2014年7月31日 星期四

高雄 氣爆 Fatal Blasts in Taiwan;安管理監督機制








年代向錢看主持人陳凝觀

這是剛跟我一起錄影的清大化工教授馬振基博士。他是化學工安、公安權威!昨晚的高雄氣爆是化學氣爆,對個人與社會如何危機處理,老師有專業建議。

1•首先,任何人一遇到氣爆,應先遠離火場,報警,連絡縣市災害應變小組。而災害應變中心也應知會所有相關工廠,清查管線。同時地方也應通知中央應變中心。協助救災判斷,包含救火方式是用灌水?還是泡沫?還是乾式滅火。


2•第一時間一旦專業判斷失誤,恐怕災害會擴大。以這次化學氣爆為例,更專業的做法應該是附近周圍區域先疏散人群,儘可能全面清空,降低公眾危險。以這次案例來説,如果第一時間專業判斷更精準,五位救火英雄不幸殉職的遺憾也許可以盡可能降低或避免。

這一部份,將來應幫助第一線救災人員補強化學災害專業知識與訓練及化學災害的救災配備。讓化學救災的軟硬體可以更專業,以降低救災的風險。

3•即使是災後的此時,這塊高風險區域仍應高度警戒或儘可能疏散清空,包含居民。

4•呼籲中央與地方,主動要求所有石化廠、相關工廠,與瓦斯油管,應全面清查管線,並制定管理監督機制。





*****

近8點起,氣爆至少22死、近200傷。
台灣第二大城市高雄(有280萬人口)。發生多起燃氣爆炸事故,導致至少20人死亡,另有270人受傷。
當地消防部門在晚上8:46左右接到居民報警稱燃氣泄漏,爆炸在午夜前后開始。燃氣泄漏的源頭尚未找到。但高雄市長陳菊說,有幾家石化公司在前鎮區沿著下水道系統鋪設了管道。前鎮區既有工廠大樓,也有居民樓。




The explosion site in Kaohsiung on Friday.CreditSam Yeh/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Gas Suspected in Fatal Blasts in Taiwan

At least 22 people were killed and more than 270 injured when the southern city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s second largest, was rocked by blasts that sent flames surging into the streets.

看新聞跟數字版,試著標一些地方 紅色是有災情處,請遠離;藍色是疏散點,請前往 所有災情點都有新聞、照片或影片佐證
MAPSENGINE.GOOGLE.COM


路面塌陷成綿延數百公尺壕溝,周遭公寓無一倖免,
牆面受損、招牌傾倒,甚至連頂樓鐵皮屋也瞬間倒塌,可見當時氣爆威力!
高雄三多路大氣爆,《蘋果》空拍畫面直擊,原本車水馬龍的街道就像被轟炸過後。路面塌陷成了綿延數百公尺長的壕溝,周遭公寓無一倖免,牆面受損、招牌
APPLEDAILY.COM.TW



2014年7月28日 星期一

大賣場推車安全規格





不訂安全規格「標檢局怠惰」

 
 
消保處將會同經濟部稽查推車良率,了解可否在手扶梯穩定卡住。田裕華攝
大賣場推車暗藏安全危機,但經濟部標準檢驗局考量賣場走道寬度、商品擺設等各有不同,所以迄今未訂定推車的國家標準。消基會痛批,幾乎所有民眾都會去大賣場,小孩子又多,之前就常傳出民眾被推車撞傷或撞痛的情況,標檢局無視公共安全,根本是行政怠惰。

消基會批鴕鳥心態

目前大潤發、家樂福、好市多、愛買的推車規格均不同,家樂福、好市多的規格,完全遵循國外總公司的原廠規定,大潤發、愛買的推車則是經內部研究,再委託製造商生產,因此各賣場推車的長、寬、高尺寸與重量均不同。賣場業者坦言,推車沒有國家標準,業者也難有統一規格遵循。
標檢局官員強調,每家賣場的內部空間利用及設計都不同,推車需因地制宜,所以才沒訂國家標準,且美國、日本等國也沒有訂標準。但消基會董事長張智剛批評,推車撞傷或撞痛人的事件時有所聞,標檢局不該再有鴕鳥心態,應積極訂定推車設計規格標準。他建議,手推車的前輪可設計為撞到異物就會往內縮,就不易發生撞傷腳跟或腳筋的狀況,另推車輪子可加裝類似機車擋泥板的遮罩,也可避免輪子傷人,這些都是主管機關可以思考訂定標準的方向。
銘傳大學社會與安全管理學系副教授唐雲明也說,政府應站在保護消費者的立場,去了解賣場手推車的設計是否有瑕疵,「而不是說別的國家沒訂標準,我們也就不用管。」 

消保處將派員稽查

台北馬偕醫院急診科醫師張文瀚建議,業者可考慮在推車把手上加裝手煞車,使用者一按,車子就推不動,或在推車前方裝置感應器,當感應到一定距離內有人,車輪就會自動鎖住,才能有效提升安全度。
針對《蘋果》實測發現,部分賣場推車在手扶梯上無法穩定卡住,行政院消保處副處長吳政學說,將會同大賣場主管機關經濟部派員稽查,了解業者是否疏於檢修,導致推車良率出問題。記者張博亭、邱俊吉 

2014年7月25日 星期五

中國煤碳總量控制行得通嗎?China’s Plan to Limit Coal Use Could Spur Consumption for Years



Photo
A coal-fired power plant on the outskirts of Datong, in Shanxi Province.CreditJason Lee/Reuters
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HONG KONG — Under pressure to reduce smog and greenhouse gas emissions, the Chinese government is considering a mandatory cap on coal use, the main source of carbon pollution from fossil fuels. But it would be an adjustable ceiling that would allow coal consumption to grow for years, and policy makers are at odds on how long the nation’s emissions will rise.
Senior officials are debating these issues as they formulate a new five-year development plan, to be finalized by the end of next year. China emits more carbon dioxide than any other country, so what President Xi Jinping and his colleagues decide will have far-reaching consequences for efforts to contain climate change.
China’s leaders have not detailed their views on coal or carbon emission limits. But there is robust support among senior policy advisers for a firm national cap on coal starting in 2016, Wang Yi, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing who studies environmental policy, said in a telephone interview.
Photo
A tourist wore a face mask in Tiananmen Square in February as heavy air pollution shrouded Beijing. CreditMark Ralston/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
“I think there’s a broad consensus on this, and it’s a question of how to implement it,” said Professor Wang, who is a senior member of China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress. “If we can have a cap on coal, that would almost be equivalent to a cap on carbon, because coal is such a dominant source of pollution and emissions.”
Professor Wang and others say a coal ceiling would be easier to enforce than a cap on carbon emissions from all fossil fuels, which some expertshave proposed. China accounts for half of global coal consumption.
The coal cap would be stricter than current limits, which are not mandatory and are only loosely enforced. But it would be pegged to expected economic growth and energy demand, so coal use could keep rising for years.
Chinese policy advisers remain divided about how quickly the country should move to cut coal consumption. Some officials fear stricter limits would drag down the economy. They cite the prospect of mine closings, job losses and energy shortfalls if alternative sources of energy, such as nuclear, hydroelectric and solar power, fail to deliver in time.
“The main difficulty is the time it takes to develop the substitutes for coal, and the uncertainties of bringing them online,” said Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University in eastern China. “The government is now more focused on cleaning up smog, but if the economy falters, then it’s possible the government’s focus could shift back to economic growth.”
Strict limits are also likely to face opposition from the powerful coal industry and allied officials, said Ailun Yang, a senior associate at the World Resources Institute in Washington who works on emissions and energy policy in China. Growth in coal use has slowed markedly in the past couple of years, but the China National Coal Association said last year that it expected the country to consume 4.8 billion metric tons annually by 2020.
“The real debate is about how to engage the big state-owned fossil-fuel companies, and also the big provinces whose economies are very, very dependent on these industries,” Ms. Yang said.
On the other side, some economists argue that bold efforts to reduce coal consumption would be an economic and environmental boon in the long term by encouraging new, clean modes of growth.
And, experts say, there is new pressure on the government from rising domestic anger over smog. Coal burned in power plants, boilers and furnaces is a main source of the grimy pollution that swamps Beijing and other cities, and many steps to cut smog would also cut carbon emissions.
“The whole air pollution situation has changed the debate dramatically,” Ms. Yang said. “There’s a lot more political space to argue for control measures.”
A dozen provinces and major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, have already set firm limits on coal use or goals to reduce consumption.
Yet the most worrisome new threat to China’s carbon-cutting efforts could come from coal gasification plants, which officials have promoted as a way to reduce particulate air pollution, said Barbara A. Finamore, the Asia director at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Those plants can feed gas to big cities, cutting coal demand in those cities, but producing the gas emits large quantities of carbon dioxide. A report issued by Greenpeace East Asia this week said local governments in China had proposed 48 such plants, in addition to two already running.
“Without a national cap, there is a real danger that coal production and air pollution will simply move to other parts of China,” Ms. Finamore said.
China’s National Energy Administration called this year for research proposals for “caps for total energy and coal consumption for 2020, and a practical path for implementing caps on energy and coal consumption.”
A recent study that Professor Wang oversaw at the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed that China aim for coal consumption to peak in 2025 around 4.5 billion metric tons. But other Chinese and foreign researchers say an earlier peak at a lower level is feasible and necessary.
Han Wenke, director general of the state Energy Research Institute in Beijing, has urged China to start cutting coal consumption around 2020. China’s “actual consumption of coal is already very close to four billion tons, which is at the limits of endurance for the domestic environment,” he wrote in a recent paper.
A parallel debate is whether China should set a date for a peak in its carbon emissions, and if so, what that date should be. Other governments have pressed China to set a date so they can better map out how global greenhouse gas levels could rise.
So far, the Chinese government has resisted doing so, partly out of fear that a deadline could become hostage to onerous international demands. But China’s chief climate talks negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, said this month that the government could “propose a peak year for carbon emissions” in the first half of 2015, reported Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.
Governments negotiating a new climate change treaty have agreed to propose national contributions to emissions reduction as part of efforts to reach an agreement in Paris next year. Previous efforts have foundered in part because China and other large developing countries have refused to accept calls from rich nations to take on binding emission targets.
China has been the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels since around 2006, when it passed the United States, and most research indicates that its emissions are likely to keep rising for at least another decade, driven by industrialization, rising affluence and the growth of cities.
Just how long they will rise is a question that divides experts, even those close to the government.
“There is major controversy,” Pan Jiahua, an expert on global warming and greenhouse gas policy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, said in a telephone interview. “I’m personally more optimistic and believe that 2025 is a viable time for a carbon emissions peak, but others think that’s unrealistic and say we have to wait until 2030 or later.”
At international talks in Copenhagen in 2009, governments agreed to try to hold greenhouse gas concentrations below levels likely to cause the average global temperature to rise 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above the preindustrial average during this century.
Virtually no country is acting fast enough to be on track to reach that target. Even if advanced countries do far more to cut carbon emissions, China’s must peak by the mid-2020s to keep hope alive for the Copenhagen goal, said Niklas Höhne, director of energy and climate policy at Ecofys, a consulting company. He and others said China could do that by around 2025, given the right industry, taxation and consumption policies.
“If a coal cap can help us reach a peak in coal in 2020, we can be confident that the CO2 peak will be about 2025,” said Yang Fuqiang, a former energy researcher for the Chinese government and now a senior adviser for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Beijing, referring to carbon dioxide.
But several experts at Chinese government institutes said it would be too economically perilous to peak so soon, and two recent Chinese studies have said that any attempt to do so before 2030 would be impractical.
“If you wanted a peak right now, China could do it by stopping economic growth,” said Professor Wang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. “But the price would be that the ordinary people would go out onto the streets.”

2014年7月23日 星期三

飛安是無法和老天對賭的(陳鵬宇)



 
 
復興航空在颱風天失事造成重大傷亡,讓航空界服務的人員都十分感慨,在華航任職的高階經理人陳鵬宇今晚就在他的臉書po文,語重心長地告訴乘客及媒體,「航空公司在最大安全考量下經常有不得不延後或取消班機的情況,這時候請大家稍安勿躁,可以學習一下老外安安靜靜地等待航空公司的處理,因為任何的咆哮或爆料,無法讓飛機有安全的起降。」

陳鵬宇在臉書上說,台灣有許多旅客在遇到天候狀況不佳時,最常看到的狀況就是一群人圍著地勤人員,要求飛機如期如時起飛,航空公司何嘗不想準時把旅客送達目的地呢?只要有一班飛機延遲或取消,對航空公司來說都是很大的成本負擔,後續補償措施不說,單單飛機單趟的營業成本就損失不貲了!

「但是我們的旅客和媒體,總抱著消費者意識抬頭的基本原則,對航空公司大加撻伐,反而忽略了天候和機械因素隱藏的危機。」


他說,航空公司比旅客更想把旅客早點送達目的地,但是安全絕對是最大的考量,因為安全這件事情是絕對無法和老天爺對賭的,只要一賭上,輸家絕對不會是老天爺。

他舉了今天在馬尼拉國際機場的兩個案例,提供大家參考。

他說,今天雷瑪遜颱風穿過馬尼拉,雨不大,但是風很大,許多航空公司都取消了上午的班機,也許是因為強度不強,有兩家航空公司因此想要準時載運旅客,沒想到事故就這樣發生了。當時
飛機靠在空橋邊,上午風大時,一個瞬間陣風將飛機撞上了空橋,翅膀破了一個洞,引擎蒙皮也出現很大的凹痕,更慘的是,飛機鼻輪起落架撞上了擺在地上的飛機拖桿,輪胎呈現90度的折損。

另一家航空公司,地面作業的梯子被風吹著直接往飛機上的蒙皮上刮了一道道凹痕,連空速管都被撞壞了。他說,也許地勤人員輕忽了颱風的瞬間風力強度,沒有做好必要安全措施,但是如果飛機在避開颱風天抵達,不論是在空中飛行或者地面作業,不是都更安全些了嗎?

因此請媒體和旅客能夠體察,航空公司在最大安全考量下經常有不得不延後或取消班機的情況,這時候請大家稍安勿躁,可以學習一下老外安安靜靜地等待航空公司的處理,因為任何的咆哮或爆料,無法讓飛機有安全的起降。

他最後強調,對於航班因天候狀況延遲時,請客體諒也瞭解,因為安全是無法與老天對賭的,而航空公司比各位還急著要送大家抵達目的地。
陳鵬宇說,飛安是無法和老天對賭的。翻攝陳鵬宇臉書

2014年7月21日 星期一

麥當勞(McDonald’s)、肯德基(KFC) 某中國供應商:變質肉類和篡改保質期


麥當勞肯德基向中國顧客致歉

英國《金融時報》 韓碧如 北京報道


麥當勞(McDonald’s)、肯德基(KFC)中國業務的一家供應商被指供應變質肉類和篡改保質期。

上海市食藥監部門昨日表示,已查封市郊一家美資肉類和家禽加工企業,此前該企業被電視台曝光在過期肉類產品上貼新標簽。

肯德基和麥當勞已向顧客致歉。

民眾通常對國外食品企業比國內競爭對手投以更信任的目光,但當地媒體的報道為這一聲譽蒙上陰影。



18個月前一項調查發現,百勝(Yum Brands)旗下的肯德基的一家家禽供應商過度使用抗生素。2013年百勝在華營業利潤占其總營業利潤的35%。

中國市場研究(China Market Research)的分析師本•凱文德(Ben Cavendar)說:“新聞一旦傳出,他們很難再說服中國消費者(肯德基)有能力對供應商進行必要檢查。”

中國的食品供應鏈規模擴張迅速,但長期存在食品安全問題。不過在最新這起事故中,涉事加工商上海福喜食品有限公司(Shanghai Husi Food)為總部位於美國伊利諾伊州的OSI集團的子公司,已運營近20年。
在位於上海市郊嘉定區的福喜工廠內,一名員工說:“我們正配合政府部門的調查。”
20世紀90年代初麥當勞進入中國市場,結果發現當地沒有任何供應鏈,OSI便成了這家快餐集團的供應商。該集團在中國內地經營著8家肉類或家禽加工廠。
今年1月沃爾瑪(Walmart)在華門店所銷售“五香驢肉”被檢測出狐狸DNA,隨後該產品被召回。
百勝發微博宣佈,已停用上海福喜供應的肉類食品原料。
麥當勞稱,已停用上海福喜供應的所有食品原料,預期會出現某些原料斷貨的情況。
北京的肯德基和麥當勞餐廳依然如往常一樣繁忙 ,盡管有些顧客表示他們只點飲料。
“你能怎麽辦?”在北京一家地下商場的麥當勞里,一位母親給兒子買了個雞肉漢堡後嘆氣道,“你只能暫時不吃而已。”
另一位正在大嚼漢堡的人咆哮道:“你能別在我吃的時候談這個嗎?”
Owen Guo補充報道
譯者/曲雯雯

We Are Our Bacteria「我們更多的是微生物」體內微生物平衡對健康至關重要



體內微生物平衡對健康至關重要

個人健康2014年07月14日
Ken Orvidas
我們或許認為自己只是一個人,但我們實際上是寄存在人體軀殼內的大量微生物。每個活着的人體內都有大約100萬億個微生物細胞。微生物細胞的數量是人體細胞的10倍,在人體的獨特基因中佔99.9%。
《自然評論》(Nature Review)的高級編輯卡特里娜·雷(Katrina Ray)最近表示,可以把內臟中的大量微生物當作一個「人類微生物『器官』」,並問道,「我們更多的是微生物,還是人?」
我們的微生物菌群,也就是微生物組,相當於人體中的環境生態系統。雖然細菌的總重量只有三磅,它們的構成在很大程度上決定着人體的運轉,哎,以及機能失常。
就像全世界的生態系統一樣,人類微生物菌群正在失去它們的多樣性,以至於可能會損害它們所寄居的主體的健康。
紐約大學醫學院(New York University School of Medicine)傳染病專家、 人類微生物組計劃(Human Microbiome Program)負責人馬丁·J·布拉澤(Martin J. Blaser)博士在過去30多年間,一直研究細菌在疾病中發揮的作用。除傳染病外,他的研究範圍還囊括了自體免疫疾病,以及其他在世界範圍內急劇增加的疾病。
布拉澤在他的新書《消失的微生物》(Missing Microbes)中表示,微生物組多樣性的減少導致我們更容易感染嚴重且通常都是慢性的疾病——從過敏、乳糜瀉到一型糖尿病和肥胖症。布拉澤及其他人認為,這主要是由抗生素造成的。
布拉澤表示,抗生素很早就開始對微生物多樣性產生破壞。普通的美國兒童在出生的頭兩年要接受大約三個療程的抗生素,在接下來的八年里,要再進行八個療程。很短療程的抗生素就能致使人體的微生物環境發生長期轉變,比如被廣泛使用的Z-pack(阿奇黴素,服用五天)。
但抗生素並不是破壞平衡的唯一因素。布拉澤接受採訪時表示,近幾十年,選擇剖腹產的人激增,剖腹產促使嬰兒內臟中的微生物來自母親的皮膚,而不是產道。
微生物組的變化能夠改變嬰兒的新陳代謝和免疫系統。最近,相關人員查閱了15項共涉及16萬3796個分娩案例的研究,結果發現,與順產的嬰兒相比,剖腹產嬰兒成人後超重的幾率要高26%,肥胖的風險要高22%。
胎盤有自己的微生物,研究人員發現,這個微生物組可能也有助於嬰兒的內臟健康,減少由剖腹產引發的微生物損耗。
其他研究發現了正常體重者與肥胖者腸道中微生物的主要差異。雖然這些研究不能說明最先出現的是哪個問題——體重問題或微生物組的變化,但研究說明,肥胖的老鼠體內存在能夠更好地從食物中吸取熱量的腸道菌群。
與肥胖相關的進一步證據來自農場里的動物。在美國出售的抗生素中,大約有四分之三都用在牲畜身上。這些抗生素改變了動物的微生物菌群,加快了它們的生長速度。
布拉澤說,當我們把用於牲畜的抗生素用在老鼠身上時,它們的新陳代謝就會發生改變,並促使它們的體脂增加。
更嚴重的是,如今有越來越多嚴重的功能失調都與人類內髒的微生物平衡被破壞有關。其中有幾種在發達國家中變得越來越常見:克隆氏症、潰瘍性結腸炎和乳糜瀉等胃腸疾病;心血管疾病;非酒精性脂肪肝;慢性反流症等消化失調問題;多發性硬化和風濕性關節炎等自體免疫疾病,以及哮喘和過敏。
有些研究人員甚至推斷,內臟微生物菌群失調是造成乳糜瀉的原因,所以甚至連沒得這種病的人對無麩質食物的需求也會激增。布拉澤說,以患1型糖尿病的老鼠為例,對這些動物使用抗生素,只會加速疾病的發展。
他和其他研究人員,其中包括來自瑞士和德國的一組研究人員也認為哮喘患病率的大幅上升與「幽門螺桿菌從西方社會快速消失有關,幽門螺桿菌是一種長期寄存在人類胃裡的細菌性病原體」。曾幾何時,幾乎每個人體內都有這種細菌,歐洲研究者已經證明它能防止老鼠出現過敏性哮喘的癥狀。
在生命的早期階段,幽門螺桿菌的存在能促使血液中產生T細胞。布拉澤表示,壓制過敏反應就需要這種細胞。他的研究表明,雖然有些類型的幽門螺桿菌與消化性潰瘍和胃癌有關,但其他類型則具有保護作用。
布拉澤和同事的研究進一步表明,胃部的幽門螺桿菌能夠防止胃食管返流疾病、巴雷特氏食管和食道癌。
然而,研究者不是總能說明腸道菌群紊亂會在人們生病之前還是之後出現。不過,對實驗室動物的研究往往表明,菌群紊亂會發生在生病之前。
布拉澤等人提醒人們注意不要濫用抗生素,尤其是現在普遍使用的用途廣泛的藥物。他突出強調了減少在兒童身上使用抗生素的重要性。
「在瑞典,任何年齡段中,抗生素的使用都只是我們的40%,但是他們的得病率沒有增加,」他說。「我們要告訴醫生和家長,抗生素是有代價的。我們需要改進診斷。導致感染的究竟是病毒還是細菌,如果是細菌,那麼是哪一種?」
「然後我們需要運用窄譜抗菌素來消滅病原菌,同時又不對那些有益健康的菌群造成影響,」布拉澤說。「這就能讓人們在治療嚴重感染的同時,產生更小的副作用。」
翻譯:許欣、陳柳

We Are Our Bacteria

July 14, 2014

We may think of ourselves as just human, but we’re really a mass of microorganisms housed in a human shell. Every person alive is host to about 100 trillion bacterial cells. They outnumber human cells 10 to one and account for 99.9 percent of the unique genes in the body.
Katrina Ray, a senior editor of Nature Reviews, recently suggested that the vast number of microbes in the gut could be considered a “human microbial ‘organ’” and asked, “Are we more microbe than man?”
Our collection of microbiota, known as the microbiome, is the human equivalent of an environmental ecosystem. Although the bacteria together weigh a mere three pounds, their composition determines much about how the body functions and, alas, sometimes malfunctions.
Like ecosystems the world over, the human microbiome is losing its diversity, to the potential detriment of the health of those it inhabits.
Dr. Martin J. Blaser, a specialist in infectious diseases at the New York University School of Medicine and the director of the Human Microbiome Program, has studied the role of bacteria in disease for more than three decades. His research extends well beyond infectious diseases to  autoimmune conditions and other ailments that have been increasing sharply worldwide.
In his new book, “Missing Microbes,” Dr. Blaser links the declining variety within the microbiome to our increased susceptibility to serious, often chronic conditions,  from allergies and celiac disease to Type 1 diabetes and obesity. He and others primarily blame antibiotics for the connection.
The damaging effect of antibiotics on microbial diversity starts early, Dr. Blaser said. The average American child is given nearly three courses of antibiotics in the first two years of life, and eight more  during the next eight years. Even a short course of antibiotics like the widely prescribed  Z-pack (azithromycin, taken for five days), can result in long-term shifts in the body’s microbial environment.
But antibiotics are not the only way the balance within us can be disrupted. Cesarean deliveries, which  have soared  in recent decades, encourage the growth of microbes from the mother’s skin, instead of from the birth canal, in the baby’s gut, Dr. Blaser said in an interview.
This change in microbiota can reshape an infant’s metabolism and immune system. A recent review of 15 studies involving 163,796 births found that, compared with  babies delivered vaginally, those born by cesarean section were 26 percent more likely to be overweight and 22 percent more likely to be obese as adults.
The placenta has a microbiome of its own, researchers have discovered, which may also contribute to the infant’s gut health and help mitigate the microbial losses caused by cesarean sections.
Other studies have found major differences in the microorganisms living in the guts of normal-weight and obese individuals. Although such studies cannot tell which came first — the weight problem or the changed microbiota — studies indicate obese mice have gut bacteria that are better able to extract calories from food.
Further evidence of a link to obesity comes from farm animals. About three-fourths of the antibiotics sold in the United States are used  in  livestock. These  antibiotics change the animals’ microbiota, hastening their growth.
When mice are given the same  antibiotics used on livestock, the metabolism of their liver changes, stimulating an increase in body fat, Dr. Blaser said.
Even more serious is  the increasing number of serious disorders now linked to a distortion in the microbial balance in the human gut. They include several that are becoming more common in developed countries: gastrointestinal ailments like Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and celiac disease; cardiovascular disease; nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; digestive disorders like chronic reflux; autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis; and asthma and allergies.
Some researchers have even speculated that  disruptions of gut microbiota play a role in celiac disease and the resulting explosion in demand for gluten-free foods even among people without this disease.  In a mouse model of Type 1 diabetes, treating the animals with antibiotics accelerates the development of the disease, Dr. Blaser said.
He and other researchers, including a team from Switzerland and Germany, have also linked  the serious rise in asthma rates to the “rapid disappearance of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterial pathogen that persistently colonizes the human stomach, from Western societies.” Once, virtually everyone harbored this microbe, which European researchers have shown protected mice from developing hallmarks of allergic asthma.
H. pylori colonization in early life encourages  production of regulatory T-cells in the blood, which Dr. Blaser said are needed to tamp down allergic responses. Although certain strains of H. pylori are linked to the development of peptic ulcer and stomach cancer, other strains are protective, his studies indicate.
Research by Dr. Blaser and his colleagues further suggests that H. pylori in the stomachprotects against gastroesophageal reflux diseaseBarrett’s esophagus and esophageal cancer.
Still, it is not always possible for researchers to tell whether disruptions in gut microbiota occur before or after people become ill. However, studies in laboratory animals often suggest the bacterial disturbances come first.
Dr. Blaser, among many others, cautions against the overuse of antibiotics, especially the broad-spectrum drugs now commonly prescribed. He emphasized in particular the importance of using fewer antibiotics in  children.
“In Sweden, antibiotic use is 40 percent of ours at any age, with no increase in disease,” he said. “We need to educate physicians and parents that antibiotics have costs. We need improved diagnostics. Is the infection caused by a virus or bacteria, and if bacteria, which one?
“Then we need narrow-spectrum antibiotics designed to knock out the pathogenic bacteria without disrupting the health-promoting ones,” Dr. Blaser added. “This will make it possible to treat serious infections with less collateral effect.”

2014年7月19日 星期六

肺癌 v 雷諾菸草公司(RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company)支付236億美元懲罰性損害賠償

肺癌病故 菸商判賠236億美元

2014-07-20  08:12
〔中央社〕佛羅里達州老煙槍強生因肺癌病故,遺孀控告菸草公司疏於警告香菸危險性,陪審團諭令雷諾菸草公司(RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company)支付236億美元懲罰性損害賠償給原告。
18日的這項判決,被視為佛州史上判賠給單一原告的最大筆金額之一,此判決也要求對強生(Michael Johnson Sr.)的遺產支付逾1600萬美元損害賠償。
在歷時4週審判期間,強生遺孀羅賓遜(Cynthia Robinson)的律師團主張,雷諾菸草疏於告知消費者吸菸的危險性,導致強生因吸菸而罹患肺癌。
律師團表示,強生對香菸「上癮」,多次嘗試戒菸都失敗。
埃斯坎比亞郡(Escambia County)陪審團經過約15小時討論後,做出這項判決。
雷諾菸草副總裁兼助理法律總顧問拉波恩(J. Jeffery Raborn)說,雷諾菸草打算對法院這項判決提起上訴。拉波恩表示,本案的天價損害賠償太超過,州法律和憲法都不會容許。

2014年7月17日 星期四

請不要再炒作高山茶、高山高冷水果和蔬菜


得兔忘蹄
聯合晚報2014/7/17報導,郭台銘、尹衍樑等以高價標得今年梨山的高山春茶。(http://goo.gl/YiwcY7
這則新聞這樣寫,台中市政府農業局所輔導的和平區農會,於7/17(四)上午舉辦臺中市梨山春茶的評鑑,以及梨山高山茶評鑑結果的發表記者會,台中市長胡志強出席並頒獎。
鴻海董事長郭台銘指派的專人參與競標活動,以100萬元標得特等高山春茶。潤泰集團總裁尹衍樑也派代表出席競標,最後是郭台銘、尹衍樑、台中市建築經營協會得標特等茶葉,並倡言參與競標活動旨在大力支持台灣的農業發展。
郭台銘對媒體表示,梨山高山茶號稱台灣茶王,參加競拍就是以行動支持「胡市長推廣梨山茶」的理念,支持台灣農產品的推廣,所以競標預算無上限。
對於這則新聞報導內容實在令人難以認同,對於台中市長胡志強的言行作為也令人相當不以為然。
台灣的高山茶葉、高山高冷蔬菜和水果滿足私慾和經濟利益,但也因高度的山坡農業耕作而使得台灣的山地長期處於過度開發的情境。齊柏林的《看見台灣》震撼影像,同時也讓閱聽大眾看到了台灣土地的滿目瘡痍。尤其每當梅雨季節,或是天災過後,便造成大片山坡崩落的現象。中橫谷關到梨山,921至今仍處於斷線不通,出入還得繞徑南投,此際還需農業局輔導在梨山推廣高山茶作嗎?
去年(2013)11月胡志強市長帶領市府官員進戲院觀賞《看見台灣》,發表支持感言(http://goo.gl/1GHyAr)。這些說詞仍猶言在耳(http://goo.gl/nrdtBq),只是時隔半年之久,性喜胡言的胡志強卻已渾然不復記得他的「愛護台灣土地」呼籲。
借用古籍《莊子》〔外物〕一段「得兔而忘蹄」做個結語。典源這樣說,「蹄者所以在兔,得兔而忘蹄,言者所以在意,得意而忘言。」
有錢、有勢的頭人們,請不要再炒作高山茶、高山高冷水果和蔬菜了。請給台灣的土地「休養生息」吧!
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