Science & Environment

[spaminator]

Bats, rats and bedbugs: Ottawa public servants returning to pest-ridden buildings
Unions have complained about pests in buildings owned by the federal government as public servants have been forced back into the office three days a week.

Author of the article:Catherine Morrison
Published Sep 12, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 3 minute read

There were 70 confirmed cases of mice in federal government buildings this spring and summer.
There were 70 confirmed cases of mice in federal government buildings this spring and summer. ott
Federal public servants are returning to their offices more regularly starting this week, joining a variety of critters that have made the buildings their home.


According to data provided by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), the federal government received 369 pest-related service calls within the National Capital Region (NCR) between April 1 and Aug. 19, 2024. Of those, 197 led to a confirmed presence of pests.

Ants, bedbugs, birds, rats, cockroaches, bats and a snake were among the animals found in the 48 buildings owned by the federal government in the area.

The building with the worst pest problem was L’Esplanade Laurier, which had 19 confirmed reports of mice — with some made on the same date — as well as one case of insects and one case of ants. Treatment in the building included setting up baiting stations and ceiling treatment for mice, with ant bait gel also applied.


The presence of pests in federal buildings is an issue that has been raised by federal unions, especially as public servants have been forced back into the office three days a week.

The government’s new remote work mandate, which took effect Monday, requires all staff employed under the Treasury Board to work on-site a minimum of three days a week. For executives, the expectation is that they work in the office four days a week. As of June, that included more than 282,000 workers, of the over 367,000 working for the federal government.


Jeremy Link, a spokesperson for PSPC, said in an email that the government department took pest-related calls very seriously, with actions taken in “a timely manner using industry approved methods.”


“While yes, pests are a nuisance that are commonly faced in commercial real estate, we have a very robust pest management program that is incorporated into building operations,” Link said. “With employees and building occupants reporting possible pests early … we are able to effectively manage, with the help of pest control professionals, the pests that do manage to enter our buildings.”

The most common pests found in federal buildings in the NCR this spring and summer were mice, with 70 confirmed cases reported. They were found in offices across the area, from the Mulligan Building on Walkley Road to the Place du Portage Phase III building in Gatineau.

There were also 26 cases of ants, 26 cases of insects, like mayflies and boxelder bugs, 14 cases of bedbugs, eight cases of birds, nine cases of bees, wasps and hornets, 18 cases of cockroaches, bugs and spiders, 10 cases of bats, 15 cases of small animals (such as rodents, squirrels and chipmunks) and one instance of a snake in an office. A handful of confirmed cases were the result of duplicate calls.


The snake, which was found in the R.H. Coats Building (Building 1) at 100 Promenade Tunney’s Pasture Driveway in July, was removed by contractors working in the area, according to PSPC.

From inside the Carling Campus Pavilion Building, a call was made in May to share that a raccoon was trapped inside a live trap behind a teepee. It was later relocated. Chipmunks, bats and a squirrel were also found in other buildings before being released elsewhere.

In another instance, a call was made from Carling Campus Building 9, when a laptop bag inside of a plastic bag was returned to an IT department by someone in the office. According to PSPC, the bag had “several dead bedbugs” in it, though no live bedbugs were ever found.

Earlier this year, data from PSPC showed that 26 Crown-owned buildings had pests between Jan. 1 and March 31. Pests found in those buildings included mice, bedbugs, bats, ants, a skunk, raccoons and insects like silverfish, drain flies, beetles and sand ants. The presence of bedbugs, particularly, has been an ongoing issue in federal buildings, with major concerns going back to at least 2019.

Have a pest problem at work? Share your story in the comments.

This Labour Day, don't be fooled by fair-weather friends of labour

As we mark another Labour Day, let's reflect on a time-honoured tradition: politicians suddenly discovering their deep, abiding love for the working class – just in time for election season. It's a dance as old as democracy itself, but in 2024, the moves are looking particularly desperate.

psacunion.ca

Bats, rats and bedbugs: Ottawa public servants returning to pest-ridden buildings

Pests found in the 48 federal buildings this year include ants, bedbugs, mice, cockroaches, bats and a snake.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Lawsuit asks Lake Winnipeg to be legally defined as a person
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Sep 19, 2024 • 3 minute read

Netley Creek and The Red River enter Lake Winnipeg just north of Winnipeg, Sunday, May 15, 2022. A Manitoba court is being asked to declare Lake Winnipeg a person with Constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of person.
Netley Creek and The Red River enter Lake Winnipeg just north of Winnipeg, Sunday, May 15, 2022. A Manitoba court is being asked to declare Lake Winnipeg a person with Constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of person. Photo by JOHN WOODS /THE CANADIAN PRESS
WINNIPEG — A court has been asked to declare Lake Winnipeg a person with constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of person in a case that may go further than any other in trying to establish the rights of nature in Canada.


“It really is that simple,” said Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Manitoba Southern Chiefs’ Organization, which filed the suit Thursday in Court of King’s Bench in Winnipeg.

“The lake has its own rights. The lake is a living being.”

The argument is being used to help force the provincial government to conduct an environmental assessment of how Manitoba Hydro regulates lake levels for power generation. Those licences come up for renewal in August 2026, and the chiefs argue that the process under which those licences were granted was outdated and inadequate.

They quote Manitoba’s Clean Environment Commission, which said in 2015 that the licences were granted on the basis of poor science, poor consultation and poor public accountability.


Meanwhile, the statement of claim says “the (plaintiffs) describe the lake’s current state as being so sick that she is dying.”

It describes a long list of symptoms.

Fish species have disappeared, declined, migrated or become sick and inedible, the lawsuit says. Birds and wildlife including muskrat, beavers, duck, geese, eagles and gulls are vanishing from the lake’s wetlands.

Foods and traditional medicines — weekay, bulrush, cattail, sturgeon and wild rice — are getting harder to find, the document says, and algae blooms and E. coli bacteria levels have increased.

Invasive species including zebra mussels and spiny water fleas are now common, the document says.

“In Anishinaabemowin, the (plaintiffs) refer to the water in Lake Winnipeg as moowaakamiim (the water is full of feces) or


wiinaagamin (the water is polluted, dirty and full of garbage),” the lawsuit says.

It blames many of the problems on Manitoba Hydro’s management of the lake waters to prevent it flushing itself clean every year.

“She is unable to go through her natural cleansing cycle and becomes stagnant and struggles to sustain other beings like animals, birds, fish, plants and people,” the document says.

The defendants, Manitoba Hydro and the provincial government, have not filed statements of defence. Both declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Daniels said it makes sense to consider the vast lake — one of the world’s largest — as alive.

“We’re living in an era of reconciliation, there’s huge changes in the mindsets of regular Canadians and science has caught up a lot in understanding. It’s not a huge stretch to understand the lake as a living entity.”


The idea has been around in western science since the 1970s. The Gaia hypothesis, which remains highly disputed, proposed the Earth is a single organism with its own feedback loops that regulate conditions and keep them favourable to life.

The courts already recognize non-human entities such as corporations as persons.

Personhood has also been claimed for two Canadian rivers.

Quebec’s Innu First Nation have claimed that status for the Magpie River, and the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in Alberta is seeking standing for the Athabasca River in regulatory hearings. The Magpie’s status hasn’t been tested in court and Alberta’s energy regulator has yet to rule on the Athabasca.

Matt Hulse, a lawyer who argued the Athabasca River should be treated as a person, noted the Manitoba lawsuit quotes the use of “everyone” in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.


“The term ‘everyone’ isn’t defined, which could help (the chiefs),” he said.

But the Charter typically focuses on individual rights, Hulse added.

“What they’re asking for is substantive rights to be given to a lake. What does ‘liberty’ mean to a lake?

“Those kinds of cases require a bit of a paradigm shift. I think the Southern Chiefs Organization will face an uphill battle.”

Hulse said the Manitoba case goes further than any he’s aware of in seeking legal rights for a specific environment.

Daniels said he believes the courts and Canadians are ready to recognize humans are not separate from the world in which they live and that the law should recognize that.

“We need to understand our lakes and our environment as something we have to live in cohesion with.”

’SHE IS DYING’: Lawsuit asks Lake Winnipeg to be legally defined as a person

"The lake has its own rights. The lake is a living being."

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

New York resident dies of rare mosquito-borne virus known as eastern equine encephalitis
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Sep 24, 2024 • 1 minute read

ALBANY, N.Y. — A person has died in New York state from eastern equine encephalitis, prompting Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare the rare mosquito-borne illness an imminent threat to public health.


The death that was reported Monday in Ulster County is apparently the second death from the disease in the United States this year after a New Hampshire resident infected with the eastern equine encephalitis virus died last month.

Ten human cases of the disease, also known as EEE, had been reported nationwide as of Sept. 17, before the New York case was confirmed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Ulster County death was the first from the disease in New York state since 2015. No details about the person who became infected and died have been released.

Hochul said the public health declaration will free up state resources to help local health departments combat EEE.

“Following the first confirmed human case of EEE, my administration took statewide action to help protect communities — and with today’s declaration we’re making more State resources available to local departments to support their public health response,” the governor said in a news release.

The CDC says only a few cases of EEE are reported in the U.S. each year, mostly in the eastern and Gulf Coast states. There were just seven cases nationally last year but more than 30 in 2019, a historically bad year.

There are no vaccines or treatments for EEE, and about 30% of people who become infected die. Symptoms include fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea and seizures.

New York resident dies of rare mosquito-borne virus known as eastern equine encephalitis

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has declared eastern equine encephalitis an imminent threat to public health.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Paleontologists unearth giant skull of Pachyrhinosaurus in Alberta
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Fakiha Baig
Published Sep 25, 2024 • 2 minute read

Paleontologists prepare a large dinosaur skull for excavation in northern Alberta on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. The thick and more-than-a-metre-long skull of a herbivorous dinosaur that roamed northern Alberta about 17 million years ago and is known for big, bony bumps on its face was to be removed from a dense bone bed on Wednesday.
Paleontologists prepare a large dinosaur skull for excavation in northern Alberta on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. The thick and more-than-a-metre-long skull of a herbivorous dinosaur that roamed northern Alberta about 17 million years ago and is known for big, bony bumps on its face was to be removed from a dense bone bed on Wednesday. Photo by HO /The Canadian Press
It’s a dinosaur that roamed Alberta’s badlands more than 70 million years ago, sporting a big, bumpy, bony head the size of a baby elephant.


On Wednesday, paleontologists near Grande Prairie pulled its 272-kilogram skull from the ground.

They call it “Big Sam.”

The adult Pachyrhinosaurus is the second plant-eating dinosaur to be unearthed from a dense bonebed belonging to a herd that died together on the edge of a valley that now sits 450 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

It didn’t die alone.

“We have hundreds of juvenile bones in the bonebed, so we know that there are many babies and some adults among all of the big adults,” Emily Bamforth, a paleontologist with the nearby Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, said in an interview on the way to the dig site.

She described the horned Pachyrhinosaurus as “the smaller, older cousin of the triceratops.”

“This species of dinosaur is endemic to the Grand Prairie area, so it’s found here and nowhere else in the world. They are … kind of about the size of an Indian elephant and a rhino,” she added.


The head alone, she said, is about the size of a baby elephant.

The discovery was a long time coming.

The bonebed was first discovered by a high school teacher out for a walk about 50 years ago. It took the teacher a decade to get anyone from southern Alberta to come to take a look.

“At the time, sort of in the ’70s and ’80s, paleontology in northern Alberta was virtually unknown,” said Bamforth.

When paleontologists eventually got to the site, Bamforth said, they learned “it’s actually one of the densest dinosaur bonebeds in North America.”

“It contains about 100 to 300 bones per square metre,” she said.

Paleontologists have been at the site sporadically ever since, combing through bones belonging to turtles, dinosaurs and lizards. Sixteen years ago, they discovered a large skull of an approximately 30-year-old Pachyrhinosaurus, which is now at the museum.


About a year ago, they found the second adult: Big Sam.

Bamforth said both dinosaurs are believed to have been the elders in the herd.

“Their distinguishing feature is that, instead of having a horn on their nose like a triceratops, they had this big, bony bump called a boss. And they have big, bony bumps over their eyes as well,” she said.

“It makes them look a little strange. It’s the one dinosaur that if you find it, it’s the only possible thing it can be.”

The genders of the two adults are unknown.

Bamforth said the extraction was difficult because Big Sam was intertwined in a cluster of about 300 other bones.

The skull was found upside down, “as if the animal was lying on its back,” but was well preserved, she said.

She said the excavation process involved putting plaster on the skull and wooden planks around if for stability. From there, it was lifted out — very carefully — with a crane, and was to be shipped on a trolley to the museum for study.

“I have extracted skulls in the past. This is probably the biggest one I’ve ever done though,” said Bamforth.

“It’s pretty exciting.”

’Big Sam’: Paleontologists unearth giant skull of Pachyrhinosaurus in Alberta

"It's pretty exciting."

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Judge approves $600 million settlement for residents near fiery Ohio derailment
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Josh Funk
Published Sep 25, 2024 • 3 minute read

A federal judge on Wednesday approved a $600 million class-action settlement Wednesday that Norfolk Southern railroad offered to everyone who lived within 20 miles (32 kilometres) of last year’s disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.


Judge Benita Pearson gave the deal final approval after a hearing where the lawyers who negotiated it with the railroad argued that residents overwhelmingly supported it, attorneys for the residents and railroad spokesperson Heather Garcia told The Associated Press. Roughly 55,000 claims were filed. Only 370 households and 47 businesses opted out.

Those who did object to the deal were vocal in their concerns that the settlement won’t provide enough and that the deal was rushed through so quickly that they can’t possibly know what the potential health impact from the derailment will be. They say it’s hard to know all the risks, given the way test results have been reported by the EPA and the fact that the lawyers haven’t disclosed everything they learned in their investigation.


The objectors had hoped the judge would order the plaintiff’s lawyers to release the tests their own expert did after the derailment and address their concerns about a toxicologist who told them at a town meeting that they shouldn’t worry because he doesn’t think anyone will develop cancer. That angered residents who have been complaining about unexplained ailments since the derailment and talking with doctors who are conducting studies to try and determine what the health impacts will be.

“These attorneys were bullying people and telling them they were never going to get any money if they didn’t take this. People felt backed into a corner,” resident Jami Wallace said.

The judge’s approval clears the way for payments to start going out quickly. The lawyers had previously said they hoped to get the first checks in the mail before the end of the year.


As part of the settlement, any aid residents received from the railroad will be deducted from their final payments. Wallace and others who had to relocate for an extended period while the railroad paid for hotels or rental homes won’t get anything.

Anyone who lived within 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) of the derailment can get up to $70,000 per household for property damage plus up to $25,000 per person for health problems. The payments drop off the farther people lived from the derailment down to as little as a few hundred dollars at the outer edges.

“This outcome would not have been possible without the resilience and support of the East Palestine community and the broader class of impacted residents and business owners,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys said in a statement. “We look forward to beginning the distribution of funds in the coming weeks to help this community rebuild and move forward.”


When the train derailed late on Feb. 3, 2023, tank cars full of hazardous chemicals ruptured and spilled their contents that caught fire just outside the small town on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Then three days later officials decided to needlessly blow open five tank cars of vinyl chloride and burn the toxic plastic ingredient inside because they feared they would explode.

Since the derailment, the railroad has offered residents and the community $108 million in assistance and paid for the massive cleanup.

“We made a promise to make things right and this is just one piece of that commitment,” the railroad said in a statement. “We remain committed to this community for the long haul and look forward to continuing our relationship with the Village as we work to help the area recover and thrive.”

Judge approves $600 million settlement for residents near fiery Ohio derailment

Anyone who lived within 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) of the derailment can get up to $70,000 per household for property damage.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

People with diabetes in lower-income areas at higher risk for amputations: Report
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Nicole Ireland
Published Sep 26, 2024 • 3 minute read
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says more than 7,000 people with diabetes have a leg, foot or toe amputation every year and the majority of them could have been prevented.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says more than 7,000 people with diabetes have a leg, foot or toe amputation every year and the majority of them could have been prevented.
More than 7,000 people with diabetes undergo a leg, foot or toe amputation every year — and the majority of those procedures could have been prevented, the Canadian Institute for Health Information said in a report released Thursday.


The report said people with diabetes living in the lowest-income neighbourhoods are three times more likely to have an amputation than those living in the highest-income communities. Those living in remote communities were also at higher risk of amputations than people living in urban centres.

“Our report is looking at leg amputations that occur annually as a complication related to diabetes,” Erin Pichora, CIHI’s program lead for population health, said in an interview.

“We’re looking at these because they’re largely preventable.”

Lack of access to a primary-care provider to help people manage diabetes is one likely factor behind the inequalities, Pichora said.

Disparities are also likely in access to specialists who can treat diabetic wounds on people’s feet — including podiatrists and chiropodists — before they worsen, she said.


Diabetes Canada said CIHI’s report shows the importance of ensuring people with diabetes have equitable access to the care and resources they need.

“People living with diabetes who undergo amputations face significant emotional and financial distress,” Laura O’Driscoll, senior manager of policy at Diabetes Canada, said in an emailed statement to The Canadian Press.

“We need to ensure that everyone with diabetes has affordable, timely access to the medications, devices, education, and care needed to manage their condition and prevent complications like amputation.”

The CIHI researchers reviewed hospital records from across Canada for fiscal years 2020-2021 and 2022-2023 and found about 7,720 “lower limb” amputations associated with diabetes per year among people 18 and older.


Each year there were about 3,080 hospitalizations for “above-ankle” leg amputations and 4,640 hospitalizations for “ankle-and-below” amputations, including feet and toes.

Dr. Charles de Mestral, a vascular surgeon and scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto who was a consultant on the report, said people living with diabetes are at risk of leg amputations for two reasons.

One is the nerve damage caused by diabetes, which means patients are unable to feel their feet and therefore aren’t aware if they get a wound so it worsens without treatment, he said.

The other reason is poor circulation or peripheral artery disease caused by diabetes.

“Nothing heals if it doesn’t have good blood flow,” de Mestral said.


He said he is often able to save patients from amputation by doing surgery to improve blood flow to the feet, but also has cases that involve a “life-threatening infection or debilitating pain” where removing the foot or leg is the only option.

Preventing wounds from happening in the first place — which can sometimes be as basic as wearing the right shoes or having calluses removed — is the most important way to prevent amputations, he said.

People with diabetes should check their feet every day, de Mestral said, and seek medical care if they see wounds starting to develop.

Because access to primary care, chiropodists, podiatrists and wound care nurses is inequitable in Canada, Dr. Nicole Woods is trying to develop other ways people with diabetes can have their feet examined regularly.


Woods, who is director of the Institute for Education Research at University Health Network in Toronto, said an estimated 80 per cent of lower limb amputations are preventable through proper screening.

“What we need to do as a system is address this inequitable access to screening,” she said.

In a research project funded by Diabetes Canada, Woods and her team are trying to train other people in the community besides doctors and nurses to screen people with diabetes for foot wounds.

Those can include personal support workers, family members and shelter workers, she said.

“It’s really just a matter of noticing an early wound, something that just needs to get looked at and recognizing it earlier,” Woods said.

“That’s something we can do for each other and for ourselves.”

People with diabetes in lower-income areas at higher risk for amputations: Report

More than 7,000 people with diabetes undergo a leg, foot or toe amputation every year.

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Well, that's one for the No-Shit Archives.

 

[petros]

People with diabetes in lower-income areas at higher risk for amputations: Report
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Nicole Ireland
Published Sep 26, 2024 • 3 minute read
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says more than 7,000 people with diabetes have a leg, foot or toe amputation every year and the majority of them could have been prevented.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says more than 7,000 people with diabetes have a leg, foot or toe amputation every year and the majority of them could have been prevented.
More than 7,000 people with diabetes undergo a leg, foot or toe amputation every year — and the majority of those procedures could have been prevented, the Canadian Institute for Health Information said in a report released Thursday.


The report said people with diabetes living in the lowest-income neighbourhoods are three times more likely to have an amputation than those living in the highest-income communities. Those living in remote communities were also at higher risk of amputations than people living in urban centres.

“Our report is looking at leg amputations that occur annually as a complication related to diabetes,” Erin Pichora, CIHI’s program lead for population health, said in an interview.

“We’re looking at these because they’re largely preventable.”

Lack of access to a primary-care provider to help people manage diabetes is one likely factor behind the inequalities, Pichora said.

Disparities are also likely in access to specialists who can treat diabetic wounds on people’s feet — including podiatrists and chiropodists — before they worsen, she said.


Diabetes Canada said CIHI’s report shows the importance of ensuring people with diabetes have equitable access to the care and resources they need.

“People living with diabetes who undergo amputations face significant emotional and financial distress,” Laura O’Driscoll, senior manager of policy at Diabetes Canada, said in an emailed statement to The Canadian Press.

“We need to ensure that everyone with diabetes has affordable, timely access to the medications, devices, education, and care needed to manage their condition and prevent complications like amputation.”

The CIHI researchers reviewed hospital records from across Canada for fiscal years 2020-2021 and 2022-2023 and found about 7,720 “lower limb” amputations associated with diabetes per year among people 18 and older.


Each year there were about 3,080 hospitalizations for “above-ankle” leg amputations and 4,640 hospitalizations for “ankle-and-below” amputations, including feet and toes.

Dr. Charles de Mestral, a vascular surgeon and scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto who was a consultant on the report, said people living with diabetes are at risk of leg amputations for two reasons.

One is the nerve damage caused by diabetes, which means patients are unable to feel their feet and therefore aren’t aware if they get a wound so it worsens without treatment, he said.

The other reason is poor circulation or peripheral artery disease caused by diabetes.

“Nothing heals if it doesn’t have good blood flow,” de Mestral said.


He said he is often able to save patients from amputation by doing surgery to improve blood flow to the feet, but also has cases that involve a “life-threatening infection or debilitating pain” where removing the foot or leg is the only option.

Preventing wounds from happening in the first place — which can sometimes be as basic as wearing the right shoes or having calluses removed — is the most important way to prevent amputations, he said.

People with diabetes should check their feet every day, de Mestral said, and seek medical care if they see wounds starting to develop.

Because access to primary care, chiropodists, podiatrists and wound care nurses is inequitable in Canada, Dr. Nicole Woods is trying to develop other ways people with diabetes can have their feet examined regularly.


Woods, who is director of the Institute for Education Research at University Health Network in Toronto, said an estimated 80 per cent of lower limb amputations are preventable through proper screening.

“What we need to do as a system is address this inequitable access to screening,” she said.

In a research project funded by Diabetes Canada, Woods and her team are trying to train other people in the community besides doctors and nurses to screen people with diabetes for foot wounds.

Those can include personal support workers, family members and shelter workers, she said.

“It’s really just a matter of noticing an early wound, something that just needs to get looked at and recognizing it earlier,” Woods said.

“That’s something we can do for each other and for ourselves.”

People with diabetes in lower-income areas at higher risk for amputations: Report

More than 7,000 people with diabetes undergo a leg, foot or toe amputation every year.

torontosun.com

Quit drinking. Type II is reversible.

 

[spaminator]

Montana man gets 6 months in prison for cloning giant sheep and breeding it
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Amy Beth Hanson
Published Sep 30, 2024 • 4 minute read

This undated handout photo provided by the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, shows a sheep nicknamed Montana Mountain King that was part of unlawful scheme to create large, hybrid species of wild sheep for sale to hunting preserves in Texas.
This undated handout photo provided by the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, shows a sheep nicknamed Montana Mountain King that was part of unlawful scheme to create large, hybrid species of wild sheep for sale to hunting preserves in Texas. Photo by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks via AP, File
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — An 81-year-old Montana man was sentenced Monday to six months in federal prison for illegally using tissue and testicles from large sheep hunted in Central Asia and the U.S. to create hybrid sheep for captive trophy hunting in Texas and Minnesota.


U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris said he struggled to come up with a sentence for Arthur “Jack” Schubarth of Vaughn, Montana. He said he weighed Schubarth’s age and lack of a criminal record with a sentence that would deter anyone else from trying to “change the genetic makeup of the creatures” on the earth.

Morris also fined Schubarth $20,000 and ordered him to make a $4,000 payment to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Schubarth will be allowed to self-report to a Bureau of Prisons medical facility.

“I will have to work the rest of my life to repair everything I’ve done,” Schubarth told the judge just before sentencing.

Schubarth’s attorney, Jason Holden, said cloning the giant Marco Polo sheep hunted in Kyrgyzstan in 2013 has ruined his client’s “life, reputation and family.”


“I think this has broken him,” Holden said.

Holden, in seeking a probationary sentence, argued that Schubarth was a hard-working man who has always cared for animals and did something that no one else could have done in cloning the giant sheep, which he named Montana Mountain King or MMK.

The animal has been confiscated by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and is being held in an accredited facility until it can be transferred to a zoo, said Richard Bare, a special agent with the wildlife service.

Sarah Brown, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, had asked that Schubarth be sentenced to prison, saying his illegal breeding operation was widespread, involved other states and endangered the health of other wildlife. The crime involved forethought, was complex and involved many illegal acts, she said.


Schubarth owns Sun River Enterprises LLC, a 215-acre (87-hectare) alternative livestock ranch, which buys, sells and breeds “alternative livestock” such as mountain sheep, mountain goats and ungulates, primarily for private hunting preserves, where people shoot captive trophy game animals for a fee, prosecutors said. He had been in the game farm business since 1987, Schubarth said.

Schubarth pleaded guilty in March to charges that he and five other people conspired to use tissue from a Marco Polo sheep illegally brought into the U.S. to clone that animal and then use the clone and its descendants to create a larger, hybrid species of sheep that would be more valuable for captive hunting operations.

Marco Polo sheep are the largest in the world, can weigh 300 pounds (136 kilograms) and have curled horns up to 5 feet (1.5 metres) long, court records said.


Schubarth sold semen from MMK along with hybrid sheep to three people in Texas, while a Minnesota resident brought 74 sheep to Schubarth’s ranch for them to be inseminated at various times during the conspiracy, court records said. Schubarth sold one direct offspring from MMK for $10,000 and other sheep with lesser MMK genetics for smaller amounts.

The total value of the animals involved was greater than $250,000 but less than $550,000, prosecutors said. Hybrid sheep were also sold to people in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota and West Virginia, prosecutors said.

In October 2019, court records said, Schubarth paid a hunting guide $400 for the testicles of a trophy-sized Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep that had been harvested in Montana and then extracted and sold the semen, court records said.


Sheep breeds that are not allowed in Montana were brought into the state as part of the conspiracy, including 43 sheep from Texas, prosecutors said.

“You were so focused on getting around those rules you got off track,” Morris said.

Holden sought reduced restitution, saying Schubarth fed and cared for the hybrid sheep on his ranch until they could be slaughtered and the meat donated to a food bank. The remaining hybrid sheep with Marco Polo DNA on his ranch must be sent to slaughter by the end of the year with the meat also being donated, Morris said. Morris gave Schubarth until December 2025 to sell his Rocky Mountain bighorn hybrid sheep.

Schubarth will not be allowed to breed game stock during the three years he is on probation, Morris said.


The five co-conspirators were not named in court records, but Schubarth’s plea agreement requires him to cooperate fully with prosecutors and testify if called to do so. The case is still being investigated, Montana wildlife officials said.

Schubarth, in a letter attached to the sentencing memo, said he becomes extremely passionate about any project he takes on, including his “sheep project,” and is ashamed of his actions.

“I got my normal mindset clouded by my enthusiasm and looked for any grey area in the law to make the best sheep I could for this sheep industry,” he wrote. “My family has never been broke, but we are now.”

Montana man gets 6 months in prison for cloning giant sheep and breeding it

A Montana man was sentenced Monday to six months in prison for illegally using tissue and testicles from large sheep to create hybrid sheep.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

More woes at Edmonton courthouse as traces of lead found in drinking water
Author of the article:Jonny Wakefield
Published Sep 30, 2024 • 2 minute read
The Alberta government says lead was detected in about four per cent of samples taken from drinking fountains in the building.
The Alberta government says lead was detected in about four per cent of samples taken from drinking fountains in the building.
Edmonton’s courthouse was once plagued by a leaky ceiling.


Now, the aging building is experiencing another kind of water woe.

Water testing in the Edmonton Law Courts turned up elevated lead levels in about four per cent of samples, Alberta Infrastructure spokesperson Brendan Procé said in an email last week. The testing accompanied the replacement of the building’s 19 water fountains with new models that include filters and water bottle fill stations.

Signs were recently posted on all fountains indicating whether or not the water is safe to drink.

“We take the concerns over water quality in our provincial (buildings) seriously,” Procé said.

The ministry ordered water testing after questions from the Edmonton Law Courts building health and safety committee. Of 100 samples taken, four came back with elevated lead levels above the Health Canada maximum. All but one sample fell below the acceptable level after running the water for 30 seconds.


“To ensure health and safety of building occupants and visitors, all impacted fountains have been turned off and signage has been placed in all impacted areas,” said Procé. “All of the impacted fountains are older fountains and were scheduled to be replaced.”

Sixteen of the fountains are marked as safe to drink, while three are deemed “out of order.”

“Two are currently being replaced and the third has not been tested yet, hence being taken out of operation,” Procé said. “To assist building occupants in accessing drinking water, Infrastructure supplied and installed bottled water dispensers to the areas that have not been tested yet.”

The news comes as a report to determine the future of the Edmonton courthouse is “being finalized,” Procé said.


The provincial government commissioned a $3 million business case last year to determine whether to renovate, expand or rebuild the law courts building. It was initially due in October 2023 but was repeatedly delayed.

The business case was launched after a power outage plagued the building’s south tower for weeks. The January 2023 electrical outage forced an evacuation and caused some Court of King’s Bench cases to be moved to the adjacent provincial court tower. Some Court of Appeal hearings were rescheduled entirely.

“We do see the need for a new courthouse in Edmonton,” said then-justice minister Tyler Shandro at the time.

The law courts also dealt for years with a leaky glass atrium connecting the two towers, which the provincial government finally replaced in 2019.


Calls to replace the 1970s-era building go back to at least 2010, when the associate chief justice called for a new courthouse to address space shortages.

jwakefield@postmedia.com

x.com/jonnywakefield

More building woes at Edmonton courthouse as traces of lead found in drinking water

Edmonton's courthouse was once plagued by a leaky ceiling. Now, the ageing building is experiencing another kind of water woe.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Mount Everest is growing even taller, study finds
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Kasha Patel, The Washington Post
Published Oct 01, 2024 • 3 minute read

Mount Everest, also known as Chomolungma, has grown about 50 to 164 feet higher over the past 89,000 years than expected, according to a modeling study released Monday.
Mount Everest, also known as Chomolungma, has grown about 50 to 164 feet higher over the past 89,000 years than expected, according to a modeling study released Monday.
The world’s tallest mountain is getting taller.


Mount Everest, also known as Chomolungma, has grown about 50 to 164 feet higher over the past 89,000 years than expected, according to a modeling study released Monday. The culprit is a nearby river eroding and pushing downland, causing the ground under Mount Everest to rebound and lift.

“It’s a new additional component of uplift of Mount Everest,” said Matthew Fox, study co-author and geologist at University College London. He expects this spurt of Everest and its surrounding peaks to continue for millions of years.

He added “the biggest impact is probably on the climbers that have to climb another 20 meters or so to the top.” The additional height may also lead to the growth of more ice at the higher elevations.


Mount Everest, part of the Himalayan mountain range, towers along the Nepal-Tibet border at around 8,850 meters (29,000 feet) high. Not only is it the tallest worldwide, it leaves its surrounding peaks in the dust – rising around 250 meters above the next tallest mountain in the Himalayas, the 28,251-foot K2 mountain.

But what could cause Everest’s anomalous height compared to its neighbors?

What is a river capture?
These extra meters on Mount Everest can be chalked up to a relatively rare “river capture event” from 89,000 years ago, according to the authors’ computer models. During such an event, one river changes it course, interacts with another and steals its water, Fox said.

In this case, the team said the Arun river network — about 75 kilometers east of Mount Everest — stole water from a river flowing north of Everest. Fox said the capture could have been initiated by a dramatic flood, which rerouted the water to a new drainage network. Today, the Arun River is a main tributary to the Kosi River to the south.


As more water then began flowing in the Arun River, erosion rates increased. Over millennia, the waterway carved a large gorge along its banks and washed away billions of tons of sediments and earth. That huge mass loss caused surrounding land to slowly uplift, a process known as isostatic rebound.

Mountains are a bit like icebergs because only a small portion is seen above surface. In their case, a big pile of thickened crust basically floats on top of mantle, said Fox. During this rebounding, the thickened crust pushes up to replace the material eroded away. He said it could take millions of years for the uplift to fully spread across the landscape.

How much is Everest growing?
The Himalayas formed around 50 million years ago from a collision by the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which continue to slowly move today. The expected growth is around 1 millimeter per year, but GPS data show recent uplift is around 2 millimeters per year.


The rebound partly explains the difference, resulting at around a 15- to 50-metre increase of Everest since the capture event, according to the study. Other Himalayan peaks, such as Lhotse and Makalu, are also affected. In fact, the authors say Makalu is located closest to the Arun River and would experience even more uplift.

Some scientists aren’t readily on board with the study’s findings.

Geologist Mike Searle, who was not involved in the research, said he was skeptical. For one, the modeling relies more on assumptions rather than observations, he said. Searle, who has conducted his own field research on rocks on Everest and Makalu, said dating river deposits or incision rates is very difficult.

He also said river capture happens all over active mountain ranges and is difficult to connect with uplift, especially when it happens tens of kilometers away.

“The main arguments are geographical,” Searle, a professor at Oxford, said in an email. “River incision, in my opinion, has little to do with mountain uplift.”

The main process causing uplift of rocks, influencing the height of Everest and Makalu, is tectonics: The thrusting of plates causes topography.

Fox said the team did not disentangle competing factors that could also influence Everest’s uplift, but the river capture does have an effect.

Mount Everest is growing even taller, study finds

The world's tallest mountain is getting taller.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Chronic condition means smooching risky business for woman
Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Oct 02, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 2 minute read

Read her lips: Be careful!


Anyone looking to score a kiss with Caroline Cray Quinn will want to do so carefully as any given smooch could prove fatal.

The Boston beauty suffers from severe food allergies and a chronic condition known as mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), an immune disease that causes her cells to incorrectly identify things as severe allergens including all but two foods (oats and hypoallergenic formula.)

The disorder causes intense episodes of swelling as well as shortness of breath, hives, diarrhea, vomiting and other symptoms, and can lead to life-threatening anaphylaxis, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Naturally, there are three rules for anyone looking to kiss Quinn.

“Rule No. 1 is that they can’t have any of my six main anaphylactic allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, kiwi, mustard or seafood) within 24 hours of kissing me,” Quinn told more than 1.7 million TikTok viewers in a viral video, the New York Post reported.


“The second rule is that they can’t eat anything three hours prior to kissing me,” she said. “Rule No. 3 is that they have to brush their teeth.”

If it all seems a bit intense, know that Quinn is not alone. Roughly one in six people, including A-listers Billie Eilish and Halsey, are diagnosed with a form of mast cell disease. MCAS is the most common, according to the Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) Clinic.

U.K. gymnast Natasha Coates has the disease and is severely allergic to “strong emotions.” Bouts of laughter, sadness or stress could trigger a fatal chemical reaction.

Coates has likewise gone public with her health struggles, revealing that she planned her own funeral at age 20.


Coates, who, like Quinn, has shared the harrowing details of her health struggles online, revealed she planned her own funeral at age 20 due to the seriousness of her sickness.


Quinn, however, has made it her mission to focus on living a “full and happy” life.

“(The condition) presents in a lot of uncomfortable and life-threatening symptoms like difficulty breathing, swelling/itchiness in throat and mouth, loss of consciousness, low blood pressure, and hives/rashes,” she said. “In order to avoid MCAS flare-ups and MCAS symptoms, I avoid triggers like food, animal fur/dander, mold, dust, heat, and certain smells.”

As for kissing?

“Kissing boys is definitely a risk,” she said on TikTok. “It invites potential instability into my life. But so does everyday life for me.”

She added: “I could completely avoid kissing and just live in a bubble when it comes to relationships. But I choose to take little calculated risks so that I can live a full and happy life.”

Kissing could kill me: Men must follow three strict rules before we smooch because of this chronic condition

Call it the kiss of death.

nypost.com

KISS OF DEATH?: Chronic condition means smooching risky business for woman

Anyone looking to score a kiss with Caroline Cray Quinn will want to do so carefully as any given smooch could prove fatal.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

'Avoid or minimize' fizzy drink intake to reduce stroke risk, researcher says
Author of the article:Kevin Connor
Published Oct 06, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read

Consuming fizzy drinks or fruit juices from concentrate can lead to an increased risk of stroke, according to a new study.
Consuming fizzy drinks or fruit juices from concentrate can lead to an increased risk of stroke, according to a new study.


The research by McMaster University and Ireland’s University of Galway also said drinking more than four cups of coffee per day increases the risk of stroke.

“Not all fruit drinks are created equal,” professor Andrew Smyth, with the epidemiology department at the University of Galway, said in a release. “Freshly squeezed fruit juices are most likely to bring benefits, but fruit drinks made from concentrates with lots of added sugars and preservatives may be harmful. Our research also shows that the chance of stroke increases the more often someone consumes fizzy drinks.

“As a doctor and as someone who has researched the risk of stroke, we would encourage people to avoid or minimize their consumption of fizzy and fruit drinks and to consider switching to water instead.”



The study found drinking four or more cups of coffee a day increased a person’s chance of stroke by 37%, while drinking tea reduced the chance of a stroke by 18% to 20%.

Drinking three or four cups per day of black tea — including breakfast and Earl Grey teas — was linked with a 29% lower chance of stroke. Drinking three to four cups per day of green tea lowered the chance of stroke by 27%.

However, adding milk may reduce or block the beneficial effects of antioxidants that can be found in tea, the study said.


Drinking more than seven glasses of water a day, meanwhile, reduced the odds of a stroke caused by a clot.

The findings came from an INTERSTROKE research project, which was published in the Journal of Stroke.

INTERSTROKE is one of the largest international studies of risk factors for strokes, involving almost 27,000 people in 27 countries, including almost 13,500 people who experienced their first stroke.

Strokes happen when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off and damages brain cells.

'Avoid or minimize' fizzy drink intake to reduce stroke risk, researcher says

Consuming fizzy drinks or fruit juices from concentrate can lead to an increased risk of stroke, according to a new study.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Don't expect human life expectancy to grow much more, researcher says
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Mike Stobbe
Published Oct 07, 2024 • 3 minute read

NEW YORK — Humanity is hitting the upper limit of life expectancy, according to a new study.


Advances in medical technology and genetic research — not to mention larger numbers of people making it to age 100 — are not translating into marked jumps in lifespan overall, according to researchers who found shrinking longevity increases in countries with the longest-living populations.

“We have to recognize there’s a limit” and perhaps reassess assumptions about when people should retire and how much money they’ll need to live out their lives, said S. Jay Olshansky, a University of Illinois-Chicago researcher who was lead author of the study published Monday by the journal Nature Aging.

Mark Hayward, a University of Texas researcher not involved in the study, called it “a valuable addition to the mortality literature.”


“We are reaching a plateau” in life expectancy, he agreed. It’s always possible some breakthrough could push survival to greater heights, “but we don’t have that now,” Hayward said.

What is life expectancy?
Life expectancy is an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might expect to live, assuming death rates at that time hold constant. It is one of the world’s most important health measures, but it is also imperfect: It is a snapshot estimate that cannot account for deadly pandemics, miracle cures or other unforeseen developments that might kill or save millions of people.

In the new research, Olshansky and his research partners tracked life expectancy estimates for the years 1990 to 2019, drawn from a database administered by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. The researchers focused on eight of the places in the world where people live the longest — Australia, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland.


The U.S. doesn’t even rank in the top 40. But is also was included “because we live here” and because of past, bold estimates that life expectancy in the U.S. might surge dramatically in this century, Olshansky said.

Who lives the longest?
Women continue to live longer than men and life expectancy improvements are still occurring — but at a slowing pace, the researchers found. In 1990, the average amount of improvement was about 2 1/2 years per decade. In the 2010s, it was 1 1/2 years — and almost zero in the U.S.

The U.S. is more problematic because it is harder hit by a range of issues that kill people even before they hit old age, including drug overdoses, shootings, obesity and inequities that make it hard for some people to get sufficient medical care.


But in one calculation, the researchers estimated what would happen in all nine places if all deaths before age 50 were eliminated. The increase at best was still only 1 1/2 years, Olshansky said.

Eileen Crimmins, a University of Southern California gerontology expert, said in an email that she agrees with the study’s findings. She added: “For me personally, the most important issue is the dismal and declining relative position of the United States.”

Why life expectancy may not be able to rise forever
The study suggests that there’s a limit to how long most people live, and we’ve about hit it, Olshansky said.

“We’re squeezing less and less life out of these life-extending technologies. And the reason is, aging gets in the way,” he said.

It may seem common to hear of a person living to 100 — former U.S. President Jimmy Carter hit that milestone last week. In 2019, a little over 2% of Americans made it to 100, compared with about 5% in Japan and 9% in Hong Kong, Olshansky said.

It’s likely that the ranks of centenarians will grow in the decades ahead, experts say, but that’s because of population growth. The percentage of people hitting 100 will remain limited, likely with fewer than 15% of women and 5% of men making it that long in most countries, Olshansky said.

Don't expect human life expectancy to grow much more, researcher says

Humanity is hitting the upper limit of life expectancy, according to a new study.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Nobel Prize in medicine honours American duo for discovery of microRNA
MicroRNA could lead to new ways of treating cancer

Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Daniel Niemann, Maria Cheng And Mike Corder
Published Oct 07, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 5 minute read

STOCKHOLM — Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday for their discovery of microRNA, tiny bits of genetic material that offer a way for scientists to control what’s happening in our cells and that could lead to new ways of detecting and treating diseases including cancer.


The work by Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun is “proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function,” according to a panel that awarded the prize in Stockholm.

Ambros and Ruvkun were initially interested in genes that control the timing of different genetic developments, ensuring that cell types develop at the right time.

Their discovery ultimately “revealed a new dimension to gene regulation, essential for all complex life forms,” the panel said.

What is the Nobel Prize for?
RNA is best known for carrying instructions for how to make proteins from DNA in the nucleus of the cell to tiny cellular factories that actually build the proteins. MicroRNA does not make proteins, but help to control what cells are doing, including switching on and off critical genes that make proteins.


Ambros and Ruvkun studied two mutant strains of worms commonly used as research models. The scientists set out to identify the mutated genes responsible for cell development in these worms and what their role was. The mechanism they ultimately identified — the regulation of genes by microRNA — has allowed organisms to evolve for hundreds of millions of years.

“Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans,” according to the citation explaining the importance of their work.

Ambros, currently a professor of natural science at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, performed the research at Harvard University. Ruvkun’s research was performed at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he’s a professor of genetics.


Why does microRNA matter?
The study of microRNA has opened up approaches to treating diseases like cancer because it helps regulate how genes work at the cellular level, according to Dr. Claire Fletcher, a lecturer in molecular oncology at Imperial College London.

Fletcher said there were two main areas where microRNA could be helpful: in developing drugs to treat diseases and in serving as possible indicators of diseases, by tracking their levels in the body.

“If we take the example of cancer, we’ll have a particular gene working overtime, it might be mutated and working in overdrive,” said Fletcher. “We can take a microRNA that we know alters the activity of that gene and we can deliver that particular microRNA to cancer cells to stop that mutated gene from having its effect.”


Eric Miska, a geneticist at Cambridge University, said the discovery by Ambros and Ruvkun came as a complete surprise, overturning what scientists had long understood about how cells work.

“It was just a shock that there’s this whole new class of gene, the genes that make these microRNAs that have been missed,” he said. He said the human genome has at least 800 microRNAs that are critical to determining how cells function.

Miska said there is ongoing work regarding the role of microRNA in infectious diseases like hepatitis and that it might also be useful in helping treat neurological diseases.

Fletcher said there are research studies ongoing to see how microRNA approaches might help treat skin cancer, but that there aren’t yet any drug treatments approved by drug regulators. She expected that might happen in the next five to 10 years.


She said microRNA represents another way of being able to control the behavior of genes to treat and track various diseases.

“The majority of therapies we have at the moment are targeting proteins in cells,” she said. “If we can intervene at the microRNA level, it opens up a whole new way of us developing medicines and us controlling the activity of genes whose levels might be altered in diseases.”

How did Gary Ruvkun and Victor Ambros react?
The phone call from the Nobel panel is often a surprise, but there are certain signs that recipients and their families pick up on.

“Well, when a phone rings at 4:30 in the morning. … It never happens here. So we answered,” Ruvkun said.

And his wife heard another giveaway. “My wife figured out that it was … because Swedish accent,” he added.


It took a little longer to rouse Ambros.

“Somebody called my son, who called my wife as my phone was downstairs,” he said.

Ruvkun knew immiedately the impact the award would have on his life.

“Well, I just kept repeating in my mind, this changes everything because you know, the Nobel is just mythic in how it transforms the life of people who are selected,” Ruvkun said. “The Nobel Prize is a is a recognition that’s sort of 100 times as much press and celebration as any other award. So, it’s not part of a continuum. It’s a quantum leap.”

Going to pick up his award in December will be the third time he has been to a Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm after attending to watch his mentor Robert Horvitz receive the 2002 award and then his buddy Jack Szostak, who won in 2009.


“There’s a trip coming up. It will be the third, possibly the best,” Ruvkun said.

Ambros said he didn’t expect the award as he felt that the Nobel committee has already singled out RNA in the 2006 prize that went to his friends Andrew Fire and Craig Mello.

“It represents the recognition of how wonderful and unexpected discoveries come from a curiosity in basic science financed by tax payer money. It’s a vitally important, probably the most important message that this investment really pays off,” he said.

Last year, the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine went to Hungarian-American Katalin Kariko and American Drew Weissman for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 that were critical in slowing the pandemic.

The prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million) from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.

Nobel announcements continue with the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Oct. 14.

Nobel Prize in medicine honours American duo for discovery of microRNA

MicroRNA are tiny pieces of genetic material that alter how genes work at the cellular level and could lead to new ways of treating cancer.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

You might be taking your blood pressure wrong, study suggests
Author of the articleenette Wilford
Published Oct 08, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read

Most, if not all of us have had their blood pressure taken, whether it’s by a medical professional or at a pharmacy.


A person’s arm position is important in getting a proper reading, so much so that a new study suggests that blood pressure readings may not be accurate unless the arm position is correct.

Researchers compared blood pressure readings taken while people head their arms three different ways, which showed certain positions could lead to a significant increase in systolic pressure, which is the upper number in a reading.

The three positions — leaning on a surface, resting on the lap, or hanging alongside the body — gave very different readings, particularly when the position is of the arm dangling which had a nearly-seven-point difference.

“There was a chance that arm position was not important,” Dr. Tammy Brady, the medical director of the pediatric hypertension program at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and study’s senior author, told NBC News.


“One of my hopes is that this will help inform patients as to how to do this on their own and also to tell their health care provider the right way,” she continued.

“Patients should be empowered to make sure the blood pressure measurement is accurate.”

The 133 participants — who ranged in age from 18 to 80, 78% of whom were Black and 52% were female — each had their blood pressure measured in the three arm positions.


The results showed that when people had their arms hanging by their sides during the reading, their systolic pressure was 6.5 points higher than when their arms were resting on a desk, while the diastolic blood pressure — the bottom number — was 4.4 points higher.

When the subjects’ arms were on their laps, the systolic blood pressure was 3.9 points higher versus when their arms were supported by a surface, and the diastolic pressure was 4 points higher.


As a result of those differences, there could be misdiagnoses of hypertension and patients being prescribed needless medications.



If a health-care provider isn’t taking your reading, the Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends that five minutes prior, the individual should remove any bulky or tight clothing, sit quietly with feet on the floor, sit back, and rest arm at heart level on a table or firm surface.

Thirty minutes before a person checks their blood pressure, they should not smoke, drink caffeinated beverages and use the washroom ahead of time, and should avoid trying to measure it if the individual is in pain or distress.

It also notes that a person should always use the same arm to get the most accurate reading.

Arm position during blood pressure check may lead to wrong reading, study finds

Common arm positions during screening can cause a significant increase in the systolic pressure number.

nbcnews.com

You might be taking your blood pressure wrong, study suggests

A new study suggests that blood pressure readings may not be accurate unless the arm position is correct.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded for work on proteins, building blocks of life
The research that made connections between amino acid sequence and protein structure.

Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Daniel Niemann And Mike Corder
Published Oct 09, 2024 • 3 minute read

Johan Åqvist, member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, Hans Ellegren, Permanent Secretary and Heiner Linke, Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry award this years Nobel Prize in Chemistry to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John M Jumper at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024.
Johan Åqvist, member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, Hans Ellegren, Permanent Secretary and Heiner Linke, Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry award this years Nobel Prize in Chemistry to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John M Jumper at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, in Stockholm, Sweden, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024.
STOCKHOLM– The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded Wednesday to three scientists for their breakthrough work predicting and even designing the structure of proteins, the building blocks of life.


The prize was awarded to David Baker, who works at the University of Washington in Seattle, and to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, who both work at Google DeepMind, a British-American artificial intelligence research laboratory based in London.

Heiner Linke, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said the award honored research that made connections between amino acid sequence and protein structure.

“That was actually called a grand challenge in chemistry, and in particular in biochemistry, for decades. So, it’s that breakthrough that gets awarded today,” he said.

Baker designed a new protein in 2003 and his research group has since produced one imaginative protein creation after another, including proteins that can be used as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors, the Nobel committee said.


“The number of designs that they have produced and published, and the variety, is absolutely mind blowing. It seems that you can almost construct any type of protein now with this technology,” said Professor Johan Åqvist of the Nobel committee.

Hassabis and Jumper created an artificial intelligence model that has been able to predict the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins that researchers have identified, the committee added.

“Proteins are the molecules that enable life. Proteins are building blocks that form bones, skin, hair and tissue,” Linke said. “To understand how life works, we first need to understand the shape of proteins.”

Linke said scientists had therefore long dreamt of predicting the three-dimensional structure of proteins.


“Four years ago, in 2020, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper managed to crack the code. With skillful use of artificial intelligence, they made it possible to predict the complex structure of essentially any known protein in nature,” Linke said.

“Another dream of scientists has been to build new proteins, to learn how to use nature’s multi-tool for our own purposes. This is the problem that David Baker solved,” he added. “He developed computational tools that now enable scientists to design spectacular new proteins with entirely novel shapes and functions, opening endless possibilities for the greatest benefit to humankind.”

Baker said Hassabis and John Jumper’s artificial intelligence work gave his team a huge boost.


“The breakthroughs made by Demis and John on protein structure prediction really highlighted to us the power that AI could have. And that led us to apply these AI methods to protein design and that has greatly, increased the power and accuracy,” he said.

Baker told the Associated Press that the win was exciting. He found out during the early hours of the morning alongside his wife, who immediately started screaming.

“So it was a little deafening, too,” he said.

In an open call with the Nobel officials and journalists who attended the announcement in Stockholm, Baker was asked if he had a favorite protein.

He said he loves them all, adding: “So I don’t want to pick favorites, but I can tell you about one that we designed during the pandemic that protects against the coronavirus. And I’ve been very excited about the idea of a nasal spray, of little designed proteins, that would protect against all possible pandemic viruses.”


Hassabis is one of Britain’s leading tech figures, and was awarded a knighthood earlier this year for his services to artificial intelligence. He co-founded AI research lab DeepMind in 2010, which was later acquired by Google. DeepMind’s breakthroughs include developing an AI system that mastered the Chinese game of Go and was able to defeat the game’s human world champion much faster than expected.

Baker gets half of the prize money of 11 million Swedish Kronor ($1 million) while Hassabis and Jumper share the other half.

Last year, the chemistry award went to three scientists for their work on quantum dots — tiny particles just a few nanometers in diameter that can release very bright colored light and whose applications in everyday life include electronics and medical imaging.

Six days of Nobel announcements opened Monday with Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun winning the medicine prize. Two founding fathers of machine learning — John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton — won the physics prize.

The awards continue with the literature prize on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday and the economics award on Oct. 14.

The prize money comes from a bequest left by the award’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. The laureates are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.

Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded for work on proteins, building blocks of life

Heiner Linke said the award honoured research that made connections between amino acid sequence and protein structure.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Historic ocean liner could soon become the world’s largest artificial reef
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Bruce Shipkowski
Published Oct 12, 2024 • 3 minute read

PHILADELPHIA — The conservancy that oversees a storied but aging ocean liner and its landlord have resolved a years-old rent dispute that will clear the way for a Florida county to turn the historic ship into the world’s largest artificial reef.


A federal judge had ruled in June that the SS United States Conservancy had until Sept. 12 to present plans to move the ship, a 1,000-foot ocean liner that still holds the transatlantic speed record it set more than 70 years ago. That deadline, though, came and went after the conservancy filed a lawsuit that accused Penn Warehousing of sabotaging its efforts to sell the vessel.

The conservancy had reached a tentative agreement earlier this month with Okaloosa County on Florida’s coastal Panhandle, a deal that was contingent upon the rent dispute being settled through court-imposed mediation. The deal resolving that dispute was announced Friday.

Conservancy and county officials gathered Saturday at the Philadelphia pier where the ship is berthed for a small transfer of title ceremony, although the deal with Okaloosa County still needs final approval from a federal judge, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.


Okaloosa officials plan to sink the ship and create what supporters hope will be a barnacle-encrusted star in the county’s constellation of more than 500 artificial reefs, making it a signature diving attraction that could generate millions of dollars a year in local tourism spending for scuba shops, charter fishing boats and hotels.

“We can tell you that you will not be lost, you will not be forgotten, you will no longer be neglected and abused,” conservancy board member Thomas Watkins said in a farewell to the ship. “You will be rightly honoured, cherished, and loved in a new home and in a new dimension. You will no longer be sailing the seas, but you will be surrounded and caressed by them.”

Officials have said the deal to buy the ship could cost more than $10 million. The lengthy process of cleaning, transporting and sinking the vessel is expected to take at least 1.5 years.


The rent dispute stemmed from an August 2021 decision by Penn Warehousing to double the ship’s daily dockage to $1,700, an increase the conservancy refused to accept. The firm had said through its attorneys that it wants to regain access to the berth so it can replace the ship with a commercial customer that will provide jobs and tax revenues to the city.

When the conservancy continued to pay its previous rate, set in 2011, Penn Warehousing terminated the lease in March 2022. After much legal wrangling, U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody held a bench trial in January but also encouraged the two sides to reach a settlement instead of leaving it up to her.

She ultimately ruled that the conservancy’s failure to pay the new rate did not amount to a contract breach or entitle Penn Warehousing to damages. However, she found that under Pennsylvania contract law, the berthing agreement is terminable at will with reasonable notice.


Christened in 1952, the SS United States was once considered a beacon of American engineering, doubling as a military vessel that could carry thousands of troops. On its maiden voyage in 1952, it shattered the transatlantic speed record in both directions, when it reached an average speed of 36 knots, or just over 41 mph (66 kph), The Associated Press reported from aboard the ship.

On that voyage, the ship crossed the Atlantic in three days, 10 hours and 40 minutes, besting the RMS Queen Mary’s time by 10 hours. To this day, the SS United States holds the transatlantic speed record for an ocean liner.

The SS United States became a reserve ship in 1969 and later bounced to various private owners who hoped to redevelop it. But they eventually found their plans to be too expensive or poorly timed, leaving the vessel looming for years on south Philadelphia’s Delaware River waterfront.

Historic ocean liner could soon become the world’s largest artificial reef

The resolution of a dispute will clear the way for a Florida county to turn the historic ship into the world's largest artificial reef.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Tubeworms, snails and other weird creatures found under the seafloor
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Adithi Ramakrishnan
Published Oct 15, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 1 minute read

In this photo provided by Schmidt Ocean Institute, an eelpout swims by a tower of tubeworms at the Tica Vent, a site on the East Pacific Rise 2,500 meters deep.
In this photo provided by Schmidt Ocean Institute, an eelpout swims by a tower of tubeworms at the Tica Vent, a site on the East Pacific Rise 2,500 meters deep. Photo by Schmidt Ocean Institute via AP
NEW YORK — Scientists for the first time have uncovered an underworld of animal life thriving beneath the seafloor.


An expedition to a volcanically active ridge in the Pacific off South America has revealed worms, snails, giant tubeworms and other strange creatures lurking below steamy underwater hot springs.

Researchers have long studied animal communities near such hydrothermal vents. Many thought only microbes and viruses could survive underneath. To their surprise, an underwater robot last summer overturned volcanic slabs and found diverse life under the vents.

“This was totally unexpected,” said study co-author Sabine Gollner with the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research.

Young critters from above the seafloor could be traveling through the vents to settle in the depths, Gollner said.

In this photo provided by Schmidt Ocean Institute, a rock crust sample, upside down, reveals Oasisia and Riftia tubeworms, as well as other organisms.
In this photo provided by Schmidt Ocean Institute, a rock crust sample, upside down, reveals Oasisia and Riftia tubeworms, as well as other organisms. Photo by Schmidt Ocean Institute via AP
The research published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

Future studies will help reveal whether colonies of animal life exist below other hydrothermal vents around the globe.

“This is an initial discovery that’s really promising,” said Jason Sylvan, a microbiologist at Texas A&M University who was not involved with the research.

— AP video producer Zara Eldridge contributed to this report from London.

http://nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52631-9

Tubeworms, snails and other weird creatures found under the seafloor

Scientists for the first time have uncovered an underworld of animal life thriving beneath the seafloor.

torontosun.com

 

[petros]

Tubeworms, snails and other weird creatures found under the seafloor
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Adithi Ramakrishnan
Published Oct 15, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 1 minute read

In this photo provided by Schmidt Ocean Institute, an eelpout swims by a tower of tubeworms at the Tica Vent, a site on the East Pacific Rise 2,500 meters deep.
In this photo provided by Schmidt Ocean Institute, an eelpout swims by a tower of tubeworms at the Tica Vent, a site on the East Pacific Rise 2,500 meters deep. Photo by Schmidt Ocean Institute via AP
NEW YORK — Scientists for the first time have uncovered an underworld of animal life thriving beneath the seafloor.


An expedition to a volcanically active ridge in the Pacific off South America has revealed worms, snails, giant tubeworms and other strange creatures lurking below steamy underwater hot springs.

Researchers have long studied animal communities near such hydrothermal vents. Many thought only microbes and viruses could survive underneath. To their surprise, an underwater robot last summer overturned volcanic slabs and found diverse life under the vents.

“This was totally unexpected,” said study co-author Sabine Gollner with the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research.

Young critters from above the seafloor could be traveling through the vents to settle in the depths, Gollner said.

In this photo provided by Schmidt Ocean Institute, a rock crust sample, upside down, reveals Oasisia and Riftia tubeworms, as well as other organisms.
In this photo provided by Schmidt Ocean Institute, a rock crust sample, upside down, reveals Oasisia and Riftia tubeworms, as well as other organisms. Photo by Schmidt Ocean Institute via AP
The research published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

Future studies will help reveal whether colonies of animal life exist below other hydrothermal vents around the globe.

“This is an initial discovery that’s really promising,” said Jason Sylvan, a microbiologist at Texas A&M University who was not involved with the research.

— AP video producer Zara Eldridge contributed to this report from London.
View attachment 25247View attachment 25248

http://nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52631-9

Tubeworms, snails and other weird creatures found under the seafloor

Scientists for the first time have uncovered an underworld of animal life thriving beneath the seafloor.

torontosun.com

First time? Fossils from 300Ma in the Phanerozoic weren't evidence enough?