5 degree C ...so the nice fire place is a welcome. This is a railway station dinning place...classic and rated by us...best with 5 stars ( no 6 stars) 

plum flowers . Bees will visit soon when the real spring time is around in a few days time( 5 degree C at that morning when I took the photo ) 

plum flowers. the sour or salted or sweet-treated plum is one of the best food in our memory. This is the best blossom I have seen ( even better than plum flowers from China area) 

plum flower. The fertile soil also produce healthy plants with lots of flowers and possible lots of fruits. Not far away from this orchard is the site where whales stay the whole year round. why the whales like this place? the answer is plenty of food and favorable climate 

huge sheep around Kaikoura 

fat seal with itchy skin? the area is rich of all types of living things. the place where warm and cold sea surrent meet and the deep sea support the unique envireonment 

the back ground snow peak is the southern Alps 

seal few feet from observer singing for attention 

seagulls gliding happily near the whale's seaside 

migrating ducks looking for food near the sea side where whales used to roam around 

whale breathing with lots of vapour 

the shale watching ship is about the size of a young whale. the captains seat is equiped with a hydrolic cushion shifting 60 cm up and down to absorb the impact of the rough sea. All participants also enjoy wonderful soft seats 

well equiped with protective clothing for whale watch 

the deep sea canyon at south Pacific is3,000 to7,000 meters deep. Ideal for full range of marine life forms 

whale ....only less than 10 % of the whale is above the the water, so we approached the whale slowly. It is a gentle animal and almost never hit any ship. Kimberley took the best shot of the whlae before it dived to the deep ocean. oh yes..we are very lucky. We saw 5 whales within one hour period. Usually the average ' successful trip' saw an average of 2 whales.( not counting the complete failure trip)..The food chain around the deep sea where the warm current and cold sea current meet is the best feeding area of whale and other animals. Albatross, for example, was around us..oh it is really a great experience to watch the gliding flight of the great bird. First time in my life to watch Albatross flying in natural environment and also 'sit' float in the sea. Like riding a horse, the bird is sitting straight, head up, chest up 

The tail of this sperm whale 30 feet wide. We approached from the tail since 'Rada' of the whlae is at the head and very sensitive. We didnot want the noisy speed boat engine to hurt the whale. This whale is bigger than Boeing 737. Oh yes..it stayed at the surface of the sea for about 5 minutes. We watched it and wondered how this lovely creature, huge and gentle, could grow to such a huge size. 

Whale

Hi my friend,

I went to watch whale, the biggest animal ever exist. It is bigger than any known animal on earth.
For the last 10 days, I accumulated many photographs related to whale, environment situation. Some related to legend of civilization, human migration, birds habitats, and

all these, some how is related to the environment of our world ( earth) and related to our sickness prevention and Health promotion objectives.

Wishing you and me good health and live to very very old age

Best wishes from Dr. Chong

Scottish scientists grow human brain cells in world first

HUMAN brain cells have been grown artificially in the laboratory in a world first for Scottish scientists.

A team at Edinburgh University managed to turn embryonic stem cells into stable nerve stem cells used in the brain by adding a cocktail of chemicals.

Epilepsy

Star-shaped brain cells often dismissed by New York scientists as being mere support cells might actually play a key role in the development of epilepsy.

University of Rochester Medical Center researchers say it's one of the first times scientists have produced firm evidence implicating the cells, known as astrocytes, in a common human disease.

Pacific Coast Ecosystems Return to Normal

SAN FRANCISCO -- The northerly winds that sustain the Pacific Coast's marine ecosystems have returned, but their arrival came too late for fish and birds that couldn't survive the unseasonably warm waters.

Coastal ecosystems rely on winds blowing south to push warmer surface waters away from shore and bring up colder water from the ocean bottom. That upwelling of nutrient-rich water feeds massive blooms of plankton -- the tiny plant-like organisms that form the basis of the marine food web.

The winds usually start blowing in March or April, but when they didn't arrive this spring, researchers saw the effects up and down the coast -- higher ocean temperatures near the shore, very little plankton, a drop in groundfish catches and a spike in dead seabirds on beaches.

中美大国气质的异同

大国气质，即包括了成为真正世界大国的一些必要条件，当然也有由于文化、民族、历史、地理等因素所造就的某些独特特征。

　　一个大国，除了要拥有相当的人口，国土，自然资源等“天然基因”外，人文资历更为重要。

　　最重要的一条（不知为什么往往被某些人所忽视），即一个真正的世界大国首先必须是独立自主的，这主要指拥有政治，经济，科技，军事，外交，教育等核心领域的完全自主权和主动权。

　　一个政治上受他国操纵左右，军事上靠他人驻军保护，经济上过分倚仗外来资源和支持的国家，绝不可能是真正意义上的世界大国，也会为真正大国所怠慢耻笑。

深沉厚重的责任感和号召力

　 　据历史记载，55年前朝鲜战争初期，美国没有把中国政府的多次严正警告当回事，甚至在与中国人民志愿军首次交战后仍有些满不在乎，这自然是缘自近现代以 来美国对落后孱弱中国的习惯性蔑视。但还有一个很重要的因素，即当时美国政府一直认为刚刚诞生的新中国，只不过是苏联的一个“卫星国”而已。

　　于是美国政府的策略，是只要稳住苏联，抓住斯大林不愿不敢与美国冲突的“软肋”不放，那也就是等于制服控制住了中国，就不用担心中国会大规模“抗美援朝”。

　　但实际结果却同时大为出乎美国和苏联政府的意料。正是从55年前那场充满冰与火的考验中，历史目睹了一个古老而又年轻的大国，又重新屹立在世界的东方。

　　再者，作为一个真正的世界大国，光靠财大气粗还不够，除了有钱，还必须有力，但又不是滥用实力，颐气指使，而是善于把自己的实力，转化成一种深沉厚重的责任感和号召力。

　　只有钱没有力，那就像一个不中用的花花公子；有点钱就四处惹祸，那是土豪恶霸的作风。由于文化性格中内向与外向型的不同，中国面临的问题是往往是在金钱面前的腐败堕落，而美国的倾向则是金元加大棒式的对外侵犯。

　　中美两大国如不特别加大在这两大倾向上的矫正力度，最终都会为各自利益与发展带来巨大的损害。

　　还有，一个世界大国必定是不会满足单纯模仿他人，而应是不断鼓励激发自身的创造性和“敢为天下先”的勇气。

　　这一点上美国作为现代化的领跑者，一直做得不错。而中国作为后来者，重在掌握一种很微妙的张力。

在知己知彼基础上采取主动

　　最后，一个真正的世界大国，应是比较讲究信誉和大气，比较开放，透明，自律，健康，少些狭隘，腐败，不公，和无序。

　　这一方面其实很有意思：即美国在自己国内做得较好，但在国际上表现却强差人意；中国反而在国际方面业绩一直不俗，但在自己国内的改进幅度却还有待加大。

　　这样特色的形成，可能与中美各自大国意识的源流不同很有关系。

　　中国的大国意识自古形成，巍巍天朝，声名远播。但中国的问题是，文化的“软实力”往往大于经济军事等“硬实力”，所以逐渐形成了所谓以柔克刚的对外传统。

　　而美国的大国意识完全是近现代资本主义，工业革命，及社会达尔文主义等的产物，自我利益的保护和扩展是政策和策略的基本出发点，有时不惜牺牲他人的利益和前途。

　　目前一个对中国有利的趋势是：中国在发扬传统大国意识中某些固有优势的同时，也开始吸收西方近现代大国意识中的一些合理因素并加以运用，这就使得中国走上一条较为均衡优化的发展之路成为可能。

　　但反观美国，却对自身大国意识中的某些致命弱点与盲点，至今还有些恍然无悟，甚至扔错把弱点当作优点去实施坚持，导致了自己的一系列战略误判和盲目出击。

　　不难发现，中美两国的大国气质，其实在不少方面是互补型的，冲突面固然有，但毕竟不是主流。于是现实和未来中美关系发展的积极面，必定是大于消极面。

　　从中国角度来讲，如果能更好地在知己知彼基础上主动多“发球”，有创造性地来调控中美关系的良性发展，而不是坐等消极恶性因素的膨胀坐大，21世纪的世界，才会有一个充满建设性的前途

纳米鞋可防雷 耐压强度高达15000伏特

防雷鞋主要的特色是在鞋底的橡胶中添加了多种纳米材料。绝缘电阻大于200G欧姆，耐压超过15000伏特。发 明人之一江明礼告诉记者，在雷雨天气，几平方公里的雷雨云下，有成千上万的目标可供雷电选择。而雷电最终会选择电阻最小的途径打击。因此在雷雨天气中只要 穿上了绝缘电阻极大的防雷鞋就可以避免遭受雷电打击。他解释说，由于防雷鞋耐压强度达到15000伏特，因此即使雷电击中了穿鞋人身边的地点，穿鞋人也不 会被雷电击中受伤。

世界格局

自从苏联解体和冷战结束以来，世界形势发生了重大的变化。主要表现是：大国力量对比相互消长，大国关系在互动中重新分化组合，新的地区大国崛起，经济全球化与区域一体化趋势不断发展，超级大国强权主宰世界力不从心，整个世界格局在单极与多极之间徘徊变动。

　　现代世界历史实际上是一部大国兴衰史。在后冷战时期的短短十几年内，人们看到了中美日俄四个大国两升、两降与强弱态势转化的明显变化。

俄国收缩　日本衰退　美国扩张

　　先看俄国。18世纪的沙皇彼得大帝曾经说：“在我刚刚统治俄罗斯的时候，俄国还是一条小河。在我死去时俄国已经成为大江。”他寄望于后人把俄国变成汪洋大海，但庞大的苏联帝国却在冷战中消亡，使俄罗斯这片汪洋几乎缩小了一半。

　　普京面对这场历史性灾难，在战略收缩中抵制美国蚕食政策，艰难地力保俄罗斯的战略空间。但俄国的家底甚厚，虽然经济实力已从超级大国降至欧洲中等国家水平，但它的庞大面积、丰富资源与现存核力量不可低估，在后冷战时期大国行列中仍然占有重要位置。

　 　再来看日本。作为一个亚洲岛国，日本曾经在上两个世纪中先后向中俄美三个大国挑起战争，经历了由胜到败、又由弱转强的过程。在80年代登上世界第二经济 大国宝座之后，它又以大量购买物业的方式向美国进军，为时不久，终因经济连年衰退、奉行极端亲美政策与恶邻外交而无法实现政治大国的雄心，甚至连亚洲经济 火车头与世界经济大国地位也难保。今后长时期内，日本恐将很难改变政策僵化、国力减退、心态失衡与国际孤立的处境。

　　美国成为后冷战时期 的唯一超级强权，拥有举世无匹的强大经济与军事力量，力求永保全球绝对优势和领导地位。但是，反恐斗争和伊拉克战争暴露出战线过长、财力有限、兵力不足的 弱点。事实证明，美国虽然拥有世界顶尖的超级经济、军事力量，但经不起为了主宰世界而导致的巨大消耗。美国面临的内外挑战不会消失，它很难避免重犯古往今 来帝国过度扩张的消化不良症。

原本落后的中国异军突起

　　中国迅速崛起，是后冷战时期大国力量对比的最大变化。据世界银行最 近公布的统计材料，美国2004年的国内生产总值（GDP）为11万6675亿美元，日本4万6234亿美元，而中国是1万6493亿美元，排在德英法意 四国之后，名列世界第七位。但如按购买力平价计算，则中国的GDP已达到6万4000多亿美元，相当于美国的三分之二，超过了日本，等于俄国的五倍。美国 高盛公司发表的一份分析报告预估，中国的GDP将在2016年与2041年分别超过日美两国。

　　中国从远远落后于其他大国的贫弱基础上快 速崛起，13亿人口将从贫穷转为富裕的翻身，是人类历史上亘古未有的壮丽事业，它的规模与速度是举世无双的。当然，大国崛起不仅取决于GDP的增长，而且 还取决于综合国力，包括国土资源、经济实力、产业升级、科技创新、军事力量、研发水平、政治体制、治理能力、思想文化、人才培养、国民素质、国际市场竞争 能力、外交谋略与对世界局势的影响力等因素。中国在这些方面与其他大国相比还有不小的差距。

　　但是，取之不竭的劳力资源，无限广阔的国内 市场，居高不下的国民储蓄率，长期稳定的国内环境，改革开放的成熟经验，稳中求进的政策方针，以及最有吸引力的投资场所，使中国经济崛起具有持久、稳定的 特点。其潜力与影响超过了当年苏联、日本的崛起，更不用说亚洲“四小龙”了。中国经济发展的成就与前景，正在带动亚洲崛起，对世界格局产生日益增长的影 响。

　　至于欧洲，它在结束冷战分裂局面之后回归二次世界大战前的政治版图，GDP总和超过美国，成为世界最大的经济体和全球力量中心之一，美欧盟友关系变得若即若离。

美俄、中俄、中日关系都在变

　　后冷战时期大国关系的特点，是不再具有敌我对抗性质，从而避免了在大国之间以及大国与小国之间划分对立阵营。大国之间既相互交流合作，又存在分歧矛盾以至利害冲突，不仅增加了大国外交的多元性与复杂性，而且也造成了大国关系的不稳定性与可变性。

　 　美俄两国仍拥有庞大的核武库，但大规模核战的威胁已经消失。从耶尔辛到普京，美俄两国表面上建立战略伙伴关系，实际上从未停止过明争暗斗。莫斯科指望美 国大量经援完全落空，华盛顿在继续挖俄国墙脚。北约不断东扩，乌克兰、格鲁吉亚与中亚国家的动乱和颜色革命，被莫斯科认为是美国还在俄国的伤口上抹盐。美 国政策目的是使俄国难以东山再起并成为对手。

　　中俄关系好过以往的中苏关系，因为双方不再相互敌对和威胁，需要友好合作，关系建立在更为 平等与现实的基础上。虽然俄国有人对中俄关系与中国崛起抱有疑虑，主张俄国外交以西方为主，但明摆的事实是，威胁俄国利益的不是中国，而是美国。中俄双方 需要加强战略合作来维护各自的利益。

　　中日关系有过一段友好合作时期，但在冷战结束之后趋于下滑。经贸交流有所发展，政治关系却日益冷淡 疏远。日本首相小泉坚持参拜靖国神社使两国关系更形恶化，但日中关系恶化的根本原因不仅于历史问题，而在于两个亚洲大国实力与影响的较量和竞争。中国经济 发展速度远胜日本，在亚洲推行睦邻友好外交，积极参与经济一体化进程，平等互利地解决历史遗留的边界纠纷，其外交亲和力与日益扩大的影响力，与日本在亚洲 影响日渐式微形成鲜明对照。

中日关系在今后相当长时期内将处于“冷和”疏远状态，但值得双方深思的是，两国关系是否只有全面恶化走向对抗的前途？“冷和”局面对谁有利？改善关系是否必须以解决历史问题为前提？美日利用台湾问题加强军事合作、遏制中国对谁有利？

　 　中美关系是大国关系中最重要也最复杂的一对关系。从克林顿到小布什，中美关系两度出现从倒退到回升、低荡到好转的周期性变化。但总的来说，这种关系的基 础和程度比以前任何时候都更为深广。日益增长的经贸交流使双方受益。首脑会晤与高层磋商，形成处理两国关系的重要机制。美国重视中国在反恐斗争、朝核危 机、防止武器扩散以及其他问题上的合作，中国并不挑战美国在亚洲与世界上的主导地位。

　　但随着中国经济与综合国力日益壮大，美国朝野的右 翼保守势力正在拉高“中国威胁”的调门，美国军政部门则已开始筹划防范中国崛起的军事、外交部署。布什政府在对华政策方面发出模糊以至相互矛盾的信号。一 方面声称一个和平、强大、繁荣的中国符合美国利益，另一方面又日渐把中国当作潜在的战略对手。

　　从潜力与能量上来看，美国认为中国是唯一 有能力向美国领导地位发起挑战的国家。即使中国宣称要在和平中崛起，美国仍然认为中国崛起本身就构成对美国的威胁，因此，在中国实现崛起之前就要加以防 范。但如果美国真的要像过去对付苏联那样遏制中国，其结果必然使美国背上沉重包袱，使中美两国走向冲突。最近中美展开高层战略对话，表明双方正在寻求新的 有效途径来增进了解和协调，以利两国的交流与合作。

合纵连横互动频繁

　　从中国的角度纵观世界，大国关系在过去半个世纪内差不多每十年发生一大转变：50年代中苏结盟对抗美日；60年代中国反帝反修美苏并列；70－80年代中国联合美日对抗苏联；90年代迄今对美国又联合又斗争，俄国变敌为友，对日本由亲变疏。

　 　后冷战时期的大国关系呈现着更为错综复杂的现象。原有的中美苏大三角关系与中美日联手对抗苏联的三对一局面，已经分解和演变为中美俄、中美日、美日俄三 个三角，以至中美日俄四方相互联系交叉与制约。中美之间又合作又相互制约的态势成为影响大国关系全局的一条主线。欧洲则在中美日俄四方关系中处于比较超脱 的地位，它需要加强经济交流以便搭上中国高速增长的经济列车。在反恐、中东、朝核危机、国际安全与台湾问题上，欧洲与中国的共识比它与美国的还多。

　 　值得注意的是，虽然大国关系与前几个世纪的强权政治有所不同，但地缘政治、寻求战略资源与扩大战略空间，仍然是大国外交战略决策的重要因素。中国古话 说，“同有畏心，其势必合；同有欲心，其势必争”。每一个大国都要使自己发展壮大，都不会把自己的安全建立在他国的善意上面。力量处于相对弱势地位的大 国，要不就是与强者结盟，要不就是联手对付处于强势地位的大国，并对今后会变得更加强盛的大国心存戒备。近年来，大国外交互动频繁，彼此展开纵横捭阖，相 互制约，相互关系变得更为复杂，需要更加高明和巧妙的谋略与手段来运筹帷幄，重要原因就在于此。

Bird Flu Is Moving West

Russia cordoned off roads and slaughtered hundreds of birds on Monday to contain the advance of a bird flu epidemic toward Western Europe.

The country's top state epidemiologist warned that the bird flu outbreak in Siberia also could spread through key agricultural areas in the south and then on to the Middle East and Mediterranean countries.

"An analysis of bird migration routes has shown that in fall 2005 the H5N1 virus may be spread from Western Siberia to the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea,

DATA CONFIRM RECENT WARMING OF THE TROPICAL ATMOSPHERE

This region of the atmosphere is predicted to warm in climate model simulations that include observed increases in greenhouse gases. The discrepancy in tropical temperature trends has been used to cast doubt on the reliability of computer models, and on their usefulness for predicting future climate changes. Three papers published in today’s edition of Science Express shed light on this debate. The first two studies revisit temperature data obtained from satellites and weather balloons, and provide compelling evidence that the tropical troposphere has warmed since 1979.

Typhoid cases in Fiji rise

students are suspected of having typhoid, taking the total number of cases in Bua to 45.

All those affected attend primary and secondary schools in Wainunu.

They were part of 300 students sent home on Friday after typhoid broke out at the schools.

So far, 11 students are in hospital while another 30 are being reviewed.

烟雾太浓 警长被熏死 马国8人疑死于霾害

吸入太多烟霾，吉隆坡一名警察巡长呼吸困难毙命！过去1周来，共有8人死于与霾害有关的病症，马国卫生部将进行调查。

　　一名警察巡长，前日和同僚共乘一辆巡逻警车巡视吉隆坡时，突感到呼吸困难，送入医院抢救3个小时后，证实身亡！

　　由于巡长身体向来健壮，没有病痛纪录，初步怀疑他毙命原因，与吸入太多烟霾有关。

别再说没财就不必理

诺贝尔经济奖得主普雷斯科特(Edward Prescott)日前在新加坡演说时，倡议新加坡政府规定国人开设储蓄户头，为退休生活及医药开销做好准备。虽然只是一句简单的话，很多人都曾经说过，但是自普雷斯科特口中说出来，却有不同的意义。

伊朗宣布建反应炉制造钚

伊朗在欧洲和美国把注意力放在它的铀（uranium）核能计划时，宣布建造重水反应炉，展开钚（plutonium）核能计划。钚元素能用来制造核弹。

　　伊朗估计需要四年方能建成它的重水反应炉，因此，钚核能不像铀核能计划的威胁那样近在眼前，但由于钚核弹体积较小，容易由洲际导弹装载，潜在威胁更大。　　

　　欧洲建议伊朗放弃建造重水反应炉，改而建造轻水反应炉。武器专家相信轻水反应炉较容易受到监控

Renewable energy

These include biomass, solar, geothermal, hydropower and ocean energy, and other emerging energy sources.

Soil microbes responsible for methane emissions

Researchers have identified a group of soil-dwelling microbes that play a big role in emissions of the greenhouse gas methane in Asian rice fields.

Much of the methane produced by human activity originates in rice fields, 90 percent of which are in Asia. Until now, nobody knew which specific microbes were responsible for this process.

Yahai Lu, of the China Agricultural University, and Ralf Conrad, of the German Max-Planck-Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology exposed rice plants to radioactively labelled carbon dioxide, which the plants absorbed through their leaves, before releasing some of it from their roots into the soil.

By looking at which methane-producing organisms in the soil also contained radioactively labelled carbon, the researchers identified the "central importance" of a group of microbes known as Rice Cluster I in global methane production, reports science portal SciDev Net.

Currently, human activities release 300 to 400 million tonnes of methane each year. Their contribution to global warming is equivalent to one-third of that made by man-made carbon dioxide emissions.

Rice fields emit between 50 and 100 million tonnes of methane each year.

Methane is the most important greenhouse gas, after carbon dioxide. Although more carbon dioxide is emitted, methane is thought to be 20 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

New Diabetes Gene Discovered

Scientists have discovered a gene that plays a role in the most common type of type 2 Diabetes and they say the discovery could pave the way to a targeted treatment

伊朗核问题后面的国际政治

伊朗核问题眼看将演变成一场严重的国际危机。　　伊朗和欧盟两方都在关键题目上言不由衷。德黑兰尽管口口声声坚称核计划是和平目的，但是，其终极目标是核武

解疑释惑：寄生虫是怎样侵入人体的？

饮食来源和方式的多样化，由食源性寄生虫病造成的食品安全问题将愈加突出。食源性寄生虫病是由不卫生的饮食习惯造成 的。我国不少青壮年男性，从追求烧、烤、涮，发展到赤裸裸的生吃。生吃淡水鱼、生鱼片、生鱼粥，用刚捉到的小鱼做下酒菜，易患肝吸虫病；热衷吃带着血丝的 猪肉和牛肉，易引发猪带绦虫、牛带绦虫病；吃醉蟹或未做熟的淡水蟹或蝲蛄，易患肺吸虫病

科学家

据最新一期的英国科学杂志《自然》报道，科学家已破解出水稻的几乎全基因组序列，这项研究进展将可加速水稻品种改良以及 解 决 全球 饥饿问题。

熬夜男性易视力骤降

视力正常的中青年男性如果经常夜以继日地工作，很可能会突然视力急剧下降，眼前一片模糊，视野中心仿佛飘着一团黑雾，看到的东西不是变大就是缩小，且颜色也发生了改变。

　　昨天， 空军总医院眼科主任王恩普告诉记者，这种眼病叫做“特发性中心性浆液性脉络膜视网膜病变”。其发病者约2/3是青壮年男性，只有少数是女性。据介绍，该病的发病率在青年人中约为0.5％－2％，属于眼病中的常见病，多数患者治疗后能恢复到患病前的视力水平。

英研究:补充维生素和矿物质难防老年传染病

英国研究人员发现，每天补充多种维生素和矿物质并不能帮助老人预防呼吸道、肠胃、皮肤及其他传染病。

　　在英国和其他一些国家，至少有１０％年逾７０岁的老人缺乏维生素和矿物质，这可能导致免疫系统功能下降，从而加大感染疾病的风险。

fight prostate cancer

A radical ultra low-fat diet and other lifestyle changes may help keep early-stage prostate cancer from worsening, says the first attempt to test the theory.

It's a small study that tracked men whose tumors weren't aggressive. Still, the research, published in the September issue of The Journal of Urology, promises to increase interest in whether diet might really help battle cancer.

The study was led by heart-health guru Dr. Dean Ornish, and used his famously strict regimen, where people become vegetarians, limit dietary fat to 10% of total calories, exercise regularly and learn stress-management techniques such as yoga.

Ornish's studies show that regimen can help heart disease, but why try it on prostate cancer? There is some evidence that diets high in fat increase the risk of prostate cancer, and that certain foods — such as broccoli, or the nutrient lycopene from cooked tomato products — are protective.

So Ornish and fellow researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, recruited 93 men who had decided against treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, a route known as "watchful waiting."

Half were randomly assigned to the Ornish diet and lifestyle regimen; the others weren't asked to vary their usual routines. The researchers sent participants' blood samples to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York to measure PSA, or prostate specific antigen, a marker used to track prostate cancer growth.

After one year, PSA levels had decreased 4% in the diet group

Alternative breast cancer drug shows promise

The drug anastrozole (Arimidex) is more effective at inhibiting breast cancer recurrence than tamoxifen, a study published in the Lancet has found (2005;366:455-62). Researchers in Austria and Germany studied 3200 postmenopausal women

猪链球菌病可防可治

猪肉加热到100摄氏度以后，链球菌就会被杀死。最容易引起感染的环节是在加工食物的过程中，例如，生食与熟食加工工具没有分开

新载人航天器将更安全 "发现"号面临退役命运

“发现”之忧公众产生焦虑质疑 美宇航员太空“摘瘤”“发现”号又露新伤

　　太空中的“发现”号频频遇险，迫使美宇航局再次推迟了此后的航天飞机发射，也使公众 产生了焦虑和质疑。《纽约时报》、《今日美国报》等媒体，近日来接连发表文章说，许多美国人已经不敢观看“发现”号此行特别是着陆阶段的电视直播。民意测 验也显示，更多人正对宇航局维持航天飞机的努力失去信心。航天史学家霍华德·麦柯迪说，这“对美国的信心是一个打击”。

"发现"之忧航天计划面临压缩 美专家说"发现"号有25处损伤

　　"发现"号的未来在哪里？继续遨游太空？还是告老还乡？

Carbon emissions from US autos on the rise

In 2003, emissions from cars and light trucks topped 317 million metric tons, up 25 percent from 1990, the group said, based on federal government data.

Part of the 13-year increase is due to more vehicles on the road.

Spanish language, Hispanic

A family friend wishes to know any contacts for spanish language learning and club facilities.

Please see the list:

Hispanic Club - The Hispanic Club celebrates Hispanic, Brazilian and Spanish cultures through Latin dance lessons, Spanish and Portuguese classes, Spanish Camp, movies and so forth.
Anthony Hieber - (09) 534 1737 - antonionz001@yahoo.com
(note: can contact: Auckland University Student Association)

also, please, try to contact

Maria Ble' Herrero of Waikato University ( Spanish)
mble@waikato.ac.nz

and

Dr. Jay Corwin
Senior lecturer of Spanish
jcorwin@waikato.ac.nz

New test could cut prostate cancer surgery

Scientists have developed a technique which they hope will soon accurately predict the behaviour of prostate cancer and save thousands of men from unnecessary surgery.

The present tests - needle biopsies, blood and urine samples - cannot distinguish satisfactorily between aggressive tumours that require radical treatment and those that just need to be watched.

Doctors at the Institute for Cancer Research now advocate more "active surveillance" - monitoring patients but leaving the option open for treatment.

Article continues

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But as prostate cancer cases soar past 30,000 diagnoses a year, the race is on for a better test. Almost 10,000 men die from the disease annually but many can have a tumour that is so slow-growing it does not cause ill-effects. For some, therefore, the cure might be worse than the disease.

Researchers at the institute have now come up with a way of analysing tissue samples that will allow far more comprehensive screening for genes associated with prostate cancer, including one, E2F3, whose overexpression is an indicator of how aggressive the cancer may be.

孕妇叶酸不足导致儿童体重不足

《英国营养学杂志》日前报道，英国纽卡斯尔大学科学家最近发现，血液中缺少叶酸的孕妇生下低体重儿的可能性更大。

　　叶酸是在绿叶蔬菜、谷物和动物肝脏中发现的一种维生素Ｂ。叶酸对胎儿发育和基因表达至关重要，有助于新细胞的生长和保养。

　　英国研究人员对接近１０００名孕妇的血红细胞中的叶酸含量进行了研究，并观察了她们的生活方式。负责这项研究的卡罗琳·雷尔顿博士说：“怀孕初期叶酸水平低与新生儿体重低有关联。叶酸水平低的孕妇生下的新生儿体重较轻。”

　　研究人员还指出，吸烟妇女体内的叶酸水平往往较低，这可能有助于解释为什么这类孕妇生产的新生儿体重较轻。

　　低体重儿（２.５公斤以下）出现低智商的可能性较高，日后出现健康和发育问题的可能性也较大

中国买42架波音飞机

中国四家航空公司昨天在北京签署了42架波音787型飞机的购买协议，目录价格达50亿4000万美元（83亿新元）。

　　据知，中国国际航空公司购买15架，东方航空公司购买15架，上海航空公司购买9架，厦门航空公司购买3架。

　　波音公司表示，昨天同中国签署的协议标志着波音与中国的合作跨入了一个崭新的时代。

　　波音称，目前他们仍在为另外18架787飞机与中国达成协议而努力，这是中方先前承诺购买飞机的一部分。波音有信心在不远的将来完成这些飞机的购买协议

电脑扫描可以“解析”人的思维

参与试验的人左眼看不到右眼前面的东西，右眼也看不到左眼前面的东西。

　　与此同时，试验者接受“功能磁共振成像机(fMRI)”对大脑的扫描，观察单眼看色条的脑电反应。

　　结果发现，试验者的大脑会间断性一会看到蓝色、一会看到红色。科学家们说，试验者观看不同颜色时，大脑便产生不同、但有规律的脑电反应。

　　科学家们解释说，虽然红蓝色条是很简单的实验，但同样道理可扩展到解析人脑对几乎所有音像信息的反应上。

　　也就是说，类似试验最终有可能让人们“破译”脑电波语言，通过脑电扫描便可知道人脑在思想什么。

"Environmental Tobacco Smoke" - Deadly Form of Air Pollution

Scientists call this type of air pollution "Environmental Tobacco Smoke" (or ETS for short). But you and I know it better as the smoke from other people's cigarettes.

Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 different chemicals, of which at least 400 are poisonous to man and about 40 can cause cancer.

• ETS causes lung cancer
  Scientists have shown that ETS can cause lung cancer in people who have never smoked before. Passive smokers have a 25% to 30% higher risk of developing lung cancer compared to people who are not exposed to cigarette smoke at all. But if you are exposed to many smokers throughout the day (e.g. at your workplace), your risk rises by at least 50%.
  
  
• ETS causes heart attack
  Studies have shown that spouses of smokers are up to 30% more likely to have heart attack than people married to non-smokers. ETS also increases the risk of having a second heart attack.
  
  
• ETS makes existing illnesses worse
  ETS can worsen your symptoms if you already suffer from:
  • heart disease
  • lung disease
  • asthma
  • allergies, hay fever or sinus problems
  • blood vessel disease

Mouse virus causing mammary cancer found to infect human cells

international research team at the Viennese Christian-Doppler-Laboratory for Gene Therapeutic Vector Development (University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna) has shown for the first time world-wide that Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus (MMTV), which causes breast cancer in mice, can also infect human cells.

For the complex experiments recombinant MMTV carrying an inserted fluorescence gene were developed. These were able to successfully infect human cells of diverse origin, e.g. breast or cervix tumour derived cells. The viruses multiplied and also infected further cells

Nagasaki remembers atomic attack

Who started the second waolr war? ???
Why ?
******

Some historians argue that the attack was seen as necessary because Japan had not surrendered.
appealed to them to join hands with others to work together for a peaceful planet free from the threat of the nuclear bomb.

"We are confident that the vast majority of you desire in your hearts the elimination of nuclear arms," he said.

Overshadowed

Nagasaki's citizens still question whether the Americans were justified in targeting their city for the second atomic attack.

The bomb used plutonium as its core - unlike the one dropped on Hiroshima, which used uranium.

Nagasaki's mayor says he believes they were the victims of what in effect was a deadly nuclear test.

The bomb dropped on Nagasaki exploded with a force equivalent to 21,000 tons of conventional explosive.

Plutonium is much more powerful than the uranium bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Most of those killed in the second attack were melted or burnt to death immediately.

However, correspondents say that Nagasaki's tragedy has long been overshadowed by that of Hiroshima, where about 140,000 people were killed by the bomb and its aftermath.

Terrorism fears send oil to almost $64

oil price surge followed an announcement that the United States is shutting its embassy in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil supplier, for two days because of a "threat against U.S. government buildings" there.

Britain, meantime, said it believes terrorists plan to strike Saudi Arabia soon.

Traders underpinned their belief in higher oil prices by noting that worldwide demand continues to grow, that U.S. refineries are running nearly flat out turning oil into gasoline, and that U.S. motorists continue to use more gasoline despite record U.S. fuel prices. "The market clearly has the jitters," Deborah White, energy analyst at SG Securities in Paris, told the Associated Press

friends in the whole world ? Zheng He, year 1421

Gavin Menzies' website www.1421.tv are reports by Cedric Bell and by Lynda Nutter of Zheng He’s Fleets voyages from South America to New Zealand and Australia.

These fleets comprised Chinese and Japanese ships, the majority being Chinese. They had gathered at Calicut on the Malabar Coast of SW India before setting sail across the Indian Ocean, and rounding the Cape of Good Hope to South America. As da Gama was told when he arrived 70 years later:

“More than eight hundred sail of large and small ships had come to India from the Lequeos (Ryuku) Islands, with people of many nations ….they were so numerous that they filled the country and settled as dwellers in all the towns of the sea coast”

Carlos Prince then reports their arrival in the Americas:

“Chinese…with Tartairs, Japanese and Koreans….crossed the Maritime stretch into the Kingdom of Quivira populating Mexico, Panama, Peru and other eastern countries of the Indies”

They did indeed populate these countries for their genes remain in the blood of groups of South American peoples to this day. Professor Tulio Arends and Gallengo took samples of the blood of the Yupa Indians who live in the foothills of the Sierra de Perija in Western Venezuela. They found “In 58 percent of the Yupa Indians of Venezuela there is a slow moving transferrin electrophoretically Indistinguishable from Tf D chi which to date has only been found in Chinese. This finding is additional evidence for the existence of a racial link between South American Indians and Chinese.”

Blood from Indians further to the west, the Cayapa from Equador was analysed by Fideas E. Leon S and Colleagues who found “The Cayapa or Chachi from Ecuador…Molecularly similarly to that found in South East Asian and Japanese people” and “A Colombian aboriginal group living near the Pacific Colombian coast named the Noanama/ Wanana, are clustered closer to Japanese people than to other American natives.”

Professor Gabriel Novick and colleagues carried out similar tests on small groups of people living in Colombia and Panama – the Ngobe, Paez, Guambiano, Ingano, Kogui, Arhuaco, Chimilia, Wayuu and Guayabero. In the abstract of their report they say:

“close similarity between the Chinese and native Americas suggests recent gene flow from Asia”.

So the following distinguished Geneticists consider certain groups of people living today in Panama, Venezuela and Colombian had Chinese or Japanese ancestors who came by sea - I would like to pay tribute to their work:

Gabriel Novick; Corina Novick; Juan Yunis; Emilio Yunis; Pamela Antunez de Mayolo; W. Douglas Scheer; Prescott Deininger; Mark Stoneking; Daniel S. York; Mark A Batzer; Rene J Herrera; all colleagues of Gabriel Novick. Also to thank Professors Tulio Arends and Gallengo and Dr Annabel Arends, Tulio’s daughter who is carrying on his work. Also to Professors Fidias. E. Leon-S; Amparo Ariza-Deleon; Martha E. Leon-S and Adriana Ariza-C and to Professors Ijichi; Tajima; Zaninovich; Karahira; Sonoda; Miura; Hayami and Hall.

The work of these 25 Professors is I submit conclusive evidence that the South American peoples referred to in their reports had ancestors who – in genetic terms – came by sea and recently from China and SE Asia. How recent is recent?

We have several clues; the first Europeans to reach South America, the Spanish rounding Cape Horn found wrecked Chinese Junks. In those stormy seas wrecks break up fairly quickly so I submit they were wrecked within a century or so. We also have the drawings of Father Antonio de la Calancha, one of the first priests to reach South America who found recent native paintings of Chinese cavalry.

Vasquez de Coronado found Chinese Junks with gilded sterns; Columbus met Chinese people off South America; Garcillaso de la Vega describes Chinese colonies in Peru and Chile; Gonzales Ximenez de Quesada reports the Guanes and Calimas of Colombia are an entirely different civilisation to that of the Native Indians who surround them. Acosta reports Chinese people, plants and animals in the Americas. I suggest these reports taken together can only mean one thing – the Chinese already had substantive settlements in South America by the time the first Europeans arrived – and these settlements were relatively recent, that is a century or so.

The Pacific offers us further clues. In the South Pacific, winds and currents flow in a huge anticlockwise oval. A ship rounding Cape Horn is carried up the west coast of Chile and Peru by the cold Humboldt current. Off Ecuador the current hooks west crossing thousands of miles of ocean. Off Tuvalu if starts to hook south west towards Fiji New Caledonia and the south Eastern Coast of Australia before it completes its rotation flowing towards New Zealand and back to South America.

It is thus easy to trace the passage of sailing ships leaving South America off Ecuador to set sail across the Pacific – they will pass Marquesas, Tuamotu Archipelago, Tokelau, Samoa, Fiji, Vaunanu, New Caledonia and Australia. There the Chinese Fleet with Japanese ships should have left the DNA – as indeed they have.

M. Hertzberg and Colleagues found an Asian specific delection of mitochondrial DNA in Polynesians – notably, Niueans, Tongans, Samoans and Maoris. Shinji Harihara and colleagues produce startling pie charts – it appears the Niueans, Tongans, Samoans and Fijians had ancestors from the Shizoka province of Japan. To this day Niueans share close linguistic similarities with Mainland Chinese. Not only did the fleet bring their genes but also plants from South America notably sweet potatoes and 26 chromosome cotton – to Easter Island; Temoe; Tahiti; Fiji; and Cape York in Australia. They built stone observation platforms on Easter Island; Pitcairn; Temoe; Tuomota (Bora-Bora); Raiatea; Tahiti; the Society Islands, Samoa, Tonga and New Caledonia. They carried diseases notably Tokelau found all the way across the Pacific and most important of all they brought the distinctive Asian chickens – with entirely different bodies, wattles, combs, legs, feet and eggs to European hens.

The Chickens allow us to date the voyages for after eating or ritually sacrificing the birds, they were thrown into refuse heaps or middens as were the fruit and vegetables they brought such as coconuts. Helen Wallin, Kuchinski; D.W. Steadman and JS Athens have dug into these middens. From the depth inside the midden they can estimate the dates – Hawaii post 1300, Cook Islands post 1100. Could they have been brought from South America by Polynesians? – If they had, Polynesian DNA should be found in South American peoples – none ever has been (Professor Bryan Sykes). Could South American peoples have crossed the Pacific – their DNA (with one a typical example on Mapa) has never been found in Polynesians – Heyerdahl was wrong (Dr Matt Hurles and Colleagues). The only peoples whose DNA appears on both sides of the Pacific in the South American Incas (Novick and Colleagues) and in the Maori (Dr Geoffrey Chambers) are the Chinese.

We also have the evidence of maps. The Jean Rotz Chart, published in 1542 two centuries before Captain Cooks ‘discovery’ and a century before Tasman shows Australia. Zheng He’s passage charts show the Barrier Reef (Wu Pei Chih chart) whilst Chinese scholars consider official Chinese records mention Australia – Beira or Sunla is Australia (Professors Wei Chu Hsieh; Liu Manchum and Martin Tai). The first Europeans to reach China saw Chinese maps of Australia – Melchior Thevenot and Matteo Ricci who drew Australia from Chinese maps – Ricci’s map is now in The Royal Geographical Society. There are a host of Chinese descriptions of Australia not least from the Song Dynasty when great ships were sent south to Australasia to mine minerals.

As stated in my book Zhou Man’s fleet, after making landfall in Australia on her SE coast headed south to take the declination of Canopus which they achieved in 52 degrees 40 minutes South at Campbell Island. My evidence is that the east/ west large creeks of Auckland Island and Campbell Island appear on the Jean Rotz drawn at the correct latitude and as they would have appeared in mid winter (late June) when ice joined the two islands and stretched away to the Northwest towards Tasmania. Because no other part of New Zealand appears on the Jean Rotz chart nor does any part of Southern Coast of Australia I assumed the Fleet had not seen South Australia or New Zealand or if so, had perished.

That was as far as I got in my book. These fairly modest claims were met with apoplexy from New Zealand historians, a quite astonishing reaction, and one which in my experience only rises from those who have something to fear. Did New Zealand historians secretly know the Chinese had occupied New Zealand before the Maoris got there? It was certainly a subject, which merited further research. By now I had been paid a substantial advance of royalties and was in the fortunate position in being able to engage a talented young research team and set up a website. My team quickly found that the first Europeans to reach New Zealand found a wealth of plants foreign to New Zealand, which had been brought from South America, the sweet potato being an example described so vividly by Captain Cook. There were also distinctive animals such as otters (from SE Asia) and the Kune Kune pig from China.

Obviously Europeans did not bring these plants and animals. For the first Europeans found them already there. As mentioned earlier DNA provides the answer – only the Chinese could have brought them because they and the Japanese are the only peoples whose DNA can be found in South America, all the way across the Pacific and in the Maoris of New Zealand.

I shall never forget returning from the dentist on 30th April to find a large brown envelope in a strange writing sitting on my doormat. It was from a gentleman by the name of Cedric Bell, until then quite unknown to me. He had spent a month in New Zealand looking for evidence of Chinese wrecks. After reading my book he considered the most likely place would be New Zealand South Island between the Banks Peninsular and Catlins. His report claimed to have found nearly 40 wrecked junks together with medieval stone barracks capable of housing over 20,000 men, rice fields, potato paddies watered by stone built canals, stone aqueducts and a dozen highly sophisticated smelters capable of refining ore at very high temperatures – achieved by using hydraulic powered ore crushers and separators and powerful air bellows again hydraulically powered. My first reaction was incredulity but this did not last for more than a few minutes for I saw at once the piles of clams were the work of Chinese. They are an obsessively tidy people and stack up used clams in a most distinctive way – I had seen similar piles in the Caribbean in the Aleutians and Kuriles. So I was convinced but I realised no one else would be. We had to find a way of checking out Cedric Bell’s work in a manner, which he agreed was fair. We started by choosing one site to investigate. This had to be one for which we did not need permission for, by now I had become extremely sceptical about the integrity of New Zealand historians and of the New Zealand authorities, which sad to say includes the government. I felt sure they would attempt to suppress anything, which challenged the fairy story that the Maoris had discovered New Zealand. Any other evidence would be suppressed. That therefore limited the sites to public places, the most easily accessible being Akaroa Cricket pitch and Car Park and nearby Le Bons Bay with Junks and smelters.

We started with high definition satellite inferrometry, which I was reasonably familiar with as this was a detection system used in anti-submarine warfare. We found images of Akaroa cricket pitch taken in high summer with parched grass. There, underneath the pitch, was the imprint of Stone walls – almost exactly where Cedric Bell had found the barracks using Magnetic Anomaly Surveys. Cedric Bell’s method has a major disadvantage – it is not possible to determine what causes the anomaly, which could be plastic pipe two feet beneath the soil or a stone wall ten feet down. So we had to eliminate the plastic or iron pipes such as water mains or sewage systems.

Here the local authority was extremely helpful by providing templates, which fitted the satellite photo. This eliminated one of Cedric’s walls leaving three which were not services. Now it was a reasonable commercial decision to move ground-penetrating radar onto site, a three-day exercise. It is fair to say that to a layman the resulting ground penetrating radar picture does not 100 percent support Cedric Bell’s work. I have spent years in submarines analysing radar and electronic pictures which is an art form rather than a science. I am wholly convinced the Ground Penetrating Radar Survey of Akaroa Cricket Pitch supports Cedric’s work as do the GPR surveys of the smelter and Fort at nearby Le Bons Bay.

The next step would be to collect Mortar, wood, slag, shell and iron samples from Le Bons smelter to have them carbon dated. We decided to take a mortar sample from the smelter and ask Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory to do the dating. They have a fine reputation and are I understand owned by the New Zealand Government. They have proved quick and efficient. Rafter’s carbon date was late 17th Century – nothing to do with 1421 but nonetheless an astonishing result for the Maoris did not make mortar nor build in stone and yet the date was a century before the Europeans arrived.

We next dated wood – the same result within 30 years; so we had a people who could saw wood, build sophisticated stone smelters, make mortar and bring in an array of plants from South America and SE Asia, that were found in New Zealand before the Europeans. Who were they? Maoris accounts speak of their conquering South Island around 1679 and slaughtering a peaceable stone-working people who lived there – people called Waitaha. By now Cedric had been investigating the smelter in detail and had found slag. Rafter dated this to twelfth century – another extraordinary result. The smelter must have been in use between then and 17th century, the date of the mortar. Had it been in use earlier? – Lower down we found a different coloured mortar. Rafter dated that 10th Century. It now looked as if the Waitaha had been working the smelter in South Island for eight hundred years before Europeans arrived. Were Chinese smelters of the same era in China – that is Song Dynasty ones, designed like those Cedric found in New Zealand. If so are there any Chinese records of Song ships sailing to Australasia to mine minerals. The answer was yes and yes – huge Song ships manned by up to 1000 men sailed forth to mine minerals from lands in the Far South. During the Song Dynasty, smelters were greatly improved to incorporate hydraulically powered billows, crushers and separators. By now I was sure the Waitaha were in fact Chinese. Had their DNA been tested? Antonia Bowen-Jones my brilliant young researcher found Dr Geoffrey Chamber’s DNA report into the Maoris – their female (mitochondrial) DNA was Chinese from Taiwan their male (Y-Chromosome) Polynesian. The penny dropped – the Polynesian people from North Island had invaded the South Island in about 1670 as their own history claimed – murdered the Waitaha men and took their womenfolk, Chinese women originally from Taiwan. Zhou Man’s Fleet was coming to revisit an existing Chinese mining colony one which had existed since at least the Tang Dynasty, possibly much earlier

We now turned our attention to examining Cedric’s wrecks. Ground Penetrating Radar will not peer down more than a few metres in wet saline sand so we had to find another system. We decided upon an electromagnetic conductivity survey similar to the one, which had been successfully deployed on the Sacramento Junk site in California.

Again purists can reasonably argue that this survey does not corroborate Cedric’s discovery of two junks side by side in Le Bon’s Bay. I have had extensive experience of analysing EM images and consider that it does- albeit Cedric’s configuration is wrong. In my view there are two junks down there and a third object of unknown provenance.

By this stage I was sure beyond reasonable doubt that the main thrust of Cedric’s work was correct if not in every detail. He had found a fleet of wrecked junks, barracks blocks to house the stranded sailors, rice and potato fields to feed them and an earlier Mining colony with smelters, roads, canals and viaducts.

We decided to investigate one further site in some detail before “going public” after which the Government would take over and all the sites would be barred to us. We chose Moeraki because there, Cedric had located three of the huge leviathans more than 100 metres long and 50 metres wide – to use Cedric’s epic phrase “as large as a football pitch”.

By now I had come to the conclusion some catastrophe must have overtaken Zhou Man’s fleet. Loosing 44 ships in one place can only mean a typhoon yet the fleets had survived hurricanes and typhoons in other parts of the world. Only the sixth voyage had lost ships on a horrifying scale 993 out of 1000 failed to return home.

My hunch was that a Tsunami had caught Zhou Man north of Campbell Island and Auckland Island – perhaps caused by the fault line in the ocean bed, splitting open. We advertised on our website for anyone who know of Tsunamis in the South Pacific and very quickly were put in touch with Professor Edward Bryant of Wollongong University in New South Wales, Australia. Ted told us of his book “Tsunami the underrated hazard” in which he sets out in vivid and convincing detail accounts of the Tsunami which devastated New Zealand South Island some time between 1410 and 1480 but “which could as easily have been 1422” to use his pithy phrase.

Ted had been working with Dallas Abbott and her team at The Lamont Doherty Observatory, Palisades, New Jersey. He had come to the inclusion the Tsunami must have had waves of well over 100 feet high for they had carried huge rocks over cliffs that height in New South Wales nearly 2000 miles away. In early 2003 Dallas Abbott and her team had found that a comet had hit the ocean in 48 degrees south, 166 degrees east and had smashed a crater 22 kilometres wide in the ocean bed. The resultant Tsunami that hit Stewart Island had thrown beach sand 700 ft up the hillside.

The wrecks, which Cedric had found were entirely consistent with the comet hitting the ocean some 100 km south of Zhou Man’s fleet as it retraced its passage northwestwards from Campbell Island along the edge of the ice (as is shown on the Jean Rotz). If this were the case the waves would have broken Zhou Man’s fleet to bits carrying some junks well inland and burying others in cliffs. So we returned to Moeraki and started an examination of the cliff face above the beach where Cedric had found the wrecks of the Leviathans, which he had detected by Magnetic Anomaly Survey.

There it was – a monster junks impaled in the cliff upside down and 45 degrees bow up. The outline of its hull shape clear for all to see. Stone cannon balls and round counterweights to hoist the sails had slid down to the stern and now and then popped out of the cliff. We had the hull cement analysed – man made a combination of burnt lime and volcanic ash. Here was the first Treasure ship found at long last. We decided to go public with all our information placing it on our website, together with all the reports for all the world to see. Cedric Bell has been wholly vindicated and I congratulate him for his inspired work of genius.

Another brilliant person now appears in the scene – forty years younger than Cedric, a musician from Perth Western Australia. Lynda Nutter had appeared in cabaret in Japan, and is a student of the Japanese language and of the Aboriginal Nyungah language of the Helena Valley in Western Australia near Perth where she lives. Lynda has compiled a list of Nyungah words and phrases, which correspond with Japanese. The similarity, in many cases the same word, is astounding. There cannot be the slightest doubt that some of the ancestors of the Nyungah Aborigines were Japanese. The next step, obviously, is to compare the two peoples DNA as has been done in South America and across the Pacific. However obtaining aboriginal DNA and publishing the results, has, for the moment, been stymied; I stress for the moment. However Lynda has made another amazing discovery. She has found the remains of a stone observation platform near Mundaring in about 31 degrees 54’ south, 116 degrees 09’east near where she is researching local indigenous history for the Swan Valley Nyungah Community. The layout of the site contains everything that is required to calculate longitude by using the lunar eclipse method described by Professor John Oliver and Marshall Payn in Appendix 2 of my book and on our website www.1421.tv

On the site there is a stone carved with Chinese characters. The Indigenous Affairs Department has photographed these carvings and Lynda has obtained a photocopy then made a tracing of the letters from the photocopy. This is how Lynda has translated them (for further details and descriptions view our website).

“within the mid year (mid August) is the direction for men wishing to return to their place of origin, China, the middle Kingdom.

The inscription refers to “the 15th day of the seventh lunar month (15th August) the Bon Lantern Festival when guidance is given to souls to assist their return to their place of origin China.” There is a sign for ‘Zhuyin’ (the accepted way of referring to
the Emperor Zhu Di: it was forbidden for commoners to write his name in full). There are also Japanese carved characters, which translate the same as the Chinese inscriptions.

Assuming for the moment Lynda’s translation is verified by Ming Scholars it appears the site was constructed in Zhu Di’s reign (1403-24) on 15th August – by implication to determine longitude by a lunar eclipse. Lynda thinks that during the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese year was commenced from 116 degrees east – the longitude of the carving.

There were partial lunar eclipses on 2nd August 1422 (Starry Night) and 13th August 1421 shortly after mid winter when I believe Zhou Man’s Fleet reached Campbell Island – the time of the maximum northern limit of ice as shown on the Jean Rotz.

There are further lines of evidence, which support Lynda. The SW tip of Australia, which the Junks would have had to round to reach “Perth” and the Helena Valley is in a direct line, 4564 km from the comets impact position. A junk propelled WNW to W Australia, would not have seen any land in between – which would account for neither S. Australia nor New Zealand appearing on the Jean Rotz. However, Helena Valley (with a 2 ½ degrees latitude error) does appear on the Jean Rotz with the correct orientation. Moreover there is evidence that other Junks from Zhou Man’s Fleet were wrecked in Tasmania (where a coin of Zhu Di’s father has been found amidst the wreckage in Storm Bay), at King Island, at Wollongong and Kangaroo Island. Warrnambool’s mahogany wreck is on the landward side of a substantial sand bar – to lift it over the bar requires huge waves (Professor Ted Bryant). Kangaroo Island’s feral pigs are Chinese – how did they get there, if not from a Chinese voyage? All the evidence is consistent with some ships in the North Western sector of Zhou Man’s Armada just managing to keep afloat, being carried on gigantic waves first to Tasmania, then on to south and western Australia where sailors from at least one Japanese junk settled amongst the Nyungah people and begat children. Some survivors managed to return to China to draw what later appeared on the Jean Rotz map.

The next step will be to ask permission to test the Nyungah peoples DNA, to compare the mortar of the stone observation platforms in the Helena and Swan River Valleys with Ming mortar from Mainland China and to start a search for Chinese artefacts near the observation platform.

Rotavirus

resulting in the hospitalization of approximately 55,000 children each year in the United States and the death of over 600,000 children annually worldwide. The incubation period for rotavirus disease is approximately 2 days. The disease is characterized by vomiting and watery diarrhea for 3 - 8 days, and fever and abdominal pain occur frequently. Immunity after infection is incomplete, but repeat infections tend to be less severe than the original infection.

The virus: A rotavirus has a characteristic wheel-like appearance when viewed by electron microscopy (the name rotavirus is derived from the Latin rota, meaning "wheel"). Rotaviruses are nonenveloped, double-shelled viruses. The genome is composed of 11 segments of double-stranded RNA, which code for six structural and five nonstructural proteins. The virus is stable in the environment.

Epidemiologic features: The primary mode of transmission is fecal-oral, although some have reported low titers of virus in respiratory tract secretions and other body fluids. Because the virus is stable in the environment, transmission can occur through ingestion of contaminated water or food and contact with contaminated surfaces. In the United States and other countries with a temperate climate, the disease has a winter seasonal pattern, with annual epidemics occurring from November to April. The highest rates of illness occur among infants and young children, and most children in the United States are infected by 2 years of age. Adults can also be infected

Treatment: For persons with healthy immune systems, rotavirus gastroenteritis is a self-limited illness, lasting for only a few days. Treatment is nonspecific and consists of oral rehydration therapy to prevent dehydration. About one in 40 children with rotavirus gastroenteritis will require hospitalization for intravenous fluids.

乳酸饮料营养有差别

有乳酸菌的营养高

　　盛教授谈到，牛奶中含有丰富的钙、蛋白质等营养物质，但中国人中有30%—40％的人患有乳糖不适症，喝牛奶后会产生反胃、腹胀、腹泻等现象，使人们无法充分吸收牛奶中的营养成分，乳酸菌饮料可以解决这一难题。

　　他说，这是因为乳酸菌发酵后，可将牛奶中的大分子蛋白质降解为小分子氨基酸、乳糖降解为乳酸，便于人体消化和吸收。此外，在生产乳酸菌饮料的过 程中还会产生大量维生素、氨基酸等对身体有益的物质。而调配型乳酸饮料由于没有经过发酵，因而不能将蛋白质和乳糖降解。实际上，调配型乳酸饮料的主要成分 和纯牛奶差不多，有乳糖不适症的人仍然不能充分吸收其营养。

　　40℃加热不破坏营养

　　中国农业大学食品学院李兴民教授提醒消费者，乳酸菌饮料又分为活性和非活性两种。活性乳酸菌饮料指饮料里的乳酸菌仍然存活，营养价值比较高，但保存时间短；非活性乳酸菌饮料是指经过高温杀菌，或者人为造成饮料里面乳酸菌死亡，营养价值不如前者高，但保存时间比较长。

　　对于老人或不宜喝凉饮料的消费者，李教授建议，可以将乳酸菌饮料带包装泡在40℃左右的温水里加热，这样不会杀死乳酸菌，从而保证营养成分不被破坏

Joy greets rescue of submarine

The vessel's crew - six sailors and a civilian involved in its construction - returned to land on Kamchatka in Russia's Far East, looking wan but relieved and otherwise unhurt, as Russian officials expressed gratitude for the foreign help that freed the submarine.

Prevent Mercury poisoning

concerns — echoing health fears in America — that children should be prevented from eating too much tuna because its flesh becomes contaminated more than most fish with mercury from polluted waters

百度在美上市 股价狂涨354%

中国互联网搜索引擎公司百度在美国纳斯达克上市交易，股价高涨令投资者鼓舞，如果代理上市公司定价更高，百度将收获更多。

　　投资者对百度热情十足，许多人说百度能够像google一样迅速增长，因为中国经济本身也在经历迅速增长。

　　百度周四晚些时候以每股27美元出售美国存托股份已经筹集到了1.09亿美元。周五百度股价狂涨354%达到每股122.54美元

Killer bug spreads in Christchurch

Health authorities are urging Christchurch companies to check their air-conditioning units as the country's worst outbreak of legionnaires' disease claims more victims.

Homeowners are also being encouraged to check their home hot-water systems to ensure they are heating water to a sufficient temperature to kill any bugs.

Two more cases of legionnaires' disease were notified yesterday, bringing the total number of people infected in Canterbury so far this year to 16, including 13 since June.

Two of the 16 – both middle-aged men – have died from the lung disease. The latest cases to be notified are of a man aged in his 20s, and a woman in her 60s. The woman has been hospitalised.

Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Mel Brieseman told The Press yesterday that the woman's condition was satisfactory, "as far as I'm aware".

As he did not know her name, the hospital could not release any information about her condition.

Health authorities have been unable to pinpoint the source of the disease, and are now asking building owners for help.

Legionnaires' disease is caused by the bacterium Legionella, which is found in soil and water.

It grows in air-conditioning systems, spa pools, fountains, or in potting mix or compost. It is not passed from person to person.

Past outbreaks have been linked to poorly maintained air-conditioning cooling towers.

Scientists discover anti-cancer mechanism that arrests early prostate cancer

Prostate cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death for men in the United States, is caused by changes in several tummor suppressor genes including PTEN and p53. Up to 70 percent of men with prostate cancer have lost one copy of the PTEN gene at the time of diagnosis, and p53 is absent in a high number of patients with advanced prostate cancer.

Scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have found an unexpected effect of the interaction of these two genes in early stage prostate cancer. In a study published in the August 4 issue of Nature, researchers found that prostate tumor growth is arrested through a biological process called cellular senescence, in which cells stop proliferating and remain alive but fail to respond to normal growth signals.

This research provides some of the first evidence that this phenomenon, normally associated with stress and/or aging, also occurs in cancer both in animal models and in humans. Researchers suggest that drugs that support p53 function could delay progression of prostate cancer in Pten-deficient prostate cancer by triggering cellular senescence.

Scientists find basis for link between alcohol and cancer

Scientists from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute of Standards and Technology appear to have found a biochemical basis for the suspected link between alcohol consumption and cancer, particularly upper gastrointestinal cancer.

Faster carbon dioxide emissions will overwhelm capacity of land and ocean to absorb carbon

One in a new generation of computer climate models that include the effects of Earth’s carbon cycle indicates there are limits to the planet’s ability to absorb increased emissions of carbon dioxide.


"Plants are happy growing at a certain rate, and though they can accelerate to a certain extent with more CO2, the rate is limited by metabolic reactions in the plant, by water and nutrient availability, et cetera."

In addition, increasing temperatures and drought frequencies lower plant uptake of CO2 as plants breathe in less to conserve water. A second study she and colleagues published last week in PNAS report evidence for this temperature and drought effect. Since 1982, a greening of the Northern Hemisphere has occurred each spring and summer (except for 1992 and 1993, after Mt. Pinatubo erupted) as the climate has steadily warmed. As a result, there is a small but steady decline in atmospheric CO2 each growing season due to increasing photosynthesis at temperate latitudes in the northern hemisphere. When Fung and a team of her former and current post-doctoral fellows took a detailed look at this phenomenon, however, they discovered that since 1994, enhanced uptake of CO2 as photosynthesis revved up in the warm wet springs was offset by decreasing CO2 uptake during summers, which became increasingly hot and dry - an unsuspected browning in the past 10 years.

"This negative effect of hot, dry summers completely wiped out the benefits of warm, wet springs," Fung said. "A warming climate does not necessarily lead to higher CO2 growing-season uptake, even in temperate areas such as North America."

In the climate modeling study published this week in PNAS, she and colleagues found that similar water stress could slow the uptake of CO2 by terrestrial vegetation, and at some point, the rate of fossil fuel CO2 emissions will outstrip the ability of the vegetation to keep up, leading to a rise in atmospheric CO2, increased greenhouse temperatures and increased frequency of droughts. An amplifying loop leads to ever higher temperatures, more droughts and higher CO2 levels.

The oceans exhibit a similar trend, Fung said, though less pronounced. There, mixing by turbulence in the ocean is essential for moving CO2 down into the deep ocean, away from the top 100 meters of the ocean, where carbon absorption from the atmosphere takes place. With increased temperatures, the ocean stratifies more, mixing becomes harder, and CO2 accumulates in the surface ocean instead of in the deep ocean. This accumulation creates a back pressure, lowering CO2 absorption.

"Yes to Peace"

"Eradicating the nuclear threat is more urgent than ever," warned Longridge. Since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, eight nations in addition to the United States have acquired nuclear weapons - Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and N Korea. "Countries with nuclear weapons must lead by example and eliminate their arsenals." "Japan too must strengthen its call for peace and nuclear disarmament, it should start by abandoning plans to begin for plutonium production at the Rokkasho-Mura reprocessing plant " said Atsuko Nogawa of Greenpeace Japan. "So long as deadly substances like plutonium are produced, the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation will always exist.

60 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki Greenpeace renews its call for peace

International — On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Greenpeace renewed its call to world leaders to make real their decades old commitments to nuclear disarmament and for the Japanese government to abandon plans to produce nuclear weapons usable material.

啤酒每天最多只能喝一瓶!

专家认为，男士酗酒不但影响自身健康，还有可能把酒瘾传给下一代。因为丈夫如果大量喝酒，即使是啤酒，妻子怀孕 后生下的孩子可能就是“婴儿酒综合征”患者。这样的孩子爱哭闹、智力弱，长大后也易酒精成瘾。由于爸爸常在周末喝得醉醺醺的，美国将这样的孩子称为“星期 天婴儿”。

　　相关链接>>>小心下列“啤酒病”伤身

　　1.肝硬化：啤酒营养丰富、产热量大，所含营养成分大部分能被人体吸收，长期大量饮用会造成体内脂肪堆积，形成脂肪肝。同时，80％的酒精通过肝脏代谢，长期受酒精浸泡，会导致酒精肝，继而转为肝硬化和肝癌，大大缩短寿命。

　　2.啤酒心：啤酒累积的酒精在损坏肝功能的同时，还会使心肌功能减弱，引起心动过速；加上过量液体使血循环量增多而增加心脏负担，致使心肌肥厚、心室体积扩大、心脏增大，形成“啤酒心”。长此以往可致心力衰竭、心律紊乱等。

　　3.酒精性脑病：后期酒精成瘾者将患上酒精性脑病，小脑失去平衡作用，使人出现走路不稳、幻听幻视等症状。此时，病人的生命已很危险，肝脏失去解毒功能，100％肝硬化。

　　4.啤酒过敏：一些人饮啤酒后发生喉头水肿、喘鸣以及口唇麻木、刺痛等症状，这是一种由于啤酒引起的过敏反应，近些年来出现了发病率增高的趋势。由于很多人不知道啤酒也可能导致过敏，一些缺乏经验的医生面对啤酒过敏也不知所措。

　　5.癌症：多饮啤酒还会降低人体反应能力。美国癌症专家发现，大量饮啤酒的人患口腔癌和食道癌的危险性要比饮烈性酒的人高3倍；澳大利亚专家调查发现，每天饮5升以上啤酒的人最容易患直肠癌。

21世纪全球有可能变冷

研究人员认为，来自遥远太空的宇宙射线不断投射到大气层上部，并与大气层发生相互作用后产生次级射线流，最强的 次级射线可在15千米—到20千米的平流层中观测到，次级射线流同样也受到太阳活动的影响，宇宙射线在平流层与对流层将空气电离，使空气具有导电性，雷雨 云带电，最终导致地球带电。而地球电荷形成的电场加速了空气中不带电悬浮粒子对比较轻的离子的吸附，比不带电悬浮粒子轻得多的带电悬浮粒子变成了水蒸气聚 集的中心，这将导致对流层下层的云团数量增加。云团数量不仅影响太阳能流的变化，也影响近地大气层的温度变化。

　　科研人员将自己的理论与多年积累的宇宙射线变化与全球气温数据比较后发现，20 世纪宇宙射线的强度渐渐下降了。相反，预测21世纪投射到地球上的宇宙射线将增加。宇宙射线的减少伴随着对流层和平流层中空气电离速度和导电性的降低、雷 雨活动的下降、地球电场的减弱、云团覆盖区的缩小等现象，这将导致近地空气温度的升高。

　　科研人员指出，20世纪观察到了上述现象，200年周期性变化的宇宙射线强度在20世纪减小了，从而导致了全球气温的升高；200年周期性变化的宇宙射线强度将在21世纪开始逐渐升高，因此，全球气温将不再变暖，而开始变冷。

孕妇吸烟"可能导致"子女行为异常

妇女在怀孕期间吸烟，会增加其子女日后出现反社会行为的危险。

　　从事这项研究的是英国精神病学研究院的研究人员。他们发现，孕妇吸烟与子女患上注意力不集中和多动症(ADHD)之间存在“重要”联系。

　　而医学已经证明，ADHD患者出现反社会行为的几率比正常人要高。

　　研究人员考察了1896个案例，发现随着妇女在怀孕期间吸烟数量的增加，其子女患上这两种疾病的概率也在增加。

　　此前的一些研究也证明了ADHD及反社会行为与妇女怀孕期间吸烟之间存在的联系。

　　ADHD是一种严重的行为紊乱，患者通常无法集中注意力，并表现得非常好动

人类探索太空史

不依赖空气喷气推进方式的运载火箭为手段进入太空的现代航天科技始于２０世纪初，二战期间，德国于１９４２年首次发射了世界上第一枚弹道导弹Ｖ－２火箭，在工程上实现了航天理论先驱者们的技术设想。

　　二战后，美国和前苏联在德国的研究基础上继续从事火箭及其他航天技术的研究工作。到２０世纪５０年代，美国和前苏联研制的各种类型导弹武器相继问世，形成了导弹武器系统，同时也积累了研制运载火箭的经验，建立了与之配套且初具规模的工业设施。

　　１９５７年１０月４日，前苏联采用改装的Ｐ－７洲际导弹把世界上第一颗人造地球卫星送入太空。

　　人类要实现上天的愿望必须满足三个条件：第一要有强大的运载工具，第二要有乘坐宇航员的先进的航天器，第三必须弄清高空环境和飞行环境对人体的影响，并找到防护措施。到２０世纪５０年代，美国和前苏联在这几方面都取得了长足的进步，为载人航天奠定了坚实的技术基础。

　　１９６１年４月１２日，前苏联首先将载有世界上第一名宇航员尤里·加加林的“东方１号”宇宙飞船送入离地面１８１～３２７千米的空间轨道。尤里·加加林的航天飞行，实现了人类梦寐以求的飞天愿望，开创了载人航天的新时代。

　　美国也紧随其后，１９６９年７月２０日，“阿波罗Ⅱ号”登月舱在月球“静海”区安全着陆，美国宇航员Ｎ·Ａ·阿姆斯特朗和Ｅ·Ｅ·奥尔德林登上月球，实现了人类几千年的梦想，使嫦娥奔月的神话变成了现实，人类探索太空的成就达到了新的高峰。

　　自第一颗人造卫星成功发射后，在短短不到半个世纪的时间里，人类对太空的探索已取得 了飞速发展。从人造卫星的应用到星际探索，从月球探险到火星、土星勘探计划再到彗星“深度撞击”。截至２００４年底，世界各国共进行了航天发射４０００多 次，把５５００多个各类航天器送入太空，目前，仍在轨道上或宇宙中运行的航天器大约有１３００多个。迄今为止，人类已经研制成功了载人飞船、空间站、航天 飞机等三种不同的载人航天器，将５００多人送入太空，有１２人登上月球

Humans Dying of Pig Disease a Concern

Experts on a strep germ that's sickening people and pigs in China are baffled by reports of 37 farmers suddenly falling ill, bleeding under the skin and dying - all previously unheard of with the disease.

While not uncommon in pigs, Streptococcus suis is seldom seen in people and never dozens of cases all at once - raising bigger questions about whether the germ has mixed with some other bacteria or virus.

"Something is different," Marcelo Gottschalk, one of the world's leading experts on the disease, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

"We are worried and we wonder what's happening. We would like to have the strain to identify."

Gottschalk works in the world's only reference laboratory for Streptococcus suis at the University of Montreal in Canada and says no one in China has contacted him for help since the outbreak was reported last month.

So few people have studied this disease, he's unsure how the Chinese have been able to identify it and what type of vaccine they plan to use since immunizations typically are not effective. Chinese state media have reported that enough vaccine for 350,000 pigs has already been sent to Sichuan province from a company in southern Guangdong province and that enough doses for 10 million swine will be shipped later.

Gottschalk said Streptococcus suis usually takes a while to develop in people and often causes meningitis followed by partial or permanent hearing loss. Most people also survive after being treated with antibiotics and cases are typically few and far between - Thailand, for example, usually has less than 20 known cases a year, he said. China has reported more than 200 confirmed or suspected human cases since June.

The infected farmers who handled or butchered sick pigs have experienced nausea, fever, vomiting and bleeding under the skin.

The World Health Organization and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization have questioned whether Streptococcus suis could possibly have combined with some other disease or bacteria in China. One case has also been reported in Guangdong province, hundreds of miles southeast of Sichuan. Hong Kong has reported two infections since the latest outbreak, but Chinese health officials have not announced whether those are connected to the Sichuan cases.

"Why is it behaving differently all of a sudden?" said Juan Lubroth, an animal health official at FAO in Rome. "One explanation is you have additional problems and it's not just Streptococcus suis that's causing it."

Thomas Alexander, retired deputy director of the University of Cambridge's School of Veterinary Medicine, was a pioneer in studying this particular strep germ. He said the bacteria is commonly found in the tonsils of healthy swine in different parts of the world. However, it sometimes becomes pathogenic when too many pigs are crammed together in unsanitary conditions.

"In my experience, it's much more chronic. They're describing death within 24 hours," he said by telephone from England. "What they're describing doesn't fit the picture."

The disease is typically spread from pigs to people through cuts or wounds on the hands. Pork that has been thoroughly cooked is not a problem, but eating undercooked or raw meat can infect humans.

Asia has been particularly aware of cross-species infection since 2003 when it fought SARS, which is believed to have first jumped from animals to people in southern China; it eventually killed nearly 800 people worldwide. The region is also currently battling bird flu in which poultry has infected humans, killing at least 60 people since 2003.

China was accused of withholding information about SARS, and WHO has recently said health officials are not sharing enough information about bird flu.

Based on his limited information, Gottschalk said he's not overly concerned about the pig disease spreading across borders since bacterial diseases tend to change more slowly than viruses like flu. There have been no cases of Streptococcus suis spreading from person to person.

C S

手术如果应用得当，能起到挽救母儿的作用，否则不仅不能收到预期效果，且可造成远期的不良影响，故施术前必须慎重考虑，加以重视。有很多孕妇对这种手术有一些误解，以为只要能尽快把孩子取出来就是好的。为加强大家对剖腹产的了解，下面将其优缺点列举如下。

　　剖腹产的优点：

　　为了更平安地生下孩子

　　(1)由于某种原因，绝对不可能从阴道分娩时，施行剖腹产可以挽救母婴的生命。

　　产妇哪些情况下需要剖腹产？阴道分娩无法达成，或经阴道分娩可能对产妇或新生儿（胎儿）有危险时，就需要剖腹生产。在哪些情况下，孕妇需要接受剖腹生产，母儿才会有满意的结果？这些特别的情况，就是我们常提到的剖腹产适应症（Indications）。

　　(2)剖腹产的手术指征明确，麻醉和手术一般都很顺利。

　　(3)如果施行选择性剖腹产，于宫缩尚未开始前就已施行手术，可以免去母亲遭受阵痛之苦。

　　(4)腹腔内如有其它疾病时，也可一并处理，如合并卵巢肿瘤或浆膜下子宫肌瘤，均可同时切除。

　　(5)做结扎手术也很方便。

　　(6)对已有不宜保留子宫的情况，如严重感染，不全子宫破裂，多发性子宫肌瘤等，亦可同时切除子宫。

　　(7)由于近年剖腹产术安全性的提高，许多妊娠并发病和妊娠合并症的中止妊娠，临床医生选择了剖腹产术，减少了并发病和合并症对母儿的影响。

　　案例：上世纪70年代以来，越来越多欧美发达国家的产妇选择剖腹产。1991年至2001年，美国非医学原因而自愿选择剖腹产生育的母亲逐年增 多，而初次生育的产妇选择剖腹产的人数甚至上升了67%。2002年，27%的澳大利亚婴儿通过剖腹产手术出生，而十年前这一数字仅为18%。专家表示， 这一数字如今已上升至30%。在一些私人医院，几乎有一半的婴儿通过剖腹产手术出生。

　　更平安地得到孩子，是这些准妈妈们选择剖腹产的主要理由，还有一些孕妇是害怕产痛或只是为了让自己感觉更舒适，另一些人则是为了避免自然分娩可能引起的大小便失禁。此外，高龄产妇与生育功能性缺陷也是产妇们选择剖腹产的主要原因。

　　剖腹产在许多案例中都曾挽救过产妇的生命。在胎盘前置的情况下，如果产妇自然生产就会引发大出血，从而面临生命危险。另外，剖腹产也更适合生产 多胞胎等情况。许多产妇都认为剖腹产是更保险的方式。而产妇一旦进行过剖腹产手术，如果再次生产，大部分医生都会担心原先的伤口破裂，而不同意使用自然分 娩的方式。

　　剖腹产的缺点：

　　对母子都有不利影响

　　(1)剖腹手术对母体的精神上和肉体上都是个创伤

专家教您识别病死猪肉

发生在四川资阳、内江等地的“猪链球菌”使人致死现象，让一些市民不敢购食猪肉。近日，重庆市农业局兽医处负责人介绍了６招简单易行的识别病死猪肉方法：
　　
　　一是看表皮。健康猪肉表皮无任何斑痕；病死猪肉表皮上常有紫色出血斑点，甚至出现暗红色弥漫性出血，也有的会出现红色或黄色隆起疹块。
　　
　　二是看脂肪。健康猪的脂肪呈白色或乳白色；病死猪肉的脂肪呈红色、黄色或绿色等异常色泽。
　　
　　三是看肌肉。健康猪的瘦肉一般为红色或淡红色，光泽鲜艳，很少有液体流出；病死猪肉颜色发红发紫，无光泽，挤压时有暗红色的血汁渗出。
　　
　　四是看弹性。好猪肉有弹性；病死猪肉无弹性。
　　
　　五是闻气味。好猪肉无异味；病死猪肉有血腥味、腐臭味及其他异味。
　　
　　六是查淋巴。病死猪肉的淋巴结是肿大的，其脂肪为浅玫瑰色或红色，肌肉为墨红色；质量合格的猪肉淋巴结大小正常，肉切面呈鲜灰色或淡黄色。

首批猪链球菌疫苗广州启运

猪链球菌2型灭活疫苗在广州正式出厂，并于晚上8时40分从广州空运四川成都。据广东省动物防疫监督总所所长余业东透露，广东永顺生物制药公司负责本次疫 苗生产。此次运往四川的首批灭活疫苗总共46个泡沫箱（每个泡沫箱有3个小箱，每个小箱装50个瓶子，每瓶装50（头）份疫苗、34．5万（头）份疫苗， 更大批量的疫苗产品正在加紧生产之中。该公司生产的约1000万（头）份疫苗产品将陆续运往需要疫苗的地区。

Scientists find gene defect link to heart disease

Five generations of a family in Dallas, Texas have helped scientists discover a genetic mutation that causes a common birth defect and contributes to heart disease in adults. Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre in Dallas studied DNA from 11 members of the family, including children and adults, who suffered from aortic heart disease. They found that all of them had a mutation on a gene called NOTCH1. “Mutations in NOTCH1 cause an early developmental defect in the aortic valve,” said Dr Vidu Garg, an assistant professor of paediatrics and molecular biology. Researchers found a second mutation on the same gene in members of a smaller family in San Diego which they said confirmed their finding. The aortic valve is normally composed of three flaps of tissue that open and close to enable blood to flow in one direction. But about one or two percent of the population are born with valves with only two flaps which make them susceptible to aortic valve stenosis. The condition, which narrows the passage through which blood exits the heart, can require surgery at birth. In severe cases the heart does not develop properly in the foetus and the child is born with an illness called hypoplastic left heart syndrome – a leading cause of heart disease deaths in children.

Pfizer's Celebrex arthritis drug to add warnings

Celebrex arthritis drug has been changed to add a prominent warning of possible cardiovascular risks, such as an increased chance of heart attacks, in line with new warnings on other arthritis and pain drugs.

The label will also carry a new warning that Celebrex, like older painkillers, can cause serious ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding.

Celebrex was developed to treat pain with less risk of such bleeding than older treatments. But in a large clinical trial, Celebrex failed to prove significantly safer for the stomach than two far-cheaper standard painkillers.

Pfizer said the package insert label of the drug now recommends it be prescribed "at the lowest effective dose for the shortest duration."

The label will now also note that Celebrex more than doubled the risk of heart attack in a 3-year cancer-prevention trial sponsored by the federal government, although it did not show such danger in a similar cancer-prevention study.

But the company on Monday also said U.S. regulators had approved a new use for the drug, treating ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis of the spine that Pfizer said affects more than 400,000 Americans.

Glacier melting won’t stop global warming

Most of Austria's 925 glaciers have been melting because of global warming, prompting officials to rethink solutions

中国拟取消所有医疗广告

中国虚假医疗广告的泛滥给官方出了难题，面对屡禁不止的违法医药广告，官方打算釜底抽薪，取消所有医疗广告。