U.N. puts area of Solomon Islands on list of endangered sites

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East Rennell in the Solomon Islands

UNITED NATIONS, June 19 (UPI) -- The United Nations says the East Rennell area of the Solomon Islands has been placed on a list of endangered sites due to logging's effect on the ecosystem.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Committee determined logging "is threatening the outstanding universal value of East Rennell," and asked authorities to conduct an impact assessment study of the activity, a U.N. release said Tuesday.

East Rennell, on the World Heritage List since 1998, is the largest raised coral atoll in the world and its dense forest has a canopy averaging more than 60 feet in height.

The forest, which covers most of the land area of the 90,000-acre site, are an essential component of the atoll, considered to be a natural laboratory for scientific study, UNESCO said.

The World Heritage Committee is currently holding its 37th session in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

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U.N. puts area of Solomon Islands on list of endangered sites

Helicopter to drop poison to rid Gwaii Haanas islands of rats

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An airborne assault will begin this fall in the ongoing war to rid important bird-nesting islands of non-native rats in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve.

As part of a five-year, $2.2-million program, officials will employ a helicopter to drop rat poison over two sites in Juan Perez Sound: 400-hectare Murchison Island and 316-hectare Faraday Island.

At-risk species such as ancient murrelets have vanished from their nesting sites there over the years due to the rats.

Thats the problem, theyre so voracious, Parks Canada project manager Laurie Wein said in an interview Wednesday. Theyll eat the eggs, the young chicks. They can have a dramatic impact on ground-nesting seabirds.

When the rats run out of birds, they turn to intertidal areas to forage on marine life. Theyll eat anything. Theyre not picky.

In the first phase of the program, in 2011, officials launched a ground-based program, placing poison bait boxes on two other islands 95-hectare Bischof and 10-hectare Arichika to eradicate the rats.

The results of that program are still being monitored.

We dont declare success until we know weve had two years where we cant detect rats ... but so far things are looking good, Wein said.

Due to the size of Murchison and Faraday, officials decided to opt for a more practical helicopter-based application. Its similar to agricultural seeding operations, a bucket suspended below a helicopter that dispenses a pelleted bait.

Wein does expect some accidental poisoning of other species including scavenging birds such as ravens. Monitoring shows that a native mouse and shrew are virtually gone from the islands, again due to the rats impact.

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Helicopter to drop poison to rid Gwaii Haanas islands of rats

Poison program aims to eradicate rats from Gwaii Haanas islands, save birds

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An airborne assault will begin this fall in the ongoing war to rid important bird-nesting islands of non-native rats in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site .

As part of a five-year, $2.2-million program, officials will employ a helicopter to drop rat poison over two sites in Juan Perez Sound: 400-hectare Murchison Island and 316-hectare Faraday Island.

At-risk species such as ancient murrelets have vanished from their nesting sites over the years due to the rats.

"That's the problem, they're so voracious," Parks Canada project manager Laurie Wein said in an interview Wednesday. "They'll eat the eggs, the young chicks. They can have a dramatic impact on ground-nesting seabirds."

When the rats run out of birds, they turn to intertidal areas to forage on marine life. "They'll eat anything. They're not picky."

In the first phase of the program, in 2011, officials launched a ground-based program, placing poison bait boxes on two other islands - 95-hectare Bischof and 10-hectare Ari-chika - to eradicate the rats.

The results of that program are still being monitored.

"We don't declare success until we know we've had two years where we can't detect rats ... but so far things are looking good," Wein said.

Due to the size of Murchison and Faraday, officials decided to opt for a more practical helicopter-based application.

"It's similar to agricultural seeding operations, a bucket suspended below a helicopter that dispenses a pelleted bait."

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Poison program aims to eradicate rats from Gwaii Haanas islands, save birds

More Needed To Prepare Pacific Small Islands for Droughts

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More Must Be Done To Prepare Pacific Small Islands for Droughts, UN Official Warns

New York, Jun 19 2013 - With thousands of people in the Marshall Islands without access to safe drinking water, the head of the United Nations office for disaster risk reduction today warned that Pacific small islands are threatened by drought and need to incorporate mitigation measures into their national planning and risk assessments.

The worsening situation in the Republic of the Marshall Islands is a strong warning for the whole of the Pacific of the potential suffering that drought brings, particularly as many [of the regions] islands have limited water supplies, said the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reductions (UNISDR) Asia-Pacific head, Jerry Velazquez.

We mainly think about sea level rise and cyclone risks when we talk about small island developing states (SIDS) but drought is also threatening thousands of communities, he added, urging better use of weather forecasts and improve rain water harvesting.

The recommendation is in line with the UN 2013 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction focusing on how climate change will magnify the disaster risk in SIDS around the world.

Some 6,700 people in the Marshall Islands are without safe water leading authorities to declare a state of drought disaster. Major rain water supplies have been exhausted, according to UNISDR. Well water has become so salty that it is unusable and crops have started dying off.

The drought will be among the issues discussed by delegates gathering for the Joint Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management and Pacific Climate Change Roundtable in Nadi, Fiji, 8-11 July.

Around 250 delegates, including representatives from various Pacific Islands, are scheduled to attend the Joint Meeting in Fiji to pave the way for a successor to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA). It is the first plan to explain, describe and detail the work that is required from all different sectors and actors to reduce disaster losses.

The HFA outlines five priorities for action, and offers guiding principles and practical means for achieving disaster resilience. Its goal is to substantially reduce disaster losses by 2015 by building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters.

Since 2005, 121 countries have enacted legislation to establish policy and legal frameworks for disaster risk reduction.

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More Needed To Prepare Pacific Small Islands for Droughts

CERF Approves Grant For the Marshall Islands

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CERF Approves Grant For the Marshall Islands

(Suva:19 June 2013):

In response to the drought disaster in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, approved a rapid response grant of US$1 million yesterday. This grant, implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will assist the Government in its response efforts as outlined in the Governments $4.7 million Immediate- and Near-term Drought Response Plan.

Managed by IOM, the grant is to be implemented within six months with a strong focus on logistical support, water, sanitation and hygiene needs in accordance with the RMI Drought Response Plan. Mr. Ostby announced, In addition to other valuable contributions, the CERF grant will help fund immediate and critical needs outlined by the Government, however, let this drought serve as a reminder to us all that we must continue to work toward more resilient Pacific community in the recovery phase to follow.

The Response Plan calls for large scale deployment of air and sea assets with immediate relief supplies, such as water and food, to the affected northern atolls in order to meet minimum humanitarian standards. Other activities include increasing rain water catchment capacity, deployment and servicing of desalination units, re-planting crops, improved health surveillance and outreach, and repair of water supply systems.

Following persistently low rainfall during the dry season, the Marshall Islands Government declared a state of emergency for the northern atolls of the Republic on 19 April. On 7 May, the Marshall Islands Government declared an elevated state of drought disaster, as the situation worsened. A UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team with members flown in from Fiji, Japan, Sweden, and Thailand was deployed for over three weeks to support the national Emergency Operations Center in Majuro. Early support was provided by USAID and IOM followed by contributions from ADB, AusAID, JICA, NZAID, Red Cross movement, OCHA, UNICEF and WHO.

The humanitarian needs for the 6,384 people living on the affected islands and atolls remain urgent. The most pressing needs are for access to safe water and the growing need for food. The drought conditions have depleted water tanks and made groundwater unsuitable for human consumption due to high salinity. In addition, the drought has damaged or destroyed local food crops, including breadfruit and banana, and populations are relying on fish, crabs, and other coastal food resources.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), dry weather will continue for the next few weeks. A few brief trade-wind showers will develop at times.

CERF is a stand-by fund established by the United Nations to enable more timely and reliable humanitarian assistance to victims of disasters and complex emergencies. CERF was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly to achieve the following objectives: Promote early action and response to reduce loss of life; Enhance response to time-critical requirements; Strengthen core elements of humanitarian response in underfunded crises.

ENDS

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CERF Approves Grant For the Marshall Islands

Whidbey and Camano Islands Attract Visitors Using Syndical’s Interconnected Events Calendar

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COUPEVILLE, Wash., June 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Partnering with Syndical, the Whidbey and Camano Island Tourism Board has created an interconnected event calendar linking its six chambers of commerce with one centralized event calendar which automatically publishes those events to local and regional calendars including Seattle TV and radio stations.

"Seeing our events on a local Seattle calendar reminds people that Whidbey and Camano Islands are a great getaway location that's very close," said Sherrye Wyatt, public relations and marketing director for Whidbey and Camano Islands Tourism. "Syndical has simplified the process of getting all of the islands' events onto one central calendar and then sharing that calendar with regional event calendars to make more folks aware of fun things to do on the islands. We also appreciate that calendars on our tourism and Chamber of Commerce Facebook pages are also kept fresh with new events."

Syndical's patent-pending, cloud-based technology solves the event marketing problem of how to share event information quickly and easily with the world. Using the Syndical event calendar, local chambers on the islands post events to their own website calendar and with one click those events are automatically published to the main WhidbeyCamanoIslands.com calendar, and across the web. Events flow automatically to regional event calendars such as Seattle stations KOMO-TV (ABC) and KIRO-TV (CBS), as well as regional radio stations.

The Syndical event widget can be easily and fully customized to match the customer's website and supports rich text format and embedded links, so as the event is shared out across the syndication network, there is always a link back to the original event page allowing customers to find the original source. The calendar also supports multiple event views and a public and private mode.

About Syndical

The Syndical event marketing platform helps organizations simplify their event marketing efforts with customizable on-line events calendars that automatically update and publish event information across the internet.

Media Contacts: Ryerson Schwark Email (503) 799-8279

This press release was issued through eReleases Press Release Distribution. For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

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Whidbey and Camano Islands Attract Visitors Using Syndical's Interconnected Events Calendar

Health care advocates warn that not expanding Medicaid will hurt business

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Floridas economy will slump if the state Legislature fails to embrace some version of Medicaid expansion, advocates and business analysts warned Wednesday.

The League of Women Voters in Florida and the Florida Health Care Coalition added to arising wave of summertimedrumbeating by supporters of the Affordable Care Act, warning that not extending health coverage to poor Floridians will darken the states business climate.

Were really working hard to educate everyone that Medicaid is good for individuals, for employersgood for the economy and good for the state budget, said Karen Van Caulil, president of the Florida Health Care Coalition.

State legislators from Broward and Palm Beach counties have scheduled town hall sessions in coming weeks on health care and the effort to expand Medicaid coverage.

Also, an outreach campaign begins stumping this coming weekend in low-income neighborhoods in Miami and Orlando, as part of the campaign to promote the presidents health care law.

The Legislature ended the 2013 session last month failing to reach agreement on expanding Medicaid. But advocates have been clamoring for lawmakers to revisit the issue, possibly in a special session this fall. But House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, however, has said nothing has changed to ease his chambers opposition to a big expansion.

The business card has been played by supporters before. But Wednesday in a conference call with reporters, advocates again warned that by refusing federal dollars for care, lawmakers were missing an opportunity to jolt the states economy.

Also, Bill Kramer, a director at the Pacific Business Group on Health, said a cost shift already present in Florida will expand asthose with insurance have to contribute to covering a large portion of the population without coverage.

Deirdre Macnab, league president, likened it to quicksand for Florida businesses.

This is something the state simply cannot afford as we begin to rebound from recession, Macnab said.

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Health care advocates warn that not expanding Medicaid will hurt business

Jobs shift with health care

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Because needs in patient care and technology are changing, so are the health care jobs that will be needed in the coming years.

The health system is a reflection of the community around us, says Joe Dorko, CEO of Lutheran Health Network. He says the network employs more than 7,000 people, but not all those positions are your typical doctor and nurse thing.

Now with the federal Affordable Care Act, which requires virtually all Americans to have insurance by 2014, local health experts see greater demands not only for nurses, doctors and other health care professionals, but also for accountants, computer experts, statisticians and those with communication skills.

Meeting that demand will require more nurses, but Dorko says the role of a nurse will change. There will be more emphasis on the outpatient aspect, he says, as hospitals work to reduce the number of people admitted compared with years past. That means working harder on preventive treatment and teaching and helping people maintain their treatment plans.

Greg Johnson, chief medical officer for Parkview Hospital, says primary care by nurse practitioners and in family practice will continue to play a big role in health cares future.

The post acute care arena, which focuses on patients once they are discharged from a hospital, will continue to expand, Johnson says. He says potential jobs in this area include medical techs, nurses, and physical or occupational therapists.

Dorko says Lutheran is starting to identify nurses who can work in nontraditional roles that require an increased emphasis on telephone communication, ability to digest and understand data and information in computer systems, and ability to help people maintain a higher standard of living through medication control, diet and physical activity.

Thats where new careers will develop, such as health coaches, who will, for example, help 65-year-olds get exercise and live a healthy lifestyle, Dorko says.

Dorko says it will be challenging for schools to start to generate a slightly different skill set for nurses. Johnson says Parkview continues to partner with local nursing programs to help meet these future demands.

Were blessed to have some incredible nursing programs in our area, he says.

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No danger of cancer through gene therapy virus, study suggests

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June 19, 2013 In fall 2012, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved the modified adeno-associated virus AAV-LPL S447X as the first ever gene therapy for clinical use in the Western world. uniQure, a Dutch biotech company, had developed AAV-LPL S447X for the treatment of a rare inherited metabolic disease called lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD) which affects approximately one or two out of one million people. The disease causes severe, life-threatening inflammations of the pancreas. Afflicted individuals carry a defect in the gene coding for the lipoprotein lipase enzyme which is necessary for breakdown of fatty acids. AAV-LPLS447X shall be used as a viral vector to deliver an intact gene copy to affected cells.

The viruses modified for gene therapy cannot integrate their DNA into the host cell genome, because they lack a particular enzyme needed for this. Nevertheless, integration may happen occasionally. "We had to exclude that AAV-LPLS447X tends to integrate at sites in the genome where this integration might activate cancer-promoting genes. This is exactly what had been observed with a virus used for gene therapy," says Dr. Manfred Schmidt, a molecular biologist. Schmidt leads a research group at NCT Heidelberg and DKFZ that studies the safety of gene-therapeutic methods.

In collaboration with scientists from uniQure, the Heidelberg researchers analyzed the genome of five LPLD patients who had been treated with AAV-LPLS447X . In addition, they also studied mice following intramuscular or intravenous administration of the therapeutic virus.

The analysis of 15 million individual genomes of five treated patients showed, as expected, that AAV-LPLS447X rarely integrates into the genome of the host cells (fewer than 1 out of 1,000 AAV-LPLS447X particles). In most cases, the viral genome persists in the cytoplasm as a separate structure. If it is integrated, this happens at random sites. The researchers did not find any tendency for integration at particular sites in the genome.

Christine Kaeppel and Raffaele Fronza, first authors of the article, were very surprised to discover the AAV-LPLS447X genome in the so-called mitochondrial genome. Mitochondria are tiny membrane-enclosed structures that generate energy for the cell. They are the only cellular component aside from the nucleus containing DNA. "An adeno-associated virus has never before been observed to integrate into the mitochondrial genome on its own," reported the scientists.

"For the first time, we have thoroughly analyzed in AAV-treated patients whether and where the viral genome integrates. Now we can regard AAV-LPLS447X as safe. Those few cases where we have observed integration of viral DNA in muscle cells are barely relevant in view of all the reconstructions and rearrangements that are permanently taking place in our DNA anyway," says study director Schmidt.

AAV-LPLS447X is considered to be a prototype vector for gene therapy. "If AAV-LPLS447X stands the test, other gene therapies against more common diseases such as Huntington's disease or Parkinson's might also become possible," says Schmidt. In addition, a growing number of diseases have been found to be linked to alterations in mitochondrial genes. The newly discovered property of the AAV vector might also prove useful for correcting genetic defects in human mitochondrial DNA.

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No danger of cancer through gene therapy virus, study suggests

No danger of cancer through gene therapy virus

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Public release date: 19-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dr. Sibylle Kohlstdt s.kohlstaedt@dkfz.de Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres

In fall 2012, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved the modified adeno-associated virus AAV-LPL S447X as the first ever gene therapy for clinical use in the Western world. uniQure, a Dutch biotech company, had developed AAV-LPL S447X for the treatment of a rare inherited metabolic disease called lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD) which affects approximately one or two out of one million people. The disease causes severe, life-threatening inflammations of the pancreas. Afflicted individuals carry a defect in the gene coding for the lipoprotein lipase enzyme which is necessary for breakdown of fatty acids. AAV-LPLS447X shall be used as a viral vector to deliver an intact gene copy to affected cells.

The viruses modified for gene therapy cannot integrate their DNA into the host cell genome, because they lack a particular enzyme needed for this. Nevertheless, integration may happen occasionally. "We had to exclude that AAV-LPLS447X tends to integrate at sites in the genome where this integration might activate cancer-promoting genes. This is exactly what had been observed with a virus used for gene therapy," says Dr. Manfred Schmidt, a molecular biologist. Schmidt leads a research group at NCT Heidelberg and DKFZ that studies the safety of gene-therapeutic methods.

In collaboration with scientists from uniQure, the Heidelberg researchers analyzed the genome of five LPLD patients who had been treated with AAV-LPLS447X . In addition, they also studied mice following intramuscular or intravenous administration of the therapeutic virus.

The analysis of 15 million individual genomes of five treated patients showed, as expected, that AAV-LPLS447X rarely integrates into the genome of the host cells (fewer than 1 out of 1,000 AAV-LPLS447X particles). In most cases, the viral genome persists in the cytoplasm as a separate structure. If it is integrated, this happens at random sites. The researchers did not find any tendency for integration at particular sites in the genome.

Christine Kaeppel and Raffaele Fronza, first authors of the article, were very surprised to discover the AAV-LPLS447X genome in the so-called mitochondrial genome. Mitochondria are tiny membrane-enclosed structures that generate energy for the cell. They are the only cellular component aside from the nucleus containing DNA. "An adeno-associated virus has never before been observed to integrate into the mitochondrial genome on its own," reported the scientists.

"For the first time, we have thoroughly analyzed in AAV-treated patients whether and where the viral genome integrates. Now we can regard AAV-LPLS447X as safe. Those few cases where we have observed integration of viral DNA in muscle cells are barely relevant in view of all the reconstructions and rearrangements that are permanently taking place in our DNA anyway," says study director Schmidt.

AAV-LPLS447X is considered to be a prototype vector for gene therapy. "If AAV-LPLS447X stands the test, other gene therapies against more common diseases such as Huntington's disease or Parkinson's might also become possible," says Schmidt. In addition, a growing number of diseases have been found to be linked to alterations in mitochondrial genes. The newly discovered property of the AAV vector might also prove useful for correcting genetic defects in human mitochondrial DNA.

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No danger of cancer through gene therapy virus

Google futurist claims we will be uploading our entire MINDS to computers by 2045 and our bodies will be replaced by …

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Ray Kurzweil, director of engineering at Google, believes we will be able to upload our entire brains to computers within the next 32 years - an event known as singularity Our 'fragile' human body parts will be replaced by machines by the turn of the century And if these predictions comes true, it could make humans immortal

By Victoria Woollaston

PUBLISHED: 09:22 EST, 19 June 2013 | UPDATED: 09:22 EST, 19 June 2013

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In just over 30 years, humans will be able to upload their entire minds to computers and become digitally immortal - an event called singularity - according to a futurist from Google.

Ray Kurzweil, director of engineering at Google, also claims that the biological parts of our body will be replaced with mechanical parts and this could happen as early as 2100.

Kurweil made the claims during his conference speech at the Global Futures 2045 International Congress in New York at the weekend.

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Google futurist claims we will be uploading our entire MINDS to computers by 2045 and our bodies will be replaced by ...