  Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública photo
A woman was one of three persons
detained at the Hotel España.Multiple drug
raids target
city distribution organization By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Anti-drug police conducted nine raids Tuesday in an effort to detain members of a local drug ring. The crimes were centered on the Hotel España on Calle 8 between Avenidas 5 and 7, said the Policía de Control de Drogas. Agents said the ring was assisted in its business by two prisoners at the Centro Penal de Liberia, who distributed the drugs inside the facility. Nine persons were detained Tuesday, and judicial action began against the two men still in the prison, said agents. The case is linked to several previous raids and arrests. Agents confiscated more than 6,000 doses of crack cocaine and some marijuana, they said. The hotel has been an area of drug distribution for years, said agents. In addition to the hotel, agents raided locations in Barrio María Auxiliadora, Aserrí; Cristo Rey, León XIII, Tibás, Barrio Novedades de San Juan de Dios, Desamparados, Corredores and the Liberia prison. Uvita music festival, Best Fest, sets dates for February next year By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Feb. 7 through 9 are the dates for Best Fest, a grassroots music festival at Playa Ballena on the Pacific. The venue is located just south of Uvita, said organizers. Best Fest lineup includes some returning acts such as Ojo de Buey, Cocofunka, Ben Fagan and the Holy City Hooligans, The Werks, Chris Gelbuda, JamiSun, Savi Fernandez Band, Pierre Monney and Infibeat. Best Fest first timers include Conspirator, ProbCause, Talawa, Dangermuffin and Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons. Best Fest attendees will enjoy a variety of music genres including: bues, rock, soul, reggae, funk, electronic and more, said organizers.. The event has a Web page with details. Armored car stickup nets bandits about $200,000 By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Judicial agents say that robbers got away with 100 million colons in an armored car stickup Monday night. That's about $200,000. The crime happened about 7 p.m. in San Francisco de Dos Ríos. Agents said that the armored vehicle stopped at a supermarket to pick up money. Bandits arrived in a car and took the money from the guards. One guard suffered a bullet wound to the leg, agents said. Container facility meeting is claimed not to be valid By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
An environmental organization is questioning the legitimacy of a meeting held Saturday in Limón The environmental ministry's Secretaría Técnica Nacional Ambiental held the session to present findings on a proposed $1 billion container handling facility in nearby Moín. But the meeting was adjourned earlier than expected because some of the spectators were becoming rowdy. The project is controversial. A press release cited the opinion of Álvaro Sagot, a lawyer, who said that the situation was not suitable for the presentation, and the delivery of information. The release is called for a repeat of the meeting. APM Terminals is the Dutch firm that plans to build the facility as a concession. Environmentalists oppose it because of the impact on the area.
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado S.A. 2013 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 225 | |
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| Legislative committee OKs to new ministry
of gender equality |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A legislative committee has given approval to a bill that would create a ministry of equality of gender. The measure would allow the president to appoint a minister to this new entity. Currently the country has 22 ministries because Casa Presidencial counts the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo as one and has divided the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública into two. Also counted as a ministry of sports is the Instituto Costarricense del Deporte y la Recreación because the ministry has not been created officially. The purpose of the new gender bill is to strengthen the Instituto Nacional de la Mujer. The bill calls it the platform for the new ministry. The Spanish title of the new entity would be the Ministerio de Igualdad y Equidad de Género. A summary of the bill prepared by the legislative staff notes that creating such a ministry is consistent with several agreements with the United Nations. |
However staffers wondered why a
ministry of gender equality would be created by a bill that called for
a ministra to be appointed.
All other ministries are listed as headed by a ministro in the law even if the
person holding the position is a woman. The bill seems to expect that
women always will be appointed to the post. The introduction to the bill says that the main concerns will be woman and female children. There is no mention of males. Staffers also wondered about the legality of combining a ministry that reports to the president with an autonomous institute, which is what the Instituto Nacional de la Mujer is. A final text of the bill is not available to see if the committee, the Comisión Permanente Especial de La Mujer, addressed these points that were raised by staffers. The objective of the new ministry, according to the legal summary is to promote the incorporation of the prospective of gender in public institutions and in private ones of the country. |
| Christmas lights due to go on Dec. 6,
power company says |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz S.A. said Tuesday that it is saving 80 percent of the cost of electricity this year by using LED illumination for Christmas lights. The electric company workers have been on the job since the middle of October putting the lights in place. The company plans to decorate much of San José, including Paseo Colón, Avenida Segunda and the various parks. Other sections of the city will be getting lights, too, the company said, mentioning Parque la Sabana, Avenida 10, Plaza González Víquez, the Garantías Sociales traffic circle, an area near Terramall in La Unión and in San Antonio de Belén. |
Also due for illumination are some
20 communities in which the electric company has service. The lighting will be inaugurated Dec. 6 with a big celebration in Parque Central. Among other buildings, the company will be hanging lights on the Catedral Metropolitana as well as two other churches. Churches in other communities also will be illuminated, the company said. In the city, the work is being done in conjunction with the Municipalidad de San José. The lights will remain on until Jan.6. |
Here are some of the youngsters who will be performing today in the culture ministry. |
 Minsterio de Educación
Pública photo
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| Public school performers and artist to
show their stuff today |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Public school students from all over the country will be showing off their accomplishments in art today at the culture ministry in San José. Those who are participating were headliners at the student festival of arts last year, said the Minsterio de Educación Pública. |
The event begins at 9 a.m. at the
ministry, the Centro Nacional de la Cultura, just east of Parque
España on Avenida 7. Admission is free. An announcement promised dancing of several types, street theater, student bands, street bands, marimbas and other instruments. This year elementary students are participating. There also are exhibits of the student art works. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 225 | |||||
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| U.N. report says insecurity is thwarting development in
Latin America |
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Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
Insecurity is a shared challenge that obstructs social and economic development in every country in Latin America, says a new U.N. Development Programme report launched in New York Tuesday. But crime control measures alone are insufficient; the most effective way to reduce citizen insecurity is by improving people’s lives, boosting inclusive economic growth and enhancing security and justice institutions, according to the "Regional Human Development Report 2013-2014." The report, “Citizen Security with a Human Face: evidence and proposals for Latin America,” reveals a paradox: In the past decade, the region experienced both economic growth and increased crime rates. Despite social improvements, Latin America remains the most unequal and most insecure region in the world. While homicide rates reduced in other regions, they increased in Latin America, which recorded over 100,000 murders per year, totaling more than a million from 2000-2010. While homicide rates stabilized and even declined in some parts of Latin America, it is still high: in 11 of the 18 assessed countries the rate is higher than 10 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, reaching epidemic levels. Moreover, the perception of security has worsened, with robberies hiking threefold in the last 25 years, says the regional report. Citizen security is a sensitive issue which preoccupies many political decision-makers and reverberates in the heat of electoral campaigns,” said Programme Administrator Helen Clark. “It is a crucial issue for several “ regions, including Latin America and the Caribbean, because without peace |
there can be
no development, and without development there can be no lasting peace.” “There is no magic solution to insecurity, but this serious problem can be remediated — with vision and long-term political will,” said Geraldo Muñoz, the U,N, assistant secretary-general and programme director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Each country needs to secure a national citizen security agreement between the government, political parties and civil society so it truly becomes a state policy.” The report focuses on six main overlapping threats that negatively impact the region: street crime; violence and crime committed by and against the youth; gender-based violence; corruption (the misappropriation of public property, whose provision is the responsibility of the state); violence committed by state actors and organized crime. “While some threats — such as organized crime, especially drug trafficking — are often used to explain insecurity, the regional, national and local dynamics are much more diverse,” explains the report coordinator Rafael Fernandez de Castro. One of the main lessons drawn from Latin America is that iron fist policies do not work: strong police and criminal repression in the region have often coincided with high crime rates, the report says. The assessed experiences confirm that protecting the rights to life, to dignity and to physical integrity is essential to citizen security, which, as a public good, is a responsibility of the state, highlights the regional report. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 225 | |||||
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 NASA photo
Someone traveling past Saturn
and looking back toward Earth would have seen this in July.Cassini
telescope catches
planets and Saturn's moons By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. space agency, NASA, just released a natural-color image of Saturn from space, the first in which Saturn, its moons and rings, and Earth, Venus and Mars, all are visible. The image is actually a mosaic of 141 wide-angle photos taken by the Cassini probe. The image sweeps 404,880 miles (651,591 kilometers) across Saturn and its inner ring system, including all of Saturn's rings out to the E ring, which is Saturn's second outermost ring. Earth is the bright blue dot to the lower right of Saturn. Venus is the bright dot to Saturn’s upper left. Mars also appears, as a faint red dot, above and to the left of Venus. Seven Saturnian moons are visible, including Enceladus on the left side of the image. Zooming into the image reveals the moon and the icy plume emanating from its south pole, supplying fine, powder-sized icy particles that make up the E ring. "In this one magnificent view, Cassini has delivered to us a universe of marvels," said Carolyn Porco, Cassini's imaging team lead at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Cassini does not attempt many images of Earth because the sun is so close to our planet that an unobstructed view would damage the spacecraft's sensitive detectors. Cassini team members looked for an opportunity when the sun would slip behind Saturn from Cassini's point of view. A good opportunity came on July 19, when Cassini was able to capture a picture of Earth and its moon, and this multi-image, backlit panorama of the Saturn system. Launched in 1997, Cassini has explored the Saturn system for more than nine years. NASA plans to continue the mission through 2017. World Trade Center town ruled the highest building in States By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The new World Trade Center tower in New York is officially the nation's tallest building, taking the title Tuesday from Chicago's Willis Tower. An international panel of architects decided the needle atop the New York skyscraper is a spire, not an antenna, and can be counted when measuring the structure's height. The Height Committee of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat said the needle, measuring 124 meters, was high enough to knock Chicago off its pedestal when it comes to hosting the country's tallest building. With the needle, 1 World Trade Center is 541.3 meters tall. Without it, the building would have been only 417 meters, well short of the 442 meter Willis Tower, formally known as the Sears Tower. The international Height Committee is the final arbiter of official building heights around the world. They discussed the decision behind closed doors last week in Chicago, home to the world's first skyscraper. Hawaii about to approve same-sex marriage bill By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Pacific state of Hawaii is about to become the 15th in the United States to allow same-sex couples to marry. Tuesday the Hawaiian state senate gave final approval to a bill extending marriage rights to same-sex couples in the state long popular as a wedding and honeymoon destination. As the vote took place, hundreds of supporters who filled the chamber's visitor galleries and the Capitol rotunda cheered and applauded. Gov. Neil Abercrombie has promised to sign the legislation Wednesday morning. It will take effect next month. The vote comes at a time of increasing momentum for gay marriage in U.S. courts, at the ballot box and state houses across the country. Only six states and the District of Columbia recognized same-sex marriage a year ago, but the number has since more than doubled. Last month, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie dropped his legal opposition to gay marriage, making his state the 14th to legalize same-sex weddings. Illinois lawmakers gave final approval to a same-sex marriage bill Nov. 5, and Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to sign that measure later this month. Use of statin urged for many by major medical groups By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
New U.S. guidelines on preventing heart attacks and strokes call for
twice as many Americans to consider taking cholesterol-lowering statin
drugs.The guidelines, issued Tuesday by two leading medical organizations, the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, use a new formula to estimate a person's risk. It takes into account many factors besides cholesterol, which has been the main focus up until now. Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. And high cholesterol leads to hardened arteries that can cause a heart attack or stroke. Millions of Americans take statin drugs, which reduce cholesterol dramatically. Under the old guidelines, statin drugs were recommended for about 15 percent of U.S. adults. But, under the new formula, one-third of the population, 33 million Americans, are advised to take them. The new advice identifies four groups of people for whom statins help the most, those who already have heart disease, people over the age of 40 with Type 2 diabetes, people with an elevated LDL level, and those over 40 with a high risk of getting heart disease within 10 years. These new guidelines still emphasize the importance of a healthy diet and exercise in avoiding heart disease and stroke. European Union to tackle youth unemployment problem By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
European Union leaders have called for swift action to reduce youth unemployment, a growing problem in the 28-nation grouping. Almost one quarter of young people aged 15 to 24 are unemployed, which is more than twice the unemployment rate among adults. French President Francois Hollande hosted a Youth Unemployment Summit in Paris Tuesday, following a July summit initiated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "The future of a generation is at stake, a generation that has been hit by unemployment for years now, and with the economic crisis, this generation feels even more uncertain about its future, almost hopeless," said Hollande. President Hollande said 6 million young people are currently unemployed in Europe. His own popularity is at record lows, partly because he has failed to lower France's 11 percent unemployment rate. Meanwhile, Ms. Merkel said economic growth is a prerequisite for creating new jobs. "We are obviously doing everything we can for the preconditions, for growth to become ever better, because without growth there will not be any new job created, and those who will suffer that will particularly be the young people," said Ms. Merkel. Ahead of the July summit Chancellor Merkel hosted in Berlin, she said youth unemployment could be the bloc's biggest problem. That summit ended with a pledge to spend $8 billion over the next two years to improve youth unemployment rates, but youth organizations say that figure is not nearly enough. "The six billion euros is not enough. To establish something credible, we need at least 21 billion euros. We are demanding more investment at a European level," said Giuseppe Porcaro, general secretary of the European Youth Forum in Brussels. Many organizations say that youth unemployment is not just an economic problem. Thiebaut Weber, president of the Trade Union Confederation, which is also based in Belgium, feels it presents a social issue as well. "We are calling for a more social Europe that takes responsibility for social matters and employment not just the budget," said Weber. Youth unemployment in the European Union reflects the economic disparity found throughout the eurozone, the 17 countries that use Europe's common currency. In Spain, more than half of people under the age of 25 are out of work. In Greece, the figure is close to 60 percent. But in Germany, Europe's strongest economy, youth unemployment is only about 8 percent. Poppies in Afghanistan said to be a record level by U.N. By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U. N. Office on Drugs and Crime reported that opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has risen to a record high, possibly spurred on by farmers seeking to insure their incomes against uncertain conditions after the western troop pullout concludes in 2014. In the report, released on Wednesday, the U.N. agency said the area of Afghanistan being cultivated for poppy production has risen to 209,000 hectares, higher than the previous peak of 193,000, reached in 2007. It said this year's poppy harvest resulted in 5,500 metric tons of opium, a yield nearly 50 percent higher than last year. It also said farmers may be guarding against an uncertain future by increasing production of opium now. Yury Fedotov, the executive director of the agency, called the rise in production a warning and"an urgent call to action as Afghanistan begins to assume more control of its security. He said if the problem is not taken more seriously by international agencies, what he called the virus of opium could further reduce Afghanistan's stability. Observers are also concerned that profits will go to warlords jockeying for power ahead of a presidential election next year. The expansion will come as an embarrassment to Afghanistan's aid donors after more than 10 years of efforts to wean farmers off the crop, fight corruption and cut links between drugs and the Taliban insurgency. “The short-term prognosis is not positive,” said Jean-Luc Lemahieu, head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan. “The illicit economy is establishing itself, and seems to be taking over in importance from the licit economy.” Afghanistan is the world's top cultivator of the poppy, from which opium and heroin are produced. Last year, it accounted for 75 percent of global supply and Lemahieu had previously said this year it might supply 90 percent. The increase in the crop was caused by various factors including greater insecurity as foreign troops pull back in preparation for withdrawing next year, a high opium price last year and a growing lack of Afghan political will to tackle the problem. That will is particularly weak as an April presidential election approaches, Lemahieu said. President Hamid Karzai cannot stand again, leaving the field open to a range of rivals, some linked to power brokers who have profited from poppy in the past. Some of the profits derived from the crop will be funneled off by the Taliban to fuel their insurgency. Western officials privately accuse senior members of the Afghan state of also profiting. The new figures are part of an annual assessment of opium production by the U.N. agency and the Ministry for Counter-Narcotics. The report revealed that two northern provinces, Balkh and Faryab, were again growing poppy after being deemed poppy-free last year. Eradication fell by almost a quarter. U.S. and two airlines reach a deal on merger proposal By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
U.S. corporate regulators have approved the creation of the world's largest airline, a merger of two U.S. carriers, American Airlines and US Airways. Antitrust regulators at the U.S. Justice Department had filed suit in August to block the $16 billion merger, claiming it would limit competition in the U.S. air industry and lead to higher fares for travelers. But with the case set to go to trial later this month, the government reached a deal Tuesday with the airlines. They agreed to give up some of their takeoff and landing rights at seven key airports in the U.S., mostly at one of the three airports serving Washington. Under the agreement, the air terminal slots the two airlines are relinquishing will be handed to low-cost U.S. air carriers. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said that giving airlines that offer cheaper fares a bigger foothold at the airports will ensure that travelers will see more competitive prices. By some measurements, bankrupt American Airlines is already the world's largest air carrier. It ferried more than 80 million passengers last year to 250 destinations worldwide, while US Airways carried 50 million people to 200 destinations. The merger follows the marriage of other air carriers in the U.S., with Delta joining with Northwest and United with Continental. More opposition surfacing against EU-U.S. trade pact By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Consumers risk losing out in a planned free-trade deal between Europe
and the United States if big business succeeds in loosening standards,
European consumer and environmental groups warned on Tuesday.U.S. and European Union negotiators are holding a second round of talks in Brussels this week on what would be the world's biggest free-trade deal, with a special focus on reducing regulatory barriers to trade. Monique Goyens, director general of the European consumer organization BEUC, acknowledged that a trade agreement could lower prices and give consumers more choice. “But all the benefits could be undermined by the risks of watering down European consumer regulation,” she said. BEUC, Friends of the Earth and the European Public Health Alliance told a joint news conference they were concerned that mutual recognition of regulations, designed to cut costs, would in fact result in the adoption of the lowest standards. “It's difficult to see how you can have mutual recognition unless it's a race-to-the-bottom approach,” said Friends of the Earth Europe director Magda Stoczkiewicz. EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht has repeatedly said EU regulation on genetically modified food will not changed, but the United States considers this a trade barrier that must be reduced. Consumers groups fear a deal will lead to more modified crops used in products sold in Europe, where there is widespread public distrust of the technology, with looser labeling rules preventing consumers from making informed choices. The European Union has already dropped its ban on certain U.S. meat imports such as beef washed in lactic acid and poultry washed in chlorine. The United States is set to reopening its market closed to EU beef since 1998 over the mad cow scare. The European associations said their comments were not designed as an attack on U.S. standards, but European consumers were broadly protected by a requirement that corporations prove their toys, chemicals and other products do not cause harm. The U.S. approach is more to allow consumers to obtain damages for actual harm, they said. U.S. consumers could also suffer if current tough regulations on medical devices, financial services or alcohol were watered down, they said. Among the European associations' greatest concerns is a provision in the future trade deal that would allow foreign companies to bring claims against a country if it breaches the treaty. This, they said, would limit a country's right to pass laws to protect its citizens or the environment.  Photo by Nora Noffke
The rock surface displaying
polygonal oscillation cracks in the 3.48 billion years old Dresser
Formation. They document ancient microorganisms that formed carpet-like
microbial mats on the former sediment surface.Formation on
ancient rocks
show bacteria existed then By
the Carnegie Institution for Science news staff
Reconstructing the rise of life during the period of Earth’s history when it first evolved is challenging. Earth’s oldest sedimentary rocks are not only rare but also almost always altered by hydrothermal and tectonic activity. A new study from a team including Carnegie’s Nora Noffke, a visiting investigator, and Robert Hazen revealed the well-preserved remnants of a complex ecosystem in a nearly 3.5 billion-year-old sedimentary rock sequence in Australia. Their work is published in Astrobiology. The Pilbara district of Western Australia constitutes one of the famous geological regions that allow insight into the early evolution of life. Mound-like deposits created by ancient photosynthetic bacteria, called stromatolites and microfossils of bacteria have been described by scientists in detail. However, a phenomenon called microbially induced sedimentary structures had not previously been seen in this region. These structures are formed from mats of microbial material, much like mats seen today on stagnant waters or in coastal flats. The team included Ms. Noffke, Hazen, Daniel Christian of Old Dominion University, and David Wacey of the University of Western Australia. They described various structures preserved in the region’s Dresser Formation. Advanced chemical analyses point toward a biological origin of the material. The Dresser fossils resemble strongly in form and preservation the microbially induced sedimentary structures from several other younger rock samples, such as a 2.9 billion-year-old ecosystem Ms. Noffke and her colleagues found in South Africa. “This work extends the geological record of MISS by almost 300 million years,” said Ms. Noffke, who is also a professor at Old Dominion University. “Complex mat-forming microbial communities likely existed almost 3.5 billion years ago.” The team proposes that the sedimentary structures arose from the interactions of bacterial films with shoreline sediments from the region. “The structures give a very clear signal on what the ancient conditions were, and what the bacteria composing the biofilms were able to do,” Noffke said. Microbially induced sedimentary structures are among the targets of Mars rovers, which search for similar formations on that planet’s surface. Thus, the team’s findings could have relevance for studies of the larger Solar System as well. Action urged in lawyer's death by two gunmen in Colombia Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
The Inter American Press Association has added its support to a request by Colombia’s Press Freedom Foundation that the country’s public prosecutor’s office ensure an adequate and prompt investigation into the case of Édinson Alberto Molina. The case has not advanced since his murder in September. Molina, 40, hosted the program “Consultorio Jurídico” (Legal Consultancy) broadcast by Puerto Berrío Stereo radio in the city of Puerto Berrío, Antioquia province. He was also a lawyer so he responded to legal concerns of his listeners and also denounced and investigated alleged wrongdoing in the local government. He was killed Sept. 11. After leaving the radio station he was riding on a motorcycle along with his wife when they were intercepted by two unidentified persons who shot at them four times. Molina died but his wife survived the attack. The Colombia’s Press Freedom Foundation publicly questioned why after two months since the murder the public prosecutor’s office had not called Molina’s widow and witness to the attack in to give a statement. It also expressed concern that it has misplaced evidence concerning one of the killers, gathered at the place of the attack on the day it had occurred and that local authorities were seeking to minimize Molina’s role as a journalist. The chairman of the press association's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Claudio Paolillo, said that at the time his organization had called on the authorities to investigate urgently and in-depth to determine the motive and identify and bring to justice those responsible, and now “we support FLIP’s request for the pubic prosecutor’s office promptly reassign the investigations to another office with the objective of ensuring impartiality in the proceedings and avoiding that the crime goes unpunished.” |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 225 | |||||||||
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Bell curve test
help doctors find Alzheimer’s candidates By
the Johns Hopkins Medicine news staff
Using scores obtained from cognitive tests, Johns Hopkins researchers think they have developed a model that could help determine whether memory loss in older adults is benign or a stop on the way to Alzheimer’s disease. The risk of developing dementia increases markedly when a person is diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, a noticeable and measurable decline in intellectual abilities that does not seriously interfere with daily life. But physicians have no reliable way to predict which people with mild cognitive impairment are likely to be in the 5 to 10 percent a year who progress to dementia. In a proof-of-concept study, the Johns Hopkins investigators analyzed records of 528 people age 60 and over, who were referred to the Johns Hopkins Medical Psychology Clinic for cognitive testing as part of a dementia work-up between 1996 and 2004. The results were compared to those of 135 healthy older adults who participated in a study of normal aging. Both groups completed tests of memory, language, attention, processing speed and drawing abilities from which 13 scores were recorded. Since each person is naturally more skillful in some areas than in others, the scores of healthy adults showed a symmetrical, bell-shaped range: Most of their scores were high, a few were a bit lower, and a few were even lower. By grouping the patients into cohorts based on the severity of their dementia, the researchers found a trend in the test scores that is likely to mimic the deterioration of an individual's scores over time. At the outset, he says, Alzheimer’s disease subtly disrupts some mental abilities, while leaving others intact. Thus, well before a person develops clear cognitive impairment, his or her performance declines slightly on a few measures. When shown on a graph, these changes cause the healthy symmetric, bell-shaped curve to shift and become asymmetrical. Regardless of how low a person’s test scores were, the researchers determined that lopsidedness in their score distribution correlated with dementia. They predicted that people with low scores that were evenly distributed were not likely to develop dementia. But those with clearly lopsided test score distributions on the 13 measures administered were already experiencing varying levels of dementia. “Departures from the normal bell-shaped pattern of variability on cognitive tests might determine which people with low scores develop dementia,” says David J. Schretlen, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and leader of a study published online Nov. 12 in the journal Neuropsychology. Since these declines can be subtle, the researchers also increased the precision of cognitive testing by accounting for the effects of age, sex, race and education on test performance. The challenge for doctors, Schretlen explains, is that most normal, healthy people will produce a few low scores on cognitive testing. That makes it nearly impossible to know at the outset whether a patient who reports forgetfulness and produces one or two low scores has a benign form of mild cognitive impairment, or is in the earliest stage of dementia. As a result, doctors often tell such patients to return for follow-up testing in a year or two. But if future research confirms it, this new statistical model could help doctors get the prognosis right earlier in the disease, at the first visit, and start treating patients accordingly. |
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| From Page 7 Costa Rican business execs off to Europe By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A group of 10 Costa Rican small business executives are traveling to Holland and Austria to learn first-hand the best practices in quality. The trip is financed by a European Union grant and coordinated by the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio as well as the Dutch Embassy and the Austrian Consulate here. The visitors will meet with the Dutch center for the promotion of imports from countries in development, the Hispano-Austrian Chamber and various other business chambers. There also is a bazaar put on by the U.N. organization for industrial development. Those traveling represent Inversiones Jiqui, Vinos don Julián, Marroquinería Yenory, Sabores y Especias Azul, Frutilac del Sur, Lilliana Gourmet, Industrias Alimentarias San Rafael, The Gluten Free Factory, Distribuidora FLOREX Centroamericana and Rancho La Botija, said the ministry. |
