Plague

The Great Hanoi Rat Massacre of 1902 is a classic reminder of why we need to be wary about what data we measure and reward. The French colonial administrators of the time, alarmed by the spread of rodents through the city’s sewers, offered local ratcatchers a bounty for each animal killed. The municipal government paid one cent for every rattail handed over as proof of elimination. Initially, the data looked promising but, unfortunately, the plan went awry. Crafty Vietnamese entrepreneurs simply chopped the tails off living rats and set up rodent farms to boost their income. Bubonic plague broke out in Hanoi a few years later. The data we all generate on our smartphones today may seem far removed from colonial statistics on Hanoi’s rat infestation. But the dangers of misinterpreting the data we produce remain the same. Correlations are sometimes spurious. Incentives will invariably be gamed. Stripped of context, data can be, and often is, misleading. Some of those lessons appear ...

The Great Hanoi Rat Massacre of 1902 is a classic reminder of why we need to be wary about what data we measure and reward. The French colonial administrators of the time, alarmed by the spread of rodents through the city’s sewers, offered local ratcatchers a bounty for each animal killed. The municipal government paid one cent for every rattail handed over as proof of elimination. Initially, the data looked promising but, unfortunately, the plan went awry. Crafty Vietnamese entrepreneurs simply chopped the tails off living rats and set up rodent farms to boost their income. Bubonic plague broke out in Hanoi a few years later. The data we all generate on our smartphones today may seem far removed from colonial statistics on Hanoi’s rat infestation. But the dangers of misinterpreting the data we produce remain the same. Correlations are sometimes spurious. Incentives will invariably be gamed. Stripped of context, data can be, and often is, misleading. Some of those lessons appear ...

Video Player Close BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- A total of 2,826 people died as a result of infectious diseases in China in November, according to statistics released by the National Health Commission. There were 636,722 cases of infectious diseases reported last month. One case of cholera was reported in November and no cases of plague were reported. No fatalities caused by these diseases have been reported, the commission said. Cholera and plague are classified as Class A infectious diseases, the most serious classification in China's Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases. A total of 303,714 infections of diseases classified as Class B infectious diseases were reported, resulting in 2,819 deaths in November. Viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhea and scarlet fever accounted for 93 percent of these cases. Class C diseases caused seven deaths in November. Foot and mouth disease, infectious diarrhea and influenza were the most prevalent in ...

When children are sick parents become nurses. Between medicine, cool washcloths for their fevered foreheads and unlimited cartoon viewing, parents do everything in their power to make their children comfortable during times of illness. If as a parent you do a half-decent job guiding your offspring through the valley of chills, nausea and crust, they will return the favor when the germ brigade decides to hold a pledge drive in your nasal cavity. I myself have been grooming a team of nurses for quite some time now. Thankfully I only get lay-down-and-cover-me-with-dirt sick maybe once every three or four years. The head nurse on Team Dawson, of course, is The Wife.   Tax Deduction #1 is our oldest child and well on her way to becoming a decorated lieutenant in the fight to keep me alive. Tax Deduction #2 has started making rounds, and my current skirmish with a nasal event spurred her into action. At the end of a great Christmas week, I woke up Saturday mornin...

ALSO READ: Simple way to tell if your partner is likely to cheat - and it's all to do with their fingers The end of this year marks the dawn of another where you have a list of things to attend to and to accomplish. If among your resolutions is to get your own man, start a relationship and eventually date; despite having all it requires to be in a healthy relationship and you can start dating the first man who asks you out, you should go easy on it as not every man out there who winks at you will end up the way you so desire. There are some men who however how hard they try, are not just meant for long term relationships or marriage. Getting into a commitment with them will either drain you or leave you wishing you were single. Such men will not only crash your New Year’s dream but will also waste a great deal your time. Some of them include The control freak It feels good when your man is in control, doesn’t it? When he gets to choose what you wear, takes you out for meals ...

One of Hammer Films more overlooked horror films within its canon, The Plague of the Zombies  is a 1966 tale of class struggle and colonialism run amok in Great Britain (Cornwall, specifically). The great British character actor Andre Morell (who should have starred in as many films for Hammer as Peter Cushing did) stars as Professor Sir James Forbes, a teacher, doctor, and all-around sensible man in a land of superstitious villagers. He's summoned by one of his star pupils, who's perplexed by the deaths of several young people in Cornwall. Forbes and his daughter Sylvia (Diane Clare) got to visit, and Sylvia's old friend, the lovely Alice also succumbs to whatever local madness is happening. As it turns out, Squire Clive Hamilton (John Carson), who plays a great villain, has been to Haiti and has returned to his family's old mansion and mine -- along with drum-beating slaves and the power to resurrect the dead to do his bidding. I don't mean to spoil a very old ...

Video Player Close BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- A total of 2,826 people died as a result of infectious diseases in China in November, according to statistics released by the National Health Commission. There were 636,722 cases of infectious diseases reported last month. One case of cholera was reported in November and no cases of plague were reported. No fatalities caused by these diseases have been reported, the commission said. Cholera and plague are classified as Class A infectious diseases, the most serious classification in China's Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases. A total of 303,714 infections of diseases classified as Class B infectious diseases were reported, resulting in 2,819 deaths in November. Viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhea and scarlet fever accounted for 93 percent of these cases. Class C diseases caused seven deaths in November. Foot and mouth disease, infectious diarrhea and influenza were the most prevalent in ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Derelict Pakistan Hospital Signals Imran Khan's Health Challenge    Bloomberg In a red-brick hospital in the southern Pakistani town of Nindo, plastic transparent sheets cover unused equipment, and dusty halls and rooms are empty for a ... https://bloom.bg/2QX2fax

CHARLOTTE — There were plenty of excuses for the way the South Carolina defense played against Virginia on Saturday. There were injuries, plenty of them, that forced the Gamecocks’ coaching staff to put as many as a half-dozen freshmen on the field against the Cavaliers. How many games were the Gamecocks’ two most dynamic defensive players — D.J. Wonnum and Bryson Allen-Williams — on the field at the same time this season? Maybe a game, perhaps two at the very most? But even the number of injuries doesn’t explain some of the fundamental mistakes USC made in a 28-0 Belk Bowl loss. Missed tackles and blown assignments plagued the Gamecocks during the regular season and didn’t stop when bowl season rolled around. The return of Allen-Williams and freshman defensive back Jaycee Horn to the lineup helped, but the same issues that troubled the Gamecocks all season showed up again on Saturday. “Missed tackles, busted assignments seemed to get us all season,” said linebacker...

In 1998, Andrew Wakefield, a British physician, fabricated research that purported to show that the preservative in the mumps/measles/rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism. He succeeded in getting the fake study published, with twelve collaborators, in The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal. Investigations by the Sunday Times and the British Medical Journal found that Wakefield committed deliberate fraud for financial gain. The British General Medical Council, which registers doctors in the UK, found that Wakefield had acted “dishonestly, irresponsibly, unethically, and callously.” The Lancet retracted the paper as “utterly false” and Wakefield was struck off the British Medical Registry. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and many subsequent studies have found no link between vaccines and autism; they show that the benefits of vaccinations outweigh any risk. Small groups of “anti-vaxxers” have nonetheless made large groups of people sick. Recent outbreaks of...

Slow starts has seemed to plague McComb recently and Saturday was no different as the Tigers struggled to get their offense set while trying to slow down a stellar East Marion Eagle squad in a 59-43 loss on Day 2 of the McComb Holiday Tournament.  “The last two nights - slow starts,” McComb Head Coach Karshae Peterson said. “We just come out flat for some reason. Why? I don’t know, and it’s frustrating.”  The Tigers were held scoreless for the first 5:30 of the ballgame. A Brodrick Thompson basket broke the scoreless drought but it was the only two points McComb was able to score in the first quarter. The Tigers trailed 13-2 heading into the second quarter.  McComb began to find its stroke early in the second but the Eagles found a flaw in the Tigers’ game and that was their inability to defend the post. East Marion continuously fed the ball inside to 6’8” senior forward John Rawls who scored nine-straight points for the Eagles putting the Tigers behind 31-17 a...

A decrease in gang-related crime and investment in downtown real estate are among the tangible returns on a collective vision for a better Erie. A powerful malaise long lingered in Erie's civic and political culture, a collective habit of meeting the causes and signs of Erie's economic and physical decline largely with resignation. Of thinking small. Looking backward. Accepting our fate. Embedded in that was something of a collective inferiority complex, a notion that things were the best that Erie could expect. There was also a gradual atrophying of our communal spirit, our shared vision, rooted in the depth of loss. We might have noticed that swaths of Erie were sinking into blight and generational poverty. Too many of us who were able wrote that off as someone else's problem. Now and then some business or civic coalition would make the case for embracing change and try to rally the community to reach for bigger and better things. But those efforts never gained enough...

In 1998, Andrew Wakefield, a British physician, fabricated research that purported to show that the preservative in the mumps/measles/rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism. He succeeded in getting the fake study published, with twelve collaborators, in The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal. Investigations by the Sunday Times and the British Medical Journal found that Wakefield committed deliberate fraud for financial gain. The British General Medical Council, which registers doctors in the UK, found that Wakefield had acted “dishonestly, irresponsibly, unethically, and callously.” The Lancet retracted the paper as “utterly false” and Wakefield was struck off the British Medical Registry. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and many subsequent studies have found no link between vaccines and autism; they show that the benefits of vaccinations outweigh any risk. Small groups of “anti-vaxxers” have nonetheless made large groups of people sick. Recent outbreaks of...

In 1998, Andrew Wakefield, a British physician, fabricated research that purported to show that the preservative in the mumps/measles/rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism. He succeeded in getting the fake study published, with twelve collaborators, in The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal. Investigations by the Sunday Times and the British Medical Journal found that Wakefield committed deliberate fraud for financial gain. The British General Medical Council, which registers doctors in the UK, found that Wakefield had acted “dishonestly, irresponsibly, unethically, and callously.” The Lancet retracted the paper as “utterly false” and Wakefield was struck off the British Medical Registry. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and many subsequent studies have found no link between vaccines and autism; they show that the benefits of vaccinations outweigh any risk. Small groups of “anti-vaxxers” have nonetheless made large groups of people sick. Recent outbreaks of...

1. PFAS: Continued investigation in Kent County Garret Ellison | MLive.com 1. PFAS: Continued investigation in Kent County Lawsuits, voluntary blood tests and stalled plans for municipal water were among the developments in 2018 during the ongoing investigation into PFAS contamination in Kent County.  The local developments this year were part of MLive's larger look at the contamination in many locations across Michigan. Ingestion of PFAS has been linked in human studies to some cancers, thyroid disorders, elevated cholesterol and other diseases. Cancer, thyroid problems plague Wolverine dump neighbors All known PFAS sites in Michigan PFAS: Hundreds sue Wolverine for damages Neil Blake | MLive.com PFAS: Hundreds sue Wolverine for damages Following revelations of local drinking water contaminated by Wolverine World Wide with toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a number of residents and some municipalities took legal action earlier this year against...

If you’re contemplating another drink before driving home this New Year’s Eve, think again, because things are going to be different this year. Legislation known as Bill C-46 gives police the new power to demand a breathalyzer without reasonable suspicion. Before, police needed a reason to demand a test: erratic driving, slurred speech or the smell of alcohol in the car. Now, drivers are legally required to take the test, if asked. Even if they are sober, they could face criminal charges if they refuse. I applaud any law that protects public safety, and mandatory roadside testing is one important tool to achieve that end. Innocent people die and suffer terrible injuries, families are destroyed and communities suffer great losses due to the plague of impaired driving. Ask a first responder or an emergency room doctor about the carnage: road crash sites are like war zones. Drinking and driving is a big social problem that hasn’t gone away, even with public education. Organizations ...

No one is sure how it started. Or what started it. One day, there was a report of a man in Russia who was riding in a truck with his friend. He asked the friend to pull over and then attacked him, removing his lips with his fingernails. A few days later, another report: 5,000 miles east of St. Petersburg. A mother buries her children alive and then kills herself with broken dishes. Then, a video; a man trying to attack the videographer with an axe, and eventually succeeding. No one knows what spurs the attacks or why, only that people catch a glimpse of something mysterious, then violently murder those around them before killing themselves. The only way you can be sure to avoid catching it, whatever it is, is to avoid opening your eyes. Unfortunately, the name Eyes Wide Shut was taken. Four years before Bird Box was a Netflix movie starring Sandra Bullock, it was a debut novel from Josh Malerman, also the lead singer of a band called The High Strung. At a tight 270 pages...

More than 11 million people visited the Science News website this year. Check out this recap of the most-read stories of 2018, and the most popular stories published this year on each of our blogs. Top 10 stories 1. Male birth control pill passes a safety test Men who took a prototype once-daily contraceptive pill for about a month saw their testosterone and other reproductive hormones safely plummet to levels known to halt sperm development, a small study found ( SN Online: 3/21/18 ). 2. A 5,000-year-old mass grave harbors the oldest plague bacteria ever found The skeleton of a  long-dead Scandinavian woman yielded bacterial DNA showing that she contracted the earliest known case of the plague in humans ( SN Online: 12/6/18 ).  The ancient microbe’s genetic code could help uncover the origins of the deadly disease. 3. What I actually learned about my family after trying 5 DNA ancestry tests Interested in unraveling your DNA to learn more about your family ...

File-This Dec. 23, 2018, file photo shows New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady passing against the Buffalo Bills during the second half of an NFL football game, in Foxborough, Mass. Brady and the Patriots are the only team in the NFL without a loss at home (7-0). They could complete an undefeated home regular season for the seventh time since 2002 with a sixth straight victory over the Jets. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File) less File-This Dec. 23, 2018, file photo shows New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady passing against the Buffalo Bills during the second half of an NFL football game, in Foxborough, Mass. Brady and the ... more Photo: Elise Amendola Photo: Elise Amendola Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Image 1 of 3 File-This Dec. 23, 2018, file photo shows New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady passing against the Buffalo Bills during the second half of an NFL football game, in Foxborough, Mass. Brady and the Patriots are th...

We Americans are an inherently optimistic bunch. We beat the spread at Yorktown in 1781 and haven’t looked back since. A proud people, we cherish our exceptionalism, but know there’s always room for improvement. As we close out 2018 and look to an even grander 2019, it is right to consider putting to pasture certain expressions whose time has come. We’ll give “putting to pasture” one more year before, ahem , putting it to pasture: It is what it is . What else could it be? If a fireman approached your home ablaze and, rather than break out hoses, observed “a fire is a fire”, how would you feel? Smart money says you’d ask Hamlet to stop soliloquizing, and pick up an ax. Answering questions nobody thinks were problems with “no problem.” This disingenuous response is so common, I fear only one remedy remains: Make more requests that truly are problems. $20 for 365 Days of Unlimited Digital Access Last chance to take advantage of our best offer of the year! Act now! #ReadLoc...