Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

Nyagatare in mass campaign against illicit drugs

{Concerted efforts against trafficking, sell and use of illicit drugs in Nyagatare District continue to reap big as at least contrabands valued at over Rwf43 million have been seized over the last one year.}

The contrabands that include over209760 pieces of various brands, 1748 cartons of kitoko, and 612 litres of kanyanga, were destroyed yesterday in Rwimiyaga Sector.

Present during the destruction exercise include the mayor of Nyagatare, George Mupenzi, the District Police Commander (DPC) Chief Supt. Johnson Sesonga and hundreds of residents, among others.

The mayor urged the residents to stay at the forefront in the fight against drugs, and sustenance of social protection programmes.

Chief Supt. Sesonga, on his part, commended the role residents continue to play in real time reporting of drug dealers, which informs successful police operations.

“We are seeing a lot of success through ownership and strong partnership by being the eyes and ears of security,” said the DPC.

Police are paraded eleven motorcycles and 27 bicycles, which were at the time, intercepted transporting the drugs. Police also said that majority of the traffickers and sellers, were also arrested.

The destruction came a day after a similar exercise in Rwempasha Sector where other psychotropic substances including over 0ne hundred cartons of various contraband brands.

The latest arrest involved a commercial motorcyclist, who was intercepted Tuesday in Gasinga Cell of Rwempasha Sector transporting 13 cartons of Zebra.

According to the DPC, this is part of the anti-illicit drugs campaign that will continue in all the twelve sectors of Nyagatare, where stored seized psychotropic substances will also be destroyed.

The exercise follows the official launch of the awareness against illicit drugs by Association of Pentecostal Churches in Rwanda (ADEPR), early this month to supplement the Rwanda National Police (RNP) efforts to break chains of drugs supply and sale.

Source:Police

April 27, 2017
Low-sodium diet might not lower blood pressure

{Findings from large, 16-year study contradict sodium limits in Dietary Guidelines for Americans}

A new study that followed more than 2,600 men and women for 16 years found that consuming less sodium wasn’t associated with lower blood pressure. The new findings call into question the sodium limits recommended by the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Lynn L. Moore, DSc, associate professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, will present the new research at the American Society for Nutrition Scientific Sessions and annual meeting during the Experimental Biology 2017 meeting, to be held April 22-26 in Chicago.

“We saw no evidence that a diet lower in sodium had any long-term beneficial effects on blood pressure,” said Moore. “Our findings add to growing evidence that current recommendations for sodium intake may be misguided.”

The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting sodium intake to 2,300 grams a day for healthy people. For the study, the researchers followed 2,632 men and women ages 30 to 64 years old who were part of the Framingham Offspring Study. The participants had normal blood pressure at the study’s start. However, over the next 16 years, the researchers found that the study participants who consumed less than 2500 milligrams of sodium a day had higher blood pressure than participants who consumed higher amounts of sodium.

Other large studies published in the past few years have found what researchers call a J-shaped relationship between sodium and cardiovascular risk — that means people with low-sodium diets (as recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans) and people with a very high sodium intake (above the usual intake of the average American) had higher risks of heart disease. Those with the lowest risk had sodium intakes in the middle, which is the range consumed by most Americans.

“Our new results support these other studies that have questioned the wisdom of low dietary sodium intakes in the general population,” said Moore.

The researchers also found that people in the study who had higher intakes of potassium, calcium and magnesium exhibited lower blood pressure over the long term. In Framingham, people with higher combined intakes of sodium (3717 milligrams per day on average) and potassium (3211 milligrams per day on average on average) had the lowest blood pressure.

“This study and others point to the importance of higher potassium intakes, in particular, on blood pressure and probably cardiovascular outcomes as well,” said Moore. “I hope that this research will help refocus the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans on the importance of increasing intakes of foods rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium for the purpose of maintaining a healthy blood pressure.”

Moore says that there is likely a subset of people sensitive to salt who would benefit from lowering sodium intake, but more research is needed to develop easier methods to screen for salt sensitivity and to determine appropriate guidelines for intakes of sodium and potassium in this salt-sensitive group of people.

Source:Science Daily

April 27, 2017
What’s coming next? Scientists identify how the brain predicts speech

{An international collaboration of neuroscientists has shed light on how the brain helps us to predict what is coming next in speech.}

In the study, publishing on April 25 in the open access journal PLOS Biology scientists from Newcastle University, UK, and a neurosurgery group at the University of Iowa, USA, report that they have discovered mechanisms in the brain’s auditory cortex involved in processing speech and predicting upcoming words, which is essentially unchanged throughout evolution. Their research reveals how individual neurons coordinate with neural populations to anticipate events, a process that is impaired in many neurological and psychiatric disorders such as dyslexia, schizophrenia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Using an approach first developed for studying infant language learning, the team of neuroscientists led by Dr Yuki Kikuchi and Prof Chris Petkov of Newcastle University had humans and monkeys listen to sequences of spoken words from a made-up language. Both species were able to learn the predictive relationships between the spoken sounds in the sequences.

Neural responses from the auditory cortex in the two species revealed how populations of neurons responded to the speech sounds and to the learned predictive relationships between the sounds. The neural responses were found to be remarkably similar in both species, suggesting that the way the human auditory cortex responds to speech harnesses evolutionarily conserved mechanisms, rather than those that have uniquely specialized in humans for speech or language.

“Being able to predict events is vital for so much of what we do every day,” Professor Petkov notes. “Now that we know humans and monkeys share the ability to predict speech we can apply this knowledge to take forward research to improve our understanding of the human brain.”

Dr Kikuchi elaborates, “in effect we have discovered the mechanisms for speech in your brain that work like predictive text on your mobile phone, anticipating what you are going to hear next. This could help us better understand what is happening when the brain fails to make fundamental predictions, such as in people with dementia or after a stroke.”

Building on these results, the team are working on projects to harness insights on predictive signals in the brain to develop new models to study how these signals go wrong in patients with stroke or dementia. The long-term goal is to identify strategies that yield more accurate prognoses and treatments for these patients.

Source:Science Daily

April 27, 2017
6 ways to stop premature ejaculation

{About one in three men suffer from premature ejaculation at some point in their lives according to Mayo Clinic and it’s causing anxiety for lots of men.}

{{Here are 6 ways to stop premature ejaculation}}

{{1. Stop and start technique }}

The stop-and-start technique can be used to stop premature ejaculation. The stop-and-start technique is a technique where you keep riding your partner until you’re just about to ejaculate and then you stop. You stop by either stopping movement, pulling out completely from your partner or squeezing the base of your penis. After a few seconds, you can continue riding your partner.

{{2. Distraction }}

Distracting yourself during sex is another way you can stop premature ejaculation. To avoid being a one-minute man, don’t think about the sex you are having but think of something really ugly that you hate. Distracting yourself during sex can be useful in stopping premature ejaculation.

{{3. Relax yourself }}

Worrying about finishing too soon will make you finish too soon during sex so it’s important you learn to relax and not worry about finishing too soon. When ejaculating too soon doesn’t worry you, the chances of having premature ejaculation is reduced.

{{4. Have more sex with your partner }}

Premature ejaculation can be solved by been familiar and comfortable sexually with your partner and this can be achieved by having more sex with your partner. You are less likely to have performance anxiety which can lead to premature ejaculation if you are comfortable with your partner sexually.

{{5. Use thicker condoms }}

Over-sensitivity is the major cause of premature ejaculation and you can last longer in bed by reducing the sensitivity. This could be achieved by using thicker condoms. There are also certain condoms that contain fluid that reduces sensation during sex thereby reducing your chances of having premature ejaculation.

{{6. See a doctor }}

Seeing a doctor can also help you stop premature ejaculation. There are approved medication for treating premature ejaculation.

Source:Science Daily

April 27, 2017
Smartphone-controlled cells help keep diabetes in check

{Cells engineered to produce insulin under the command of a smartphone helped keep blood sugar levels within normal limits in diabetic mice, a new study reports.}

More than 415 million people worldwide are living with diabetes, and frequently need to inject themselves with insulin to manage their blood sugars. Human cells can be genetically engineered into living factories that efficiently manufacture and deliver hormones and signaling molecules, but most synthetic biological circuits don’t offer the same degree of sensitivity and precision as digital sensors.

Combining living tissues and technology, Jiawei Shao et al. created custom cells that produced insulin when illuminated by far-red light (the same wavelengths emitted by therapy bulbs and infrared saunas).

The researchers added the cells to a soft bio-compatible sheath that also contained wirelessly-powered red LED lights to create HydrogeLEDs that could be turned on and off by an external electromagnetic field.

Implanting the HydrogeLEDs into the skin of diabetic mice allowed Shao and colleagues to administer insulin doses remotely through a smartphone application. They not only custom-coded the smartphone control algorithms, but designed the engineered cells to produce insulin without any “cross-talk” between normal cellular signaling processes.

The scientists went on to pair the system with a Bluetooth-enabled blood glucose meter, creating instant feedback between the therapeutic cells and the diagnostic device that helped diabetic animals rapidly achieve and maintain stable blood glucose levels in a small pilot experiment over a period of several weeks.

The authors say that successfully linking digital signals with engineered cells represents an important step toward translating similar cell-based therapies into the clinic. A related Focus by Mark Gomelsky highlights the findings further.

Source:Science Daily

April 27, 2017
Rwanda recommits to tighten fight against malaria

{Today, Rwanda has joined the rest of the world in a campaign to “End Malaria for Good.” An official ceremony held in Huye District to mark World Malaria Day.}

The World Malaria Day is an occasion for the country to combine and tighten its efforts in the fight against Malaria through increased awareness on response.

Activities meant to enhance Malaria prevention will run from 24-29 April 2017. These include: educating communities on proper use of mosquito nets and door-to-door mobilisation on Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS). An active home-based care management for Malaria to population in high-risk zones is on going.

Under the Malaria Contingency Plan, strategies like Home Based Management for Malaria at community level have helped reduce severe malaria cases by 50% in the last five months (November 2016 – March 2017).

Since November last year, 4 million long lasting insecticide treated nets were distributed nationwide, while Indoor Residual Spraying activities were conducted in Kirehe, Nyagatare, Gatsibo and Bugesera districts of Eastern Province, as well as Gisagara District in the southern part of the country. Citizens in the 1st and 2nd of Ubudehe – household social economic categories, have access to malaria treatment free of charge. This has helped curb financial barriers.

Through the Ministry of Health, the Government of Rwanda has reinforced community awareness campaigns as well as education activities towards proper use of bed nets and enhanced environment hygiene and sanitation in a bid to intensify the fight against Malaria.

The concerted efforts are credited for reducing significantly severe malaria cases and related deaths as Rwanda toughens its efforts in ending Malaria for Good.

April 26, 2017
Uganda:Court blocks journalists from covering Nyanzi’s case

{High Court Judge, Elizabeth Kabanda, who is hearing the case of Makerere University academician Dr Stella Nyanzi has ordered journalists out of her chambers.}

Justice Kabanda on Wednesday ordered journalists out after Dr Nyanzi appeared before her for review of her bail, before Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court, where the presiding magistrate Mr James Ereemye remanded her without hearing her bail application. Nyanzi is accused of cyber harassment and offensive communication.

Journalists from various media are packed in the corridor leading to Justice Kabanda’s Chambers.

Dr Nyanzi is currently inside the judge’s Chambers alongside her lawyers led by Nicholas Opiyo, and state attorneys.

Dr Nyanzi is challenging the manner in which she was remanded to Luzira prison on April 10, by Buganda Road Court chief magistrate James Ereemye, without entertaining her bail application.

However, shortly after the proceedings in the judge’s chambers, Mr Opiyo told Daily Monitor that Justice Kabanda had adjourned the case to 3:30 pm.

Source:Daily Monitor

April 26, 2017
March 2017 continues global warming trend

{It was the second warmest March – after March 2016 – in a database which goes as far back as 1880.}

It was confirmed this week by NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) that March 2017 was the second warmest March, globally, on record. The only warmer March in a database stretching over more than 1,620 months, was March 2016. The second place ranking was also confirmed by NASA.

In addition, March was the fourth warmest month – any month – in that database, coming behind February, March and January of 2016 and just ahead of February 2017.

Once again, the degree of warming is quite alarming. March was a massive 1.12 degrees Celsius above the long-term average. With January and February of 2017 amongst the warmest months ever recorded, there is an outside chance that 2017 could challenge 2016 as the warmest year on record.

This remains unlikely at this stage as we only came out of an El Nino, which tends to enhance global warming, earlier in 2016.

Nevertheless, a localised warming of surface waters in the eastern Pacific, which has resulted in heavy rain, flooding and landslides in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, has been ongoing for several months.

It is certainly possible that another El Nino could develop later this year, despite such events usually occurring only every two to seven years. Such a development would certainly raise the possibility of 2017 challenging 2016 as the warmest year on record.

The record temperatures of March applied equally to land and sea. As a result, sea ice extent in both the Arctic and Antarctic was at record low levels.

It was confirmed this week by NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) that March 2017 was the second warmest March, globally, on record. The only warmer March in a database stretching over more than 1,620 months, was March 2016. The second place ranking was also confirmed by NASA.

In addition, March was the fourth warmest month – any month – in that database, coming behind February, March and January of 2016 and just ahead of February 2017.

Once again, the degree of warming is quite alarming. March was a massive 1.12 degrees Celsius above the long-term average. With January and February of 2017 amongst the warmest months ever recorded, there is an outside chance that 2017 could challenge 2016 as the warmest year on record.

This remains unlikely at this stage as we only came out of an El Nino, which tends to enhance global warming, earlier in 2016.

Nevertheless, a localised warming of surface waters in the eastern Pacific, which has resulted in heavy rain, flooding and landslides in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, has been ongoing for several months.

It is certainly possible that another El Nino could develop later this year, despite such events usually occurring only every two to seven years. Such a development would certainly raise the possibility of 2017 challenging 2016 as the warmest year on record.

The record temperatures of March applied equally to land and sea. As a result, sea ice extent in both the Arctic and Antarctic was at record low levels.

Source:Al Jazeera

April 26, 2017
India Maoist attack survivor recalls ordeal

{Soldier recounts ambush by Maoist fighters that left 25 colleagues dead in flash point Chhattisgarh state.}

Raipur, India – “Grenades and bullets were raining down” on paramilitary policemen in a Maoist attack that killed 25 Indian personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), a surviving constable told Al Jazeera.

The policemen were guarding road workers in the Sukma district, nearly 400km from Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh state, when they came under fire on Monday.

Constable Sher Mohammed was part of the more than 100 personnel from the 74th battalion of CRPF deployed in the jungles.

About 300 Maoists – a large number of them women – attacked from all sides while the soldiers were on their lunch break.

“We were sitting under the trees for lunch when we heard shots. Before we knew it, bullets were flying around us. Some of our companions were falling like trees crashing down,” said Mohammed, who is recovering in a hospital in Raipur.

“It seemed as if hand grenades and bullets were raining down on us.”

The pain of losing his colleagues was clearly visible on his face as he lay on the hospital bed.

“They used weapons like AK-47 and fired from all sides. That made it difficult for us but we kept firing back,” Mohammed said.

“The distance between us and the Maoists was hardly 100 metres. As I tried to rescue a fellow soldier, seven or eight bullets hit my chest but my bulletproof jacket saved me.”

Monday’s attack was the latest in a long-running conflict between Maoist fighters and Indian forces in the rural areas of mainly central and eastern India.

At least 76 CRPF personnel were killed in a Maoist attack in the same district in 2010.

Extra-judicial killings

Tens of thousands of Indian troops have been deployed in the Maoist-affected areas of the country, euphemistically characterized as the ‘red corridor’, to fight the rebels, who want mining in the mineral-rich region to stop.

More than 20,000 people, the vast majority of them civilians, have been killed since 1980. The violence escalated after the government launched an armed operation in 2009, dubbed “Operation Green Hunt” by the media.

Human rights activists and local journalists, who have accused government forces of abuse and extra judicial killings, have been attacked and in many cases even jailed.

The Maoists, believed to be present in at least 13 Indian states, say they are fighting for the rights of the adivasi tribal people and the landless farmers against mining in the region.

In a recent statement in parliament, Rajnath Singh, home minister, said the Maoists were frustrated because of the success of recent security operations against them.

Last year, 135 Maoists were killed, 700 were arrested and another 1,198 surrendered to government forces, Singh said, citing figures from NDTV.

READ MORE: India making inroads in Maoist stronghold

Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, sent his condolences to the families of the soldiers killed in the attack. Singh, for his part, dubbed it a “cold blooded murder”.

Bhupesh Baghel, from the opposition Congress party, blamed the attack on the lack of coordination between the CRPF and state police.

However, Ramsewak Paikra, Chhattisgarh home minister, denied the claim, saying the development work done by the previous Congress government was the real reason behind the attack.

“The Maoists know that development is limiting the space for them. Maoist use tribals as their shield to prevent development,” Paikra told Al Jazeera.

Retaliation feared

Last month Maoist rebels killed 11 paramilitary policemen in the same state after ambushing their convoy.

Civil rights groups have criticised the attack but fear that security forces would “retaliate” by targeting ordinary civilians.

“Consequent arrests, beatings and killings will only intensify the cycles of violence and counter-violence,” said Dr Lakhan Singh, president of the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties.

“A situation of civil war still prevails in Bastar [district in Chhattisgarh state] but the Indian government refuses to declare this an “internal armed conflict” perhaps to avoid monitoring by the UN.”

The government has deployed more than 100,000 troops, one-third of them paramilitary forces, to root out the five-decade old armed rebellion. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the state since 1995.

About 35,000 central paramilitary forces and more than 20,000 state police are deployed in Bastar, which is considered a stronghold of the Maoist fighters.

Source:Al Jazeera

April 26, 2017
Trump to review protections on vast nature preserves

{Review could upend protections and restrictions on millions of acres of land designated as ‘national monuments’.}

After moving to roll back climate change protections, US President Donald Trump is turning his sights on America’s vast nature preserves, with a view to possibly lifting federal protections brought in over the past two decades.

Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Wednesday reviewing the designation of tens of millions of acres of land as “national monuments” under a 1906 law known as the Antiquities Act, which was brought in by president Theodore Roosevelt to conserve America’s natural heritage.

The review could upend protections and restrictions on how the lands are used.

“National monument” land has come to be synonomous with a bar to drilling for fossil fuels on public land, or other commercial activities.

The aim of Trump’s review is to “give states and local communities a meaningful voice in the process”, said Ryan Zinke, interior secretary, whose department oversees federal land use under the motto “Protecting America’s Great Outdoors and Powering Our Future”.

Zinke said the outcome of the review was not preordained. His department is to provide an interim report in 45 days, then a fuller one in 120 days.

But the review could set the scene for fierce legal challenges.

While Republicans in Utah and other states are keen to lift protections they see as too expansive and undermining economic opportunities, environmental groups and Native Americans are deeply opposed.

{{National monuments}}

In the past, areas tagged as “national monuments” were later transformed by Congress into fully fledged National Parks – the Grand Canyon and Death Valley among them.

Since the Act came into force more than a century ago, only three presidents – all Republicans – did not use its powers: Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush.

Barack Obama had millions of hectares classified under the act during his presidency, including maritime zones, especially in the Pacific.

Under Trump’s review, only “monuments” of 40,000 hectares or more will be examined.

A key area will be the Bears Ears National Monument, a 530,000-hectare zone in Utah that Obama designated as a national monument in 2016.

Another will be the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, also in Utah – a spectacular tract of canyons, ridges and a river – designated by Bill Clinton in 1996.

The Republican senator for Utah, Orrin Hatch, has railed against the national monument decisions made in Washington, saying his state should have more say over how the land is protected.

In a Washington Post opinion piece, Hatch said Obama “ignored the best interests of Utah and cast aside the will of the people – all in favour of a unilateral approach meant to satisfy the demands of far-left interest groups”.

Other presidents, too, went too far, Hatch opined, adding that Trump “stands ready to undo the harm brought about by their overreach”.

Trump will also sign an executive order on Friday to instigate a review of the locations available for offshore oil and gas exploration. It will also order a review of certain regulations governing offshore operations, reported the AP news agency.

Last month Trump had also declared the end of a “war on coal” as he signed an “energy independence” executive order to review some of Obama’s climate legacy, declaring an end to “job-killing regulations”.

In a maiden trip to the Environmental Protection Agency in March, he ordered a review of emission limits for coal-fired power plants and eased restrictions on federal leasing for coal production.

A coalition of 23 US states and local governments vowed to fight the order in court.

{{Public resistance}}

But Martin Heinrich, a Democratic Party senator for New Mexico, said that if Trump truly wants to “make America great again”, he should use the Antiquities Act to protect and conserve America’s public lands.

In New Mexico, Obama’s designation of Rio Grande del Norte National Monument and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument have preserved important lands while boosting the economy, Heinrich said, a story that has been repeated across the country.

“If this sweeping review is an excuse to cut out the public and scale back protections, I think this president is going to find a very resistant public,” Heinrich told AP news agency.

Recent polls have shown strong support for national parks and monuments, said Christy Goldfuss, who directed the White House Council on Environmental Quality under Obama.

Kristina Waggoner, vice president of the Boulder-Escalante Chamber of Commerce in Utah, said businesses near the Grand Staircase-Escalante monument in southern Utah are booming, driven by sharp increases in tourism since the area was designated in 1996 by President Bill Clinton.

“I’m here today to support the monument and my three-year-old son,” Waggoner said in a conference call with reporters organised by a pro-Obama group. “Once our land is gone, it’s gone for ever.”

Source:Al Jazeera

April 26, 2017