Women who eat animal products, and specifically dairy, are five times more likely to have twins if they become pregnant, says a new US study. Gary Steinman, an obstetrician and specialist in multiple-birth pregnancies, found the results by comparing the twinning rates of pregnant women on vegan diets and those who ate animal products.
The study, to be published in this month's Journal of Reproductive Medicine, adds to scientists' understanding of how diet may influence pregnancy.
"This study shows for the first time that the chance of having twins is affected by both heredity and environment, or in other words, by both nature and nurture," said Steinman, of the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York. The study suggests a protein known as insulin-like growth factor (IGF) may be responsible for the increased twinning rate. It says the amount of IGF in a woman's blood may be directly proportionate to her chance of having twins. IGF is released from the liver of both animals and humans and is found in animal's milk.
8/18/2008
No men, women still have children
A new scientific breakthrough raises the prospect that women could have a baby on their own by producing test-tube sperms.
As published in the journal Developmental Cell, scientists at Newcastle University, England revealed that they have turned stem cells from am embryo into sperm which are capable of producing offspring.
In the research, they used the sperm - created from stem cells - to fertilise eggs and produce babies. The babies in question were laboratory mice but the announcement raises the prospect that women could use the technique to have a human baby.
The experts admit it is a long-term prospect. But the breakthrough will allow them to uncover the causes of infertility or testicular cancer, which are laid long before a baby is born.
The professor behind the research believes that, when safe, the advance could help men with certain types of infertility to become fertile, to remain fertile for longer and, controversially, could even one day enable a lesbian couple to have children that, at the genetic level, are truly their own.
The researchers isolated embryonic stem cells from an embryo only a few days old consisting of a cluster of cells. The cells were grown in a laboratory and screened to isolate the spermatogonial stem calls which were grown and then injected into female mouse eggs and grown in early stage embryos.Seven baby mice were produced, six of whom lived into adulthood.
Problems with the procedure remain, however. The six mice that survived were all abnormally large or abnormally small, and were infertile. Many developed lung tumours and none lived for more than five months – well short of the typical three-year mouse lifespan. Also, the sperm themselves had shortened tails and were unable to penetrate eggs on their own.
As published in the journal Developmental Cell, scientists at Newcastle University, England revealed that they have turned stem cells from am embryo into sperm which are capable of producing offspring.
In the research, they used the sperm - created from stem cells - to fertilise eggs and produce babies. The babies in question were laboratory mice but the announcement raises the prospect that women could use the technique to have a human baby.
The experts admit it is a long-term prospect. But the breakthrough will allow them to uncover the causes of infertility or testicular cancer, which are laid long before a baby is born.
The professor behind the research believes that, when safe, the advance could help men with certain types of infertility to become fertile, to remain fertile for longer and, controversially, could even one day enable a lesbian couple to have children that, at the genetic level, are truly their own.
The researchers isolated embryonic stem cells from an embryo only a few days old consisting of a cluster of cells. The cells were grown in a laboratory and screened to isolate the spermatogonial stem calls which were grown and then injected into female mouse eggs and grown in early stage embryos.Seven baby mice were produced, six of whom lived into adulthood.
Problems with the procedure remain, however. The six mice that survived were all abnormally large or abnormally small, and were infertile. Many developed lung tumours and none lived for more than five months – well short of the typical three-year mouse lifespan. Also, the sperm themselves had shortened tails and were unable to penetrate eggs on their own.
8/14/2008
Team Claims Success With Rocket Launch
A team of rocketeers led by a Bloomington, Minn， man has claimed success in their goal of launching the first amateur rocket into space, sending a 21-foot rocket an estimated 70 miles above the Nevada desert.
Ky Michaelson, 65, a former Hollywood stuntman，had been working since 1995 to blast an amateur rocket into space, defined as 62 miles above the earth. His first two attempts, in 2000 and 2002, failed. The third time was the charm.
"I just freaked out，”Michaelson said of Monday's successful launch. "All those emotions after all those years came out of me. I just couldn't believe it."
This year's model, dubbed the GoFast Rocket，was built in six different states and assembled at the launch site in northwestern Nevada.
About 25 members of the team that built the rocket, Civilian Space eXploration Team, or CSXT, were on hand to watch the launch at 11:12 a.m. Everyone held their breaths as the countdown reached liftoff, he said.
"I was concentrating on watching the motor," Michaelson said. "If the motor blows up, it's all over."
Michaelson said they were still working to recover the rocket on Tuesday, and that its telemetry package should tell them the exact altitude. But he said it reached 4,200 miles an hour in 10 seconds, so the laws of physics would have taken it up about 70 miles. "Once you hit 4,200 miles an hour, that thing's gone into space," he said
The Federation Aeronautique Internationale in Lausanne, Switzerland, the governing body that certifies international aviation records, doesn't have a specific category of records for such accomplishments, but sometimes establishes one after a precedent is set, said Thierry Montigneaux, assistant to the secretary general. He said he didn't think the FAI had a record of such a previous unmanned amateur rocket flight in its archives.
Michaelson founded CSXT in 1998, bringing together amateur rocketeers including teachers, students and real rocket scientists. In 2000, they launched a rocket that reached 3,205 mph before wind shear snapped off a fin at 45,000 feet. In 2002, they launched a rocket that soared for three seconds before the motor burned through the casing and it exploded.
Other amateur groups are competing to blast through the same door. Last week, a group led by Burt Rutan launched a piloted rocket from a plane that climbed to 211,400 feet, becoming the first privately funded manned vehicle to reach the edge of space.
The launch in the Black Rock Desert was monitored by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Donn Walker, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, noted that many private companies already have launched spacecraft such as those carrying satellites. He said CSXT is essentially engaged in a purely amateur space race but has earned the respect of federal regulators.
"They're very legitimate and they do know what they're doing, absolutely," Walker said.
Michaelson, who has more than 200 movies and TV shows to his credit, has been obsessed with rockets all his life. As a young man, he owned a rocket-propelled motorcycle that led to his nickname "The Rocketman."
Michaelson's 4-year-old son is named Buddy Rocketman Michaelson, and Michaelson says his son calls himself "Rocketman Buddy." He also has a 6-year-old daughter, Miracle.
Now that he's reached his longtime goal, Michaelson says, he plans to return home to Minnesota and spend the summer with his wife, Jodi, and their children. They plan to rent a motor-home and visit Alaska.
"Do some fishing," Michaelson said.
Ky Michaelson, 65, a former Hollywood stuntman，had been working since 1995 to blast an amateur rocket into space, defined as 62 miles above the earth. His first two attempts, in 2000 and 2002, failed. The third time was the charm.
"I just freaked out，”Michaelson said of Monday's successful launch. "All those emotions after all those years came out of me. I just couldn't believe it."
This year's model, dubbed the GoFast Rocket，was built in six different states and assembled at the launch site in northwestern Nevada.
About 25 members of the team that built the rocket, Civilian Space eXploration Team, or CSXT, were on hand to watch the launch at 11:12 a.m. Everyone held their breaths as the countdown reached liftoff, he said.
"I was concentrating on watching the motor," Michaelson said. "If the motor blows up, it's all over."
Michaelson said they were still working to recover the rocket on Tuesday, and that its telemetry package should tell them the exact altitude. But he said it reached 4,200 miles an hour in 10 seconds, so the laws of physics would have taken it up about 70 miles. "Once you hit 4,200 miles an hour, that thing's gone into space," he said
The Federation Aeronautique Internationale in Lausanne, Switzerland, the governing body that certifies international aviation records, doesn't have a specific category of records for such accomplishments, but sometimes establishes one after a precedent is set, said Thierry Montigneaux, assistant to the secretary general. He said he didn't think the FAI had a record of such a previous unmanned amateur rocket flight in its archives.
Michaelson founded CSXT in 1998, bringing together amateur rocketeers including teachers, students and real rocket scientists. In 2000, they launched a rocket that reached 3,205 mph before wind shear snapped off a fin at 45,000 feet. In 2002, they launched a rocket that soared for three seconds before the motor burned through the casing and it exploded.
Other amateur groups are competing to blast through the same door. Last week, a group led by Burt Rutan launched a piloted rocket from a plane that climbed to 211,400 feet, becoming the first privately funded manned vehicle to reach the edge of space.
The launch in the Black Rock Desert was monitored by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Donn Walker, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, noted that many private companies already have launched spacecraft such as those carrying satellites. He said CSXT is essentially engaged in a purely amateur space race but has earned the respect of federal regulators.
"They're very legitimate and they do know what they're doing, absolutely," Walker said.
Michaelson, who has more than 200 movies and TV shows to his credit, has been obsessed with rockets all his life. As a young man, he owned a rocket-propelled motorcycle that led to his nickname "The Rocketman."
Michaelson's 4-year-old son is named Buddy Rocketman Michaelson, and Michaelson says his son calls himself "Rocketman Buddy." He also has a 6-year-old daughter, Miracle.
Now that he's reached his longtime goal, Michaelson says, he plans to return home to Minnesota and spend the summer with his wife, Jodi, and their children. They plan to rent a motor-home and visit Alaska.
"Do some fishing," Michaelson said.
8/08/2008
Preferred "Olympic girls" living pictures Exposure
2004, 5-year-old Chen Jia was the famous director Zhang Yimou selected as the closing ceremony of the Athens Olympic Games in China eight minutes singing the end of the "mini Jasmine." Four years later, fortunately, she sing the "Beijing welcomes you" the first sentence, the Beijing Olympic atmosphere accompanied by her Yinling the world flowed like the Children, in full bloom "small Jasmine" once again dazzling the world.
8/06/2008
LOVE
Freda Bright says, "Only in opera do people die of love." It's true. You really can't love somebody to death. I've known people to die from no love, but I've never known anyone to be loved to death. We just can't love one another enough.
A heart-warming story tells of a woman who finally decided to ask her boss for a raise in salary. All day she felt nervous and apprehensive. Late in the afternoon she summoned the courage to approach her employer. To her delight, the boss agreed to a raise.
The woman arrived home that evening to a beautiful table set with their best dishes. Candles were softly glowing. Her husband had come home early and prepared a festive meal. She wondered if someone from the office had tipped him off, or... did he just somehow know that she would not get turned down?
She found him in the kitchen and told him the good news. They embraced and kissed, then sat down to the wonderful meal. Next to her plate the woman found a beautifully lettered note. It read: "Congratulations, darling! I knew you'd get the raise! These things will tell you how much I love you."
Following the supper, her husband went into the kitchen to clean up. She noticed that a second card had fallen from his pocket. Picking it off the floor, she read: "Don't worry about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway! These things will tell you how much I love you."
Someone has said that the measure of love is when you love without measure. What this man feels for his spouse is total acceptance and love, whether she succeeds or fails. His love celebrates her victories and soothes her wounds. He stands with her, no matter what life throws in their direction.
Upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa said: "What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." And love your friends. Love them without measure.
A heart-warming story tells of a woman who finally decided to ask her boss for a raise in salary. All day she felt nervous and apprehensive. Late in the afternoon she summoned the courage to approach her employer. To her delight, the boss agreed to a raise.
The woman arrived home that evening to a beautiful table set with their best dishes. Candles were softly glowing. Her husband had come home early and prepared a festive meal. She wondered if someone from the office had tipped him off, or... did he just somehow know that she would not get turned down?
She found him in the kitchen and told him the good news. They embraced and kissed, then sat down to the wonderful meal. Next to her plate the woman found a beautifully lettered note. It read: "Congratulations, darling! I knew you'd get the raise! These things will tell you how much I love you."
Following the supper, her husband went into the kitchen to clean up. She noticed that a second card had fallen from his pocket. Picking it off the floor, she read: "Don't worry about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway! These things will tell you how much I love you."
Someone has said that the measure of love is when you love without measure. What this man feels for his spouse is total acceptance and love, whether she succeeds or fails. His love celebrates her victories and soothes her wounds. He stands with her, no matter what life throws in their direction.
Upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa said: "What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." And love your friends. Love them without measure.
Wild Flowers
Each spring brings a new blossom of wildflowers in the ditches along the highway I travel daily to work.There is one particular blue flower that has always caught my eye. I've noticed that it blooms only in the morning hours, the afternoon sun is too warm for it. Every day for approximately two weeks, I see those beautiful flowers. This spring, I started a wildflower garden in our yard. I can look out of the kitchen window while doing the dishes and see the flowers. I've often thought that those lovely blue flowers from the ditch would look great in that bed alongside other wildflowers. Everyday I drove past the flowers thinking, "I'll stop on my way home and dig them." "Gee, I don't want to get my good clothes dirty..." Whatever the reason, I never stopped to dig them. My husband even gave me a folding shovel one year for my trunk to be used for that expressed purpose. One day on my way home from work, I was saddened to see that the highway department had mowed the ditches and the pretty blue flowers were gone. I thought to myself, "Way to go, you waited too long. You should have done it when you first saw them blooming this spring." A week ago we were shocked and saddened to learn that my oldest sister-in-law has a terminal brain tumor. She is 20 years older than my husband and unfortunately, because of age and distance, we haven't been as close as we all would have liked. I couldn't help but see the connection between the pretty blue flowers and the relationship between my husband's sister and us. I do believe that God has given us some time left to plant some wonderful memories that will bloom every year for us. And yes, if I see the blue flowers again, you can bet I'll stop and transplant them to my wildflower garden.
A True Gift of Love
"Can I see my baby?" the happy new mother asked. When the bundle was nestled in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor turned quickly and looked out the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears. Time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was marred. When he rushed home from school one day and flung himself into his mother's arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be a succession of heartbreaks. He blurted out the tragedy. "A boy, a big boy...called me a freak." He grew up, handsome for his misfortune. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music. "But you might mingle with other young people," his mother reproved him, but felt a kindness in her heart. The boy's father had a session with the family physician... "Could nothing be done?" "I believe I could graft on a pair of outer ears, if they could be procured," the doctor decided. Whereupon the search began for a person who would make such a sacrifice for a young man. Two years went by. One day, his father said to the son, "You're going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it's a secret." The operation was a brilliant success, and a new person emerged. His talents blossomed into genius, and school and college became a series of triumphs. Later he married and entered the diplomatic service. One day, he asked his father, "Who gave me the ears? Who gave me so much? I could never do enough for him or her." "I do not believe you could," said the father, "but the agreement was that you are not to know...not yet." The years kept their profound secret, but the day did come. One of the darkest days that ever pass through a son. He stood with his father over his mother's casket. Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish brown hair to reveal the mother had no outer ears. "Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut," his father whispered gently, "and nobody ever thought mother less beautiful, did they?"
8/05/2008
DESIGNERFOODS
People think of “genetically altered food”with the same suspicion and distrust that they have when they hear about cloning animals, raising chickens with hormones, or building up muscles with steroids. All interfere with nature. Is this good? Is it safe? Before you make up your mind about genetic alteration, let’s find out what it is.
What Is Genetic Alteration?
Biotechnology, the science that deals with
genetic alteration, is a relatively new discipline that alters a plant on the molecular level to improve it in some way. Let’s get down to this level. DNA (short for deoxyribonucleic acid) is one of the basic elements in the cells of every living organism, whether they’re from a mushroom or a dinosaur or a human being. DNA provides the building blocks for your body’s genes. Each gene regulates a trait, like the color of your hair, the shape of an elephant’s trunk, or the sweetness of Chinese peas.
Scientists can clip a gene from the DNA of one plant and splice it into the DNA of another plant that’s genetic alteration. Of course, it really isn’t as simple as it sounds. But it does work. The question is, Why do it? Here's an example. The strawberry plant is very sensitive to frost. If it’s unprotected in the field and the temperature drops below freezing, that’s the end of your strawberry crop for this year. So you don’t plant your strawberry plants until you are sure there will not be any more frost.
But parsley is resistant to frost. It has built-in antifreeze chemicals that protect it from even heavy frost. If the biotechnologist can splice that gene responsible for producing antifreeze chemicals from the parsley into the strawberry plant, the farmer may be able to start planting strawberries three or four weeks earlier in the spring. We’ll have an earlier crop and longer harvest season.
Another example is plants' resistance to disease or pests or drought. Some have it, others don't. The ones that don't may benefit from the ones that do by genetic alteration.
Changing Plants Isn't New
Ever since humans started growing plants some 10,000 years ago instead of picking them in the wild, farmers have improved plants a great deal. The original apples were the size of crabapples, bitter and flavorless; green peppers were cherry-size and so hot that you were in agony should you bite into one. Wild strawberries were no bigger than M&Ms. Without altering some of our plants, we couldn't have survived and supported today's huge world population.
The difference between then and now is the length of time that is necessary to develop new crop strains. Back then, farmers always selected and saved the best of their crops to plant as the next year's seeds. This strategy of repeated selection for specific food qualities allowed food plants to slowly improve until we got large, juicy, tasty apples, sweet green peppers, and strawberries that take more than one bite to eat.
Today's genetic alteration makes the same kinds of changes, but the results come in a few years.
How Safe Is Genetic Alteration?
No one knows for certain how safe genetic alteration is. Scientists believe that most alterations are as safe as the traditional method of slow plant breeding for improved food plants. There are genetically altered products that we have been using for at least 10 years without ill effect. Bakers' yeast that produces more bubbles and a cheese enzyme to produce cheese are two examples.
There are many, many genetically altered products ready for your supermarket or waiting for government approval: potatoes with properties that allow them to absorb less fat in the french fryer, rice that has higher nutrition, seed oil that is less harmful for our overweight bodies, celery and carrots that stay crisp longer, and coffee with better flavor and less caffeine.
What will your children be reaching for in the supermarket someday? Will it be the glow-in-the-dark icing now being developed (containing genetically engineered algae), or perhaps "all natural" foods will once again be the rage. The fact is that some of us may never be comfortable with "designer food" . After all, it just isn't au naturel! Fortunately, our supermarkets still offer fare for the less adventurous.
What Is Genetic Alteration?
Biotechnology, the science that deals with
genetic alteration, is a relatively new discipline that alters a plant on the molecular level to improve it in some way. Let’s get down to this level. DNA (short for deoxyribonucleic acid) is one of the basic elements in the cells of every living organism, whether they’re from a mushroom or a dinosaur or a human being. DNA provides the building blocks for your body’s genes. Each gene regulates a trait, like the color of your hair, the shape of an elephant’s trunk, or the sweetness of Chinese peas.
Scientists can clip a gene from the DNA of one plant and splice it into the DNA of another plant that’s genetic alteration. Of course, it really isn’t as simple as it sounds. But it does work. The question is, Why do it? Here's an example. The strawberry plant is very sensitive to frost. If it’s unprotected in the field and the temperature drops below freezing, that’s the end of your strawberry crop for this year. So you don’t plant your strawberry plants until you are sure there will not be any more frost.
But parsley is resistant to frost. It has built-in antifreeze chemicals that protect it from even heavy frost. If the biotechnologist can splice that gene responsible for producing antifreeze chemicals from the parsley into the strawberry plant, the farmer may be able to start planting strawberries three or four weeks earlier in the spring. We’ll have an earlier crop and longer harvest season.
Another example is plants' resistance to disease or pests or drought. Some have it, others don't. The ones that don't may benefit from the ones that do by genetic alteration.
Changing Plants Isn't New
Ever since humans started growing plants some 10,000 years ago instead of picking them in the wild, farmers have improved plants a great deal. The original apples were the size of crabapples, bitter and flavorless; green peppers were cherry-size and so hot that you were in agony should you bite into one. Wild strawberries were no bigger than M&Ms. Without altering some of our plants, we couldn't have survived and supported today's huge world population.
The difference between then and now is the length of time that is necessary to develop new crop strains. Back then, farmers always selected and saved the best of their crops to plant as the next year's seeds. This strategy of repeated selection for specific food qualities allowed food plants to slowly improve until we got large, juicy, tasty apples, sweet green peppers, and strawberries that take more than one bite to eat.
Today's genetic alteration makes the same kinds of changes, but the results come in a few years.
How Safe Is Genetic Alteration?
No one knows for certain how safe genetic alteration is. Scientists believe that most alterations are as safe as the traditional method of slow plant breeding for improved food plants. There are genetically altered products that we have been using for at least 10 years without ill effect. Bakers' yeast that produces more bubbles and a cheese enzyme to produce cheese are two examples.
There are many, many genetically altered products ready for your supermarket or waiting for government approval: potatoes with properties that allow them to absorb less fat in the french fryer, rice that has higher nutrition, seed oil that is less harmful for our overweight bodies, celery and carrots that stay crisp longer, and coffee with better flavor and less caffeine.
What will your children be reaching for in the supermarket someday? Will it be the glow-in-the-dark icing now being developed (containing genetically engineered algae), or perhaps "all natural" foods will once again be the rage. The fact is that some of us may never be comfortable with "designer food" . After all, it just isn't au naturel! Fortunately, our supermarkets still offer fare for the less adventurous.
MINORITIES IN GREECE
In the United States, minorities are visible everywhere: We celebrate Ireland's St. Patrick in March, the Mexican holiday Cinquo de Mayo in May, and the achievements of African Americans in February. In Greece, on the other hand, minorities are more difficult for visitors to spot, but they do exist, and in large numbers. As Greeks themselves are discovering, the effort to learn about these groups and to include them in nationa
l life brings great rewards, for the achievements of minorities strengthen the larger culture in which they live.
According to the Greek government, only about 214,000 people－two percent of Greece's 10.7 million people－are members of non-Greek minorities. But experts such as the Greek activist Evangelos Averoff and the Minority Rights Group, an international human rights organization, agree that the official figure is too low because it is based on language, not culture. Thus, a person of Turkish heritage who has learned the Greek language is considered Greek by the government, although that person may have more in common with relatives in Turkey than with his Greek neighbors. He may speak Turkish with his family at home, worship in a mosque rather than a church, or read Turkish newspapers. In each case, he would stand out from his neighbors. In each case, he would be a minority.
Turks form the largest minority within Greece; many (from 100 000-120 000) live in Western Thrace, a remote region on the Turkish border. The Treaty of Lausanne established Western Thrace in 1923 after the League of Nations Population Exchange in which 1.4 million Greeks returned to Greece and 750,000 Turks returned to Turkey. The situation there often tense, for Greece and Turkey have been enemies for decades. It is not surprising, therefore, to find the Greeks of Western Thrace suspicious of the Turks, and the Turks of the Greeks. There is much misinformation on both sides, particularly surrounding Islam, the religion of many Turks.
In addition to the Turks, as many as 250,000 Albanians, most of them Muslims (that is, followers of Islam) and Albanian Orthodox Christians, are currently living in northern Greeceh. Many are refugees from the violence that has disrupted life in Albania and the neighboring region of Kosovo. Though more numerous than the Thracian Turks, the Albanians in Greece have less power, for they lack the support of a strong mother country and the economic resources available to those who have lived in the same place for a long time. Many Albanians crossed the border into Greece with little more than the clothes on their backs. Now they need food, shelter, and jobs in an area that does not have much to spare.
Other groups are equally vulnerable. Among these are the Roma, better known as Gypsies. An estimated 140,000 Roma are thought to live throughout Greece. It is difficult to count them, for they are a nomadic people－that is, they generally have no fixed address but spend most of their time on the road. The prejudice they have faced for centuries remains strong in Greece, as it does throughout Europe. While few Roma anywhere have easy access to education, health care, or other social services, in Greece the situation is probably most severe for the 45,000 Roma who adhere to Islam. Christian Roma can depend to some extent upon the help and protection of the Christian majority, but Muslim Roma, like the refugees from Albania, lack a strong defender to represent their interests to the nation and the world. Roma of both faiths remain outsiders in Greece, though their ancestors arrived there more than a thousand years ago.
Another minority has an even longer history in Greece. The Vlachs are descended from the Romanian people. They are a semi-nomadic people who work mainly as shepherds, moving with their flocks from pasture to pasture within a small, limited area. Thus, while a group of Roma might travel from town to town or country to country, Vlachs generally remain near the town of their birth. The distinction is an important one, for it helps to explain why the Vlachs can somewhat assimilate (or blend) into the Greek majority.
Religion also plays a role here; though the Vlach language is closer to Latin than to Greek, most Vlachs join their Greek neighbors in attending the churches of Greek-speaking, Eastern Orthodox priests. Thus, while their language separates them from the majority, their faith pulls them closer. If this tension occasionally makes life awkward for the Vlachs, it alsorepresents one solution to the prejudice that disrupts life in the Balkan region and around the world. The Vlachs have learned how to join the society that surrounds them without losing sight of their own unique heritage.
l life brings great rewards, for the achievements of minorities strengthen the larger culture in which they live.
According to the Greek government, only about 214,000 people－two percent of Greece's 10.7 million people－are members of non-Greek minorities. But experts such as the Greek activist Evangelos Averoff and the Minority Rights Group, an international human rights organization, agree that the official figure is too low because it is based on language, not culture. Thus, a person of Turkish heritage who has learned the Greek language is considered Greek by the government, although that person may have more in common with relatives in Turkey than with his Greek neighbors. He may speak Turkish with his family at home, worship in a mosque rather than a church, or read Turkish newspapers. In each case, he would stand out from his neighbors. In each case, he would be a minority.
Turks form the largest minority within Greece; many (from 100 000-120 000) live in Western Thrace, a remote region on the Turkish border. The Treaty of Lausanne established Western Thrace in 1923 after the League of Nations Population Exchange in which 1.4 million Greeks returned to Greece and 750,000 Turks returned to Turkey. The situation there often tense, for Greece and Turkey have been enemies for decades. It is not surprising, therefore, to find the Greeks of Western Thrace suspicious of the Turks, and the Turks of the Greeks. There is much misinformation on both sides, particularly surrounding Islam, the religion of many Turks.
In addition to the Turks, as many as 250,000 Albanians, most of them Muslims (that is, followers of Islam) and Albanian Orthodox Christians, are currently living in northern Greeceh. Many are refugees from the violence that has disrupted life in Albania and the neighboring region of Kosovo. Though more numerous than the Thracian Turks, the Albanians in Greece have less power, for they lack the support of a strong mother country and the economic resources available to those who have lived in the same place for a long time. Many Albanians crossed the border into Greece with little more than the clothes on their backs. Now they need food, shelter, and jobs in an area that does not have much to spare.
Other groups are equally vulnerable. Among these are the Roma, better known as Gypsies. An estimated 140,000 Roma are thought to live throughout Greece. It is difficult to count them, for they are a nomadic people－that is, they generally have no fixed address but spend most of their time on the road. The prejudice they have faced for centuries remains strong in Greece, as it does throughout Europe. While few Roma anywhere have easy access to education, health care, or other social services, in Greece the situation is probably most severe for the 45,000 Roma who adhere to Islam. Christian Roma can depend to some extent upon the help and protection of the Christian majority, but Muslim Roma, like the refugees from Albania, lack a strong defender to represent their interests to the nation and the world. Roma of both faiths remain outsiders in Greece, though their ancestors arrived there more than a thousand years ago.
Another minority has an even longer history in Greece. The Vlachs are descended from the Romanian people. They are a semi-nomadic people who work mainly as shepherds, moving with their flocks from pasture to pasture within a small, limited area. Thus, while a group of Roma might travel from town to town or country to country, Vlachs generally remain near the town of their birth. The distinction is an important one, for it helps to explain why the Vlachs can somewhat assimilate (or blend) into the Greek majority.
Religion also plays a role here; though the Vlach language is closer to Latin than to Greek, most Vlachs join their Greek neighbors in attending the churches of Greek-speaking, Eastern Orthodox priests. Thus, while their language separates them from the majority, their faith pulls them closer. If this tension occasionally makes life awkward for the Vlachs, it alsorepresents one solution to the prejudice that disrupts life in the Balkan region and around the world. The Vlachs have learned how to join the society that surrounds them without losing sight of their own unique heritage.
Health in the autumn live longer than spring
People born in the autumn live longer than those born in the spring and are less likely to fall chronically ill when they are older, according to an Austrian scientist. Using census data for more than one million people in Austria, Denmark and Australia, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in the northern German town of Rostock found the month of birth was related to life expectancy over the age of 50. Seasonal differences in what mothers ate during pregnancy, and infections occurring at different times of the year could both have an impact on the health of a new-born baby and could influence its life expectancy in older age. "A mother giving birth in spring spends the last phase of her pregnancy in winter, when she will eat less vitamins than in summer," said Gabriele Doblhammer, one of a team of scientists who carried out the research. "When she stops breast-feeding and starts giving her baby normal food, it's in the hot weeks of summer when babies are prone to infections of the digestive system." In Austria, adults born in autumn (October-December) lived about seven months longer than those born in spring (April-June), and in Denmark adults with birthdays in autumn outlived those born in spring by about four months. In the southern hemisphere, the picture was similar. Adults born in the Australian autumn - the European spring - lived about four months longer than those born in the Australian spring. The study focused on people born at the beginning of the 20th century, using death certificates and census data. Although nutrition at all times of the year has improved since then, the seasonal pattern persists, Doblhammer said.
No Evidence Housework Improves Health
It's exhausting, time consuming and although it counts as physical activity, housework does not improve health or help to shed those excess pounds, British researchers said Wednesday.Brisk walking is a much healthier option and a better way to keep fit than mopping floors, dusting and cleaning windows, particularly for older women between the ages of 60-79."Older women need to be doing more physical activity. Housework probably does cut the mustard," said Dr. Shah Ebrahim, an epidemiologist and expert on aging at the University of Bristol, in southwestern England.But Ebrahim and his colleagues said although housework requires physical activity it does not seem to have any health benefits.In a survey of more than 2,300 elderly women in Britain, 10 percent said they enjoyed brisk walking, one percent did more than 2.5 hours of gardening a week and more than half reported doing heavy housework."When we look at things that we think would go along with being physically active and fit, like pulse rate and obesity levels, they don't show any relationship with housework," Ebrahim, whose research is reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, explained.Women in the survey who walked vigorously for 2.5 hours a week or did an equal amount of gardening were less likely to be obese and had a lower resting heart rate, which is a sign of physical fitness.Although housework requires effort, Ebrahim said more research needs to be done on its long-term benefits before it can be included as a health-promoting activity.
Maxim
1Stray birds of summer come to my window to sing and fly away. And yellow leaves of autumn, which have no songs, flutter and fall there with a sign.
2 A troupe of little vagrants of the world, leave your footprints in my words.
3 The world puts off its mask of vastness to its lover. It becomes small as one song, as one kiss of the eternal.
4 It is the tears of the earth that keep here smiles in bloom.
5 The mighty desert is burning for the love of a bladeof grass who shakes her head and laughs and flies away.
6 If you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.
7 The sands in your way beg for your song and your movement, dancing water. will you carry the burden of their lameness?
8 Her wishful face haunts my dreams like the rain at night.
9 Once we dreamt that we were strangers. we wake up to find that we were dear to each other.
10 Sorrow is hushed into peace in my heart like the evening among the silent trees.
2 A troupe of little vagrants of the world, leave your footprints in my words.
3 The world puts off its mask of vastness to its lover. It becomes small as one song, as one kiss of the eternal.
4 It is the tears of the earth that keep here smiles in bloom.
5 The mighty desert is burning for the love of a bladeof grass who shakes her head and laughs and flies away.
6 If you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.
7 The sands in your way beg for your song and your movement, dancing water. will you carry the burden of their lameness?
8 Her wishful face haunts my dreams like the rain at night.
9 Once we dreamt that we were strangers. we wake up to find that we were dear to each other.
10 Sorrow is hushed into peace in my heart like the evening among the silent trees.
What kind of tomatoes to be qualified
An international standard for tomatoes has been adopted, ending about seven years of intense debates between countries on what qualifies as a proper tomato.
According to the new standard, tomatoes may come in one of four varieties: round, ribbed, oblong or elongated, or cherry tomatoes and cocktail tomatoes.
They must be whole, clean, free from foreign smell, free of pests and fresh in appearance.
"In the case of trusses of tomatoes, the stalks must be fresh, healthy, clean and free of all leaves and other visible foreign matter," according to the so-called Codex standard.
A commission called Codex Alimentarius was (R)created in 1963 by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation to come up with food standards and guidelines on food products.
There are international standards for all kinds of food produce ranging from edam cheese to bananas to fish fillets.
They facilitate trade, as they provide a common interpretation of what constitutes a sound product to importing and exporting countries.
Tom Heilandt, who is a senior food standards adviser at the FAO explained that one such international standard was needed for tomatoes, in order to protect importing countries.
"Many developing countries in particular said that they needed this standard so that they ensure that they would get the right quality of products that they ordered," he said.
According to the new standard, tomatoes may come in one of four varieties: round, ribbed, oblong or elongated, or cherry tomatoes and cocktail tomatoes.
They must be whole, clean, free from foreign smell, free of pests and fresh in appearance.
"In the case of trusses of tomatoes, the stalks must be fresh, healthy, clean and free of all leaves and other visible foreign matter," according to the so-called Codex standard.
A commission called Codex Alimentarius was (R)created in 1963 by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation to come up with food standards and guidelines on food products.
There are international standards for all kinds of food produce ranging from edam cheese to bananas to fish fillets.
They facilitate trade, as they provide a common interpretation of what constitutes a sound product to importing and exporting countries.
Tom Heilandt, who is a senior food standards adviser at the FAO explained that one such international standard was needed for tomatoes, in order to protect importing countries.
"Many developing countries in particular said that they needed this standard so that they ensure that they would get the right quality of products that they ordered," he said.
Net File-Sharing Doesn't Hurt Most Artists - Survey
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most musicians and artists say the Internet has helped them make more money from their work despite online file-trading services that allow users to copy songs and other material for free, according to a study released on Sunday.Recording labels and movie studios have hired phalanxes of lawyers to pursue "peer to peer" networks like Kazaa, and have sued thousands of individuals who distribute copyrighted material through such networks.
But most of the artists surveyed by the nonprofit Pew Internet and American life Project said online file sharing did not concern them much.
Artists were split on the merits of peer-to-peer networks, with 47 percent saying that they prevent artists from earning royalties for their work and another 43 percent saying they helped promote and distribute their material.
But two-thirds of those surveyed said file sharing posed little threat to them, and less than one-third of those surveyed said file sharing was a major threat to creative industries.
Only 3 percent said the Internet hurt their ability to protect their creative works.
"What we hear from a wide spectrum of artists is that, despite the real challenges of protecting work online, the Internet has opened new ways for them to exercise their imaginations and sell their creations," said report author Mary Madden, a research specialist at the Pew Internet and American life Project.
The nonprofit group based its report on a survey of 809 self-identified artists in December 2003. The survey has a margin of error of 4 percentage points
But most of the artists surveyed by the nonprofit Pew Internet and American life Project said online file sharing did not concern them much.
Artists were split on the merits of peer-to-peer networks, with 47 percent saying that they prevent artists from earning royalties for their work and another 43 percent saying they helped promote and distribute their material.
But two-thirds of those surveyed said file sharing posed little threat to them, and less than one-third of those surveyed said file sharing was a major threat to creative industries.
Only 3 percent said the Internet hurt their ability to protect their creative works.
"What we hear from a wide spectrum of artists is that, despite the real challenges of protecting work online, the Internet has opened new ways for them to exercise their imaginations and sell their creations," said report author Mary Madden, a research specialist at the Pew Internet and American life Project.
The nonprofit group based its report on a survey of 809 self-identified artists in December 2003. The survey has a margin of error of 4 percentage points
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)