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Disabled in Uganda's north missing out on HIV services
Disabled people in northern Uganda - many of whom were injured in the long conflict between the government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) - are calling on the government to provide a more targeted HIV response. Although there have been no rebel attacks in the region for over two years, the LRA planted landmines across the region and local people continue to find unexploded ordnance.
"HIV awareness is being done, but people with disability are being left out," said Simon Ongom, chairman of the Gulu District Disabled Persons Union... Disabled people in northern Uganda - many of whom were injured in the long conflict between the government and the rebel Lord's R... more -
Norovirus epidemic besieges Georgetown, US
Over 150 afflicted ... and it's getting crazy over there. Gasto-intestinal madness has struck. Even intercollegiate sporting events were cancelled because of this outbreak. That's how serious this is. Wow ...
Students should get in the habit of washing their dishes and washing their hands more often. Over 150 afflicted ... and it's getting crazy over there. Gasto-intestinal madness has struck. Even intercollegiate sporting ev... more -
Varsity blues: Skipping class, skipping treatment
Adjusting to college life can be rough – moving into residence, living with roommates, balancing academic demands with those of social life. Now try taking your antiretroviral (ARV) medication without the whole world knowing you're positive, and things get even more complicated. Treatment adherence, proper nutrition and treating opportunistic infections are all problematic in the campus environment. Adjusting to college life can be rough – moving into residence, living with roommates, balancing academic demands with those of social... more
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Zimbabwe power-sharing agreement could save lives
The country's three political parties - ZANU-PF and the two factions of the majority Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - signed a power-sharing deal on 15 September, ending one of the worst periods of inter-party political violence since Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980. AIDS activists are hoping that the country's new administration will make good on promises to urgently improve access to affordable HIV/AIDS treatment and services at state hospitals. The country's three political parties - ZANU-PF and the two factions of the majority Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - signe... more
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Teens break into local animal shelter, killing puppies
Six times in 2008, dog owners have broken into the Josephine County animal shelter to retrieve their animals without having to pay fees or fines.
So, it didn't much surprise county officials when they found that the last burglars, on Friday, were after a chocolate Labrador mixed-breed dog that one of them owned.
What's puzzling is why the three went on to cut kennel fences and liberate 11 animals, then bash the heads of four puppies and lay them in an orderly fashion in the middle of a nearby road.
Two young men were arrested, and a teenage girl is being sought, sheriff's deputies said.
The community has rallied round an institution whose budget has shriveled — like many public agencies in Southern Oregon hit by cutbacks in federal aid to timber-dependent counties.
Public Health Director Belle Shepherd told the Grants Pass Daily Courier the animal control agency had a $478,000 budget two years ago, and now it is $271,000. Sheriff's deputies say they have accused two young people in the killings of four dogs stolen from the Josephine County animal shelter.
Five dogs were found later, and two blue heeler pups are missing. Six times in 2008, dog owners have broken into the Josephine County animal shelter to retrieve their animals without having to pay fee... more -
ARV and TB drugs taken together halve deaths
Combining antiretroviral (ARV) therapy with treatment for tuberculosis (TB) could more than halve the current mortality rate among patients co-infected with HIV and TB, saving an estimated 10,000 lives a year in South Africa. Combining antiretroviral (ARV) therapy with treatment for tuberculosis (TB) could more than halve the current mortality rate among pat... more
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Portable Nuclear Power Shows Promise - NuScale Power for Nuclear Energy - Popular ...
New technology gets us closer to a solution for using NUCLEAR ENERGY safely!!!
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The Happening's Junk Science - Plants and Global Warming in The Happening -
At first, the central event in eerie auteur M. Night Shyamalan’s latest effort, The Happening, appears to be a terrorist attack leveled at New York City: A toxin released into the air blocks the neurotransmitters responsible for self-preservation, causing disorientation and, eventually, death (by the victims’ own hands, no less). Later, scientists pinpoint the toxin as a natural compound—and recognize the disaster’s scope, from Boston to Maryland, as far too large for a single terrorist action. At first, the central event in eerie auteur M. Night Shyamalan’s latest effort, The Happening, appears to be a terrorist attack levele... more
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Living Rainforest Exhibit Goes Green - California Academy of Sciences - Popular Me...
Amazonian trees and plants in the California Academy of Sciences' new "Living Rainforest" exhibit are thriving—without an overload of human-produced energy. Amazonian trees and plants in the California Academy of Sciences' new "Living Rainforest" exhibit are thriving—without ... more
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Micro Hydro Turbines and Systems – Rediscovering Water and Hydro Power
From the front, the old brick mill in Middlebury, Vt., looks like any of the other quaint buildings lining the town’s main street. But inside, through yawning gaps in a patchwork floor of long, narrow planks, the gray-green waters of Otter Creek can be seen churning toward a 23-ft. waterfall. Anchored to a stone bridge above the river, the building once had a mill wheel that drove wool-processing equipment; later, a penstock carried water to a turbine, generating electricity for the town’s streetlights.
For the past 42 years, the power of the river has gone untapped—the turbine is long since dismantled—and Middlebury’s electricity now comes from the grid. The only sign of the penstock, the pipe that funneled water to the powerhouse, is a crumbling concrete frame, and the sluice gate that controlled the river diversion is missing its metal plate. Local resident Anders Holm plans to change that.
An ear, nose and throat specialist who grew up in town, Holm was born a few years after the hydropower system was retired. His father purchased the mill in the 1980s and rented it out as commercial space. But changing times—particularly the events of Sept. 11, 2001—convinced Holm to reduce his dependence on foreign oil. He covered his home with solar panels. Then he and his brother, Erik, decided to restore both the mill and the hydropower.
“Our original plan was to make power for our own property,” Holm says. “We didn’t intend to sell it. But then we realized the enormous power potential and knew we had to do more.” Unlike the old system, the new one will take advantage of every inch of head—the water pressure exerted by gravity—and will use a modern 1-megawatt turbine. Under ideal conditions, it will generate enough electricity for about 1000 homes, or most of downtown Middlebury.
Of course, reviving aging infrastructure is no small task. Holm, who recently built a mahogany deck at his home using only hand tools, didn’t shy away from the challenge. Instead he took two months off from his surgical practice to work on the project full-time. His first task: Reduce the flow of the river under the building’s northwest corner to a mere gurgle so that the foundation could be repaired. From the front, the old brick mill in Middlebury, Vt., looks like any of the other quaint buildings lining the town’s main street. But... more -
Beyond Chevy Volt, Electric Cars From Cadillac, Pontiac - Plug-in Car Rumors - Pop...
Even as General Motors executives used the company’s boisterous 100th birthday bash today to pull the wraps off the production Chevrolet Volt, GM designers and engineers are quietly laying the foundation for what could become a full range of plug-in cars that the company refers to as Extended-Range Electric Vehicles, or E-REVs.
Scheduled to head for production in November 2010, the eagerly-awaited Volt is a cross between a pure electric vehicle and more conventional hybrids, such as the popular Toyota Prius. And like the Prius, Chevy’s new entry features a distinctive body. But under the skin, Volt shares much of its platform with GM’s global compact architecture, known as Delta. That means it has a lot in common with upcoming products like the new Chevy Cruze.
"The reason it’s on a global architecture is to make it possible to do other variants," said Bob Lutz, GM’s vice chairman and product chief. Even as General Motors executives used the company’s boisterous 100th birthday bash today to pull the wraps off the production Chevrol... more -
Pickens Natural Gas Cars Reality Check - Standard Taxi CNG -
Tell us why this is interestingSelf-made billionaire and self-proclaimed energy guru T. Boone Pickens has been all over the media and the Web this summer, with his energy evangelism gaining added traction as we count down the last 50 days to the election. Pickens wants to reduce our dependence on foreign energy as rapidly as possible, and he's willing to put his money where his mouth is.
As part of his viral video-powered campaign, then, Pickens wants to put $160 million behind his case for natural gas-powered vehicles. Central to that plan is the development of the so-called Standard Taxi (pictured above), which looks sort of like a London taxi made from Lego blocks. I can only speculate as to why it's so unconscionably ugly.
That being said, I happen to agree 100-percent with Pickens' assertion that converting a healthy proportion of the U.S. fleet to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) would provide tremendous medium-range solutions to our energy issues—no question about it. We have plenty of NG reserves, especially right offshore and in the Arctic. The infrastructure to carry it around the country is mature. There are many advantages to running a car or truck on CNG, especially for fleets that always return to a central location for refueling during the day or overnight. It's a clean-burning fuel, and a dedicated CNG vehicle can have almost the same range as a gas or diesel-powered one. Tell us why this is interestingSelf-made billionaire and self-proclaimed energy guru T. Boone Pickens has been all over the media and ... more -
Air Force Synthetic Fuel Test Flight - Video of Biofuels in Air Force
The airforce has green jet fuel on lock down. This has a video of the flight as well folks... check it out.
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Startle Response Linked to Politics
People who startle easily in response to threatening images or loud sounds seem to have a biological predisposition to adopt conservative political positions on many hot-button issues, according to unusual new research published yesterday.
The finding suggests that people who are particularly sensitive to signals of visual or auditory threats also tend to adopt a more defensive stance on political issues, such as immigration, gun control, defense spending and patriotism. People who are less sensitive to potential threats, by contrast, seem predisposed to hold more liberal positions on those issues. People who startle easily in response to threatening images or loud sounds seem to have a biological predisposition to adopt conservat... more -
For a Global Generation, Public Health Is a Hot Field
Courses in epidemiology, public health and global health -- three subjects that were not offered by most colleges a generation ago -- are hot classes on campuses these days. Courses in epidemiology, public health and global health -- three subjects that were not offered by most colleges a generation ago -- ... more
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Swaziland's HIV/AIDS treatment crises goes critical
Shortages of antiretroviral (ARV) and other drugs in public health facilities in Swaziland have been among a long list of grievances cited by protesters during several weeks of unprecedented political unrest ahead of parliamentary polls on Friday. Shortages of antiretroviral (ARV) and other drugs in public health facilities in Swaziland have been among a long list of grievances c... more
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Programme leaves sex workers unemployed in Abidjan
If you live along the main highway linking Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire's economic hub, with Lagos in Nigeria, it is almost impossible to ignore the many AIDS awareness messages along the route, travelled by 47 million people each year. The 'Caravane pour la vie' (caravan for life), is an annual travelling HIV/AIDS awareness campaign organised by the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Project in the five countries - Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria - that the road goes through. So far, it If you live along the main highway linking Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire's economic hub, with Lagos in Nigeria, it is almost imposs... more
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Aspartame study: 67% of female rats developed visible tumors
“In my opinion, we are the rats of the pharmaceutical and chemical companies that liberally spread their synthetic chemicals worldwide, with no one fully understanding the long-term adverse effects—especially the complex interactions from injecting and intermixing thousands of toxic chemicals in the plant and animal kingdoms sustaining our planet.”
—Victoria Inness-Brown
As a citizen scientist concerned about family members addicted to diet soda, I performed a 2-1/2 year scientific study on the effects of the artificial sweetener aspartame by putting aspartame (in the form of packets of NutraSweet™) in the drinking water of 60 rats, while keeping 48 as controls. Of my 30 females on aspartame, 20 of them—or 67%—developed tumors the size of golf balls or greater. Of my 30 males on aspartame, seven—or 23%—developed visible tumors.
Here is a Link to Victoria's Website:
http://www.writerswithoutborders.net/aspartame/ “In my opinion, we are the rats of the pharmaceutical and chemical companies that liberally spread their synthetic chemicals worldwide... more -
Young girls the new bait for fishermen
A new take on an old system, known as 'jaboya' (a customer who is also a lover, in the local Luo language) in Kenya, in which female fishmongers develop sexual relationships with fishermen and middlemen in exchange for fish is now putting young girls at risk of HIV as female relatives use young girls to negotiate for better deals on their wares. A new take on an old system, known as 'jaboya' (a customer who is also a lover, in the local Luo language) in Kenya, in whic... more
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Male circumcision sparks controversy in Kenya
Kenya's circumcision rollout, due to be launched in the Nyanza area in late September, is already facing problems; according to local media, members of the Luo Council of Elders, an advisory cultural body that wields considerable influence, have threatened to disrupt the launch unless they are properly consulted. The Council of Elders are against the idea of promoting mass circumcision. Kenya's circumcision rollout, due to be launched in the Nyanza area in late September, is already facing problems; according to l... more
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