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San
José, Costa Rica, Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 252
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Combined
sewage plant
proposed for Heredia, AyA By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The nation's rate regulating agency says that two proposed nearby sewage plants should be combined. The water section of the agency, the Autoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos, directed its comments to the Instituto Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados and the Empresa de Servicios Públicos de Heredia. The institute, known as AyA is building a plant in La Carpo adjacent to the Heredia province border. The Autoridad said that only about 4 percent of the nation's sewage is treated. Some is directed to septic tanks. But the majority of Central Valley sewage flows into streams that eventually end up in the Río Grande de Tárcoles and then the Gulf of Nicoya. The Autoridad noted that the two utility firms have been in discussions about combining efforts, and it gave AyA 60 days to present a joint proposal. The Heredia plant is much smaller than the AyA project, so the Autoridad said that it might better be considered an enlargement of the La Carpio plant. The agency noted that there would be more efficiency and reduced costs if the two utilities work together. Four held in crime spree that resulted in a murder By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Judicial agents in Cartago detained Thursday morning two couples who are accused of a series of December stickups. One resulted in a murder. The Judicial Investigating Organization said that the crime spree appears to have begun Dec. 2 when a man stuck up a motorcycle and shoe store and took shoes and 110,000 colons, about $220. The evening of Dec. 9, a man with the last name of Artavia was confronted by men trying to rob him. He resisted and suffered a bullet wound in the chest. Agents said the man, 53, died Thursday morning in Hospital Max Peralta in Cartago. Dec. 12 robbers stuck up a security guard who was carrying a box containing 10 million colons, about $20,000, for deposit. Although they took the box, the crooks triggered an alarm when they tried to open it, so they ditched it still containing the money about two kilometers away from the heist. Dec. 15 robbers confronted a 63-year-old motorist in Guadalupe de Cartago and took 40,000 colons, about $80. Agents said they confiscated a 9-mm. pistol when they made the arrests at an apartment in Cartago Project will explore voting via Internet in U.S. elections Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
The Overseas Vote Foundation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to overseas, military, and domestic absentee voter participation has received a grant from the Democracy Fund in support of a research-based approach to the unanswered question of whether remote absentee voting can be conducted securely online. The project is called End-to-End Verifiable Internet Voting: Specification and Feasibility Assessment Study. It will examine a form of remote voting that enables a so-called end-to-end verifiability (E2E) property. A unique team of experts in computer science, usability, and auditing together with a selection of local election officials from key counties around the U.S. will assemble for this study. Their efforts aim to produce a system specification and set of testing scenarios, which if they meet the requirements for security, auditability, and usability, will then be placed in the public domain. At the same time, they intend to demonstrate that confidence in a voting system is built on a willingness to verify its security through testing and transparency. “The secure, tested, certified remote voting systems that election officials envision aren’t even for sale. Available online ballot return systems are not considered secure by the scientific community, nor are they certified. As a result, email has become the default stopgap method for moving ballots online. Email is especially weak on security, yet it is being used regularly by election officials because viable alternatives are not available,” says Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, president and CEO of Overseas Vote Foundation, who spearheaded this project. “The term E2E is often used casually without precision. E2E-verifiability is considered a property of an election and for the purposes of this study, an E2E-verifiable election has two important components: first, that voters can individually check that their ballots are cast as they intend; and second, that anyone can check that all of the cast ballots have been accurately tallied,”explained Josh Benaloh, senior cryptographer at Microsoft Research, a scientist who will take a major role in the study. “There is a historical misunderstanding in the U.S. election community that this project aims to correct. Our country’s best scientists are not against technology advancements, nor are they inherently at odds with the election officials who seek technology improvements to meet their administrative challenges. What the U.S. scientific community takes issue with are the unproven claims of security regarding existing systems that are not publicly tested or vetted. This study aims to recalibrate this situation. This group of scientific leaders has often pointed out security vulnerabilities in past systems, however they do agree on one thing: that if IV does happen, it should be in a system that takes advantage of end-to-end verifiability and auditability,” said Ms. Dzieduszycka-Suinat. “Our goal is to specify and define a system and its testing scenarios for an online voting method that can provide both security and confidence to voters that their selections are accurately recorded and counted. Our assertion is that E2E-verifiability negates many, although not all, of the risks of voting via the Internet while introducing substantial new benefits that are not found in currently-deployed voting systems,” said Benaloh. The Overseas Vote Foundation helps U.S. overseas and military voters participate in federal elections by providing public access to innovative voter registration tools and services. |
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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 | ||||||
A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 252 | |
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| Construction
experts express doubts about Chinese loan deal |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Organizations of road builders and construction firms are expressing reservations about a loan deal with China to widen Ruta 32. The so-called Grupo Consenso said that its members still were in the dark because they have not seen a revised text of the loan proposal that was presented Thursday to the Comisión de Asuntos Hacendarios in the legislative assembly. The committee eventually will make a recommendation about the proposal which actually is for two loans. The Grupo Consenso said there were important doubts about the deal. Part of the plan is for Costa Rica to provide funds, including about $20 million for expropriating property and for relocating public utilities. That amount does not appear to be adequate, the group said. The estimated $10 million is insufficient to expropriate a 10-meter strip for 50 kilometers simply to relocate the pipeline that is used by the Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo S.A, the group said in a release. A similar amount is insufficient for relocating other services, such as water lines, telephone lines and fiber optic cables that connect Costa Rica with the Maya undersea Internet system. The fuel pipeline runs from Siquirres to Moín. The group also raised concerns about the loans being denominated in Chinese currency because that generates uncertainty in the medium and long term, it said. The Grupo Consenso is composed of the Colegio Federado de |
Ingenieros y de
Arquitectos, the Unión Costarricense de Cámaras y Asociaciones del Sector Empresarial Privado, the Cámara Costarricense de la Construcción, the Cámara de Consultores en Arquitectura e Ingeniería, the Asociación de Carreteras y Caminos de Costa Rica and the Laboratorio Nacional de Materiales y Modelos Estructurales at the Universidad de Costa Rica. There usually is a lag at the legislature when a revised text is submitted. Because the legislature is going on holiday break, the full content of the new loan proposal might not be known until January 13 at the earliest. The People's Republic of China has said that it seeks a quick approval of the loan agreement, but this week officials there said they would be willing to wait until March. The agreement specifies a direct award to a Chinese firm without competitive bidding. The contract also said that all rights and obligations under the contract will be interpreted in conformity of Chinese law. The measure that was before lawmakers also says that material to be used in road building can be imported without the payment of customs duties. Costa Rica also would renounce any immunity it may have for being a sovereign state. The $465.6 million project would make Ruta 32 four lane from Limón to Rio Frio, some 107.2 kilometers, a little more than 66 miles. The Export–Import Bank of China would make two loans, one for $100 million and one for $296 million. Costa Rica is putting up $90 million, including the $20 million for expropriating property and relocating public services. The larger loan would be at 4 percent interests, and the smaller one at 2 percent. |
| None of the kids were naughty, and they all were very nice |
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| We
are knee deep into the holiday season, the time for company and office
parties and general wassailing. I don’t remember too many office
parties I have attended in the past (who does?), but I vividly recall
the most recent gathering. Among the attendees were nine
grownups, six children and one large boxer about 9 years old. Six children, you say? Yes, ranging in age from eight months to 12 years, and they were the best behaved children I have ever had the pleasure of spending time with at a party. I fell in love with 8-month-old Pablo, a beautiful round-eyed, alert little boy who never once cried or was peevish. Of course, he was being held by his young mother most of the time. At times she held his hands as he stood on the floor where, although he couldn’t yet walk, could dance joyously. Her two other children Dylan and Trinity, sat quietly or daintily helped themselves to the delicious snacks. Another child, 3-year-old Aaron, must be a dog whisperer because the boxer was a pussy cat the minute Aaron said something. Actually, the boxer was as good as the children. Most of the adults sat at the dining table chatting, but I liked my spot on the sofa watching the children and observing. After two hours of politeness and eating the chili and chicken prepared by the hostess, the children were allowed out in the carport and that is when one could hear the screams and laughter and running that is customary. I was impressed. It is hard to remain a great fan of the Christmas season because it seems more about shopping and bargains than remembering. Maybe if the phrase were “Joyful Christmas,” or “Happy Christmas,” instead of “Merry Christmas,” there would be less wassailing and more thought about the meaning of Christmas. Or maybe if the idea of gift giving would be celebrated on Jan. 6 as it used to be (and maybe still is) in many countries, we would not have the real meaning of Christmas overshadowed by the concept of shop until you drop, or if you happen to be a clerk in one of the stores, work until you collapse. Today Christmas is seen as a time of increased shopping and profit and loss. But that is the way of the world, as the song in "Cabaret" goes, “Money makes the world go round.” Money not only talks, in some countries it votes, and, given |
the growing hackability of credit cards, and the increase in pollution, thanks to plastics, money is about the cleanest thing we have in this world. At least it should be. So many people and institutions are laundering it. But back to Christmas. Of course, making The Three Kings Day the time of gift giving only prolongs the season, and probably the shopping. We must not forget that there are the returned gift days. There may be fewer people rushing to return gifts this year because re-gifting is now socially acceptable This means that you don’t have to return the gift you didn’t want or like, you simply give it to someone else next Christmas or whenever. There are even national re-gifting days in some countries. Of course, they usually fall in December, which adds to the stress. Once again, money comes to the rescue. It is seldom regifted. And finally, there is the Christmas tree. It is displayed more widely as a symbol of Christmas than the baby Jesus, or a manger. How did that happen? Christ was not born under a fir tree, nor were there any in the manger where he was born. Actually, it is a nice combination of paganism and Christianity. Trees were worshipped by some pagan religions, and trees that remained green all year long were particularly highly regarded because they reminded people that there would be a spring when nature would produce sustenance again. Pagans displayed wreaths and boughs of greenery in December during the Winter Solstice. According to legend, myth, or history (take your pick), the Christmas tree originated in Germany in the 15th or 16th century. I imagine Pablo would make an adorable Baby Jesus. Although he would not be lying in a manger, he would be happily dancing around a Christmas tree, holding tightly to his mother’s hands. |
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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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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 252 | |||||
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| Geneticists learn a secret about aging, and the condition
might be reversible |
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By
the Harvard University Medical School news staff
Researchers have discovered a cause of aging in mammals that may be reversible. The essence of this finding is a series of molecular events that enable communication inside cells between the nucleus and mitochondria. As communication breaks down, aging accelerates. By administering a molecule naturally produced by the human body, scientists restored the communication network in older mice. Subsequent tissue samples showed key biological hallmarks that were comparable to those of much younger animals. “The aging process we discovered is like a married couple — when they are young, they communicate well, but over time, living in close quarters for many years, communication breaks down,” said David Sinclair, senior author on the study. “And just like with a couple, restoring communication solved the problem.” He is a Harvard Medical School professor of genetics. This study was a joint project between Harvard Medical School, the National Institute on Aging, and the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, where Sinclair also holds a position. Mitochondria are often referred to as the cell's powerhouse, generating chemical energy to carry out essential biological functions. These self-contained subunits, which live inside cells and house their own small genomes, have long been identified as key biological players in aging. As they become increasingly dysfunctional overtime, many age-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes gradually set in. Researchers have generally been skeptical of the idea that aging can be reversed, due mainly to the prevailing theory that age-related ills are the result of mutations in mitochondrial DNA. Mutations cannot be reversed. Sinclair and his group have been studying the fundamental science of aging — which is broadly defined as the gradual decline in function with time — for many years, primarily focusing on a group of genes called sirtuins. Previous studies from his lab showed that one of these genes, SIRT1, was |
activated by the
compound resveratrol, which is found in grapes, red wine and certain
nuts. Ana Gomes, a postdoctoral scientist in the Sinclair lab, had been studying mice in which this SIRT1 gene had been removed. While they accurately predicted that these mice would show signs of aging, including mitochondrial dysfunction, the researchers were surprised to find that most mitochondrial proteins coming from the cell’s nucleus were at normal levels; only those encoded by the mitochondrial genome were reduced. “This was at odds with what the literature suggested,” said Ms. Gomes. As Gomes and her colleagues investigated potential causes for this, they discovered an intricate cascade of events that begins with a chemical called NAD and concludes with a key molecule that shuttles information and coordinates activities between the cell’s nuclear genome and the mitochondrial genome. Cells stay healthy as long as coordination between the genomes remains fluid. SIRT1’s role is intermediary, akin to a security guard. It assures that a meddlesome molecule called HIF-1 does not interfere with communication. For reasons still unclear, as humans age, levels of the initial chemical NAD decline. Without sufficient NAD, SIRT1 loses its ability to keep tabs on HIF-1. Levels of HIF-1 escalate and begin wreaking havoc on the otherwise smooth cross-genome communication. Over time, the research team found, this loss of communication reduces the cell's ability to make energy, and signs of aging and disease become apparent. “This particular component of the aging process had never before been described,” said Ms. Gomes. While the breakdown of this process causes a rapid decline in mitochondrial function, other signs of aging take longer to occur. Ms. Gomes found that by administering a compound that cells transform into NAD, she could repair the broken network and rapidly restore communication and mitochondrial function. If the compound was given early enough — prior to excessive mutation accumulation — within days, some aspects of the aging process could be reversed. |
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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, Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, Vol. 13, No. 252 | |||||
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| Ceiling of theater in London collapses, injures 88 persons By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Authorities in London say at least 88 people have been injured, seven of them seriously, after part of the ceiling collapsed at a theater. London police say there were 81 walking wounded and that seven were taken to the hospital following the incident at the Apollo Theater. They say that so far, there are no fatalities. The collapse occurred during a Thursday evening performance of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time." Rescue workers at the scene said all those trapped in the 775-seat auditorium by the collapse had been freed. Witnesses said the ceiling simply collapsed during the performance, sending those inside the theater into a panic when they realized it was not part of the play. Police said the cause of the collapse was not clear, but there was no indication that it was the result of any deliberate act or attack. British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted that he was "grateful for the fast work of the emergency services in helping the injured." France expands monitoring of phones and Internet hookups By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
France expanded the government's powers to monitor phone and Internet connection data without judicial review as a last-minute opposition attempt to block the move failed to gather support. The French Official Journal Thursday published a military budget law that grants monitoring powers to more agencies such as tax and finance authorities, broadens the grounds for surveillance, and strips judges of the power to review monitoring requests. The proposed law had come under fire from Google, Inc., and Microsoft Corp., telecom operators such as Orange and Internet advocacy groups, who argue that it is too broad and violates people's privacy. Parliament members of the Green Party had tried to make an alliance with the left-wing Front de Gauche and a dissident group within the conservative UMP party to force a review by the top constitutional watchdog, but failed to get the backing of 60 senators or 60 deputies to initiate the procedure. “Despite citizen's action and the engagement of 48 parliamentarians, the appeal to the Constitutional Council did not proceed because of political quarrels,” the Digital Renaissance group said in a statement. Green party parliamentarians Barbara Pompili and Francois de Rugy blamed the failure on the refusal of UMP MPs to link up with green and far-left groups. Center-right UMP parliamentary floor leader Christian Jacob wrote to his 190 colleagues last week that the group would not seek a legal review. The UMP is the largest opposition party to the majority socialists, whose leaders support the new surveillance policy. According to Article 13 of the new law, French government agencies will be able to request connection data from telecom operators and Internet companies transmitted in real time, including location information from mobile phones. The grounds on which the government may carry out such surveillance have been expanded to include not only national security and counter-terrorism, but also to protect “the scientific and economic potential of France” and “fight criminality.” President Francois Hollande's government argued Article 13 was needed to clear up a legal gray area and that it actually grants stronger civil rights protections to individuals. Critics, which include the MEDEF, France's biggest business lobby, worry the measures will undermine confidence in Internet services such as cloud computing and email. Vatican hires consulting firms to improve accounting practices By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Vatican has hired two big international consulting firms to improve financial accounting procedures and streamline media operations, its latest bid to clean up often murky finances and improve efficiency by cutting through red tape. Pope Francis has already set up three commissions to advise him on what to do with the troubled Vatican bank, how to reform the administration and to address sexual abuse of children, a scandal that tainted his predecessor Benedict XVI's incumbency. The Vatican said Thursday it had hired KPMG, which provides audit, tax and advisory services to companies, to align the accounting procedures of all departments of the Holy See to meet international standards. Four major outside business consulting or auditing companies have now been hired by the Vatican, which in the past mostly policed itself, a practice which led to a series of scandals. KPMG won the bid for the contract, awarded by an international commission of seven lay experts formed by the pope in July to help him overhaul the Holy See and move on from the damaging mistakes under Benedict. Private documents leaked to Italian media last year by Benedict's butler alleged corruption in the Vatican, with contracts given at inflated prices to Italian companies with connections in the Vatican. A separate, five-member commission is advising the pope on what to do with the Vatican bank, which has been embroiled in a series of scandals in past decades. Francis has not ruled out closing the bank altogether if it cannot be reformed. The Vatican also said international management consultancy company McKinsey had been hired to come up with a plan to make its communications more functional, efficient and modern. The Vatican has six distinct communications departments, a press office, television, radio, newspaper, an Internet office and a communications council, which exercises an academic and policy-making role. They have been known to not communicate or cooperate with each other and sometimes have appeared to be in competition. In the past, one department has published important information without telling the others. The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, is 150 years old, and its editor is trying to modernize it to help shed its drab and staid image. Vatican Radio, which broadcasts in 40 languages, takes up a big chunk of the Vatican's budget, and some officials have questioned whether such a big structure is necessary in the Internet age. Some of the languages the radio uses are holdovers from the period when it, like Radio Free Europe, was one of the few sources of independent information in the Communist East Bloc. Temporary stores pop up to lure shoppers in big cities By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
High tech companies are reaching out to consumers with temporary outlets called holiday pop up stores. Intel, Google and Wired Magazine are showcasing technology and giving buyers ideas for holiday gifts. At Google's Winter Wonderlab in a suburban Los Angeles mall, visitors check the latest high tech gadgets, including Nexus tablets and Chromebook laptops, which they can buy online or in a retail store They toss make-believe snowballs, recorded at high speed and played back in slow motion. It's an effort in a few cities to promote the Google brand and get people excited about the newest tech devices. At the Intel Experience Store in a beachside community outside Los Angeles, consumers can watch a football game on a big-screen television, play the latest computer games or check out laptops powered by Intel. One of the first to visit was Reba Meshulam. “I've never been to a pop up store before. It was really interesting to see it sort of come up out of nowhere," said Meshulam. Intel's Sean Ludick says this consumer outreach, with temporary stores in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, is an experiment and consumers can buy the products they want at a retail kiosk. “The primary reason for the opening is to really showcase our technology. You know, this is a buying season for people. They want to buy gifts. So we want people to come into our store, have an untethered experience, an unpressured environment where they can really come and interact with our products and services," said Ludick. Electronic devices and toys, small and large, fill the Wired Store in New York, a holiday pop up from the people at Wired Magazine that's more a showroom than a store. Visitors can be bathed in blue light in the so-called photon shower. Store manager Noah Norman says music speakers integrated in shower heads and personal fitness items are drawing attention. He says many of these devices have a short shelf life. “The fact that, five years from now, they will seem old is part of the beauty of a lot of these products," said Norman. U.S. textile firms rebound with technology and focus By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
After decades of decline, the U.S. textile and apparel industry is growing again, and many factories are competing with low-wage operations in countries like China. In North Carolina, where the textile industry was once dominant, the industry has reinvented itself using technology but also employing far fewer people than in the past. Robots do most of the heavy lifting at the National Spinning Co. plant in Burlington, North Carolina. This factory dyes over 110,000 kilograms (250,000 pounds) of yarn per week in a variety of colors. The yarn is sent to clothing and upholstery makers both in the U.S. and around the world. Michael Hankensen is one of only two technicians who service the dye producing machines. “As you see, most of this is extremely heavy, cumbersome, and trying to move it around in the order that these robots do it, it would take an army of men to accomplish what these robots do," said Hankensen. Technology is helping bridge the wage gap between labor-intensive factories overseas that pay workers only a few dollars a day and this North Carolina plant where about 100 employees make between $10 and $20 an hour. Plant manager Ed Atkins says it's important to limit labor costs but the company must also provide higher quality and better customer service to compete in the global market place. “We’ve diversified ourselves, looked for markets that depended on the quick response that you can provide from American-made products, little niche markets. I mean we don’t try to compete in the generic cotton business or anything like that, because it’s not where our strengths are," said Atkins. The collapse earlier this year of a garment factory in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,000 workers illustrated the tragic consequences of relying on partners that bring down costs by sacrificing health and safety. Deborah Wince-Smith, president of the non-profit Council on Competitiveness, says the future of the textile industry lies in innovation, not low wages. “Companies and enterprises are really bringing their core activities to where they have a skilled workforce, where they have innovation talent and where they’re actually able to develop the next generation of innovation that drives manufacturing," said Ms. Wince-Smith. Some 23 U.S. plants have been built in the last three years, and exports are up over 30 percent. Cuba moves to eliminate permit to import a car By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Cuba has announced it will open its automobile market by eliminating a government permit that has restricted car imports for more than a half century. The Cuban government still controls the sale of imported new and used vehicles, but Thursday's announcement gives Cubans the right to buy them from the state without a government permit. In the past, Cubans had to get authorization from the Transport Ministry to purchase a new car. The authorization cards took months to obtain, opening up the process to corruption and a black market in which cardholders would sometimes sell them for more than the cost of a car. The government has acknowledged the permits had generated resentment and dissatisfaction among citizens. The permit elimination is one of hundreds of reforms put forth by President Raúl Castro and approved by the Communist Party in 2011. The government says new regulations will be published soon and will become law 30 days after they are published. The specifics of the new regulations remain unknown. Target admits hacker stole data on 49 million customers By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Target Corp. has acknowledged that hackers have stolen data from up to 40 million credit and debit cards of shoppers who visited its stores during the first three weeks of the holiday season. America's second-largest retailer said Thursday that customers who made purchases by swiping their cards at its U.S. stores between Nov. 27 and last Sunday may have had their accounts exposed. The stolen data included customer names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates and the embedded code on the magnetic strip on the back of the card. The company said the data breach did not affect online purchases. Target has almost 1,800 stores in the U.S. and 124 in Canada. Investigators are still trying to understand how the attack was carried out. Target's data security nightmare threatens to drive off holiday shoppers during the company's busiest time of the year. The company's representatives would not comment on whether business had been affected. High blood pressure guidelines for older patients increased By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
For the first time in decades, experts have raised the threshold for what is considered dangerously high blood pressure for people aged 60 and over. As a result, patients may be prescribed fewer drugs to treat hypertension. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is the most common condition seen in primary care and leads to heart attacks, kidney failure, and death if not detected early and treated appropriately. A government-appointed panel that made the recommendations stressed that they are not changing the definition of high blood pressure, which currently is 140 over 90 but that for adults aged 60 and older, they are recommending a higher treatment threshold, prescribing medicine only when blood pressure levels reach 150 over 90 or higher. In older people too much high blood pressure medication can cause fainting and falls, the panel said. Furthermore, medication to treat high blood pressure could react negatively with other medications. For younger patients, treatment recommendations remain unchanged. "This report takes a rigorous, evidence-based approach to recommend treatment thresholds, goals, and medications in the management of hypertension in adults,” the study says. According to Paul James, professor and head of family medicine at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and co-chairman of the panel making the recommendations, past guidelines from the last several decades “have been based on consensus by experts.” “These were based on scientific evidence from randomized controlled trials,” he said. “Expert opinion was used only in the absence of scientific evidence.” The panel reviewed numerous past studies from Jan. 1, 1966 to Dec. 31, 2009, as well as major, eligible studies that took place between December 2009 and August 2013. The review focused on adults age 18 and older with hypertension and included studies involving diabetes, coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease, heart failure, previous stroke, chronic kidney disease, proteinuria, older adults, men and women, racial and ethnic groups, and smokers. Panelists also looked at methods of controlling high blood pressure, including what medication should be started in patients with hypertension; what blood pressure goal should patients achieve to know they are enjoying proven health benefits from their medication and what are the best medication choices to reach the goal blood pressure. The recommendations are not without controversy. The American Heart Association is raising concerns about the new recommendations, saying that many of the studies reviewed didn't last long enough to reveal dangers of undertreated high blood pressure in older patients. The guidelines were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Archeologists think Chinese domesticated wild cats first By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Researchers in China and Missouri have traced the origins of today’s domesticated cat back 5,300 years to an ancient Neolithic Chinese agricultural village located in the modern-day Shaanxi Province. Like in the old Mother Goose nursery tale “This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built,” the cats that would later become popular household pets were attracted to village farms because of the number of small animals, like rodents, that feasted on the grains grown, stored and eaten by the ancient Chinese farmers. “Results of this study show that the village of Quanhucun was a source of food for the cats 5,300 years ago, and the relationship between humans and cats was commensal, or advantageous for the cats,” said the study’s co-author Fiona Marshall, a professor of archaeology at Washington University in St. Louis. “Even if these cats were not yet domesticated, our evidence confirms that they lived in close proximity to farmers, and that the relationship had mutual benefits.” There are believed to be about 600 million domesticated cats in the world. Scientists who’ve conducted DNA studies believe most felines descended directly from the Near Eastern Wildcat, one of the five Felis sylvestris lybica or African wildcat subspecies still found in Africa, Asia and Europe. “We do not yet know whether these cats came to China from the Near East, whether they interbred with Chinese wildcat species, or even whether cats from China played a previously unsuspected role in domestication,” Marshall said. Scientists have long thought cats were first domesticated in ancient Egypt, where they were revered more than 4,000 years ago. New research, however, indicates the close relationship between cats and humans may have taken root much earlier. In 2004, scientists discovered a wild cat had been buried with a human nearly 9,500 years ago in Cyprus. The researchers who conducted this new study, which is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used various scientific techniques, such as radiocarbon dating and isotopic analyses of carbon and nitrogen traces on the bones of cats, dogs, deer and other forms of wildlife that they dug up near Quanhucan Village. The clues researchers gathered suggest cats and humans were developing a closer relationship with each other at that time thousands of years ago. One of the cats found during their archeological dig was old when it died, which indicated that it lived well and flourished while living in the village. The researchers also said that the remains of the ancient cats they studied showed signs that they didn’t eat too many animals and ate more millet than was expected. This suggested to the researchers that the cats either scavenged for human food or were fed by their human neighbors. Other researchers working in China and in France are currently continuing the investigation of the domestication of cats and the development of the feline/human relationship. |
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Venezuela acts
against paper because of crime photo Special
to A.M. Costa Rica staff
Censorship is being imposed on the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal aimed at banning information about violence and lack of safety in the South American country. The Inter American Press Association has protested that and also protested penalties applied to online distributors and the announcement of additional laws aimed at restricting news content. The Venezuelan attorney general’s office has called on the courts to act against El Universal for “violating the rights of children and adolescents” after it published a photo on its front page Nov. 20 in which there was depicted a motionless arm and a blood stain on the floor, an image with which the newspaper alluded to the kidnapping and subsequent killing by criminals of a young engineer. The photo was posted on the Internet by other media with details. The request to the courts seeks to prohibit “the publication of images, information and advertising of any kind with content of blood, weapons, messages of terror, physical aggression … that can affect the psychological well being of children.” It also asked for the application of a million-dollar fine on El Universal amounting to 1 or 2 per cent of its gross sales in 2012. “We are concerned and alarmed at the legalization of censorship which is disguised with laws, decrees and legal actions, attempting to give the appearance that press freedom exists in the country,” said Claudio Paolillo, chairman of the press organization's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information. Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, said he had little doubt about the outcome of the El Universal case, considering the fine and censorship that had been applied to the Caracas newspapers El Nacional and Tal Cual over a photo published in 2010 in which dead bodies were seen piled up in a Caracas morgue. He added that the government was not only seeking to maintain silence on the lack of safety but also the economic crisis the country is facing. He was referring to fines imposed Nov. 9 by the National Telecommunications Commission on nine online companies – CANTV, Movilnet, Movistar, Digitel, Inter, Supercable, NetUno, Ominivisón and Level 13 – for having posted Web sites “concerning foreign exchange rate quotations with amounts different to those officially established,” in violation of the Law on Social Responsibility on Radio, Television and Electronic Media, which prohibits “the dissemination of messages that encourage anxiety” and among other reasons that disrupt public order. Paolillo also indicated that the press organization will remain alert following the recent announcement from various government sources on the plan for enactment in early 2014 of a Communication and Journalism Law to regulate news content even further. On Oct. 7 President Nicolás Maduro created by decree the Strategic Center for the Security and Protection of the Fatherland with the objective of requesting, organizing, integrating and evaluating “information of interest for the nation’s strategic level, associated with the internal and external enemy activity, coming from all the security and intelligence bodies of the government and other public and private entities.” |
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| From
Page 7: Banco Nacional says update can be done online By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Today is supposed to be the last weekday to update bank accounts. Banco Nacional said that its customers can do so via the Web page as well as visiting a bank branch. However, Banco Nacional said that it did not contemplate massive closings of accounts. The bank only was making efforts to get the greatest amount of information from its clients, it said. Closing an account, the bank said, would depend on the amount and nature of the transactions. A large number of unjustified transactions might lead to the end of the banking relationship, it said. The nation's banking association issued a belated press release this week about the deadline. The project is based on the know-your-customer rule to reduce money laundering. The bank also pointed out that it does not seek info such as credit card numbers and other data through the Internet or by telephone calls. The bank appears to anticipate that crooks will take advantage of the updating process to contact customers. |
