A tiny mushroom, little known to scientists, is behind some 400 sudden deaths in China, experts say.For 30 years, during the rainy season, scores of villagers in Yunnan province have died suddenly of cardiac arrest.
Following a five-year investigation, researchers from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Beijing say they have the culprit.The mushroom, know as Little White, belongs to the Trogia genus and has three toxic amino acids, experts say.
Researchers found that the deaths, known as Yunnan Sudden Death Syndrome, occurred almost always during rainy season (from June to August), and at an altitude of 1800-2400m (5900-7900ft).
Warning
"We heard amazing stories about how people would drop dead in the middle of a conversation," Zhang Shu, a cardiologist who took part in the CDC study, told Science magazine.
"About two-thirds of victims, in the hours before death experienced symptoms such as heart palpitations, nausea, dizziness, seizures and fatigue," he said.The investigation was initially hampered by language barriers, and the remote locations of the Yunnan villages.However, in 2008, the scientists noted that the Little White mushroom was often found in the homes where people had died.
Yunnan province is well-known for its wild mushrooms, many of which are exported at high prices.Families, who make their living by collecting and selling the fungi, eat the Little White as it has no commercial value - it is too small and turns brown shortly after being picked.
A campaign to warn people against eating the tiny mushrooms has dramatically reduced the number of deaths. There have been no reported deaths so far this year.
However, the scientists are carrying out further tests to find out why the mushroom is so lethal, as testing found the mushroom contained toxins, though not enough to be deadly.
"What's happening in Yunnan isn't expected from any other mushroom toxin," said Robert Fontaine, a US epidemiologist who took part in the investigation.
"What we have here is a toxin that is picking off vulnerable people," he told Science.He suggested that the toxins could be acting together with high concentrations of barium, a heavy metal, in the local water supply.
Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10630155
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Plants 'can think and remember'
Plants are able to "remember" and "react" to information contained in light, according to researchers.
Plants, scientists say, transmit information about light intensity and quality from leaf to leaf in a very similar way to our own nervous systems.
These "electro-chemical signals" are carried by cells that act as "nerves" of the plants.
In their experiment, the scientists showed that light shone on to one leaf caused the whole plant to respond.
And the response, which took the form of light-induced chemical reactions in the leaves, continued in the dark.
This showed, they said, that the plant "remembered" the information encoded in light.
"We shone the light only on the bottom of the plant and we observed changes in the upper part," explained Professor Stanislaw Karpinski from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences in Poland, who led this research.
He presented the findings at the Society for Experimental Biology's annual meeting in Prague, Czech Republic.
"And the changes proceeded when the light was off... This was a complete surprise."
In previous work, Professor Karpinski found that chemical signals could be passed throughout whole plants - allowing them to respond to and survive changes and stresses in their environment.
But in this new study, he and his colleagues discovered that when light stimulated a chemical reaction in one leaf cell, this caused a "cascade" of events and that this was immediately signalled to the rest of the plant by via specific type of cell called a "bundle sheath cell".
The scientists measured the electrical signals from these cells, which are present in every leaf. They likened the discovery to finding the plants' "nervous system".
Thinking plants
What was even more peculiar, Professor Karpinski said, was that the plants' responses changed depending on the colour of the light that was being shone on them.
"There were characteristic [changes] for red, blue and white light," he explained.
He suspected that the plants might use the information encoded in the light to stimulate protective chemical reactions. He and his colleagues examined this more closely by looking at the effect of different colours of light on the plants' immunity to disease.
"When we shone the light for on the plant for one hour and then infected it [with a virus or with bacteria] 24 hours after that light exposure, it resisted the infection," he explained.
"But when we infected the plant before shining the light, it could not build up resistance.
"[So the plant] has a specific memory for the light which builds its immunity against pathogens, and it can adjust to varying light conditions."
He said that plants used information encrypted in the light to immunise themselves against seasonal pathogens. "Every day or week of the season has… a characteristic light quality," Professor Karpinski explained.
"So the plants perform a sort of biological light computation, using information contained in the light to immunise themselves against diseases that are prevalent during that season."
Professor Christine Foyer, a plant scientist from the University of Leeds, said the study "took our thinking one step forward".
"Plants have to survive stresses, such as drought or cold, and live through it and keep growing," she told BBC News. "This requires an appraisal of the situation and an appropriate response - that's a form of intelligence.
"What this study has done is link two signalling pathways together... and the electrical signalling pathway is incredibly rapid, so the whole plant could respond immediately to high [levels of] light."
source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10598926
Plants, scientists say, transmit information about light intensity and quality from leaf to leaf in a very similar way to our own nervous systems.
These "electro-chemical signals" are carried by cells that act as "nerves" of the plants.
In their experiment, the scientists showed that light shone on to one leaf caused the whole plant to respond.
And the response, which took the form of light-induced chemical reactions in the leaves, continued in the dark.
This showed, they said, that the plant "remembered" the information encoded in light.
"We shone the light only on the bottom of the plant and we observed changes in the upper part," explained Professor Stanislaw Karpinski from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences in Poland, who led this research.
He presented the findings at the Society for Experimental Biology's annual meeting in Prague, Czech Republic.
"And the changes proceeded when the light was off... This was a complete surprise."
In previous work, Professor Karpinski found that chemical signals could be passed throughout whole plants - allowing them to respond to and survive changes and stresses in their environment.
But in this new study, he and his colleagues discovered that when light stimulated a chemical reaction in one leaf cell, this caused a "cascade" of events and that this was immediately signalled to the rest of the plant by via specific type of cell called a "bundle sheath cell".
The scientists measured the electrical signals from these cells, which are present in every leaf. They likened the discovery to finding the plants' "nervous system".
Thinking plants
What was even more peculiar, Professor Karpinski said, was that the plants' responses changed depending on the colour of the light that was being shone on them.
"There were characteristic [changes] for red, blue and white light," he explained.
He suspected that the plants might use the information encoded in the light to stimulate protective chemical reactions. He and his colleagues examined this more closely by looking at the effect of different colours of light on the plants' immunity to disease.
"When we shone the light for on the plant for one hour and then infected it [with a virus or with bacteria] 24 hours after that light exposure, it resisted the infection," he explained.
"But when we infected the plant before shining the light, it could not build up resistance.
"[So the plant] has a specific memory for the light which builds its immunity against pathogens, and it can adjust to varying light conditions."
He said that plants used information encrypted in the light to immunise themselves against seasonal pathogens. "Every day or week of the season has… a characteristic light quality," Professor Karpinski explained.
"So the plants perform a sort of biological light computation, using information contained in the light to immunise themselves against diseases that are prevalent during that season."
Professor Christine Foyer, a plant scientist from the University of Leeds, said the study "took our thinking one step forward".
"Plants have to survive stresses, such as drought or cold, and live through it and keep growing," she told BBC News. "This requires an appraisal of the situation and an appropriate response - that's a form of intelligence.
"What this study has done is link two signalling pathways together... and the electrical signalling pathway is incredibly rapid, so the whole plant could respond immediately to high [levels of] light."
source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10598926
Friday, July 9, 2010
Timber smuggling rampant in Nepal
Owing to the lack of government policy to control illegal export, timber smuggling is on the rise in Gorkha. Rampant felling of the trees has turned forests into bare lands.
Timber and firewood are being smuggled from Mirkot, Dhuwakot, Deurali, Gaikhur, Khoplang, Harmi, Aanppipal and Dandapakha forest areas to the adjoining districts. Ganesh Sedai, a local of Serabesi Mirakot, said that timber smugglers had been ferrying a large amount of timber and firewood. "The green forest hills have transformed into barren lands," lamented Sedai.
Amrit Nagarkoti, a local timber entrepreneur, said that smugglers had been exporting timber to Chitwan, Kathmandu and Pokhara. He cautioned if smuggling continued in the same scale, all the villages would turn into deserts.
Tap Bahadur Upreti, a local, however, said that he had to fell trees for his livelihood." I cannot live without firewood," asserted Upreti. He also said that illegal forest clearance would cease if Local Community Forest Consumers Committee formulated and implemented a strict rule against it.
District Forest Office and Community Consumers Committee have turned a blind eye to the problem. Krishna Prasad Wasti, DFO, Gorkha, conceded that his office could not prevent illegal export since there was no effective policy.
Source:http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Timber+smuggling+rampant&NewsID=242301
Timber and firewood are being smuggled from Mirkot, Dhuwakot, Deurali, Gaikhur, Khoplang, Harmi, Aanppipal and Dandapakha forest areas to the adjoining districts. Ganesh Sedai, a local of Serabesi Mirakot, said that timber smugglers had been ferrying a large amount of timber and firewood. "The green forest hills have transformed into barren lands," lamented Sedai.
Amrit Nagarkoti, a local timber entrepreneur, said that smugglers had been exporting timber to Chitwan, Kathmandu and Pokhara. He cautioned if smuggling continued in the same scale, all the villages would turn into deserts.
Tap Bahadur Upreti, a local, however, said that he had to fell trees for his livelihood." I cannot live without firewood," asserted Upreti. He also said that illegal forest clearance would cease if Local Community Forest Consumers Committee formulated and implemented a strict rule against it.
District Forest Office and Community Consumers Committee have turned a blind eye to the problem. Krishna Prasad Wasti, DFO, Gorkha, conceded that his office could not prevent illegal export since there was no effective policy.
Source:http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Timber+smuggling+rampant&NewsID=242301
Nepal Maoists reportedly involved in smuggling of contraband timber
Harakpur, Morang, Nepal - Contraband Simal trees [silk cotton, Bombax malabarica] are being felled and smuggled to India through various border points in eastern Morang invoking Maoist blessings. Concerned timber traders said the Maoists take hefty sums from them to allow the export.
The Maoists' district leadership has, however, denied the charge and claimed that the timber traders are engaged in illegal trade in the name of the Maoists with an aim to defame the Maoists.
"We have directed everyone not to engage in illegal trade and timber smuggling," the Maoists' Morang district chief Dinesh Sharma said. He said the rebels will search out such traders and take action. But Maoist party Chairman Prachanda, talking to journalists in Chandragadhi [a town in Jhapa] two weeks ago had admitted involvement of Maoist workers in deforestation and directed the district leadership to control such act.
"Smuggling out is continuing," acting district forest officer Devi Prasad Koirala said, adding, "We have information of Simal trees being smuggled to India. We have mobilized forest concern groups and local villagers to control the act."
The committee and local villagers said they intercepted two truckloads of Simal timber in Darbesa and Rangeli on Saturday [26 August]. Police however said they have no information about the interception. Timber is being smuggled to India through Mahadeva, Jhurkiya, Bardanga, Dainiya, Rangeli, Babiyabirta, Mayagunj, Amgachhi border points, among others.
Simal timber is being smuggled to India for the past three months. "In the past three months, Simal timber worth 5m rupees [1 US dollar is 75 rupees] has been smuggled to India from Harakpur, Amardaha, Dainiya, Babiyabirta, Govindapur and Hasandaha village development committees among others," a trader involved in smuggling said.
"We pay off those who claim to be Maoists," the trader said, adding, "After paying commissions, they don't give any trouble." [passage omitted: Most of the Simal trees have already been felled down and smuggled to India]
With most of the Simal trees cut down the natural habitat of birds like eagles, vultures and cranes is being destroyed.
Source: Kantipur, Kathmandu, in Nepali 28 Aug 06
The Maoists' district leadership has, however, denied the charge and claimed that the timber traders are engaged in illegal trade in the name of the Maoists with an aim to defame the Maoists.
"We have directed everyone not to engage in illegal trade and timber smuggling," the Maoists' Morang district chief Dinesh Sharma said. He said the rebels will search out such traders and take action. But Maoist party Chairman Prachanda, talking to journalists in Chandragadhi [a town in Jhapa] two weeks ago had admitted involvement of Maoist workers in deforestation and directed the district leadership to control such act.
"Smuggling out is continuing," acting district forest officer Devi Prasad Koirala said, adding, "We have information of Simal trees being smuggled to India. We have mobilized forest concern groups and local villagers to control the act."
The committee and local villagers said they intercepted two truckloads of Simal timber in Darbesa and Rangeli on Saturday [26 August]. Police however said they have no information about the interception. Timber is being smuggled to India through Mahadeva, Jhurkiya, Bardanga, Dainiya, Rangeli, Babiyabirta, Mayagunj, Amgachhi border points, among others.
Simal timber is being smuggled to India for the past three months. "In the past three months, Simal timber worth 5m rupees [1 US dollar is 75 rupees] has been smuggled to India from Harakpur, Amardaha, Dainiya, Babiyabirta, Govindapur and Hasandaha village development committees among others," a trader involved in smuggling said.
"We pay off those who claim to be Maoists," the trader said, adding, "After paying commissions, they don't give any trouble." [passage omitted: Most of the Simal trees have already been felled down and smuggled to India]
With most of the Simal trees cut down the natural habitat of birds like eagles, vultures and cranes is being destroyed.
Source: Kantipur, Kathmandu, in Nepali 28 Aug 06
Massive forest loss spurs Nepal to ban logging for two months
Nepal has announced a two month ban on logging throughout the mountainous country, reports the AFP. The ban was issued after officials received reports of alarming deforestation in lowland areas; according to one official over 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of forest was lost in a few months, nearly double the amount of forest lost on average each year from 2000-2005.
The forests under threat are mostly community-owned, lowland forests in the southern belt of Terai.
"Some logging is allowed in these community forests, but what we're finding is that this allowance is being exceeded," Deepak Bohara told the BBC. "So we have banned all logging until we can formulate a new government policy."
Approximately a quarter of Nepal is covered by forest. From 2000-2005 the Asian nation lost nearly 53,000 hectares of forest annually, about 1.4 percent per year.
Nepal is a part of the UN's REDD (Reduced Emissions through Deforestation and forest Degradation) program that proposes to pay countries to keep their forests intact to reduce carbon emissions. Currently 12-17 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation.
Source:http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0623-hance_nepal.html
The forests under threat are mostly community-owned, lowland forests in the southern belt of Terai.
"Some logging is allowed in these community forests, but what we're finding is that this allowance is being exceeded," Deepak Bohara told the BBC. "So we have banned all logging until we can formulate a new government policy."
Approximately a quarter of Nepal is covered by forest. From 2000-2005 the Asian nation lost nearly 53,000 hectares of forest annually, about 1.4 percent per year.
Nepal is a part of the UN's REDD (Reduced Emissions through Deforestation and forest Degradation) program that proposes to pay countries to keep their forests intact to reduce carbon emissions. Currently 12-17 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation.
Source:http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0623-hance_nepal.html
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