science
Is global food “spoilt” by climate change?
Climate change increases agricultural crop shortages, leading to higher prices for commodities such as orange juice, olive oil and cocoa, the agency said.BloombergAmerican.
Apart from pests and “plant diseases”, high temperatures resulting from pre-warming affect different crops.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), plant diseases cost the global economy more than $220 billion annually, and invasive pests at least $70 billion.
According to Leah Buckman, an entomologist at Georgetown University in the US, insects are adapting easily to a changing climate because higher temperatures allow them to reproduce faster and migrate faster, leading to reduced crop yields.
“As temperatures rise, the geographic range of plant disease-carrying insects increases,” Bockman said.
As a result, destructive butterflies native to the Americas have been found devouring maize and other grains throughout Africa and Asia. Whitefly, associated with tropical and subtropical climates, also destroyed tomato gardens in Europe.
Cocoa and tomatoes
West Africa, home to two-thirds of the global cocoa supply, has experienced severe difficulties with its crop in recent seasons, with wholesale prices hitting near-historic levels this year.
Prolonged heavy rains increased the chances of “black pod” disease, caused by a fungus-like organism that rapidly spreads and turns wet cocoa pods black or brown.
According to several studies, “black pods” destroyed up to 30 percent of the annual cocoa crop.
The second disease is swollen bud virus, which is transmitted by mealybugs, an insect that feeds on the sap of cocoa plants. This pest can drastically reduce crop yields before killing the cacao plant.
Mealybugs breed in warm temperatures and can spread the virus quickly, even if only one seedling is infected.
Uprooting infected trees is the only way to control the disease, according to the World Agriculture Organization.
And last July, the price of tomatoes in India went up by 700 percent, so extraordinary that it was ridiculed on social media.
Crop production suffered amid delayed monsoon, heavy rains in some planting areas and above-normal temperatures in June. But the tomato crop was particularly affected by the so-called silver leaf whitefly.
Feeding on sap – the liquid that travels through the vascular tissue of the plant – this insect is capable of transmitting hundreds of plant viruses, preventing the production of staple crops such as tomatoes, as well as cassava (also known as cassava, a woody plant. South America), beans and sweet potatoes. .
In India too, the insect-borne tomato leaf curl virus has contributed to devastating losses.
The virus recently arrived in Europe, possibly from India, and has caused outbreaks in several European countries.
Olive oil
With the combination of warmer weather and higher humidity, the insects showed greater ability to adapt to changes in agricultural ecosystems, which provided an ideal environment for their reproduction.
Spain – the world’s largest producer of olive oil – is facing a crisis of its own as drought has reduced production and doubled costs.
Global grain trade has faced problems for a number of reasons, not least Russia’s recent war against Ukraine.
While prices were more or less under control, unfavorable weather and pests caused problems for local production in some countries.
In China, one of the world’s largest corn producers, pests such as fall armyworm are attacking plants earlier than usual.
Warmer and wetter weather favors the survival and reproduction of this pest, allowing the caterpillars to begin their attacks much earlier in the crop cycle.
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An international team led by researchers at the British Wellcome Sanger Institute has revealed a new drug target that could act as an alternative treatment for kidney cancer if doctors don’t recommend surgery. According to the results of a study published in the journal Nature Communications (Monday), this rare cancerous form of kidney tumor is called Renin tumor, and its complete genetic code has been understood for the first time.
Reninoma is one of the rarest cancers in humans, with only about 100 cases reported worldwide. Although it can usually be treated with surgery, it can cause severe high blood pressure and develop into malignant tumors that can spread.
There are still no medical treatments for kidney tumors, as treatment management only involves surgery. Before the results of the latest study came out, it was not known what genetic error caused these types of tumors.
According to the study’s co-principal investigator, Dr. Sam Bagadi, Wellcome Senior Research Fellow at the Wellcome Sanger Institute: “The significance of our results is that we have succeeded in discovering the essence of this type of tumor. Based on the fact that it is so rare, there have been no previous studies on it.
He added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “Not only have we been able to understand the genetic code of a kidney tumor, but we have also shown that drugs can counteract what triggers it, and this may be important for patients whose tumors cannot be removed. through surgery.”
Researchers have identified a specific error in the genetic code of a known cancer gene called NOTCH1, which is behind the development of this rare cancer.
“This is the first time we have identified the causes of kidney tumors, and we believe our work will continue to pave the way for new treatments,” said lead study author Taryn Trescher at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
The team has already studied two cancer samples, one from a young adult and the other from a child, using advanced genetic techniques. Their findings suggest that existing drugs that actually target this gene could be used as a potential solution for treating kidney tumors in patients for whom surgery is not a viable option.
Dr Tansina Chowdhury, lead researcher on the study at Great Ormond Street Hospital in the UK, explained: “Rare forms of kidney cancer known as renal tumors do not respond to traditional anti-cancer treatments. “Currently the only known treatment is surgery.” She added: “There is a specific, well-known gene that drives this rare cancer. Our study shows that the studied gene has “If we use drugs that are already known to affect this gene, we can deal with it without the need for invasive medical technology like surgery.”
Here Bahjati said: “Rare cancers are a huge challenge for research and analysis. Patients with other types of tumors may not benefit from them. “But here is a powerful example of cutting-edge science that is changing our understanding of an extremely rare type of tumor: a discovery that could have immediate clinical benefits for patients.” He added: “We will continue to study these extremely rare tumors to understand their genetic code, which we hope will reveal more new therapeutic approaches.”
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science
Climate change: Saudi Arabia warns against rush to abandon traditional fuels – Financial Times
image source, Good pictures
We begin our tour of British newspapers with Amy Williams in New York and Miles McCormick in Calgary at the Financial Times on what they describe as deep tensions and divisions over the oil and gas industry’s role in combating climate change. Recent events in New York, US and Calgary, Canada this week cast doubt on the likelihood of an agreement at the upcoming United Nations COP28 conference.
According to the article, when world leaders and senior officials meet in New York in ten weeks ahead of the United Nations’ COP28 climate summit, there is a deep divide between those who support and those who urge the expansion of fossil fuel use. Stopping all forms of growth and expansion is critical to achieving stability in the world.
In December, the UN The authors quoted Dan Jorgensen, Denmark’s minister for development cooperation and global climate policy, who is leading discussions on new climate targets that could be agreed at the climate change conference COP28, as saying: “Countries agree that we must move. Move forward on this issue.” “But the bad news is that we’re far from reaching an agreement. We need to address the larger problem of burning fossil fuels.”
According to the article, tensions between the world’s nations related to the precise meaning of “phasing out” of fossil fuels and whether this would allow the expansion of carbon capture technologies, also known as mitigation, have failed climate summits. In subsequent years to reach an agreement.
The newspaper reported that French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President William Rudo along with 17 other leaders signed a letter last week in which they stressed that “mitigation technology cannot be used to expand the use of fossil fuels”.
The article also reported that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU’s goal of “phasing out fossil fuels before 2050” would require major polluters to come on board.
As developing countries push to finance green energy systems, US climate envoy John Kerry has attacked new coal plant developments in Asia, where China and India are ramping up production. Meanwhile, oil company leaders gathered on the outskirts of Calgary, Alberta, the heart of Canada’s oil industry, for a very different conversation.
The Financial Times highlights how some 500 senior industry officials, including ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods, warned of the dangers of the rush away from fossil fuels at the World Petroleum Congress, a biennial oil and gas industry conference.
Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, told the delegation, which included a large presence from Canada and Saudi Arabia: “I see many flaws in the current transitional approach. It’s ignored.”
“Premature cessation of conventional energy endangers energy security and affordability priorities, and as the recent energy crisis — exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine — has shown, the world teeters if these realities are ignored,” al-Nasser’s speech said.
According to the authors, fossil fuel industry executives who are expected to attend will fight against production cuts before 2050 when world leaders head to the COP28 conference in December, hoping to reach an agreement to maintain the goal of limiting global warming.
“This is how Putin can be defeated.”
image source, Reuters
We return to the Telegraph newspaper, which published an article by Hamish de Breton-Gordon, in which the West called for the urgent delivery of attack weapons to Ukraine, emphasizing that NATO countries have the ability to crush the “tsar”, as he described it. It is.
The writer said that the West should provide Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with the necessary weapons, and in this way Russian President Vladimir Putin would be defeated.
In his article, the author sets a timetable of more than 12 months – at most – for Ukraine to defeat Russia, but he points out that a stalemate is felt in the air regarding Kiev’s armaments. The West faces the risk of losing ground, while Ukrainian tanks appear to be breaking through the defensive lines designed by former Russian general Sergei Churovykin. According to Gordon, they rushed towards Russia.
Author Gordon says that Poland’s suspension of arms supplies to Ukraine is a matter that will make headlines in Polish local newspapers ahead of next month’s elections, but is echoed in the international press as a sign of “Ukraine fatigue” and its impact on Poles.
The writer emphasized the importance of Polish engineering and logistical support to help the Ukrainian army and maintain its advance, but in the agricultural economy, unlike many industrialized countries in the West, Poland’s peasants had high reservations and feared the influx of cheap Ukrainian grain. In the European market, as a result of the Russian occupation, the grain issue and placing it at the center of the conflict.
Elections can lead politicians to adopt a course that is consistent with their electoral interests, and not necessarily a moral line, which applies to the United Kingdom and the United States, which will hold elections next year, and apply. Poland, according to the article.
The author says: “Western weapons are slowly changing the course of events in favor of Ukraine, but the pace of events was slow and very small, because it took six months to supply Ukraine with precision artillery, and 12 months to supply it with tanks, and two years to acquire F-16 fighter jets. Had all this happened in the first 12 months of the invasion, most analysts, myself included, would agree that the war would have been over, and politicians around the world would not have struggled with the moral question of whether to do the right thing. For themselves or for peace in Europe?
The writer adds that since Ukrainian artillery units are already trained on multi-barrel launchers, the West, and especially the US, could give a major boost to the Ukrainian offensive by deploying the Atacms long-range artillery system without delay. MRLS” was used to launch these precision missiles. Up to a range of 300 kilometers, it will give the Ukrainians the ability to destroy Russian artillery in Crimea, and help light and heavy military forces achieve victory this time.
Retaking Crimea, a territory important to both sides, would end the war, topple Putin and deprive Russia of a strong military that has helped threaten the West for nearly a decade, the writer concludes.
“Women should not be forced to justify men’s attacks.”
We conclude the newspaper description with an article published by the British Times by Jenny Russell entitled “Women should not be pushed to justify men’s assaults”.
The writer discussed what she described as women’s boredom with a reduced choice between “insulting men or risking their personal safety.”
In her essay, two friends stunned her by defending the much-talked-about public figure Crispin Odey, who faced accusations of sexually abusing women just days before reports of allegations against Russell Brand — allegations he vehemently denies. , allegations that Odi had previously vehemently denied.
The writer highlighted the opinions of two of his friends, one of whom said: “They know what they’re doing, if they don’t like it, they should have found another job,” the other said sarcastically: “Girls he went home! They know what it’s like.”
The author explains that the common assumptions underlying these ideas are repulsive and impose impossible odds on women.
In her article, Jenny Russell, women are expected to treat men whom they know as professionally and socially trustworthy, and to treat them with respect.
It is not permissible for a woman to publicly refuse to ride in an elevator with her colleague, or to decline her neighbor’s invitation to ride in his car, or to avoid a late-night coffee with her boyfriend. She fears sexual assault.
He explained that this creates an atmosphere of shame and anger for men, because women who say it openly are humiliated or fired, as it is seen as an accusation and suspicion of the opposite man’s intentions. Among them.
On the other hand, a woman who has been assaulted, many immediately view her behavior through a completely different lens. It is necessary for her to expect that any man may be a sex predator and she should be wary of him and take necessary precautions.
“What did she think she was doing when she was alone with a man at home, office or hotel? What did she expect?” There will be questions.
It’s an old and unforgiving view: women who trust men or are forced to do so are seen as complicit or guilty because weakness is reframed as consent.
The author says that the presence of these two contradictory behaviors of women at the same time is used by some predatory men to trap them, these men deliberately exploit the mystique of women. Avoiding traps while maintaining a social presence is what women try to do, but it is an exhausting or dangerous process.
In many fields, women have to make a tragic choice: either quit their jobs or accept harassment as the price of their lives, the author says.
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Breast cancer is a disease that affects women, especially with a high number of infections, but in fact it affects men as well, and many believe that it leads to death among them.
she explained NHS The NHS in England says that 85 men die each year in Britain from breast cancer, and that the malignancy affects around 400 men annually.
The charity Breast Cancer Now also reports that “at least one person is diagnosed with the disease every day”.
According to the website “Mayo ClinicMedically, male breast cancer is “a rare cancer that begins with the growth of cells in the breast tissue of men.”
Breast cancer cells disrupt the immune system
Australian researchers announced Monday that breast cancer cells have powerfully destroyed the body’s immune system, allowing the disease to invade patients’ bones.
“Breast cancer in men usually affects older people, but it can occur at any age,” he pointed out.
Those diagnosed with “male breast cancer” at an early stage have a good chance of recovery.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of this disease are as follows:
A painless lump or thickening of breast tissue and changes in the skin of the breast, such as sagging, wrinkling, redness or peeling.
Changes in the nipples, such as redness or peeling, or one of the nipples turning inward.
The causes of these malignant tumors are still unclear, but doctors define “male breast cancer” as occurring when “some breast cells divide faster than healthy cells.”
Accumulated cells form a tumor, which can spread (metastasize) to nearby tissues, lymph nodes, or other parts of the body.
According to the website “Web MedicineThe disease can be diagnosed through a clinical examination, which is done by feeling the chest area of the person in search of any tumors or changes in the chest tissue, and the doctor evaluates the size, structure and depth of the tumors present.
It can be diagnosed with radiographic imaging such as X-rays or ultrasound to create clear images of the breast tissue.
Only a biopsy is used to “confirm” a diagnosis of breast cancer in men. This is done by taking a sample of the tumor tissue and examining it to confirm whether the tumor is cancerous or benign.
Treatment usually involves surgery to remove as much of the visible tumor as possible, along with some of the surrounding healthy tissue.
Other treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy may be recommended depending on the condition.
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