LIFE
Comforting baby’s pain
When your baby is in pain -- be it from things like a circumcision, vaccine or incoming tooth -- parents can take steps to soothe, comfort and ease the pain as much as possible. The University of Michigan Health System offers these suggestions: • Cuddle your baby, and try to have skin-to-skin contact. • Distract your baby by singing, cuddling, talking or moving. • Nurse your baby if you are breast-feeding. • If you aren’t nursing, dip a pacifier in a sugar/water solution, but never honey. • Ask your doctor about administering a pain-relieving medication designed for i nfants.
tuesDAY, may 22, 2012
Spectacular ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse wows millions CAPITALS: From a park near Albuquerque, to the top of Japan’s Mount Fuji, to the California coast the effect was dramatic: The moon nearly blotting out the sun creating a blazing “ring of fire” eclipse. Millions of people across a narrow strip of eastern Asia and the Western US turned their sights skyward for the annular eclipse, in which the moon passes in front of the sun leaving only a golden ring around its edges. The rare lunar-solar alignment was visible in Asia early Monday before it moved across the Pacific - and the international dateline - where it was seen in parts of the western United States late Sunday afternoon. People from Colorado, Oklahoma and as far away as Canada traveled to Albuquerque to enjoy one of the best vantage points at a park on the edge of the city. Members of the crowd smiled and cheered and children yelled with excitement as the moon crossed the sun and the blazing halo of light began to form. Some watched the eclipse by placing their viewing glasses on the front of their smartphones. Eventually, the moon centered and covered about 96 percent of the sun. “That’s got to be the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen,” said Brent Veltri of Salida, Colo. Elsewhere, viewing parties were held at observatories in Reno, Nev., and Oakland, Calif., while skywatchers gathered in coastal and forest counties in California. In some areas, special camera filters for taking photographs have been sold out for weeks in anticipation of the big event. Yet, while millions were making an effort to view the eclipse, some American Indians were adhering to tradition by staying indoors. Navajo Bonnie Charley of Monument Valley in northeast Arizona said she follows her tribe’s traditions. “You’re supposed to stay inside,” said the 75-year-old Charley, whose father was a medicine man. “No eating, drinking or sleeping. That’s for the duration of the eclipse.” She said Navajo traditions surrounding eclipses stem from their beliefs regarding creation. The eclipse was broadcast live on TV in Tokyo, where such an eclipse hasn’t been visible since 1839. Japanese TV crews watched from the top
This combination picture shows an annular solar eclipse seen from Page, Arizona on May 21, 2012. (AFP)
of Mount Fuji and even staked out a zoo south of Tokyo to capture the reaction of the chimpanzees - who didn’t seem to notice. Eclipse tours were arranged in Japan at schools and parks, on pleasure boats and even private airplanes.
Similar events were held in China and Taiwan as well, with skywatchers warned to protect their eyes. A light rain fell on Tokyo as the eclipse began, but the clouds thinned as it reached its peak, providing near per-
fect conditions. “It was a very mysterious sight,” said Kaori Sasaki, who joined a crowd in downtown Tokyo to watch event. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” A Japanese zoo said the eclipse apparently made ringtailed lemurs believe it was evening. Some 20 lemurs at the Japan Monkey Center in central Japan skipped breakfast, climbed up and jumped between trees and poles, a typical evening behavior, according to the zoo web site. They returned to normal after the eclipse. “They must be reacting to the eclipse,” zoo director Akira Kato told public broadcaster NHK. At the Taipei Astronomical Museum in Taiwan, the spectacle emerged from dark clouds for only about 30 seconds. But the view was nearly perfect against Manila’s orange skies. “It’s amazing. We do this for the awe (and) it has not disappointed. I am awed, literally floored,” said astronomical hobbyist Garry Andreassen, whose long camera lenses were lined up with those of about 10 other gazers in a downtown Manila park. Hong Kong skywatchers weren’t so lucky. Several hundred people gathered along the Kowloon waterfront on Hong Kong’s famed Victoria Harbor, most of them students or commuters on their way to work. The eclipse was already under way as the sun began to rise, but heavy clouds obstructed the view. The eclipse followed a narrow 8,500-mile path for 3 1/2 hours. The ring phenomenon lasted about five minutes, depending on location. People outside the narrow band for prime viewing saw a partial eclipse. “Ring of Fire” eclipses are not as dramatic as a total eclipse, when the disc of the sun is entirely blocked by the moon.The moon is too far from Earth and appears too small in the sky to blot out the sun completely. Doctors and education officials have warned of eye injuries from improper viewing. Before the event started, Japan’s Education Minister Hirofumi Hirano demonstrated how to use eclipse glasses in a televised news conference. Police also cautioned against traffic accidents - warning drivers to keep their eyes on the road. -AP
The annular solar eclipse is seen from the Very Large Array outside Socorro, New Mexico, on May 20, 2012. (AFP)
Climate scientists say they have solved riddle of rising sea PARIS: Massive extraction of groundwater can resolve a puzzle over a rise in sea levels in past decades, scientists in Japan said on Sunday. Global sea levels rose by an average of 1.8 millimeters (0.07 inches) per year from 1961-2003, according to data from tide gauges. But the big question is how much of this can be pinned to global warming. In its landmark 2007 report, the UN’s Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ascribed 1.1mm (0.04 inches) per year to thermal expansion of the oceans -- water expands when it is heated -- and to meltwater from glaciers, icecaps and the Greenland and Antarctica icecaps. That left 0.7mm (0.03 inches) per year unaccounted for, a mystery that left many scientists wondering if the data were correct or if there were some source that had eluded everyone. In a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, a team led by Yadu Pokhrel of the University of Tokyo say the answer lies in water that is extracted from underground aquifers, rivers and lakes for human development but is never replenished. The water eventually makes it to the ocean through rivers and evaporation in the soil, they note. Groundwater extraction is the main component of additions that account for the mystery gap, according to their paper, which is based on computer modeling. “Together, unsustainable groundwater use, artificial reservoir water impoundment, climate-driven change in terrestrial water storage and the loss of water from closed basins have contributed a sea-level rise of 0.77mm (0.031 inches) per year between 1961 and 2003, about 42 percent of the observed sea-level rise,” it says. The probe seeks to fill one of the knowledge gaps in the complex science of climate change. Researchers admit to many unknowns about how the oceans respond to warming, and one of them is sea-level rise, an important question for hundreds of millions of coastal dwellers. Just a tiny rise, if repeated year on year, can eventually have a dramatic impact in locations that are vulnerable to storm surges or the influx of saltwater into aquifers or coastal fields. In its 2007 Fourth Assessment Report, the IPCC said the oceans would rise by between 18 and 59 centimeters (seven to 23 inches) by the century’s end. But this estimate did not factor in meltwater from the mighty Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. A study published last year by the Oslo-based Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Project (AMAP) said sea levels would rise, on current melting trends, by 90 cms to 1.6 meters (3.0 to 5.3 feet) by 2100. -AFP
‘Asian unicorn’ at risk of extinction from poaching: WWF LONDON: Poaching in Vietnam and Laos may be driving the “Asian unicorn” to extinction, warns the WWF on the twentieth anniversary of its discovery according to The Guardian. The saola is an antelope-like reclusive species that lives in remote regions of the Annamite mountains on the border of Vietnam and Laos, dubbed the Asian Unicorn because it is so rarely seen. It came to worldwide attention in 1992 as the first large mammal to be discovered in over 50 years when surveyors from the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry and the WWF found skulls of the unknown species in mountain villages. DNA tests have indicated it is a bovine related to cattle, though it resembles a wild goat or antelope with two parallel horns found on both males and females. Now the WWF and conservation groups say populations of the saola is dropping. Estimates of the current saola population range from 10 to several hundred. A 2009 meeting of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) concluded that the species population has dropped precipitously, and the saola remains on its list of critically endangered species. While the WWF does not know the exact population number of the saola, WWF Asian species expert Barney Long said there are indications the population is likely dropping. Interviews with communities have indicated sightings of the saola have dropped over the past 20 years. Poaching in the Annamite mountains has also
On the 20th anniversary of the saola’s discovery, conservationists say the population of the reclusive species has dropped dramatically
FILE - An ‘Asian unicorn’ or saola caught on a camera-trapped in Bolikhamxay Province, central Laos in 1999. (Agencies)
reached epidemic levels, and though the saola is not sought after by hunters, the horned beast is nevertheless caught in their snares.
“Poachers go in and set 1,000 snares at a time. It’s high-intensity poaching which requires an appropriate response form anti-poaching teams. That’s ex-
tremely difficult to fund and logistically organise,” said WWF Asian species expert Barney Long. In one park in central Vietnam, where the WWF has begun to work with community forest guards, 200 illegal hunting camps have been closed and 12,500 snares removed since February 2011. Poaching in the mountains has been the by-product of economic development in Vietnam, said Long. The growth of the country’s middle class has driven demand for rare, wild-caught cuisine among the country’s middle class. “An increasing number of people going to restaurants and buying splashy meals. If you’re trying to impress your business partners especially around festival seasons, then you take them out for expensive dinners. A great way to kind of show off and be a status symbol is to eat status meat.” The Annamite mountains are home to 42 ethnic groups, according to Long, each with their own culture, language, and hunting practices. Since 1992, the animal has mainly been sighted by scientists with camera traps. One was captured by villagers in Bolikhamxay province, Laos in 2010, but it died in captivity before researchers could reach the village. No scientist has spotted the saola in person. The habitat of the saola makes the species very difficult to track but also to protect. The animal resides in very specific and remote pockets of a mountain range Long described as an already “very remote, very steep, very wet, very difficult terrain.”
Simple scope exam cuts colon cancer deaths: Study WASHINGTON: A simple, cheaper exam of just the lower part of the bowel can cut the risk of developing colon cancer or dying of the disease, a large federal study finds. Many doctors recommend a more complete test - colonoscopy - but many people refuse that costly, unpleasant exam. The new study shows that the simpler test, flexible sigmoidoscopy, can be a good option. Although it may seem similar to having a mammogram on just one breast, experts say that even a partial bowel exam is better than none. As one put it, “the best test is the one that gets done.” Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States and the fourth worldwide. More than 143,000 new cases and 52,000 deaths from the disease are expected this year in the U.S. alone. People ages 50 to 75 who are at average risk of colon cancer are urged to get screened, but only about 60 percent do. Government advisers recommend one of three methods: annual stool blood tests, a sigmoidoscopy (SIGmoy-DAH-skuh-pee) every five years plus stool tests every three years, or a colonoscopy once a decade.
In a colonoscopy, a thin tube with a tiny camera is guided through the large intestine. Growths can be removed and checked for cancer. Patients are sedated, but it requires drinking strong solutions the day before to clean out the bowel. Sigmoidoscopy is not a popular choice in the United States but it’s the one used most often in England. It also uses a thin scope and tiny camera, can be done in an ordinary doctor’s office, requires much less bowel preparation and costs just $150 to $300 versus $1,000 to $2,000 for a colonoscopy. One drawback: It’s done without anesthesia. The test usually isn’t painful, but patients feel cramping and some discomfort, said Dr. Durado Brooks, the American Cancer Society’s colon cancer expert. It also sees only the lower one-third of the colon, “but that is an area where probably half of polyps and cancers develop,” Brooks said. The new study, led by Dr. Robert Schoen of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, tested how well it works. From 1993 to 2001, about 155,000 people ages 55 to 75 were assigned to get the simple scope exam at the start of the study and three to five years later, or usual
care - screening by any means only if they or their doctors wanted it done.Any patients with suspicious findings were sent for a colonoscopy. After about 12 years of follow-up, there were 21 percent fewer cases of colon cancer and 26 percent fewer deaths from the disease in the group assigned to get sigmoidoscopy. Of the cancers in that group, 243 were considered to have been caught by sigmoidoscopy (many others were found because of symptoms or other tests). Researchers estimate that 97 more would have been detected if colonoscopy had been the main screening method instead of the simpler scope exam, said study co-leader Dr. Christine Berg, chief of early detection research at the National Cancer Institute, which sponsored the research. In the study, about half of the group assigned to usual care wound up getting some type of scope exam anyway. That was far more than study leaders expected, and it could have diminished the true benefit sigmoidoscopy gave to the screening group, Dr. John Inadomi of the University of Washington in Seattle wrote in an editorial in the medical journal. -AP