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Pollution Raises Pneumonia Deaths
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Even after potentially confounding social factors such as tobacco consumption were taken into account, pneumonia was strongly and independently linked to emissions.
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Exhaust fumes from road traffic and other types of fuel combustion are closely linked to excess deaths due to pneumonia, according to a study.
Cross-referencing three sets of data--atmospheric emissions, published causes of death and expected causes of death--in England for the period 1996-2004, George Knox of Birmingham University attributed some 4,000 extra pneumonia deaths each year to engine pollution, AFP reported.
That is the same number of people killed during the infamous weeklong London smog of December 1952, he said.
Levels of air pollution varied substantially from one local administrative region to another, with correspondingly high mortality rate linked to pneumonia, reported the study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Nearly 390,000 deaths over the eight years studied were officially attributed to pneumonia.
“Many ’pneumonia’ deaths were probably caused by direct chemical injury, as in the 1952 London smog, and thus are better regarded as ’acute respiratory distress syndrome’ or ’acute lung injury’,“ Knox concluded.
Even after potentially confounding social factors such as tobacco consumption were taken into account, pneumonia “was strongly and independently linked to emissions,“ he told AFP.
Excess death from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and rheumatic heart disease, both characterized by lung failure, could also be precipitated by engine exhaust.
While it is possible that there is a similar proportion of excess pneumonia deaths in other countries with similar levels of pollution from fossil fuel combustion, “extrapolation is impossible,“ Knox said.
“I think every country has to do its own studies of geographic distributions of pollutants and individual deaths,“ he told AFP.
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Astronauts Face Higher Cancer Risk
Astronauts who spend too long in space may age prematurely and increase their risk of developing cancer, new research has shown.
The findings by US scientists could have an impact on plans to build moon bases and send explorers to Mars.
Researchers at Georgetown University in Washington DC found that high energy particles in space, which are produced by solar flares, triggered an ’oxidative’ stress response in mice.
Their cells generated large numbers of free radicals, destructive molecules that can damage DNA, leading to cancer, Telegraph reported.
In a report presented to the Association for Cancer Research in San Diego, California, and funded by NASA, the US space agency, scientists said the damage they observed was likely to increase the risk of colon cancer in humans. They also found that the mice aged rapidly, turning their fur prematurely grey.
Dr. Kamal Datta, who led the study, said, “With plans for a mission to Mars, we need to understand more about the nature of radiation in space.“
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Carmakers Design Aging Suit
Planning for your old age? Designers in Japan are.
Carmaker Nissan Motor is using a specialized driver’s suit and goggles to simulate the bad balance, stiff joints, weaker eyesight and extra five kilograms (11lbs) that may accompany senior citizenry.
Associate chief designer Etsuhiro Watanabe says the suit’s weight and constriction help in determining functionality and accessibility within cars by putting young designers not only in the minds of the mobility-challenged, but also in their bodies, Reuters said.
“Difficulty in walking, back pains, trouble in lifting arms--we wanted to consider assorted infirmities,“ said Watanabe of the concept known as universal design.
“It’s easy to do this for the young, but we wanted to design for adverse conditions and see what modifications are needed.“
An aging suit was first used by Nissan a decade ago, while Japanese washlet maker Toto uses such suits to simulate bathroom mobility, even including tub water as part of the program.
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Skin Test
A cholesterol test that requires no more than a small sample of skin cells scraped off the palm of the hand can measure the risk of heart disease in healthy people.
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Men More Forgetful Than Women
Men are more likely than women to have problems with memory and other thinking skills, symptoms considered to be an early stage of dementia, research suggests.
The new study expands the field of research on aging and memory into a touchy arena--cognitive differences among men and women, LiveScience reported.
Forgetfulness linked with aging, or just a frenzied day, is normal. Say, you misplace your car keys or wallet, or you can’t remember where you parked the car. Red flags should pop up when you start forgetting things you normally remember, and on a routine basis, such as weekly appointments, doctors say. These are signs of so-called mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which can lead to dementia.
People with mild cognitive impairment are three to four times more likely than others to develop Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. Considered the most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s is a neurological disorder that affects your ability to think, speak, reason, remember and move.
Floating Sky-High Ads
As kids, most of us spent time laying in the grass, watching clouds roll by and imagining the shapes we could see in the fluffy white masses.
Now, according to LiveScience, one company aims to indulge those flights of fancy by actually making ’clouds’ in the shapes of, well, anything, from the Atlanta Braves’ tomahawk to Mickey Mouse’s iconic head.
These clouds are actually a mixture of soap-based foams and lighter-than-air gases such as helium, something like what you’d get if you married helium balloons with the solutions that kids use to blow bubbles from plastic wands.
The company uses re-purposed artificial snow machines to generate the floating ads and messages, dubbed Flogos. The machines can pop one Flogo out every 15 seconds, flooding the air with foamy peace signs or whatever shape a client desires. Renting the machine for a day starts out at a cost of about $2,500.
Designers use computer software to make a stencil that when placed into the snow machine, “cuts the foam in the exact right shape,“ said Flogo inventor Francisco Guerra.
Solar Bike Designed
In the future, bikes will fold, zoom around without human assistance, and generate their own power. Such are the ideas behind the first-place winning design by Taiwanese engineer Larry Chen for the 12th annual International Bicycle Design Competition held in Taipei on April 16.
Called the Sunny Day, this bike has solar panels integrated into the streamlined design that helps reduce drag when on the move--and then flip up when parked to take advantage of the sunshine, Groovygreen said.
The bike can also fold up quite easily allowing urban commuters to compliment their journey with mass transport. The idea is to create something that is largely independent from the grid, power-assisted, and easy to take with you.
Genetic Mutation Causes Tea Rose Scent
The origin of a genetic mutation loved by many rose growers has been pinpointed by scientists.
A French team has now traced the DNA change that gives the blossoms of some roses the scent of a newly opened packet of tea, hence “tea roses“, Telegraph wrote.
Tea roses are considered by many aficionados to have the most exquisite form and coloration in the world of the rose and were first introduced from China to Europe by the English in the early 19th century, then cross bred by the French to produce hardier blossoms in a range of colors, from reds and pinks to golds and oranges.
Dr. Philippe Hugueney, who studies evolution’s impact on plant metabolism at the Ecole Normale Supˇrieure de Lyon, and colleagues reported how the rose makes the characteristic scent of black tea. The smell is due to the presence of a volatile molecule called dimethoxytoluene or DMT originally present in Chinese wild rose species that was inherited in modern varieties that are derived from crosses between these Chinese roses and European species. Researches by the team have shown that the ability to efficiently produce the DMT scent molecule is due to the presence of an additional enzyme, one that evolved specifically in Chinese roses, by a small modification of an already existing enzyme.
The change in the activity of the new enzyme is due primarily to a change at a single amino acid, a single protein building block. Only when both variations of the enzyme are present, is there the tell-tale smell.
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