Category Archives: environment

Live–Work Spaces Present New Opportunity for Owners, Operators – Multifamily Executive Magazine

“The spaces in The Cordovan were designed as two-story so you could theoretically have your business on the first floor,” Goodman explains. “The lofts in the second building [meanwhile] are designed with concrete floors and oversized doors to cater to artists.”

Both Goodman and Lynch feel the live–work concept has worked well in Haverhill and would be extremely successful in large urban centers, as well.

via Live–Work Spaces Present New Opportunity for Owners, Operators – Multifamily Executive Magazine.

Researchers Discover Why Listeria Bacterium is So Hard to Fight

The bacterium is notoriously difficult to fight because it has an almost uncanny ability to adapt to changes in its surroundings, says Associate Professor Birgitte Kallipolitis, University of Southern Denmark. Together with colleagues from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, she has published a study, which in details reveals how this extreme ability to adapt takes place.

via Researchers Discover Why Listeria Bacterium is So Hard to Fight.

WHO | Ebola virus disease update – west Africa August 28, 2014

Epidemiology and surveillance

The total number of probable and confirmed cases in the current outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the four affected countries as reported by the respective Ministries of Health of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone is 3069, with 1552 deaths.

The outbreak continues to accelerate. More than 40% of the total number of cases have occurred within the past 21 days. However, most cases are concentrated in only a few localities.

The overall case fatality rate is 52%. It ranges from 42% in Sierra Leone to 66% in Guinea.

A separate outbreak of Ebola virus disease, which is not related to the outbreak in West Africa, was laboratory-confirmed on 26 August by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is detailed in a separate edition of the Disease Outbreak News.

Health sector response

A full understanding of the outbreak that will lead to improved response requires detailed analysis of exactly where transmission is occurring (by district level) and of time trends. This analysis is ongoing. Preliminary results show that cases are still concentrated (62% of all reported cases since the beginning of the outbreak) in the epicentre of the outbreak in Gueckedou (Guinea); Lofa (Liberia), where cases continue to rise; and Kenema and Kailahun (Sierra Leone). Capital cities are of particular concern, owing to their population density and repercussions for travel and trade.

via WHO | Ebola virus disease update – west Africa.

Avian Flu Diary: Japan Reports 1st Locally Acquired Dengue Case In 60 Years

In order to spread, Dengue requires the right mosquito vector.  And the two species best suited to transmit the virus are the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, which also can spread such diseases as West Nile, Malaria, Yellow Fever, and Chikungunya.

 

While the Aedes Aegypti isn’t a problem in Japan, the Aedes Albopictus (`Asian Tiger’) mosquito is.

via Avian Flu Diary: Japan Reports 1st Locally Acquired Dengue Case In 60 Years.

Ebola outbreak ‘worse than we’d feared,’ CDC chief says on… | www.ajc.com

Frieden, in his WSB Radio interview, warned that failure to control the outbreak could be catastrophic.

“This isn’t just a risk to Liberia and West Africa,” Frieden said. “With this kind of transmission, every day it goes on, it increases the risk of spread to other countries in Africa, other countries in the region.

“The impact not just from Ebola but on the delivery of healthcare, on economies, on families and societies. It’s huge. It’s absolutely an emergency.”

via Ebola outbreak ‘worse than we’d feared,’ CDC chief says on… | www.ajc.com.

Overhyped headline! WHO shuts Sierra Leone lab after worker infected with Ebola | Reuters

“It’s a temporary measure to take care of the welfare of our remaining workers,” WHO spokesperson Christy Feig said, without specifying how long the measure would last. “After our assessment, they will return.”

Feig said she could not assess what impact the withdrawal of WHO staff would have on the fight against Ebola in the Kailahun, the area hardest hit by the disease. The WHO said in a later statement that staff would return after an investigation was completed, adding that testing would continue in the meantime at the Kenema laboratory.

The Senegalese medic — the first worker deployed by WHO to be infected — will be evacuated from Sierra Leone in the coming days, Feig said. He is currently being treated at a government hospital in the eastern town of Kenema.

via WHO shuts Sierra Leone lab after worker infected with Ebola | Reuters.

Avian Flu Diary: PNAS: A Vaccine Evading Variant Poliovirus

For those born after 1960, it is probably difficult to understand the kind of fear that Polio generated in the United States and around the world during the 1950s.  While only one infection in a hundred resulted in paralysis or death, polio was extremely infectious, and the United States routinely saw between 18,000 and 25,000 paralytic cases each year – mostly among young children.

 

Hospital wards were filled with paralyzed children trapped in iron lungs (a grim technology many younger adults have no memory of), which were used to keep them alive. The following short film clip may be hard for some to look at, but is a reminder of how things were . . . not so very long ago.

 

 

 

In 1954  the first major field trials of the Salk vaccine took place, and the following year – after review of the data – a national vaccination campaign was launched. By 1957, after two years of vaccination – the number of new polio cases in the United States dropped to under 6,000, and by 1964 that number had dropped to just 121 cases.

via Avian Flu Diary: PNAS: A Vaccine Evading Variant Poliovirus.

The Voice of Nada: In Praise of the Earth

Let us ask forgiveness of the Earth

For all our sins against her:

For our violence and poisonings

Of her beauty.

Let us remember within us

The ancient clay,

Holding the memory of seasons,

The passion of the wind,

The fluency of water,

The warmth of fire,

The quiver-touch of the sun

And shadowed sureness of the moon.

That we may awaken,

To live to the full

The dream of the Earth

Who chose us to emerge

And incarnate its hidden night

In mind, spirit, and light.

– John O’Donohue, from: In Praise of the Earth

via The Voice of Nada: In Praise of the Earth.

WHO: Full Report Of Ethics Committee On Experimental Drugs For Ebola

{Unintended consequences abound after use of experimental drugs on Ebola given ethical OK by WHO}

The intent was to allow a handful drugs and vaccines currently under investigation for the treatment of Ebola – those with at least some reasonable expectation of being effective – to be given a “compassionate use” waiver so they could be used outside of a clinical trial.

 

On Friday, in an attempt to dial back some of the excessive media hype over what are unproven and untested drugs, we saw the WHO Warn Of `Unrealistic Expectations’ Over Experimental Ebola Drugs.

Proving that no good deed goes unpunished, almost immediately we began to see reports of everything from herbal remedies to homeopathic `cures’ to `Nano Silver’ ( even holy water)  being offered as potential treatments or preventatives for Ebola.

 

Last week the FDA warned consumers about fraudulent Ebola treatment products and the WHO began to aggressively discount these `cures’ on their twitter account.

via Avian Flu Diary: WHO: Full Report Of Ethics Committee On Experimental Drugs For Ebola.

Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Gala Raises Over $25 Million – Look to the Stars

The Gala – co-chaired by Philippe Cousteau and Jared Leto along with the presenting sponsor Julius Baer and co-sponsor Chopard – raised over $25 million for The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, dedicated to protecting Earth’s last wild places and implementing solutions to build a more harmonious relationship between humanity and the natural world.

Leonardo DiCaprio opened the evening with an impassioned speech about the Foundation’s work and stated, “Today we stand at the 11th Hour – facing a tipping point of environmental crises unprecedented in human history. Not since the age of the dinosaurs have so many species of plants and animals become extinct in such a short period of time. We must now make an effort to protect the rich biodiversity that could allow nature to eventually recover. The good news is there are solutions to these massive problems. Efforts like tonight will start addressing them.”

DiCaprio proceeded to open the live auction with his own Harley-Davidson Motorcycle signed by Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and himself.

Bono took the stage with Julian Lennon, and took down the house with their own rendition of “Stand By Me.” Bono stayed on stage to auction off his personal guitar for $1 million.

via Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Gala Raises Over $25 Million – Look to the Stars.