Grey whales airlifted To UK?

Scientists want to fly in fifty grey whales, hunted to extinction in the North Atlantic 400 years ago, from the Pacific to the Cumbrian coastline to spawn a lucrative whale-watching industry. Russell Jenkins reports


CONSERVATIONISTS are divided over a plan to airfreight up to 50 grey whales from their native waters in California to the Cumbrian coastline to try to revitalise the area.

Under the plan to be put forward today by two academics the whales— so docile that they are known as the friendlies — would be released into the Irish Sea off the Solway Firth. Dr Andrew Ramsey and Dr Owen Nevin, of the University of Central Lancashire’s School of Natural Resources, are convinced that the grey whale, hunted to extinction in the North Atlantic 400 years ago, can be reintroduced.

They would then spawn a lucrative whale-watching industry, creating hundreds of jobs and helping to regenerate devastated fishing communities on the northwest coastline.

But the scheme has already received heavy criticism from the Whale and Dolpin Conservation Society, which has branded the idea “neither feasible nor sensible”. Their scientists are adamant that whales extinct for hundreds of years cannot simply be replaced by imports. They also claim that the Pacific whales may not be able to survive in the Atlantic.

Dr Ramsey, who is proposing the plan today at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology, in Brazil, said: “Within a few years there could be a significant breeding population around the UK.”

Grey whales, the only member of the family Eschrichtiidae, hold a totemic place in the world marine conservation. Each day flotillas of tourists sail from California and Mexico to the basking grounds to marvel at the 40-tonne mammals who swim at a stately pace close to the shore and allow human beings to touch them. The academics insist that the Californian population could afford to lose 50 whales by 2015.

Dr Ramsay said: “Modern cargo aircraft can easily accommodate adult grey whales and make the journey from capture sites off America to release sites off Britain in less than 12 hours.”

The two conservationists believe that there is no logistical problem to prevent the whales from being netted alive off Baja, hoisted on board a cargo plane and kept alive on a long haul flight. The vital necessity is for the mammal to be kept moist.

In 1996 Keiko, the star of two Free Willy films, was airlifted via a C130 Hercules from Mexico to Oregon.

A survey conducted in the Lake District last year suggested that 90 per cent of people were in favour of their reintroduction.

Mark Simmonds, the director of science for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, said: “We can well appreciate the enthusiasm for trying to replace the whale species here but the notion is far more complex than it might appear.”

genetic

Times BBC Wikipedia

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is not a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood, clinically referred to as mania. Individuals who experience manic episodes also commonly experience depressive episodes or symptoms, or mixed episodes in which features of both mania and depression are present. These episodes are normally separated by periods of normal mood, but in some patients, depression and mania may rapidly alternate, known as rapid cycling. Extreme manic episodes can sometimes lead to psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations. The disorder has been subdivided into bipolar I, bipolar II, Bipolar NOS, and cyclothymia based on the type and severity of mood episodes experienced. Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in a person’s mood, energy, and ability to function. Different from the normal ups and downs that everyone goes through, the symptoms of bipolar disorder are severe. They can result in damaged relationships, poor job or school performance, and even suicide. But there is good news: bipolar disorder can be treated, and people with this illness can lead full and productive lives.
Bipolar disorder typically develops in late adolescence or early adulthood. However, some people have their first symptoms during childhood, and some develop them late in life. It is often not recognized as an illness, and people may suffer for years before it is properly diagnosed and treated. Like diabetes or heart disease, bipolar disorder is a long-term illness that must be carefully managed throughout a person’s life.

Traumatismes, évènements, age

The Mozart Effect

06 November 1999

LISTENING to Mozart boosts your brain power. ...

The excitement started six years ago when researchers reported that people scored better on a standard IQ test after listening to Mozart. But last summer, this "Mozart Effect" suffered a setback when several sceptics repeated the original study but failed to find any improvement.
This is not the end of the story, though. A closer look shows that Mozart's music does have a profound effect on the brain, though no one yet knows why. Rats raised on Mozart run through mazes faster and more accurately. People with Alzheimer's disease function more normally if they listen to Mozart and the music even reduces the severity of epileptic seizures.

Minimalist music by the composer Philip Glass and pop tunes scored among the lowest on this measure, he found, with Mozart scoring two to three times higher. Hughes predicts that sequences repeating regularly every 20 to 30 seconds may trigger the strongest response in the brain, because many functions of the central nervous system, such as the onset of sleep and brain wave patterns, also occur in 30-second cycles. And of all the music analysed, Mozart most often peaks every 30 seconds, Hughes found. Results such as these may help predict which pieces of music have the strongest effect on the brain, says Hughes, who hopes to begin testing brain response soon.

Meanwhile, another of Shaw's collaborators, Julene Johnson of the Institute of Brain Aging and Dementia at the University of California at Irvine, gave Shaw's original paper-folding test to Alzheimer's patients, who often have impaired spatial reasoning because of their illness. In a pilot study, one patient's scores improved by 3 or 4 correct answers out of 8 test items after 10-minute doses of Mozart, but not after silence or popular music from the 1930s. "The popular tune was familiar to the patient and intended to account for a possible emotional effect of music versus silence," says Johnson. She has now followed up with a group study comparing Mozart versus silence in 18 patients. Though results are not yet published, Mozart did improve the patients' test scores, especially in people who showed little improvement after practising the test.

Even stronger support for Mozart's effect on the brain comes from other studies. Rauscher, for example, subjected 30 rats to 12 hours of the Sonata in D daily for over two months. (Pity the poor laboratory staff!) These rats ran a maze an average of 27 per cent faster and with 37 per cent fewer errors than 80 other rats raised with white noise or in silence, she found. And this improvement can't be due to enjoyment arousal, because rats have no emotional response to Mozart. Instead, the study suggests a neurological basis for the Mozart Effect, says Rauscher.

Rat-squeak sonata?

Steele, a specialist in animal learning, is not convinced. After all, he says, a rat's brain is organised to respond to rat-squeak sounds, not European music. "What is the line of reasoning that rat brains respond the same way as humans? There is nothing in terms of current evolutionary or psychological theory that suggests there would be a related effect on rat brains. It is a great speculative leap," he says.

Rauscher does acknowledge that Mozart may simply give the rats a richer, more stimulating environment, something the rats could also get from other distractions or activities. "The control group rats are severely deprived—an extreme condition," she admits. She has begun a new study comparing rats with the heavy Mozart diet to rats given plenty of social interaction and toys in their cages.


Another study, by Shaw and neurobiologist Mark Bodner of the University of California at Los Angeles, used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to map the regions of a subject's brain that respond while listening to Mozart, `30s pop music, or Beethoven's Für Elise. Not surprisingly, Bodner found that all music activates the auditory cortex, where the brain processes sound, and sometimes triggers parts of the brain that are associated with emotion. "But with Mozart, the whole cortex is lighting up," Bodner says. Specifically, only Mozart also activates areas of the brain involved in fine motor coordination, vision, and other higher thought processes, all of which might be expected to come into play for spatial reasoning.

Unfortunately, an MRI scan won't tell you anything about how a person may respond to the music. "I don't doubt that music affects the brain, even beyond auditory cortex—it must," responds Chabris. But he doubts those measurable effects actually cause any of the changes in spatial reasoning or other abilities.

But these short-term improvements may not be Mozart's most important effect on the brain. In a five-year study with children, Rauscher has found that keyboard music training improves skills that require mental imagery—and after two years of lessons, the effect doesn't wear off. "All of the Mozart Effect experiments are based on the idea that the brain can be anatomically influenced by music. With children it may be actually building the neural network," says Rauscher. In other words, a childhood rich in music may have lasting benefits. This may be finally where the Mozart Effect makes its real encore.

Gary Kliewer is a freelance science writer living in Ashland, Oregon
From issue 2211 of New Scientist magazine, 06 November 1999, page 34
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg16422115.100-the-mozart-effect.html

The European green crab

The European green crab, Carcinus maenas, has arrived on the shores of Washington State. This recently-introduced exotic species has the potential for great destruction. Green crabs can disperse over large areas and have serious adverse effects on fisheries and aquaculture; their impacts include the possibility of altering the biodiversity of ecosystems. When the green crab was first discovered in Washington State in 1998, the state provided funds to immediately begin monitoring and control efforts in both the Puget Sound region and along Washington's coast. However, there has been debate over whether or not to continue funding for these programs. ..

http://academic.evergreen.edu/h/holmesd/

Criminal Identity theft //usurpation criminelle d'idendité

Identity theft is a term used to refer to fraud that involves stealing money or getting other benefits by pretending to be someone else. The term is relatively new and is actually a misnomer, since it is not inherently possible to steal an identity, only to use it. The person whose identity is used can suffer various consequences when they are held responsible for the perpetrator's actions. In many countries specific laws make it a crime to use another person's identity for personal gain...

When a criminal identifies himself to police as another individual it is sometimes referred to as "Criminal Identity Theft." In some cases the criminal will obtain a state issued ID using stolen documents or personal information belonging to another person, or they might simply use a fake ID. When the criminal is arrested for a crime, they present the ID to authorities, who place charges under the identity theft victim's name and release the criminal. When the criminal fails to appear for his court hearing, a warrant would be issued under the assumed name. The victim might learn of the incident if the state suspends their own drivers license, or through a background check performed for employment or other purposes, or in rare cases could be arrested when stopped for a minor traffic violation....

Extract from Wikipedia

Paludisme// malaria

Beaucoup de pays ont enregistré une forte augmentation de la mortalité par le paludisme. Certains ont recouru à une autre substance bon marché, la sulfadoxine-pyriméthamine dont l'efficacité semble diminuer.
Partout en Afrique, il est désormais urgent de financer et de distribuer les médicaments efficaces, notamment aux femmes et aux enfants les plus exposés.
Prévenir les épidémies : Les épidémies subites de paludisme/ malaria tuent environ 100.000 africains chaque année, principalement dans les populations qui ne sont guère ou pas du tout immunisées contre la maladie. Les changements climatiques, les catastrophes naturelles, le chaos et les mouvements de population causés par la guerre et les troubles civils sont autant des facteurs propices à une montée en flèche de l'incidence. Une bonne partie de l'Afrique utilise déjà les techniques de prévision et de détection des épidémies y compris les prévisions météorologiques et la collecte régulière de données dans les districts sujets aux épidémies.
La tâche consiste maintenant à analyser fréquemment les informations recueillies pour déceler tout signe de crise et à fournir les armes et les traitements nécessaires pour éviter une catastrophe.

Personnes agées

Erasmus Rotterdam

Erasmus, was born in Rotterdam on October 27 in either 1466 or 1469. Although associated closely with Rotterdam, he lived there for only four years, never to return and a few years later he was persuaded to enter the monastery of Steyn, near Gouda, a house of Augustinian canons. The life there was uncongenial to him; for though he had leisure to read as much as he liked, his temperament was not suited to the precision and regularity of religious observance. An opportunity for escape presented itself, when the Bishop of Cambray, a powerful ecclesiastic, was inquiring for a Latin secretary....


Erasmus hardly knew the town of Rotterdam....