Thursday, August 4, 2005

In a speech in Texas on Wednesday, President George W. Bush discussed the trade deficit, saying:

“We had a problem in our hemisphere about trade. I don’t know if you realize it or not, but most of the goods from Central America came into this country duty-free. Yet eighty percent of our goods were taxed through tariffs in Central American countries. That didn’t seem to make sense to me; it certainly wasn’t fair. All I say to people is you treat us the way we treat you. If your goods can come into our markets duty-free, our goods ought to be able to go into your markets duty-free.”

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis International Economic Accounts Balance of Payments,

“The deficit on goods increased to $186.3 billion from $182.2 billion, as goods imports increased more than exports. More than half the increase in imports was in consumer goods. Much of the increase in exports was in industrial supplies and materials, inconsumer goods, and in capital goods.”

In the US, the DR-CAFTA (Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement, or simply CAFTA) bill passed by two votes. At present in contention is the Andean Free Trade Agreement.

“The House passed H.R. 304, to implement the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement [CAFTA], by a recorded vote of 217 ayes to 215 noes, Roll No. 443.”

The bill passed by a slight majority in both the House and Senate.

President Bush met for lunch with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at the Bush Ranch in Texas and communicated his desire for the future prosperity of a Colombia free of drug trafficking and violence.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

A 25 year old British man has been reported to have made a full recovery from the HIV virus . Andrew Stimpson did not take any drug treatments after being diagnosed with the virus in August 2002 and was found HIV negative in October 2003.

Stimpson’s two HIV tests were performed by the Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust. It has been reported that the hospital is standing by the validity of the two tests that have so far been performed. The hospital would like to perform additional tests that might reveal an explanation for the two contradictory test results. Tests used for diagnosis of HIV infection can produce false positive results. When this happens, additional testing is required in order to determine if there ever was an actual infection. Some news reports suggest that Stimpson may have had contact with someone known to be HIV-positive and that multiple HIV tests performed by a clinic all gave positive results for Stimpson before he was first tested by the Chelsea and Westminster hospital. However, Michael Hopkin of the British journal Nature, has reported that while Stimpson tested positive for antibodies to HIV in 2002, “tests done during more than two dozen visits in 2003 and 2004 proved negative for the antibodies”. This suggests that either HIV infection took an unusual course in Stimpson or the original test results indicating infection were a false positive.

Many similar cases have been reported in Africa, where the virus is widespread. Due to poor medical facilities all of these reports have been largely anecdotal—Mr Stimpson represents the first well documented case. However, until additional tests are performed it is impossible to know if the second test was a false negative. Dr. Andrew Grulich, who has a PhD in epidemiology and works at the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of New South Wales has expressed doubt that Stimpson was cured of an HIV infection. In some infected patients, HIV levels can fall to undetectably low levels until their immune system is defeated and virus levels begin to rise.

This discovery may offer a promising new window into how the virus works and furthers hopes that one day a vaccine and/or cure will be found for the disease that is carried by around 35 million people worldwide.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) has declared an area of disturbed weather north of Puerto Rico Tropical Storm Danny today, skipping the tropical depression stage.

A statement by the NHC said “a general northwestward motion with a decrease in forward speed is expected today and Thursday, with a turn toward the north-northwest expected on Friday.” This path should bring Danny near the North Carolina early this weekend, and possibly threatening the New England region by Sunday. While the storm is currently weak and disorganized, forecasters say the storm could reach Category 1 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. However, it is not expected to be as strong as the previous storm, Hurricane Bill.

The center’s most recent forecast discussion on the tropical storm said “The forecast track is roughly parallel to the U.S. East Coast…and any deviation from the track could make a large difference in what areas get impacted by Danny”.

Some residents in the northeast U.S. are already monitoring Danny. Long Island, recovering from coastal flooding just last week as Hurricane Bill passed offshore, might suffer another hit.

Danny is currently situated about 445 mi (715 km) east of Nassau, Bahamas, and has winds of 45 mph (75 km/h). It is moving west-northwest at 16 kt. All interests along the East Coast are urged to keep an eye on the developing storm over coming days.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Michael Gurian, psychologist and author of “What Could He Be Thinking?“, has claimed to identify approximately one hundred structural differences between male and female brains in a recent study. Gurian comments:

“Men, because we tend to compartmentalize our communication into a smaller part of the brain, we tend to be better at getting right to the issue, the more female brain (will) gather a lot of material, gather a lot of information, feel a lot, hear a lot, sense a lot.“

One major structural difference that Gurian has made clear is that males generally have more activity in the mechanical centers of the brain, while women have more activity in centers of the brain dedicated to verbal communication and emotion. A clear example of this is the hypothetical situation of giving a child a toy. He explains it as such:

“That doll becomes life-like to that girl, but you give it to a two-year-old boy and you are more likely, not all the time, but you are more likely than not to see that boy try to take the head off the doll. He thinks spatial-mechanical. He’s using the doll as an object.“

Another expert, Dr. Marianne Legato, says it all boils down to genetics, noting that the Y chromosome (which only males carry) has “at least 21 unique genes unique to males which control many of the body’s operations down to the level of the cells.”

Gurian agrees that culture is significant in brain development, but argues that biology plays an equally important role. He makes a point of how the MRI scans show that the female corpus callosum, the center of the brain which regulates communication between the brain’s hemispheres, is larger than the male’s. On the other hand, the scans also show that information flows more freely between the hemispheres of the male brain.

The exact role that brain structure plays in behavior, however, has been an area of considerable contention in science for literally hundreds of years. Early studies in craniometry conducted by Paul Pierre Broca were used to attempt to distinguish differences between human races, though have now been dismissed as scientific racism. The nature-nurture debate has raged for centuries in a variety of forms, without yet any clear resolution as to the role in which innate biological tendencies interact with environmental conditions or willed behavior. As such, studies relating to brain structure and claims to innate behavior often generate substantial controversy.

MIT anthropologist of science Joseph Dumit’s study of brain imaging in his book Picturing Personhood: Brain Scans and Biomedical Identity, noted that the apparent “transparency” of such pictures (the appearance that they can be easily interpreted by laymen, when they are often the source of ambiguity and dispute by even highly-trained neurosurgeons) has led to their proliferation as indicators of objective truth in media and in courts of law, and that such conclusions are often knowingly exaggerated by the specialists creating the images for better visual effect.

The timing of Gurian’s book comes on the heels of another controversy over gender differences sparked by comments made by Harvard president Lawrence Summers, who blamed low numbers of women in the sciences on genetic differences. Summers has been criticized by a large number of academics and scientists, as well as by many news publications, in the wake of what he was reported as saying during a conference on January 14.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Studies done on germs and bacteria performed by researchers at the University of Florida show that a dirty kitchen sponge can be cleaned and “sterilized” by microwaving it for 2 minutes, but researchers warn to wet the sponge first.

“People often put their sponges and scrubbers in the dishwasher, but if they really want to decontaminate them and not just clean them, they should use the microwave,” said the professor who was in charge of the study that discovered the results, Gabriel Bitton.

“Basically what we find is that we could knock out most bacteria in two minutes. The microwave is a very powerful and an inexpensive tool for sterilization,” added Bitton.

The sponges that researchers studied, were placed in “raw wastewater” and then put into a microwave to be “zapped,” according to Bitton. The wastewater was a “witch’s brew of fecal bacteria, viruses, protozoan parasites and bacterial spores, including Bacillus cereus spores,” said Bitton.

Researchers say that at least 99% of the bacteria, viruses, spores and parasites in kitchen spongees can be destroyed or “inactivated” by simply microwaving the wet sponge, on the highest power, for two minutes.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

The death toll from Wednesday’s plane crash in Taipei, Taiwan reached 40 today with the recovery of five more bodies.

There were 58 on board when TransAsia Airways Flight 235 crashed into the city’s Keelung River. Fifteen survived and three more remain missing. Tzu Chi Foundation volunteer Lee Hung Shu-ying said today cold weather meant the families of the missing believe their loved ones are dead.

The Aviation Safety Council is investigating. The plane was in the air for minutes before banking steeply, hitting an elevated road, and crashing into the river. The domestic flight from Taipei Songshan Airport was headed to the island of Kinmen.

Investigators are focusing on the ATR 72-600’s engines. One engine automatically ‘feathered’ itself. Feathering involves the turboprop’s propeller rotating its blades to reduce drag.

Engines autofeather when they fail (‘flaming out’). By reducing drag on the non-working engine, a twin turboprop plane can fly safely using only its other engine. A feathered engine will not provide any thrust. The reason for autofeathering is presently unclear; what is known is the flight crew subsequently shut off the wrong engine. A series of stall warnings went off in the cockpit as the aircraft headed to disaster.

Aviation Safety Council managing director Thomas Wang confirmed an automated “number two engine flameout” message should have alerted the crew to the engine trouble, leading them to follow “the corresponding checklist”. “There are procedures that pilots go through — safeguards — when you’re going to shut down an engine, particularly close to the ground,” said John M. Cox, former commercial pilot and boss of a safety consultant. “Why that didn’t occur here, I don’t know.”

Stephen Fredrick, a former pilot of similar aircraft, told CNN video showing the final seconds is consistent with dual flameout. He said the wings-level, nose-down position suggested gliding.

Wang, however, cautions it is too early to blame any particular factor. “At this moment we just release the numbers, the parameter we’ve confirmed, we did not release any judgment who did what at this time”. The Aviation Safety Council has teamed up with engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Canada to examine the engines.

Also being prioritised is finalising a cockpit voice recorder transcript and cockpit examination. The aircraft was near-new.

Local prosecutors are investigating potential “professional error”, and the Civil Aeronautics Administration has ordered TransAsia retest all ATR pilots. 90 flights over three days are cancelled to allow the proficiency checks. TransAsia and Uni Air have also been ordered to check their collective 22 ATRs for engine and fuel system problems.

Pilot Liao Chien-tsung and his co-pilot, not publicly identified, were initially hailed as heroes by prosecutors, mayor Ko Wen-je, international press, and at least one relative of a survivor. After declaring “Mayday Mayday, engine flameout” to air traffic control the pair grappled with their struggling plane, avoiding buildings in its path.

They have been credited with reducing the death toll. Their bodies were found in the cockpit, with leg fractures. Both were still holding the wrecked plane’s controls.