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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Consumption of grilled or baked fish at least once a week can preserve the brain structure of seniors and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by three to five times, according to the results of a recent US study.

The study, conducted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania, asked 260 volunteers with an average age of 76, about the frequency of their fish consumption. Ten years later, brain scans were carried out on those being researched. Those who regularly ate fish were found to have better preservation of parts of the brain related to memory. An additional five years later, 31% of those who did not regularly consume fish contracted mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease. Of those who ate fish at least once a week, between three and eight per cent contracted the aforementioned medical conditions.

According to The Daily Telegraph, consumption of grilled or baked fish increases the intake of Omega 3 fatty acids, providing a greater amount of blood flow to the brain; therefore prompting a reduction in inflammation and internal gathering of plaque encountered in the lead-up to Alzheimer’s disease. Fried fish does not reduce the risk of contracting Alzheimer’s disease due to the low amount of Omega 3 it contains.

Dr. Cyrus Raji, who took leadership of the study, called it “the first study to establish a direct relationship between fish consumption, brain structure and Alzheimer’s risk.” Raji concluded that “people who consumed baked or [grilled] fish at least one time per week had better preservation of grey matter volume on MRI in brain areas at risk for Alzheimer’s disease.”

The Alzheimer’s Society’s research manager, Dr. Anne Corbett, stated: “This moderately sized study adds weight to existing evidence suggesting that eating fish reduces your risk of developing cognitive decline.” However, she contested these findings, saying they “did not account for lifestyle factors such as other foods or exercise”, which may have affected the overall outcome. Dr. Corbett advised consumers to “eat a healthy diet including fruit and vegetables along with taking regular exercise and giving up smoking” to reduce the risk of contracting dementia.

Meanwhile, Alzheimer’s Research UK lead researcher, Dr. Simon Ridley, believed the study had not clarified “whether other underlying factors may have contributed to the lower risk in people who eat fish.” There is “a clear need for more conclusive research into the effects of dietary fish on our cognitive health,” according to Dr. Ridley.

The results of the study are to be presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Canadian PM Stephen Harper has shuffled his cabinet today.

The major change with this shuffle is Rona Ambrose, Minister of Environment, being replaced by Treasury Board President John Baird. When a reporter asked her earlier if she would be replaced she replied, “Yes — very excited.” Ambrose is the new intergovernmental affairs minister.

Vic Toews, the justice minister, is now President of the Treasury Board. Rob Nicholson, who was house leader, is now justice minister. Peter Van Loan, who was intergovernmental affairs minister, is now house leader. Monte Solberg, the immigration minister, replaces Diane Finley as Minister of Human Resources and Social Development. Diane Finley, loses the Human Resources portfolio and gets the Citizenship and Immigration ministry.

Six MPs were appointed “Secretary of State” roles, they are junior cabinet ministers. Secretary of States do not make part of the cabinet. These new Secretary of States are :

• Helena Guergis, MP for Simcoe—Grey, Secretary of State (Foreign Affairs and International Trade) (Sport);
• Jay Hill, MP for Prince George—Peace River, Secretary of State and Chief Government Whip.
• Jason Kenney, MP for Calgary Southeast, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity);
• Christian Paradis MP for Mégantic—L’Érable, Secretary of State (Agriculture) and
• Gerry Ritz, MP for Battlefords—Lloydminster, Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism);

Marjory LeBreton who was the Leader of the Government in the Senate now also has the role of Secretary of State (Seniors).

The new cabinet still will consist of 27 ministers, 32 if you include the Secretaries.

A complete list of the new Ministers and Secretary of States is found at the Official office of the prime minister website.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

On Monday, Hungarian daily newspaper Magyar Nemzet revealed a deal whereby, on October 29, Hungarian state-owned enterprise HDT Védelmi Ipari Kft. (HDT Limited) acquired Austrian mortar and shell manufacturer Hirtenberger Defence Group. Hirtenberger Defence Group also acknowledged the deal.

In the deal, Austrian, United Kingdom and New Zealand production sites are to be kept, with market sales expected to cover for the price in the long run. A government-guaranteed loan covered the costs, but the exact figure was kept secret.

The November 4 issue of Magyar Nemzet published an interview with Gáspár Maróth, the Hungarian Government commissioner responsible for defence, defence industries and coordinating defence modernization, in which the deal was announced. On the same day, the Hirtenberger Defence Group issued a corresponding press release.

While not naming any other bidders, Maróth said the Hungarian bid won after lengthy negotiations, out of mulitple competing offers. He said he expects no political turmoil between the neighboring Austria and Hungary over the sale. He also noted the acquisition fits into the Hungarian “outward investment” ^{((hu))Hungarian language: ?t?kekihelyezési} strategy of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The Austrian partner asked for the price to be kept secret, but the commissioner stated the purchase was financed by a loan, so it is not a burden on the state budget. With government resolution No. 1430/2019, the state issued an indemnity bond to cover for HDT’s 38.8 million euro loan, and daily Népszava covered the story with a headline pointing out that amount as the presumed price. The creditor Hungarian Development Bank is state-owned as well. Already-queued orders won’t leave idle capacity for some years, Maróth said, and paying back this loan seems realistic; unnamed industry experts called this dubious to Népszava, as the market is saturated and margins are thin, while noting this kind of equipment is needed by the Defence Forces.

The company structure remains unchanged and all sites continue to operate, but Hungarian engineers are to join the research and development team. Maróth pointed out it would have been much more costly and time-consuming to research mortar technology than to acquire it this way. He noted, “the army modernization does not just cover buying ‘hardware’ but technology transfer as well.” ^{((hu))Hungarian language: ?a hader? modernizációja a „vas” megvétele mellett a tudástranszferre is kiterjed.}

Népszava noted the purchase appeared to circumvent the Ministry of Defence. HDT Limited was registered on August 6, 2019 and is under the aegis of Hungarian National Asset Management, Inc.

To modernize its military, in 2018, Hungary licensed Czech firearm technology and started assembling firearms in Kiskunfélegyháza, then agreed with Airbus to open a helicopter parts factory as a joint venture in Gyula.

US President Trump has called for NATO members to increase military spending. According to a March 14, 2019 NATO press release, Hungary spent an estimated 1.15% of its GDP on military expenditures in 2018; NATO guidelines call for 2%. Maróth noted the military had been “effectively disarmed” ^{((hu))Hungarian language: ?gyakorlatilag lefegyverzett} by 2010, when Viktor Orbán regained the prime ministry of Hungary for his second term. Hungary launched a military development program dubbed “Zrínyi 2026” in 2017 to address structural and financial challenges faced by the Defence Force and to renew its equipment.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

News reports on Monday indicated authorities in Palestine, Texas identified a sixth victim following flash flooding late last week. Giovani Olivas, 30, was reportedly swept away in the flood.

In under an hour late Friday evening, Palestine was deluged by seven inches of rain, causing residents of one neighborhood to flee to their rooftops. Over 30 buildings, included many homes, in the city suffered significant damage.

Lenda Asberry, 64, a retired school teacher, and her four great grandchildren also drowned during the flood. Onlookers reported the woman was attempting to get the children to safety when they were swept away. Asberry’s daughter told reporters water levels were up to the woman’s neck while attempting to save the children.

One resident of the area told reporters “[her] furniture was floating around” inside her home, forcing her to climb atop her couch to seek safety.

Dark skies blanketed the nearby city of Tyler hours before the storm struck. At least one government office located in the Palestine area was closed on Monday and was slated to remain closed on Tuesday due to water damage. A tornado also ravaged much of nearby Lindale, Texas, resulting in severe damage of at least one residence. The storm system moved up along the US eastern seaboard over the weekend.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

A robotic system at Stanford Medical Center was used to perform a laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery successfully with a theoretically similar rate of complications to that seen in standard operations. However, as there were only 10 people in the experimental group (and another 10 in the control group), this is not a statistically significant sample.

If this surgical procedure is as successful in large-scale studies, it may lead the way for the use of robotic surgery in even more delicate procedures, such as heart surgery. Note that this is not a fully automated system, as a human doctor controls the operation via remote control. Laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery is a treatment for obesity.

There were concerns that doctors, in the future, might only be trained in the remote control procedure. Ronald G. Latimer, M.D., of Santa Barbara, CA, warned “The fact that surgeons may have to open the patient or might actually need to revert to standard laparoscopic techniques demands that this basic training be a requirement before a robot is purchased. Robots do malfunction, so a backup system is imperative. We should not be seduced to buy this instrument to train surgeons if they are not able to do the primary operations themselves.”

There are precedents for just such a problem occurring. A previous “new technology”, the electrocardiogram (ECG), has lead to a lack of basic education on the older technology, the stethoscope. As a result, many heart conditions now go undiagnosed, especially in children and others who rarely undergo an ECG procedure.

Monday, June 14, 2021

Arthur Oliver Kostendt, a candidate running in the mayoral election of the US city of Cleveland, Ohio set to take place November 2, discussed his campaign and policies with Wikinews this spring.

According to Cleveland Scene, 29-year-old Kostendt is a member of the Cuyahoga County, Ohio Republican Party but has referred to his campaign as “casual”. According to his web site’s personal biography, he was a cadet for the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), scout platoon leader for the 2nd Squadron of the 107th Cavalry Regiment of the Ohio Army National Guard and logistics officer for the 1st Battalion of the 145th Armored Regiment. He served in Kuwait, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and assisted coalition force detachments in Southeast Asia.

Kostendt is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and summa cum laude graduate of Cleveland State University. He writes he uses an apostrophe to abbreviate his middle name as “Arthur O’Kostendt” instead of the customary period after the O to emphasise his Irish heritage.

A poll published May 5 by Baldwin Wallace University, which does not feature Mr Kostendt, has Dennis Kucinich and Basheer Jones leading in the mayoral race by 17.8 and 13.3 points, respectively, with a margin of error of up to five per cent either way. 48% of those surveyed were undecided. Incumbent mayor Frank G. Jackson, who won the 2017 Cleveland mayoral election with 59% of the vote, is eligible for a fifth term but announced on May 6 he would retire.

Monday, April 18, 2005

The governments of India and China have declared in an official memorandum on April 11 their intention to jointly construct an Indian-style Buddhist temple on the western side of the historic White Horse Temple, in Luoyang, Henan Province, China. The project is planned as part of an ongoing effort to increase the ties of friendship and shared culture between the two countries.

The memorandum came in a series of agreements between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during Jiabao’s state visit to India April 9-12 at Singh’s invitation.

India is expected to provide the funding, architectural design, landscape planning, a Buddha idol and other materials for the completed temple. China is offering to provide official cooperation and permits, and facilitate the travel of Indian architects and other construction experts to the site. The temple is planned to be located on 2,667 square meters of land provided by the Chinese government.

Monday, October 30, 2006

The BSE Sensex touched another milestone by crossing the historic 13,000 mark. The BSE’s main index reached to 13,039.30 in morning trade, surpassing the previous peak of 12,994.45 set earlier this month on October 17. After 135 trading sessions the new milestone of 13,000 has been achieved. Sensex also gained today all-time closing high of 13,024.26 points.

Reliance Communications Ltd. gained almost 3 percent when it announced it’s better than expected results in the morning. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. gained 4.09 percent at 760 while Bhari Airtel group gained 2.65 percent at 541.25. Infosys gained Rs. 6.55 at Rs. 2,104 per equity share.

People are expecting bullish market and looking for higher benchmarks. Nimesh Kampani, Chairman, JM Morgan Stanley expected the new milestone of 14,000 mark by March, next year.