[BRIEF] A 30-year-old woman is currently isolated at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Hospital while being assessed for the Ebola virus. The New Mexico Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are conducting tests on the woman.
According to authorities, the woman left Sierra Leone, West Africa earlier this month. Since returning, the woman developed symptoms associated with Ebola, including sore throat, fever, headache, and muscle aches.
The woman was not known to have been exposed to Ebola in Sierra Leone, the health department stated Sunday, but has been isolated while tests are underway.
Ebola has an incubation period between infection with the virus and the appearance of symptoms of 2-21 days. A person is contagious during this time, even if no symptoms are present. The average incubation period is 4-6 days. After symptoms appear, a person will remain contagious for approximately three weeks.
When the Ebola virus enters a host, the virus begins to multiply, and can travel through the blood to the liver, spleen, pancreas, thyroid gland, lungs, kidneys, skin, brain and other organs. Common symptoms include high fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat, weakness, stomach pain, and lack of appetite.
The first confirmed Ebola death in Sierra Leone took place in May. Earlier this month, the nation’s government imposed quarantines in counties with the highest Ebola infection rates. Some international airlines have suspended flights from Sierra Leone.
More information is expected Sunday evening. A doctor involved in the case has scheduled a press statement for 5:30 PM.
Microscopic habitats, hosting communities of microorganisms formed over geologic time periods, self-sufficient but not self-sustained, have been discovered within droplets of water in the oil of Trinidad’s Pitch Lake, the world’s largest natural asphalt deposit. Researcher Dr Tillmann Lueders explained to The Speaker about the births, lives and possible deaths of these tiny worlds.
The report, “Water droplets in oil are microhabitats for microbial life,” was completed by lead researcher Rainer U. Meckenstock and his team of Frederick von Netzer, Christine Stumpp, Tillmann Lueders, Anne M. Himmelberg, Norbert Hertkorn, Philipp Schmitt-Kopplin, Mourad Harir, Riad Hosein, Shirin Haque, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, and was published in Science.
Dr Leuders, a co-author of the report
So far, no photographic images of these newly discovered microhabitats have been possible–the process by which the droplets would be photographed would also destroy them–but Dr Lueders gave The Speaker details about the nature of the microhabitats–how they are formed, how they sustain themselves, and how they may end.
“We envisage them as 1-3 microliter aqueous microspheres, with some microbes swimming around in the lumen, but most sitting attached to the oil-water interface,” Lueders told us.
Describing the origin of the microhabitats, Lueders explained, “The salinity and water isotopes measured in the droplet water tell us that it stems from the deep subsurface. Minimally, these habitats were formed by mixing processes during the ascent of the oil from the reservoir to pitch lake. Maximally, the droplets were present already in the reservoir itself.
“The time periods involved here are geologic. The reservoir seems to have been formed during the Miocene, but we are not experts to tell over what time scales the oil ascents.”
When asked about the ability of the microhabitats to maintain themselves over time, Leuders commented, “In principle, these micro-habitats should be self-sufficient over very long time scales, albeit at very low activities. However, they are not self-sustained, as would be the case for a perpetuum mobile system.”
The microbes feed on hydrocarbons and perform metabolism by methanogenesis–they breathe methane instead of oxygen. Only Archaea–a domain phylogenetically distinct from eukaryotes and bacteria–perform this type of respiration, which is the final step in the decomposition of biomass in most environments.
“Our grasp is that the microbes thrive on the hydrocarbons, which are their source of carbon and energy. These are too abundant to ever be depleted. Since there is nothing else to respire, methanogenesis becomes the terminal respiratory process, producing methane from the oil.”
The end of a microhabitat may come about through a sudden explosion, in a process called ebullition. In ebullition, methane bubbles build up, forming ever-larger pockets that eventually burst due to pressure, dispersing the methane throughout the soil. Lueders explained, however, that ebullition may not be the real end of microhabitats:
“Methane ebullition could eventually destroy–or disperse–a single droplet habitat, but also cause recycling and formation of larger water droplet habitats. Thus the age of any single water droplet may be impossible to determine, we see this more as a steady-state continuum.”
More details about the nature of the microhabitats will be addressed in the research team’s future work, Lueders told us. Also, the formidable task of developing elaborate non-invasive or conservative methods of looking into the microhabitats will be explored, meaning photographic images may also become possible.
Russia’s Defense Minister, Sergey Shoygo, offered the US a “guarantee” that Russia’s humanitarian convoy–feared by Ukraine to be a “Trojan horse” and currently being held at the Ukrainian border–is carrying no military personnel.
Shoygo made the guarantee to US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in a phone call Friday night, and the information was released in a Pentagon statement.
Hagel also said that Shoygo guaranteed that the convoy would not be used as a pretext for further intervention in Ukraine.
“Minister Shoygu assured Secretary Hagel that Russia was meeting Ukraine’s conditions,” the Pentagon statement said.
“He acknowledged that the goods would be delivered and distributed under the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Russian Defense Ministry also recently dismissed Ukrainian claims that Russia had sent a convoy of military vehicles into Ukraine already, which, Kiev had announced, Ukrainian forces had attacked and partially destroyed.
“There was no Russian military column, which allegedly crossed Russian-Ukrainian border, not in the night, not during the day, it just doesn’t exist,” said Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has stuck a blow to planesharing startups such as AirPooler and Flytenow with a recent ruling prohibiting private pilots from offering seats to the public in exchange for compensation.
Planesharing startup AirPooler, already operating in the market, recently formally requested a clarification from the FAA on the issue, which was considered a legal grey area.
“With regard to pilots using the AirPooler website,” ruled the FAA, “all four elements of common carriage are present. By posting specific flights to the AirPooler website, a pilot participating in the AirPooler service would be holding out to transport persons or property from place to place for compensation or hire. Although the pilots participating in the AirPooler website have chosen the destination, they are holding out to the public to transport passengers for compensation in the form of a reduction of the operating expenses, they would have paid for the flight.”
The customary practice of advertising for shared flights on message boards will also now be illegal. Only pilots certified by the US government as air carriers are permitted to receive compensation for flying, according to the FAA ruling. Most pilots do not have air carrier licences, which are relatively difficult to obtain.
The ruling will prevent pilots from cutting expenses by sharing costs, and will reduce travel options, but may prevent travelers from mistakenly booking flights with insufficiently qualified pilots.
AirPooler is not quite finished, however. AirPooler intends to ask for further clarification on the FAA ruling. The recent ruling was based on an unofficial draft for a 1963 proposal for planesharing, but a 1964 regulation allows pilots to privately ask potential passengers if they would share costs if the pilot have already planned the flight, pay a pro-rata share, and adhere to other restrictions.
With a wood frame, some plastic and water, 99 percent of bacteria can be eliminated from unclean water, using a structure created by University of Buffalo, New York student Deshawn Henry. The project has the potential to provide clean water to developing nations around the world, where millions currently have no access to clean water for drinking and washing.
“In the best hopes,” Henry told The Speaker, “the water lens could possibly become a savior for hundreds of thousands of people in many developing countries in the world, such as in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Not only would this development save hundreds of thousands of lives, but it will also give those people a better state of mind, knowing that they can drink the water without fear of contracting most types of water-borne diseases.”
Henry studies at the University of Buffalo‘s Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering in New York.
The water lens is a six-foot tall structure. At the top of a simple wood frame, a plastic sheet is covered with water, creating the “water lens.” Below the water lens a small container of water is positioned in line with the beam of light focused by the lens.
The water lens can heat a litre of water to between 130 and 150 degrees Fahrenheit in just over an hour. At this temperature, 99 percent of bacteria and other pathogens are killed.
The structure needs only sunlight to work, although due to the sun’s movement the lens needs to be shifted throughout the day.
When we asked Henry about the potential of the water lens to help those in need of clean water, he spoke of the potential benefits not only for less fortunate regions, but also of shared benefits.
“I feel that this development does indeed tie America and other nations closer together. I think it’s a very positive thing because it allows us to help others in need who aren’t as fortunate as we are here in the great USA.
“Sharing this type of technology with countries who need this type of phenomenal development is key to strengthening our relationships with the other countries of the world. Everyone on this Earth deserves to able to live their lives with access to good, clean water, and that is just what I hope this project will eventually accomplish.”
Unclean water is a global problem. Over one billion people lack access to clean water. Approximately 3.4 million people die annually from water-related diseases–1,400 children under age five daily.
“Millions of people die every year from diseases and pathogens found in unclean water, and they can’t help it because that’s all they have. Either they drink it or they die,” said Henry.
The World Health Organization suggests at least 7.5 litres of water per day to meet minimum human requirements. Additional water is required for basic hygiene and basic food hygiene, and laundry and bathing require additional water as well.
The lens does have some limitations. Some water-borne bacteria are temperature resistant. However, many serious bacteria and other pathogens commonly found in water can be eliminated through boiling, such as E.coli, Vibrio cholera, Shigella flexneri, Salmonella typhii, enteritidis, and paratyphi, and Rotavirus.
Deshawn Henry
The next phase of Henry’s project is to construct a larger version of the current water lens. A lens at least three times the size of the current model would have to be constructed to boil water for a family of five.
“Our next step in the research is to create a bigger lens that can heat more liters of water in the same amount of time it took to heat one liter of water… I wish to continue my research on this project with my mentor hopefully next summer.
“In places like Africa, where there is a lot more sunlight there than here in the US, the previous lens could clean at least 5 liters of water per day on a sunny day. If we can successfully construct a bigger lens that is as efficient as the previous one, we could potentially double or even triple the amount of water treated per day, given that there is good weather when the solar disinfection is taking place.”
South Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Barnaba Marial Benjamin spoke today on his return from meeting with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and East African trade bloc IGAD in Nairobi, Kenya, and stated that the UNSC and IGAD should concentrate on establishing peace in South Sudan before attempting to address human rights grievances.
He also said that the UNSC and IGAD should not implement sanctions in their attempts to stop South Sudan’s civil war.
“What we need from UN Security Council andIGAD countries is that they support the peace process. South Sudan doesn’t need sanctions,” said Marial.
“The people of South Sudan can live in peace. Then the accountability issue with regards to those who violated the human [rights] will come later.”
Marial stated the South Sudan was ready to form a transitional government and work toward peace and reconciliation.
“South Sudan has put its point very clearly both to IGAD as well Security Council that we are for peace and that we are committed to finding peace as soon as possible,” Marial said.
“The President of the Republic of South Sudan is ready for an all-inclusive transitional government that will bring all the people of South Sudan together and at the same time to make sure that reconciliation process among the people of south Sudan is enhanced.”
The foreign affairs minister made the comments on his return from Nairobi, where he met with the UNSC and IGAD council ministers.
Earlier this week, a UNSC delegation to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, had expressed disappointment at the failure of both parties to form a transitional government within a sixty day time frame.
IGAD’s representatives also recommended tougher retribution for parties that finder peace talks in Addis Ababa.
Protesting an August 11 forced celebration, Tibetans gathered at a government office in Kardze, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China, Tuesday. Chinese officials arrived and deployed tear gas and fired on the protesters. Two Tibetans were struck by the bullets. Other Tibetans were also injured in the clash, Free Tibet reported.
Hundreds of Tibetans had gathered at the local offices of the Chinese government Tuesday. Security forces were deployed from nearby Sertha village. The force met the protesters with tear gas and live ammunition.
The son and brother of Wangdak, the village leader, were both shot.
The injured Tibetans were taken away by security forces, who told family members the injured were being taken to medical treatment. No information of the whereabouts of the injured protesters has since been provided.
The protest followed a forced celebration. Tibetans were ordered to celebrate a visit by senior Chinese officials one day earlier. Wangduk had complained to the officials about harassment of female dancers by Chinese officials, and had also objected to the characterization of traditional horse races and prayer festivals as illegal. Wangdak was arrested.
A similar crackdown took place in neighboring Shukpa village Wednesday, where security forces beat and interrogated family members, although many of Shukpa’ men had left the village to avoid arrest.
A Mayo Clinic task force has put together an updated set of recommendations for cholesterol treatment. The last guideline update took place in 2001, and several changes have been recommended, including a recommendation that not all patients currently prescribed statins and other cholesterol-lowering medications should take them. The task force also had new recommendations for people with rheumatoid arthritis or AIDS, and those who had received certain organ transplants.
This means that people with cholesterol issues or concerns will need to consult their doctors again soon to reassess their treatment and prevention options. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, MD, task force chairman and director of preventive cardiology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota Benefit told The Speaker that people should see their doctors “basically to discuss the expected benefit and risks.”
Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, M.D
“The benefit should be described in terms of absolute benefit,” Lopez-Jimenez told us. “How many people like me would not have a heart attack after 10 years taking the medicine? And not taking the medicine?”
“We agree with many points of the [existing] guideline, but there are some key areas where we do not completely agree or we wanted to expand and provide more guidance,” said Lopez-Jimenez.
Several changes have been recommended.
While the current ACC/AHA cholesterol treatment guideline recommends high doses of the strongest statins to most men over the age of 65, the Mayo task force found no evidence to recommend this based solely on age.
Rather than medication combined with healthy lifestyle habits to prevent cardiovascular disease, the task force recommended lifestyle changes–exercise and diet–followed by an evaluation before prescribing statins.
Diabetics over the age of 40 have been recommended to take statins, but the task force concluded that not all diabetics have the same risk of heart attacks, and recommended against statins in some diabetics over 40: those in whom there is a low risk of heart attack or stroke based on the ACC/AHA calculator.
Rather than making cholesterol medications based on generalities such as age, diabetes and prevention, the task force recommended a treatment approach based on individual needs, and also recommended shared decision-making in treatment.
“The patients need to be involved in the decision making, understanding the anticipated benefit and the potential risks with numbers,” Lopez-Jimenez told us.
The task force added some patients to the list of those for whom statins were recommended. Rheumatoid arthritis, kidney and heart transplant recipients, and AIDS sufferers were among the new inclusions.
The recommendations was scheduled to be published in the August 14 edition of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, along with an editorial.
Mayo Clinic Task Force Challenges Some Recommendations in Updated Cholesterol Treatment Guideline
Hours after hacktivist group Anonymous threatened to release the name of the officer involved in the Ferguson, Missouri police shooting, the group released the St. Louis Police dispatch recordings from the shooting.
The group claimed to have the name of the shooter already, but had not been yet able to verify the identity. Anonymous said that they needed a witness or a second leaked source to confirm before releasing the name.
Eighteen-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead Saturdat by a police officer while Brown was walking from a convenience store with a friend. Brown’s friend reported that the officer ordered the two youths to the sidewalk and threatened Brown before shooting. Police have said that Brown tried to hit the officer and take the officer’s gun.
Although St Louis police initially said they would release the name of the officer involved, they later said that they would not release the name due to online threats made against the officer and the department.
Anonymous posted a demand Sunday on Youtube, calling for legislation to “set strict national standards for police conduct and misbehavior,” otherwise Anonymous would release emails and personal information of the department and “take every web-based asset of your department and government offline.”
Representatives of Anonymous released the home address and telephone information of St Louis Police Chief Jon Belman Tuesday, and a Twitter account linked to Anonymous threatened to release information about the chief’s daughter if the chief did not release the officer’s name.
Anonymous: Audio Tapes (St. Louis Dispatch) – talk of the Mike Brown shooting begins at 11:25
Russia has sent a humanitarian convoy toward Ukraine. The convoy was to cross the border Wednesday, but has unexpectedly changed course. Currently, no Russian convoy is at the planned border crossing. The current course of the convoy is unknown. The Red Cross, reported to be acting with Russia on the humanitarian mission, has stated that they are “not in charge of this convoy at the moment,” and Ukrainian forces have been dispatched toward another border crossing near Krasnodon, where, Ukrainian officials have stated, the Russian convoy attempted to cross during the night.
Russia’s convoy was announced to be in participation with the Red Cross, but the Red Cross said that only that they “could be on board” but “needed to have some clarification first regarding modalities, practical steps that have to be implemented prior to a launch of such an operation.
The Red Cross also stated that it would participate only “according to our own principles, according to our own modalities.”
Russia has refused, however, to allow inspection of their large column of almost three hundred freight trucks.
The Red Cross later announced that they no were not in control of Russia’s convoy. “We’ve been told by Russian authorities that an aid convoy is heading to #Ukraine border. We’re not in charge of this convoy at the moment,” tweeted the ICRC.
Nothing has approached the planned border crossing. The convoy has switched direction toward the border near Krasnodon, Luhansk, Ukraine, according to Ukrainian sources.
Ukrinform published a report that the convoy was expected to arrive at a checkpoint in Kharkiv Wednesday but had bypassed the planned route, and that it was not clear what route the convoy would take.
Instead, the Russian convoy attempted to enter Ukraine over night by a different crossing, according to Ukrainian Presidential Administration Deputy Head Valery Chaly.
“Wednesday night… [there] was in fact an attempt to break through the Kharkiv region… It did not involve the Red Cross,” said Chaly.
Several units of the Ukrainian forces have been dispatched from Luhansk Airport to the road leading to Krasnodon, where a fierce battle is currently raging between Ukrainian forces and separatists, reportedly. The fighting involved shelling over Peremozhne village fired by separatists in Krasnodon. Numerous civilians have been reported killed.
Krasnodon and Sukhodilsk have also been used over the past months to transfer armored vehicles, including tanks, to Luhansk and Sverdlovsk. These tanks were not used, but kept hidden in abandoned factories, restorations and forested areas.
If Russia enters Ukraine by a different route, and continues to refuse inspection of its convoys, Russia may be considered to have invaded Ukraine.
Monday, US President Barack Obama held a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Poroshenko, in which the leaders agreed that “any Russian intervention in Ukraine without the formal, express consent and authorization of the Ukraine government would be unacceptable and a violation of international law.”
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also warned Moscow against any unilateral military action in Ukraine, even if it took place in the context of humanitarian circumstances.
A forced eviction is set to take place in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in which 20,000 people will be set upon by 10,000 military police if they fail to comply with thousands of leaflets dropped from helicopters over the region, announcing to residents that violence will be their own fault if they fail to evict themselves. The community has stated none will leave their homes.
The military police action was announced despite the absence of a court decision regarding the eviction. The action was announced by means of leaflets dropped from helicopters, warning that failure to comply with the eviction will result in possible violence.
The leaflets stated that the Military Police of Minas Gerais (PMMG) would follow their orders for the repossession of the occupied lands, in accordance with the constitution and the fundamental principles of human rights, and suggested that pregnant women, seniors, children and people with special leave the location for their wellbeing.
“The responsibility for these people’s health lies with the (resistance) movement,” the leaflet stated.
The houses of the 8,000 families will be demolished. No relocation scheme has been set in place, so the evicted will be rendered homeless.
According to the commander of the PMMG, Colonel Machado, “The eviction will take place in the next 15 days, but I will not say the specific day. We will use full force. Leave the area.”
Human rights lawyers are contesting the eviction.
In the absence of legal defense, residents met and decided unanimously to attempt to remain in their homes.
“We will not leave this ground,” said one member of the community, Carvalho Elielma, “It was empty before and now it’s being used for housing. The three communities are united behind this idea,” Elielma said, referring to the affected Rosa Leon, Hope and Victory communities.
Brazilian news organization Averdade predicted that the police eviction may result in a “massacre.”
Belo Horizonte is the sixth largest city in Brazil and has 2.5 million municipal citizens and 5.2 metropolitian residents.
The land is wanted for development. The development is projected to be worth $6.5 billion.
Six Tibetans have been located after being detained by Chinese police three years ago. The six were arrested during a protest against forced relocation and construction of a mining project in Lhundrub County, Tibet. The location of the six was confirmed to be Drapchi Prison, Lhasa. The six had received prison sentences ranging from eight to 12 years for their participation in the protest, according to Tibetan rights watch group, Free Tibet.
Two Tibetans received 12 years, three others received 11 years, and one person received 8 years.
Yarlung Tsangpo River
The protest took place in April 2011 in Lhundrub County and was staged against a mining project in the area.
In 2009, the Chinese government began damming the Yarlung Tsangpo river, a river that stretches from western to south-central Tibet and is the source of India’s and Bangladesh’s Brahmaputra River.
Tibetans had been forced to relocate in preparation of the mining project, and were promised support. The support did not materialize, however.
When Tibetans requested that the project be discontinued, they were told that anyone who opposed the project would be arrested and charged with political crimes.
Frequently, when Tibetans are arrested by Chinese authorities, their families are not able to find information about their whereabouts.
China currently has plans to build up to 60 dams on the Tibetan Plateau. Twenty so far have been constructed. The dams have affected major riverways in Southeastern Asia, such as the Mekong River.
nations around the world, where millions currently have no access to clean water for drinking and washing.
“What we need from UN Security Council andIGAD countries is that they support the peace process. South Sudan doesn’t need sanctions,” said Marial.
