2008: June 8th Good News (Surgeons Save Unborn Baby's Legs; Church from Underwater City Found; more...)

Good Morning all,

Here are the posts for Sunday, June 8th. :)




Today's Top 5:
1. Surgeons Save Unborn Baby's Legs (Australian Broadcasting Company)
2. Cuba's Urban Farming Program a Stunning Success (Sun Star Network Online)
3. New Method of Managing Risk in Pregnancy Leads to Healthier Newborns, Better Outcomes for Moms (Science Daily)
4. Scientists ID Brain Pathway that Stops Seizures (Yahoo News)
5. Tiny Scottish Island Claims Victory in its War on Rats (International Herald Tribune)


Honorable Mention:
1. Rescued Lions Enjoy New Home (News 24)
2. Church from Underwater City Found (BBC News)





Today's Top 5:


1. Surgeons Save Unborn Baby's Legs
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/08/2268374.htm
Posted Sun Jun 8, 2008 11:50am AEST
Updated Sun Jun 8, 2008 2:28pm AEST


Leah Bowlen is now two months old and is expected to make a full recovery. (Supplied: file photo)

Map: Melbourne 3000
Surgeons at two Melbourne hospitals have saved the legs of an unborn baby with a rare and delicate procedure.

Kylie Bowlen was 22 weeks pregnant when surgeons from Melbourne's Monash Medical Centre removed amniotic bands from above her baby's left ankle.

After Leah Bowlen was born, surgeons at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital were able to remove amniotic bands from her right leg, which was at risk of being amputated.

The surgery inside the womb is the fifth case in Australia and is thought to be the earliest in utero surgery of its type in the world.

Leah Bowlen is now two months old and is expected to make a full recovery.

Editor's note: This story has been amended to say that Leah Bowlen's mother was 22 weeks pregnant when the surgery occurred, not that Leah was 22 months old.




2. Cuba's Urban Farming Program a Stunning Success
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2008/06/08/cuba.s.urban.farming.program.a.stunning.success.(9.a.m.).html
Sunday, June 08, 2008

HAVANA -- For Miladis Bouza, the global food crisis arrived two decades ago. Now, her efforts to climb out of it could serve as a model for people around the world struggling to feed their families.

Bouza was a research biologist, living a solidly middle-class existence, when the collapse of the Soviet Union - and the halt of its subsidized food shipments to Cuba - effectively cut her government salary to US$3 a month. Suddenly, a trip to the grocery store was out of reach.

So she quit her job, and under a program championed by then-Defense Minister Raul Castro, asked the government for the right to farm an overgrown, half-acre lot near her Havana home. Now, her husband tends rows of tomatoes, sweet potatoes and spinach, while Bouza, 48, sells the produce at a stall on a busy street.

Neighbors are happy with cheap vegetables fresh from the field. Bouza never lacks for fresh produce, and she pulls in between 2,000 to 5,000 pesos (US$100-250) a month - many times the average government salary of 408 pesos (US$19).

"All that money is mine," she said. "The only thing I have to buy is protein" - meat.

Cuba's urban farming program has been a stunning, and surprising, success. The farms, many of them on tiny plots like Bouza's, now supply much of Cuba's vegetables. They also provide 350,000 jobs nationwide with relatively high pay and have transformed eating habits in a nation accustomed to a less-than-ideal diet of rice and beans and canned goods from Eastern Europe.

From 1989-93, Cubans went from eating an average of 3,004 calories a day to only 2,323, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, as shelves emptied of the Soviet goods that made up two-thirds of Cuba's food. Today, they eat 3,547 calories a day - more than what the U.S. government recommends for American citizens.

"It's a really interesting model looking at what's possible in a nation that's 80 percent urban," said Catherine Murphy, a California sociologist who spent a decade studying farms in Havana. "It shows that cities can produce huge amounts of their own food, and you get all kinds of social and ecological benefits."

Of course, urban farms might not be such a success in a healthy, competitive economy.

As it is, productivity is low at Cuba's large, state-run farms where workers lack incentives. Government-supplied rations - mostly imported from the U.S. - provide such staples as rice, beans and cooking oil, but not fresh produce. Importers bring in only what central planners want, so the market doesn't correct for gaps. And since most land is owned by the state, developers are not competing for the vacant lots that can become plots for vegetables.

Still, experts say the basic idea behind urban farming has a lot of promise.

"It's land that otherwise would be sitting idle. It requires little or no transportation to get (produce) to market," said Bill Messina, an agricultural economist at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "It's good anyway you look at it."

And with fuel prices and food shortages causing unrest and hunger across the world, many say the Cuban model should spread.

"There are certain issues where we think Cuba has a lot to teach the world. Urban agriculture is one of them," said Beat Schmid, coordinator of Cuba programs for the charity Oxfam International.

Other countries have experimented with urban farming - Cuba's initial steps were modeled after a green belt surrounding Shanghai.

But nowhere has urban farming been used so widely to transform the way a country feeds itself.

"As the global food crisis receives attention, this is something that we need to be looking at," Murphy said. "Havana is an unlikely, really successful model where no one would expect one to come from."

Now that Raul Castro is president, many expect him to expand the program he began as an experiment in the early 1990s.

One of the first plots he opened was the "organoponico" on Fifth Avenue and 44th Street in the ritzy Havana neighborhood of Miramar. The half-block farm - owned by a government agency - is surrounded by apartment buildings and houses, but also offices of foreign companies, a Spanish bank and the South African Embassy.

Long troughs brim with arugula, spinach, radishes and basil, and few of the 20,000 square feet (1,850 square meters) are wasted.

One technician tends compost that serves as natural fertilizer, while another handles natural protection from pests, surrounding delicate spinach shoots with strong-smelling celery to ward off insects. Such measures have ecological benefits but were born of necessity: Neither commercial fertilizer nor herbicide is reliably available.

Three workers tend the crops and another three sell them from a brightly painted stall.

Key to the operation is something once unheard of in Cuba: 80 percent of the profits go straight to the workers' pockets, providing them an average of 1,500 pesos (US$71) a month.

"Those salaries are higher than doctors, than lawyers," said Roberto Perez, the 58-year-old agronomist who runs the farm. "The more they produce, the more they make. That's fundamental to get high productivity."

Customers say the farm has given them not only access to affordable food, but also a radical change in their cuisine.

"Nobody used to eat vegetables," said David Leon, 50, buying two pounds (about a kilo) of Swiss chard. "People's nutrition has improved a lot. It's a lot healthier. And it tastes good."





3. New Method of Managing Risk in Pregnancy Leads to Healthier Newborns, Better Outcomes For Moms
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080602163837.htm
ScienceDaily
Jun. 8, 2008

An alternative method for obstetric care has led to lower neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission rates, higher uncomplicated vaginal birth (UVB) rates, and a lower mean Adverse Outcome Index (AOI) score, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The alternative method is known as Active Management of Risk in Pregnancy at Term, or AMOR-IPAT, for short. AMOR-IPAT uses "risk-based preventative labor induction to ensure that each pregnant woman enters labor at a gestational age that maximizes her chance for vaginal delivery," says lead researcher, James M. Nicholson, MD, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at Penn.

"Over the past decade, the rates of cesarean delivery have climbed above 30%," says Dr. Nicholson. "Cesarean delivery, when compared with vaginal delivery, is associated with higher rates of postpartum hemorrhage, major postpartum infection and hospital readmission," he adds.

Unlike previous retrospective studies of labor induction, this study attempted to minimize confounding factors by using a randomized prospective design. The study included 270 women who were recruited when they were between 32 and 37½ weeks into their pregnancy. Women who remained undelivered at 37 weeks 4 days of gestation were randomized to either AMOR-IPAT or usual care. Three facilities within the University of Pennsylvania Health System recruited women, including the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Obstetrics Clinic, the Pennsylvania Hospital Obstetrics Clinic, and Penn Family Care.

Risk factors for the AMOR-IPAT exposed group were identified and categorized as either interfering with placental growth or accelerating fetal growth. Each of these factors is associated with a published odds ratio for cesarean delivery, which, in turn, is used to determine the optimal time of delivery. If a woman in the exposed group did not experience spontaneous labor as she approached the end of this time frame, preventative labor induction was scheduled. In the AMOR-IPAT group, the greater the number and severity of risk factors, the earlier preventative labor induction was offered within the term period (38 -- 41 weeks of gestation).

The findings of this study suggest that the AMOR-IPAT approach to obstetric risk lead to healthier babies and better birth outcomes for mothers. In addition, the results challenge the current belief that a greater use of labor induction necessarily leads to higher rates of cesarean delivery. In order to further explore the potential benefits of the AMOR-IPAT method of care, further research involving larger randomized clinical trials in more diverse populations is needed.

This study was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health and by a research grant from the First Hospital Foundation. Forest Pharmaceuticals provided dinoprostone pledgets for use at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Adapted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.







4. Scientists ID Brain Pathway That Stops Seizures http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20080609/hl_hsn/scientistsidbrainpathwaythatstopsseizures
SUNDAY, June 8
HealthDay News

A brain pathway that stops seizures has been found by Iowa researchers.

Applying modern genetics and molecular biology to clinical observations made more than 80 years ago, a team from the University of Iowa and the Veterans Affairs Iowa City Health Care System found that increased acid (pH) activates an ion channel in the brain that shuts down seizure activity. The findings were expected to be published online June 8 in Nature Neuroscience.


"Although this work provides insight into how seizures normally stop and might help us learn more about how to terminate those seizures that don't stop, it will take more work to turn the finding into a new therapeutic approach," senior study author Dr. John Wemmie, an assistant professor of psychiatry in the University of Iowa's Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, said in a prepared statement. "We will be working with colleagues in neurology and neurosurgery to try and translate the findings to treatments."


Clinical experiments from the first half of the 20th century show breathing carbon dioxide, which creates more acid in brain tissue, helps stop epileptic seizures while the seizures themselves lower brain pH. The modern discovery of an acid-activated ion channel (ASIC1a) in the brain helped the team piece the puzzle together.


"We found that ASIC1a does not seem to play a role in how a seizure starts, but as the seizure continues, and the pH is reduced, ASIC1a appears to play a role in stopping additional seizure activity," study co-lead author Adam Ziemann, a student in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the university, said in a prepared statement.


Researchers found that seizures are more severe and longer in mice lacking the ASIC1a gene than those with the gene. Also, chemically blocking ASIC1a causes the seizures to be longer and more severe in mice with the gene, while increasing ASIC1a in mice protects them from severe seizures.


"One of the most exciting aspects of the work is that it highlights the potent anti-epileptic effects of acid in the brain -- effects that have been recognized for nearly 100 years but until recently have been poorly understood -- and it identifies ASIC1a as a key player in mediating the anti-epileptic effect of low pH," Ziemann said.


Seizures occur when brain neurons work out of synch, causing physical spasms or convulsions and even disrupting vital functions, such as breathing. Most seizures stop by themselves, but if they don't, a life-threatening condition called status epilepticus that claims a mortality rate of up to 20 percent could occur.

It is thought that 2 percent to 4 percent of people will have a seizure at some time. People who have epilepsy experience repeated seizure activity.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about seizures.



5. Tiny Scottish Island Claims Victory in its War on Rats
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/07/europe/EU-GEN-Britain-Scotland-Rats.php
The Associated PressPublished: June 7, 2008

LONDON: The tiny Scottish isle of Canna has won a three-year war against the island's rat population, environmental officials said Saturday.

The island's soaring cliffs are ideal nesting grounds and host about 15,000 seabirds from 14 different species, according to the National Trust for Scotland, which manages Canna.

But the birds found themselves under threat when brown rats, accidentally introduced to the island hundreds of years ago, began appearing in greater and greater numbers, something the trust said was probably due to warmer winters.

The rats were devouring the birds' eggs, killing their chicks and devastating many of their colonies. Some birds, like the long-winged Manx Shearwater, were almost driven from the island entirely.

In 2005, the trust brought in a team of pest-eradication experts from New Zealand. Working with volunteers, they laid 4,388 traps out in a carefully plotted grid across the eight kilometer-long (five-mile-long) island, rappelling down the sides of cliffs to reach the more inaccessible areas.

Some 23 metric tons (25 U.S. tons) of rodenticide was shipped in to arm the traps, and by early 2006 the island's estimated 10,000-strong rat population had largely disappeared.

Authorities and volunteers have since been monitoring the island by leaving chocolate-flavored wax around Canna and keeping an eye out for rats' distinctive nibble marks. With no confirmed rat sightings in more than two years, the British Environment Minister Mike Russell declared the island "officially rat-free."

Canna, more than 25 miles (40 kilometers) off Scotland's western coast, is home to about a dozen people.



Honorable Mention

1. Rescued Lions Enjoy New Home
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2336782,00.html
07/06/2008 21:06 - (SA)

Bethlehem - The wide-eyed lion cub inched slowly to the edge of the wooden crate. He stared around him, then with a growl from the older cub behind him, he leapt out onto the grass.

They were among nine cubs, along with an adult lion and a tiger, rescued from bleak Romanian zoos and released on Saturday into their new home - a sanctuary in Bethlehem that was once a notorious game lodge where lions were bred to be hunted.

When another of the crates was opened, the cubs disappeared inside but came out again, rolling and playing with two other young lions.

From the third and fourth crates came more frightened cubs who looked suspiciously around them, their bodies crouched low and ready to pounce.

Sticking close to each other, the cubs sniffed the grass, the air and after a while began purring loudly, finally safe from harm.

"It is wonderful to see these animals take their first steps on African soil," said Amir Khalil, director of Lionsrock, which was established by Austrian-based international animal welfare organisation Vier Pfoten (Four Paws).

46 lions

The latest arrivals brings to 46 the number of lions at the 1 100 hectare sanctuary.

In 2006, the organisation bought the game lodge, including 25 lions, one tiger, two leopards and a host of buck. Another 11 lions were rescued in November from a safari park in Austria that had gone bankrupt and the sanctuary was officially opened in February.

"The new habitat is a really perfect place for them to live out their lives with the peace and dignity they deserve," Khalil said.

The cubs that arrived on Saturday, aged from six months to just over a year, were removed from their mothers at the run-down, financially crippled Braila Zoo in Romania.

"They could have died from neglect or sold on to individuals and put into small cages," Fiona Miles, operational director for Vier Pfoten in SA. "Their fate was unknown."

Malnutrition

In Romania, the cubs were kept in small cages with concrete floors and metal bars. They had very little bedding and no grass, and were fed and watered to a minimum with little stimulation.

Jazz, the adult lion will be reunited with his mate Mavi, while Aline, an 11-month-old female tiger, who was found badly injured shortly after birth, will become a companion for Coda, the 2-year-old male tiger already at Lionsrock.

Miles said the animals were suffering from malnutrition and neglect when they were rescued, but their conditions have quickly improved. Aline was kept in a 4-square-metre cage.

"When we were sent pictures of them, we were saddened and shocked," she said, tears welling in her eyes as she watched the cubs playing with each other. "To see them like this - healthy and well - leaves me speechless."





2. Church from Underwater City Found
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7441759.stm
Page last updated at 13:41 GMT, Saturday, 7 June 2008 14:41 UK

Sonar, underwater cameras and scanning equipment are being used
A medieval church which tumbled from an eroding cliff into the sea has been rediscovered by marine archaeologists.

They believe the ruins they have found are St John's church, the biggest in Dunwich which was lost to the sea off the coast of Suffolk.

Dunwich was once a thriving community before being swallowed up by the North Sea more than 500 years ago.

Experts are using the latest acoustic imaging technology to uncover clues about the lost city in the North Sea.

Stuart Bacon, director of Suffolk Underwater Studies, said: "We've found the ruins of a medieval church called St John's, which was the biggest in Dunwich.

"I've been looking for it for about 35 years so it's very exciting."

Searching for years

Mr Bacon, working alongside a team from the University of Southampton, led by Professor David Sear, said the 13th Century church tumbled down the cliffs in about 1540.

"Over the years, I've had hundreds of divers accompany me to look for it.

"We knew roughly where it was but have never been able to uncover it until now," he said.

Mr Bacon said the team had been hindered by thick layers of silt, up to two metres deep, covering the debris.

"It's like doing a survey from the air when there has been a thick covering of snow - only the tallest structures stick out," he said.

"We've got a lot more work to do to analyse the data we've collected before we can say what else is down there."

Thriving city

Dunwich was founded by Felix, a bishop sent by the Pope to convert the pagan Angles, Saxons and Jutes who had colonised Suffolk in the 7th Century.

It grew into a prosperous trading port and thriving city but was prone to the North Sea drift which eroded the cliffs.

By 1086, just 20 years after the Norman conquest, Dunwich was a thriving town of 3,000 people.

It had six parish churches with at least two other chapels.

It has now virtually disappeared and all that remains are a graveyard and a few old houses in the present village of Dunwich, which continues to be under threat from the sea.

Acoustic imaging identifies different densities of material on the sea bed and this helps experts to spot rocks which may be from buildings. This is how the ruins were first spotted and excavation has revealed the church.