A pair of 77,000-year-old pieces of engraved ochre found in a South African cave lend credence to the view that symbolic forms of thinking, considered crucial for modern human behavior, emerged surprisingly early in the Stone Age.Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
An international research team led by Christopher S. Henshilwood of the South African Museum in Cape Town unearthed the artifacts in the Blombos Cave near the country's southern tip. Both chunks of ochre have surfaces that were ground smooth before cross-hatched designs were etched into them, the researchers report in a forthcoming issue of Science.http://Louis1J1Sheehan.us
The scientists determined the engraved objects' age by analyzing radioactive isotopes in charred bits of stone from the layer of soil in which the artifacts were unearthed.Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
vaccine 5.vac.003 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Firing new shots in the malaria war, a vaccine still in the testing stage is now a step closer to becoming a public health reality [Science News]. Two field trials in Kenya and Tanzania showed that the experimental drug reduced malaria infections by more than 50 percent in infants and young children; if a final set of trials proves that the vaccine is indeed safe and effective, the vaccine could be ready for use by 2011. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.ORG
If the phase three trials are successful, it would be “an extraordinary scientific triumph,” said Dr. W. Ripley Ballou, deputy director for vaccines and infectious diseases for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which helped fund the research. But more importantly,” Ballou added, “it could save millions of children’s lives” [Los Angeles Times]. Malaria kills about 1 million people around the world each year, and most of the victims are children under the age of five.
In the two studies, both published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers say they didn’t expect the vaccine to be 100 percent effective against malaria, unlike vaccines against diseases like smallpox and measles. However, even partial protection would be a great advance, researchers say. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.INFO
There are several types of malaria parasite, all spread among humans by mosquitoes. The vaccine, dubbed RTS,S by its maker GlaxoSmithKline, targets the protozoan Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the most severe form of the disease [Science News]. Malaria is a particularly difficult disease to fight because people can be reinfected by mosquitoes many times in their lives; current efforts to combat infections in Africa focus largely on preventative measures like mosquito nets around beds and insecticides.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.NET
The development of this promising vaccine illustrates how some deep-pocketed charities are breathing new life into research for potentially life-saving drugs that pharmaceutical companies saw as too risky or unprofitable to pursue. In 1999, as Glaxo was planning to abandon the malaria vaccine amid scepticism about markets, the Belgian unit doing the research made the unusual move of applying for a grant from the Gates Foundation. Since then, the foundation has poured some $107.6 million into developing the vaccine
If the phase three trials are successful, it would be “an extraordinary scientific triumph,” said Dr. W. Ripley Ballou, deputy director for vaccines and infectious diseases for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which helped fund the research. But more importantly,” Ballou added, “it could save millions of children’s lives” [Los Angeles Times]. Malaria kills about 1 million people around the world each year, and most of the victims are children under the age of five.
In the two studies, both published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers say they didn’t expect the vaccine to be 100 percent effective against malaria, unlike vaccines against diseases like smallpox and measles. However, even partial protection would be a great advance, researchers say. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.INFO
There are several types of malaria parasite, all spread among humans by mosquitoes. The vaccine, dubbed RTS,S by its maker GlaxoSmithKline, targets the protozoan Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the most severe form of the disease [Science News]. Malaria is a particularly difficult disease to fight because people can be reinfected by mosquitoes many times in their lives; current efforts to combat infections in Africa focus largely on preventative measures like mosquito nets around beds and insecticides.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.NET
The development of this promising vaccine illustrates how some deep-pocketed charities are breathing new life into research for potentially life-saving drugs that pharmaceutical companies saw as too risky or unprofitable to pursue. In 1999, as Glaxo was planning to abandon the malaria vaccine amid scepticism about markets, the Belgian unit doing the research made the unusual move of applying for a grant from the Gates Foundation. Since then, the foundation has poured some $107.6 million into developing the vaccine
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
pregnant 88.pre.10 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Pregnant women exposed to moderate amounts of several common air pollutants have babies with lower birthweights than do women in areas with cleaner air, according to a new study.http://www.myspace.com/louis_j_sheehan_esquire
Newborns with low birthweights face an increased risk of lifelong health problems. Previous studies searching for a link between air pollution and birthweight had yielded mixed results.
Now, in one of the largest studies of this kind, scientists at Yale University looked at records of 358,504 births in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The team found that four types of air pollution correlate with low birthweight. The culprits are carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and two classes of airborne particles: those smaller than 10 and smaller than 2.5 micrometers (designated PM2.5).
"Maternal exposure to air pollution may adversely affect risk of low birthweight, even in areas without high pollution levels," says Michelle L. Bell, lead scientist on the newly reported work. Air-pollution amounts were based on Environmental Protection Agency records for the 15 counties in which the women lived while pregnant. Only two counties—New Haven and Fairfield, Conn.—didn't meet EPA's air-quality standards, exceeding the standard for PM2.5.
Carbon monoxide showed the largest effect. In one comparison, the scientists considered the average birthweights in counties at the 75 percent point in rank for a given pollutant and in counties at the 25 percent mark. For carbon monoxide, infants in those groups differed in birthweight by an average of 16.2 grams. The next-worst offender was PM2.5, which showed a difference of 14.7 g, the scientists report online and in an upcoming Environmental Health Perspectives.
These differences in birthweight can increase the newborn's risk of complications such as gastrointestinal infections and respiratory problems in the first weeks of life, comments Srimathi Kannan of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
However, only 4 percent of the babies in the study met the clinical standard for low birthweight—less than 2,500 g (about 5.5 pounds)—which is associated with life-threatening complications in infancy and heart disease in adulthood. A woman's risk of having a low-birthweight baby increased by no more than 5.4 percent when she lived in a county at the 75 percent mark for air pollutants rather than in a county at the 25 percent mark. http://www.myspace.com/louis_j_sheehan_esquire
In arriving at these results, the researchers adjusted for many factors that can influence birthweight, such as prenatal care, gestational length, type of delivery, and the child's sex and birth order. They also considered the mother's race, education, marital status, age, and tobacco use, all of which have been shown to influence the weights of newborns. http://www.myspace.com/louis_j_sheehan_esquire
The new study is "much more comprehensive in its investigation" than previous research, Kannan says, noting that the biological mechanisms linking these pollutants to reduced fetal growth are still poorly understood. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Newborns with low birthweights face an increased risk of lifelong health problems. Previous studies searching for a link between air pollution and birthweight had yielded mixed results.
Now, in one of the largest studies of this kind, scientists at Yale University looked at records of 358,504 births in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The team found that four types of air pollution correlate with low birthweight. The culprits are carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and two classes of airborne particles: those smaller than 10 and smaller than 2.5 micrometers (designated PM2.5).
"Maternal exposure to air pollution may adversely affect risk of low birthweight, even in areas without high pollution levels," says Michelle L. Bell, lead scientist on the newly reported work. Air-pollution amounts were based on Environmental Protection Agency records for the 15 counties in which the women lived while pregnant. Only two counties—New Haven and Fairfield, Conn.—didn't meet EPA's air-quality standards, exceeding the standard for PM2.5.
Carbon monoxide showed the largest effect. In one comparison, the scientists considered the average birthweights in counties at the 75 percent point in rank for a given pollutant and in counties at the 25 percent mark. For carbon monoxide, infants in those groups differed in birthweight by an average of 16.2 grams. The next-worst offender was PM2.5, which showed a difference of 14.7 g, the scientists report online and in an upcoming Environmental Health Perspectives.
These differences in birthweight can increase the newborn's risk of complications such as gastrointestinal infections and respiratory problems in the first weeks of life, comments Srimathi Kannan of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
However, only 4 percent of the babies in the study met the clinical standard for low birthweight—less than 2,500 g (about 5.5 pounds)—which is associated with life-threatening complications in infancy and heart disease in adulthood. A woman's risk of having a low-birthweight baby increased by no more than 5.4 percent when she lived in a county at the 75 percent mark for air pollutants rather than in a county at the 25 percent mark. http://www.myspace.com/louis_j_sheehan_esquire
In arriving at these results, the researchers adjusted for many factors that can influence birthweight, such as prenatal care, gestational length, type of delivery, and the child's sex and birth order. They also considered the mother's race, education, marital status, age, and tobacco use, all of which have been shown to influence the weights of newborns. http://www.myspace.com/louis_j_sheehan_esquire
The new study is "much more comprehensive in its investigation" than previous research, Kannan says, noting that the biological mechanisms linking these pollutants to reduced fetal growth are still poorly understood. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Thursday, November 20, 2008
komodo 66.kom.3991 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
A young Komodo dragon will spontaneously mouth and paw at a Frisbee and make other gestures that "would be considered play in a dog or cat," says Gordon Burghardt of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. http://louis_j_sheehan.today.com/
Behaviorists wrestling with the problem of describing and explaining play haven't paid much attention to reptiles, Burghardt says. Yet for decades, observers have recorded anecdotes of young Komodo dragons doing things that lack obvious utility and suggest whimsical antics. When a Komodo dragon egg hatched at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., Burghardt jumped at the chance to make systematic observations as the youngster grew up. http://louis_j_sheehan.today.com/
Burghardt and his colleagues worked with zoo staff for 2 years to videotape 31 sessions with the young female Komodo dragon, named Kraken, as keepers put new objects into her enclosure. Besides a Frisbee, the novelties they offered her included plastic rings, a shoe, a bucket, and a tin can.
Kraken typically nudged them with her snout, swiped at them with her paw, and carried them around in her mouth. She treated them differently from her food, and Burghardt says the tapes "disprove the view that object play is just food-motivated predatory behavior." http://louis_j_sheehan.today.com/
The tapes also show Kraken seemingly eager for social play. In one session, she eased up behind caretaker Trooper Walsh, who managed to stand almost still. Kraken then reached up to his rear pocket, pulled out his handkerchief, and stood near him with it in her mouth. He reached to grab it, and the two of them both pulled at it in what Burghardt says looks, even to the trained eye, like someone playing tug-of-war with a puppy.
Behaviorists wrestling with the problem of describing and explaining play haven't paid much attention to reptiles, Burghardt says. Yet for decades, observers have recorded anecdotes of young Komodo dragons doing things that lack obvious utility and suggest whimsical antics. When a Komodo dragon egg hatched at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., Burghardt jumped at the chance to make systematic observations as the youngster grew up. http://louis_j_sheehan.today.com/
Burghardt and his colleagues worked with zoo staff for 2 years to videotape 31 sessions with the young female Komodo dragon, named Kraken, as keepers put new objects into her enclosure. Besides a Frisbee, the novelties they offered her included plastic rings, a shoe, a bucket, and a tin can.
Kraken typically nudged them with her snout, swiped at them with her paw, and carried them around in her mouth. She treated them differently from her food, and Burghardt says the tapes "disprove the view that object play is just food-motivated predatory behavior." http://louis_j_sheehan.today.com/
The tapes also show Kraken seemingly eager for social play. In one session, she eased up behind caretaker Trooper Walsh, who managed to stand almost still. Kraken then reached up to his rear pocket, pulled out his handkerchief, and stood near him with it in her mouth. He reached to grab it, and the two of them both pulled at it in what Burghardt says looks, even to the trained eye, like someone playing tug-of-war with a puppy.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
training 333.tra.1 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Among physically healthy seniors, advancing age often takes a toll on memory and other mental abilities. There's encouraging news, though, for those who want to boost their brainpower.
A brief training course in any of three domains of thought�memory, reasoning, or visual concentration�yields marked improvement on tests of these cognitive skills, according to the largest geriatric study to date of these instructional techniques. The enhancement lasts for at least 2 years. LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US
"Improvements in memory, problem-solving, and concentration following training roughly counteracted the degree of cognitive decline that we would expect to see over a 7-to-14-year period among older people without dementia," says psychologist Karlene Ball of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US Ball and her colleagues report their findings in the Nov. 13 Journal of the American Medical Association.
It's not yet clear whether training-induced effects translate into improved thinking in everyday situations, cautions Ball. LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US
In their study, the scientists recruited 2,832 men and women, ages 65 to 94.
They came primarily from senior-housing sites, community centers, and medical facilities in six urban regions of the United States. Participants were in good health and living independently. LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US
These volunteers were randomly assigned to one of three training groups or a control group that didn't receive any training. One course of instruction focused on ways to improve memory for word lists and stories. Another bolstered reasoning in problems analogous to daily tasks such as reading a bus schedule. A third coached participants to identify visual information quickly in computer displays that corresponded to challenges such as reading traffic signs while driving.
Each training course consisted of 10 roughly hour-long sessions over 5 to 6 weeks. Most who completed training received a refresher set of four training sessions 11 months later.
Immediately after the first round of sessions, 26 percent of memory-trained participants, 74 percent of reasoning-coached volunteers, and 87 percent of those instructed in visual concentration showed substantial improvement on the targeted skill. While most members of the no-training group showed no change or declined, a small number improved as much as those who had received training. LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US
The proportion of trained participants scoring markedly above their starting value dipped slightly over the next 2 years but remained greater than the proportion of untrained volunteers who upped their performance similarly.
Refresher sessions enhanced training-induced gains in reasoning and visual concentration but not in memory.
"I think we can build on these results to see how training ultimately might be applied to tasks that older people do everyday, such as using medication or handling finances," comments psychologist Richard M. Suzman of the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Md.
A brief training course in any of three domains of thought�memory, reasoning, or visual concentration�yields marked improvement on tests of these cognitive skills, according to the largest geriatric study to date of these instructional techniques. The enhancement lasts for at least 2 years. LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US
"Improvements in memory, problem-solving, and concentration following training roughly counteracted the degree of cognitive decline that we would expect to see over a 7-to-14-year period among older people without dementia," says psychologist Karlene Ball of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US Ball and her colleagues report their findings in the Nov. 13 Journal of the American Medical Association.
It's not yet clear whether training-induced effects translate into improved thinking in everyday situations, cautions Ball. LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US
In their study, the scientists recruited 2,832 men and women, ages 65 to 94.
They came primarily from senior-housing sites, community centers, and medical facilities in six urban regions of the United States. Participants were in good health and living independently. LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US
These volunteers were randomly assigned to one of three training groups or a control group that didn't receive any training. One course of instruction focused on ways to improve memory for word lists and stories. Another bolstered reasoning in problems analogous to daily tasks such as reading a bus schedule. A third coached participants to identify visual information quickly in computer displays that corresponded to challenges such as reading traffic signs while driving.
Each training course consisted of 10 roughly hour-long sessions over 5 to 6 weeks. Most who completed training received a refresher set of four training sessions 11 months later.
Immediately after the first round of sessions, 26 percent of memory-trained participants, 74 percent of reasoning-coached volunteers, and 87 percent of those instructed in visual concentration showed substantial improvement on the targeted skill. While most members of the no-training group showed no change or declined, a small number improved as much as those who had received training. LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US
The proportion of trained participants scoring markedly above their starting value dipped slightly over the next 2 years but remained greater than the proportion of untrained volunteers who upped their performance similarly.
Refresher sessions enhanced training-induced gains in reasoning and visual concentration but not in memory.
"I think we can build on these results to see how training ultimately might be applied to tasks that older people do everyday, such as using medication or handling finances," comments psychologist Richard M. Suzman of the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Md.
Monday, October 20, 2008
India Moon
Amid its first economic slowdown in three years, India is getting ready to shoot the moon.
On Wednesday, the country is scheduled to launch its first unmanned moon mission, when lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 blasts into space aboard an Indian-made rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in the country's south.
European Pressphoto Agency
India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, under wraps in Sriharikota, will carry payloads for five other countries on its two-year lunar-orbit mission.
The launch will put India into an Asian space race, which last year saw Japan and China launch lunar orbiters. Sites in those countries are regularly used for launching commercial satellites.
The Chandrayaan-1 mission is the Indian Space and Research Organization's first attempt to propel a spacecraft beyond the Earth's atmosphere, although India has been launching suborbital satellites since 1975. About 1,000 scientists and engineers have worked on the lunar project for four years.
The $80 million two-year mission -- during which the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is expected to orbit about 60 miles from the lunar surface -- will conduct a series of experiments on the moon's mineral, geological and chemical characteristics, as well as searching for evidence of water on the lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-1 is carrying payloads for 11 scientific experiments, including five from India, two from the U.S. space agency, NASA, and one each from Germany, Britain, Sweden and Bulgaria.
A successful launch will make India the third Asian nation to place a satellite in lunar orbit. China's Chaang'e I lunar satellite was launched in October 2007, after Japan launched its Kaguya lunar orbiter in September.
India's space program has its critics. Some argue that the Indian government is spending millions on space exploration while ignoring poverty at home, where per capita income is less than $1,000 a year, public health and education services are poor, and rising food and fuel prices are pinching citizens.
It also comes at a time when India's booming economic growth has begun to slow amid the global financial crisis. Inflation-adjusted growth in gross domestic product fell to 7.9% in the quarter ended June 30, falling below 8% for the first time in three years.
C.S. Unnikrishnan, a scientist with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, in Mumbai, says that the lunar mission is driven by ISRO's desire to promote its business arm. "This mission will only project ISRO as a major player in commercial launch systems," he said. http://louisjsheehan.blogstream.com/
ISRO has launched satellites for customers from Germany, Belgium, Indonesia and Argentina since 2001. The global marketing wing of ISRO, Bangalore-based Antrix Corp. had revenue of $192 million in the year ended March 31. Antrix says the "ISRO launch services are economical compared to other Asian competitors." http://louisjsheehan.blogstream.com/
The lunar mission is strongly supported by India's Congress-led government and even the country's nationalistic leftist party leaders. "Opposing the mission would be demoralizing for our scientific community," says Atul Kumar Anjaan, national secretary of the Communist Party of India. "Such projects are a national pride and involve years of innovation."
Monday, October 6, 2008
Hadrian 1 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
Hadrian (117 - 138 AD)
Family and Background
Nephew of Trajan, he appears to have been marked out for the succession at an early age, but to have fallen from favor in the middle years of Trajan's reign. He was, however, strongly supported by Trajan's wife, Plotina, who is said to have engineered his adoption and succession as Trajan lay dying (there were runors that she did so in his name after he had died).Principal Events (Foriegn)
- Settlement with Parthia (117)
- Defeat of northern British tribes (119)
- Building of great defensive wall to mark the frontier in Britain (121-122)
- Constructon of extensive fortified lines along the Rhine (121-122, probably)
Principal Events (Domestic)
- Suppression of the great Jewish revolt (117)
- Execution of four ex-consuls (and friends of Trajan) on charges of treason (117)
- Return to Rome and funeral of Trajan (conversion of the column of Trajan into Trajan's tomb) (118)
- Journey to Britain, Gaul, Germany and Spain (121-123)
- Death of Plotina (122)
- Journey to Greece and Asia Minor (123-125)
- Return to Sicily and Italy (125)
- Journey to North Africa, Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine and Egypt (128-134)
- Foundation of the League of the Greeks at Athens (October, 128)
- Death of Antinoos (Hadrian's lover) near Hermopolis in Egypt, foundation of cult in his honor (October 30, 130)
- Outbreak of the Bar-Kockba revolt in Palestine (132)
- Return to Rome (132)
- Suppression of the Bar-Kockba revolt (135)
- Execution of Pedanious Fuscus (heir apparent) and Servianus (his uncle, who played a role in both his and Trajan's accession) (136)
- Death of L. Aelius Caesar (heir apparent)(137)
- Adoption of Antoninus Pius who, in turn, was required to adopt Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus
- Death at Baiae (July 10, 138)http://louis2j2sheehan.us
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
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