EUROPEAN UNION BANKS DO WHAT THE WHOLE WORLD SHOULD DO: EU CAPS BANKER BONUSES

The European union seems to have sobered up. After years of outright gluttony in the financial sector, the union has decided that the party must come to an end: banking bonuses have been capped.

To some this might signal a return to a less capitalistic trend, but what is at stake is the re-ordering of a system that has been literally derailed by the greed of some individuals in the sector.

Giving large or very large packages as bonuses to their banking managers and ceos has resulted in banks being steered toward practices that favor income gathering for the banking managers, rather than practices that stabilize and capitalize the banks themselves.

Many in fact blame such prior practices for the woes that have befallen the European community.     

photo: onlinewsj.com

The groundbreaking decision is a first in the sector in the European community.   The decision also requires that banks be better capitalized to avoid the financial instability experienced in the downturn in 2008 from happening again in the future.  

Unfortunately such decision does not cover banks in the US or other communities.  In effect the effort by the US government to reduce bank size and avoid the 'to big to fail' problem, which prompted a much criticized bailout in 2008, has not been nearly as effective as its proponents declared.

In fact, the new regulations put in place in the US to curb mergers and the expansion of already large banking enterprises only require that banks have better capitalization.  This however does not preclude that a bank become bigger or merge with another.  All the bank has to do, in effect, is keep its capitalization at the level prescribed by the new regulation, but it does in any way impede it from becoming bigger and more difficult to dismiss.  In effect, some banks have merged since the regulations have been put in place, prompting many to see such mergers as a defensive measure, in effect, becoming even more 'too big too fail' and therefore become more eligible for the protection afforded by the Federal Deposit protection program.  

Partially sourced: France 24/  2.26.13  

STUDY FIND THAT SEVERAL MENTALL ILLNESSES SHARE GENETIC TRAITS

courtesy: guardian UK

Mentall illnesses are often hard to diagnose because their symptoms are vague or do not fall into specific categories.  What is worse, some illnesses share symptoms, making treatment more difficult and identification problematic.

That has prompted scientist to look into the possibility of a genetic link between mental illnesses, to better understand what if anything the genetic similarity can tell us about the nature of the disease and to come to a better and quicker diagnosis.

And the results have come up with a very interesting finding.  The five most common mental illnesses all share the same genetic origin.  That includes autism, bipolar, ADD, schizophrenia and severe depression.  

This is very important, because in the past certain illnesses were seen as having very different effects and symptoms from one another.  This has influenced both the counseling and the therapeutic approach, since most of the illnesses were considered to be markedly different.  

However the similarity is a small fraction of the total gene pool the diseases possess, so that its impact may not as wide as people might think.  But even a small amount of information can help in the identification and therapy of a mental illness. 

What the genetic similarities might indicate is that the five common illnesses could all be but different manifestations of the same disease, in different stages that differ in severity, like a continuum with different stops at one level of illness or another.  

The genetic familiality also goes to explain what has baffled psychiatrists for a long time, and that is the overlap of symptoms between the illnesses.

But the finding also indicates that the diseases could be caused by problems in the development of the brain in the patient, a development that can be influenced also by the environment.

Source: Lancet 2.27.13 

 

BREAST CANCER CASES INCREASING IN YOUNG WOMEN POPULATION

courtesy: magickalgraphics

Breast cancer is a disease that can occur at any age, but until recently certain age groups, those over 40, were considered at higher risk, due to the changes in hormone levels in those years.

But a recent trend is changing the way prevention of the disease is approached. And that trend is bringing new worries and new research to try to identify the culprit.

The incidence of breast cancer in women between 25-39 went from 1.59 to 2.90 in the past 30 years.  That's nearly double an increase in just the past three decades.

The trend is also showing a constant slope, that is there are no ups and down, but just a steady if mildly increasing curve. 

The cancer that was part of this observation is advanced stage breast cancer, which is a much more advanced and serious form of the disease.  

The problem is occurring in an age group that regards breast cancer screening as something that would be done in the future, due to existing guidelines, but also who have the least insurance coverage.  This is a convergence of factor that does not bode well for those individuals who are diagnosed at an early age.  In addition, the cancer in younger individuals tends to be more aggressive.  

The difference also cut through ethnic lines, with a higher incidence in African American women and non hispanic caucasians. 

Further study will probably warrant a change in screening guidelines in the future.

Source: France 24/ 2.27.13

DYING IN MIAMI : NEW CURFEW ORDERS ALL YOUTH UNDER 17 TO REMAIN INDOORS

Many people when they think of gun violence in inner cities automatically think of Chicago.  There gun violence has in fact worsened in the past few months.

But Miami, which is seen by most as a resort city, has had a discreet uptick in its streets too.  

This has prompted authorities to enforce a curfew that bars anyone under 17 from roaming the streets at night.

The curfew begins at 11:00 pm and ends at 6 am.  

Some Miami teens scoff at the curfew, saying they don't need it, but others quietly agree that it is a good measure. 

Too many people are dying in Miami's hot spots, like Overtown and Liberty city from gun violence.  

But the curfew is also aimed at reconstructing families by making young children stay at home and maybe spend more times doing homework and family chores.  

In fact, authorities have not given a specific reason for the curfew, but everyone who has noticed an uptick in gun violence in the streets agrees that something needed to be done.  In September a fight over a basketball turned deadly and resulted in the death of three young men.  The violence often spills over onto houses and people who are completely innocent and who become victims by happenstance. 

In addition to the curfew, the authorities are stepping up police presence in troubled areas.

Source: NBC news 2.18.13     

 

Bring it on home to me - Sam Cooke

What most schools don't teach

EMERGING CORONAVIRUS ELICITS A SCRAMBLE FOR THE RESEARCH AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE EMERGING DISEASE

courtesy: allvoices.com

Only a couple of weeks ago, alarm bells started going off in the UK with the death of a new victim infected by the new Coronavirus that has emerged in the past couple of years.

The Coronavirus, or more exactly the BetaCoronavirus, which is very similar to the Sars virus that caused hundreds of death in 2002, seems to have mutated and be capable of human to human transmission, although the degree of its virality is as of yet unknown.

What preoccupies scientists at CIDRAP, the institute for the researsh of infectious diseases, is that the new virus and its new cases more and more point to the fact that they might have been acquired from another human, instead of solely from an animal.  

The strain has been quickly isolated and mapped, and it is believed to derive primarily from bats, although the Saudi research points to a possible infection from a goat herd.  If that is true, it would make the virus less potent.  The researchers would feel much better if all cases were in fact, traceable to an animal source. 

A suspected case in the weekend, in Hong Kong, which was suspected to be from the new coronavirus turned out not to be a new case of infection.  The man had traveled to the MIddle East recently, which has been seen as the new epicenter of the emerging disease, but turned out to be suffering from a bout of Influenza B.  

So far seven of the 13 cases identified have been fatal, and all cases have had links to Saudi Arabia or neighboring regions.  

MAP OF SARS INFECTIONS IN INITIAL OUTBREAK OF 2002

 

For this reason, the WHO , the world health watchdog, has quickly issued guidelines that ask all countries with suspected cases to test aggressively to identify if the virus is spreading and at what rate, especially in the cases that stem from individuals who have recently traveled to the Middle East region.

The 13 cases so far identified were thus distributed: 6 from Saudi Arabia, 2 from Jordan, 2 from Qatar, one of whom is still in the hospital for treatment in the UK, and 3 additional residents, all related to one another,  in the UK,  1 of whom has died.  There is also a suspicion that the 3 person family cluster might include a fourth, who was not tested until after she recovered, but who exhibit similar symptoms to her ill relatives.   The health authorities believe that she might actually be the initial source of infection for the family.  This cluster if of particular importance, since it shows the possibility of ease of transmission of the virus from person to person.  

So far the virus can be treated effectively with interferon.  However, its virulence as of yet has not been fully established.  Most of the research in fact aims to establish whether the low number of cases is the total so far, indicating that it is not so virulent, or whether the cases represent the 'top of the pyramid', so to speak, with many more unidentified cases below it yet to emerge.

Another thing that has been pointed out by the scientists studying the virus, is that its re-emergence in this new form makes it a virus that is persistent in the environment, instead of one that disappears quickly with time.

Source: CIDRAP/ 2.21-26.13

 

 

  

POACHERS SWITCH SIDES TO BECOME PROTECTORS OF KENYAS' ELEPHANTS

courtesy: globalpost

 

 

Last year alone nearly 25,000 elephants were slaughtered for their ivory by poachers in Africa.

 

Most of the deaths occurs in the savannahs of the rift valley, and Kenya is at the center of the poachers' activities.

 

However, a new trend is emerging: a few of the poachers are switching sides, having become consciously guilty that their activity is destroying their homeland's heritage and environment. 

 

And some have offered their knowledge and themselves in guarding the elephants and have joined the Kenyan forces in trying to stop the deadly practice.

 

They are working side by side with the parks' guards, and in so doing find themselves in mortal danger from poachers like them who will stop at nothing to get their ivory.  

 

 photo: National Geographic

 

 

Some see the change as a consequence of a new policy adopted by the guards, who no longer seek to imprison the poachers, but have clear orders to 'shoot to kill' any poachers. Another is the fact that the poachers, although procuring what becomes a very expensive good that makes its way to Asian markets for people eager to own ivory sculptures, do not themselves get rich from the activity.  Poachers in fact get all the risk and not so much reward. 

 

Although the poachers now with the guards go through a period in which they have to prove the sincerity of their efforts, they also in the long run can hope to gain a paid job with the wildlife conservancy or the state police.         

 

The trend breathes some hope into the conservationists efforts to stop what is seen as an holocaust for the pachiderms.  The large animals have nowhere to hide in the low African brush, and their ivory can be sold ultimately for more than 1,000 a pound, even though its sale has been outlawed worldwide.  

 

The estimates are that if the current slaughter rate is not stopped, all elephants will be gone by 2023.  

 

One of the problems that fuels the poaching trade is the lack of jobs in Kenya and the region.  Some men, as young as 15 start poaching to survive.  

 

Source: France 24/ 2.26.13 

 

   

 

PAINKILLERS USE ON THE RISE IN THE UK

courtesy: drugfree.com

The use of painkillers is on the increase worldwide.  Now a study done in Britain has brought some alarming results.

Almost 33% of all the people in the UK use painkillers routinely.  Most of them say that they are forced to take them to be able to perform their jobs.

A group a group of doctors, who surveyed 3,100 individuals, has tallied the results of the investigation and has noted that many of the people interviewed for the study claim that they are taking the medication just to get by, without pausing to assess the real cause of the pain or investigate its true cause.

The problem is a class of drugs known as prescription painkillers, that are some of the most addictive substances in the world.  

Of the group surveyed almost 40% were taking the more addictive substances and 7% were taking the most addictive and strongest pain killers such as morphine, petidine and other opiates.

More concerning was the fact that 10% of the group asserted that they were using the painkiller as a sleep aid.  

The study also revealed that almost half of the people interviewed were taking the medication for an ailment that had occurred in the past, or that they were taking much more than the recommended dosage.  Some were taking as many as 5 of the painkillers each day.  A few took much higher dosages.

 PAINKILLER ABUSE MAP OF THE UNITED STATES

courtesy : NPR

   

But the use of such compounds comes at a steep price.  Apart from the usual side effects, such as lethargy and gastric complications, the compounds have a discreet and long term effect on vital organs, such as the liver, the kidneys and the heart.

Painkillers, when taken in concomitance with alcohol, can cause death, by suppressing brain stem activity which stop breathing and heart function in the drug user.  

What is being observed then, is that the routine use of a certain class of painkillers can easily lead to addiction and that the patients were taking the medication for a much longer time than necessary.

In addition, relying on painkillers as a solution to an injury, for example, precludes a proper treatment therapy, which could resolve the condition for which the drug is taken altogether.

The use of the drugs also has psychological side effects which can worsen the addictive trend in those who take the compounds.  Of the people surveyed, almost half said they could not sleep, the other half said they were unable to exercise, and in 15% of them told there was an occurrence of depression during the painkillers assumption which had not  previously been experienced by the patient.

In the United States, new efforts are being made to combat the growing addiction trend.  Mayor Michael Bloomberg has launched an initiative that would see stricter guidelines for the dispensation and prescription of painkiller to prevent abuse.  This was prompted by an increase in deaths from overdose of painkillers, a trend that is consistent nationwide.

Partial sourcing: The Guardian 2.25.13 

MEXICO'S DESAPARECIDOS: NEW TALLY OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE DISAPPEARED REACHES 26,000

courtesy: washingtonpost

A new grim tally has been completed on the disappearance of people in the last six years.  

The tally has surpassed 26,000 in that brief span of time, a staggering number when compared to and added to the people that have already been killed in the Mexico drug war.

Most of the desaparecidos are people who have been kidnapped and probably killed by the cartels, and they are probably both innocent bystanders and people who may have had some dealings with the drug trade.

But due to the gruesome methods employed by the cartels, many of the victims are never found.  

In some cases the cartels make their victims public, by displaying them in the full light of the sun, often bearing marks of unspeakable torture.  

Newly elected president Pena Nieto has vowed to address the cartel wars in novel ways to try and bring the situation under control.  One of them is to form a task force that would address the problem of the disappeared and try to identify them and solve their cases.

But that is cold comfort to those families are searching for the disappeared.   In addition, since information gathering is so problematic, there is no way of telling who amongst the disappeared is dead, alive, or in the hands of the cartel.

More worrisome is the fact that some of the cases of disappearance remain unreported, so that the numbers could actually be much higher. 

In some cases, the disappeared could have been kidnapped or killed by the police, as some instances that have been reported point to police involvement, although they are a very small fraction of the total. In others, the person could have fled from the cartel and still be alive, and is not in contact with anyone for fear of being found.

In the past, the government has been slow to respond to the families' requests for investigation.  But Human Rights groups are hopeful that the new president is now willing to address the problem.

partially sourced: CNN/ 2.27.13

NASA - ESO510 THE WARPED GALAXY

courtesy: Conselice/ NASA

OMEGA 3 SUPPLEMENT EYED AS POSSIBLE PREVENTION FOR SKIN CANCER

courtesy: womenshealthmag

One of the emerging pathologies in the past decades is the higher incidence of skin cancers worldwisde due to sun exposure, uv lamp exposure and other factors.

People living in certain southern latitudes, such as Australia, have a higher incidence, since much of their territory is under what is termed as the ozone 'doughnut hole'.  

Recent studies into the causes and effects of diet imbalances and changes have also brought to light a few new facts about the link between dietary intake and the incidence of skin cancer. 

One of the things that has already been established with a good degree of certainty is that vitamin D deficiency could be a factor in the formation of certain tumors.

Now it seems that Omega 3 supplements, which are advised for a number of other ailments, could play a role in diminishing the risk of skin cancer.

Scientists at the University at Manchester have examined the effects of Omega 3 intake on 79 individuals selected for the study.

The study, which was recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that taking Omega 3 supplements diminished the risk of skin cancer by creating a certain degree of immunity to sunlight. 

Sunlight in the human body creates a reaction called immunity suppression, which of course can lead to the creation of tumoral cell, but also leaves one more vulnerable to infection.

The doses assumed by the group was 4 gram doses of Omega 3 daily, which is equivalent to a one and half servings of oily fish per day.  Then the group was exposed to an equivalent of 8-15 minute sun exposure by placing each under a sunlamp.

In the group studies, immuno-suppression was shown to be 50% lower than in the subjects who took the placebo, the control group.

However a longer exposure to the sunlamp did change the results, which leads scientist to reassert that even if the supplement were used that the use of sunscreen should not be eliminated.  

SKIN CANCER INCIDENCE MAP

courtesy: skincancer.org