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Egypt Felled by Famine Even ancient Egypt’s mighty pyramid builders were powerless in the face of the famine that helped bring down their civilisation around 2180 BC. Now evidence gleaned from mud deposited by the River Nile suggests that a shift in climate thousands of kilometres to the south was ultimately to blame -- and the same or worse could happen today. The ancient Egyptians depended on the Nile’s annual floods to irrigate their crops. But any change in climate that pushed the African monsoons southwards out of Ethiopia would have diminished these floods. Dwindling rains in the Ethiopian highlands would have meant fewer plants to stablise the soil. When rain did fall it would have washed large amounts of soil into the Blue Nile and into Egypt, along with sediment from the White Nile4. The Blue Nile mud has a different isotope signature from that of the White Nile. So by analysing isotope differences in mud deposited in the Nile Delta, Michael Krom of Leeds University worked out what proportion of sediment came from each branch of the river. Krom reasons that during periods of drought, the amount of the Blue Nile mud in the river’ would be relatively high. He found that one of these periods, from 4,500 to 4,200 years ago, immediately predates the fall of the Egypt’s Old Kingdom. The weakened waters would have been catastrophic for the Egyptians. “Changes that affect food supply don’t have to be very large to have a ripple effect in societies,“ says Bill Ryan of the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory in New York. Similar events today could be even more devastating, says team member Daniel Stanley, a geoarchaeologist from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. “Anything humans do to shift the climate belts would have an even worse effect along the Nile system today because the populations have increased dramatically.“Why does the author mention “pyramid builders“? Because they once worked miracles. Because they were well-built. Because they were actually very weak. Because even they were unable to rescue their civilisation.

Why Do People Shrink? Did you ever see the movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids? It’s about a wacky dad (who’s also a scientist) who accidentally shrinks his kids with his homemade miniaturizing invention. Oops!(46) For older people, shrinking isn’t that dramatic or sudden at all. It takes place over years and may add up to only an inch or so off of their adult height (maybe a little more, maybe less). And this kind of shrinking can’t be magically reversed, although there are things that can be done to stop it or slow it down.(47). There are a few reasons. As people get older, they generally lose some muscle and fat from their bodies as part of the natural aging process. Gravity (the force that keeps your feet on the ground) takes holds, and the bones in the spine, called vertebrae, may break down4 or degenerate, and start to collapse into one another5.(48) But perhaps the most common reason why some older people shrink is because of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis occurs when too much spongy bone tissue (which is found inside of most bones) is broken down and not enough new bone material is made.(49) Bones become smaller and weaker and can easily break if someone with osteoporosis is injured. Older people -- especially women, who generally have smaller and lighter bones to begin with--are more likely to develop osteoporosis. As years go by, a person with osteoporosis shrinks a little bit. Did you know that every day you do a shrinking act, too? You aren’t as tall at the end of the day as you are at the beginning. That’s because as the day goes on, water in the disks of the spine gets compressed (squeezed) due to gravity, making you just a tiny bit shorter. Don’t worry, though.(50). A. They end up6 pressing closer together, which makes a person lose a little height and become shorter. B. Once you get a good night’s rest, your body recovers, and the next morning, you’re standing tall again! C. Over time, bone is said to be lost because it’s not being replaced. D. Luckily, there are things that people can do to prevent shrinking. E The kids spend the rest of the movie as tiny people who are barely visible while trying to get back to their normal size. F But why does shrinking happen at all?

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Aspirin -- a New Miracle Drug 1. Using aspirin, an over-the-counter pill on sale in every supermarket without a prescription, to treat serious circulatory disease may seem almost like quackery. But today doctors recognize this drug as a potent compound as important as antibiotics, digitalis and other miracle drugs. 2. In its natural form as willow bark and leaves, this remarkable remedy dates back to Hippocrates2. In 1829 the chemical in the willow tree that can relieve pain and reduce fever was discovered to be salicin. By 1899 the Bayer Company in Germany had marketed a variant, acetylsalicylic acid, under the name of aspirin. 3. Since then, aspirin and compounds containing aspirin have been taken by tens of millions of arthritis patients. As a pain killer aspirin is, according to one study, more effective than all other analgesics and narcotics available for oral use. It also acts on4the body’s thermostat, turning down fever. 4. But some of its powers remained unsuspected until recently. In 1950 the late Dr. Craven wrote to a small western medical journal about 400 overweight, sedentary male patients to whom he had given one or two aspirin tablets a day. None had had a heart attack. He enlarged his group to 8,000 and in 1956 reported: “Not a single case of detectable coronary or cerebral thrombosis “and “no major stroke“ had occurred in patients who had taken one or two tablets daily for from one to ten years. But his observations were largely ignored. 5. Then Dr. Vane proved that aspirin turned off the body’s prostaglandins hormonelike chemicals that can be secreted by every cell. Some potent prostaglandins are harmful compounds that create fever, pain and arthritis. One of them stimulates platelets in the blood to begin forming clots inside arteries. Aspirin blocks this dangerous effect. 6. Vane’s finding caused some researchers to recall Craven’s 1956 observations, which now had a possible scientific explanation. Numerous studies were begun to find out whether aspirin could indeed inhibit heart attacks and stroke. 7. In 1972, ten US medical institutions began two “double-blind“ trials of 303 patients who suffered from transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). Four aspirin tablets a day were given to 153 patients, while placebo tablets were given to 150. Neither patients nor doctors knew which was which. After six months, the patients on aspirin had experienced much fewer TIAs, and fewer strokes and deaths from strokes than the “controls“. The results were so conclusive that aspirin has been used for this purpose widely.A. Confirmation of the New Effect B. Pain-relieving and Fever-reducing Effects of Aspirin C. The Ignored Significant Observations D. The Origin of AspirinE An Explanation of Craven’s Observations F Further Findings of Dr. Vane

Controlling the Growing TB Crisis in China China needs to take urgent action to address a “vicious cycle“ of poverty and tuberculosis (TB) affecting a considerable number of Chinese people, especially in underdeveloped areas, the World Health Organization said on Monday. The Chinese government needs to take “immediate necessary action“ to control the spread of TB, which is “threatening the future of its 1.3 billion people“, WHO said in a report released at the start of a three-day meeting to discuss TB in the Western Pacific region. Poor living conditions and health care in rural China mean the TB infection rate is nearly three times higher than in urban areas, the report said. There are some factors that make the rural TB burden heavier such as insufficient funds for local health programs and increased charges for medical care, it said. “This has uniformly produced a negative impact on TB diagnosis and treatment, especially in areas without specific funding targeted towards TB-related services,“ it said. The report, which is meant to foreshadow the seriousness of the TB crisis in China, suggests that China adopt a two-year program to control the disease. The government should fund free TB drugs and diagnosis, health promotion and training, and supervised treatment programs at all levels, it said. “TB control should be considered as a key development issue and poverty reduction strategy,“ WHO Western Pacific regional director Dr. Shigeru Omi said at the opening of the meeting in Beijing. A World Bank-funded project in 13 of China’s 31 provinces produced “astonishing“ results, reducing the incidence of TB by 38 per cent in less than 10 years, WHO said. “This tremendous achievement tells us that the regional target of reducing the prevalence of TB by half in 10 years, though ambitious, is achievable,“ Omi said. But TB “remains a relentless killer in the Western Pacific region“, claiming around 1,000 lives daily in the region -- more than half of them in China, a WHO press statement said. “The worsening burden of TB has resulted in a great human tragedy and has had a profound impact on economic development in several countries in the region,“ the statement said.At present in China the TB infection rate in rural areas is three times as high as that in urban areas. in rural areas is nearly four times as high as that in urban areas. in urban areas is two times lower than that in rural areas. in urban areas is four times lower than that in rural areas.

Happy Marriage, Happy Heart Happily married people have lower blood pressure(51)unhappily married people or singles, a Brigham Young University study says. On the other hand, even having a supportive social network did not translate into a blood pressure benefit for singles or unhappily(52) . people, according to the study. “There seem to be some unique health benefits from marriage. It’s not just being married(53)benefits health - what’s really the most protective of health is having a happy(54) ,“ study author Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a psychologist who specializes in relationships and health, said in a prepared statement. The study included 204 married and 99(55)adults who wore portable blood-pressure monitors for 24 hours. The(56)recorded blood pressure at random intervals“ and provided a total of about 72 readings. “We wanted to capture participants’ blood pressure doing whatever they normally(57)in everyday life. Getting one or two readings in a clinic is not really(58)of the fluctuations that occur throughout the day,“4 Holt-Lunstad said. Overall, happily married people scored four points(59)on the blood pressure readings than single adults. The study also found that blood(60)among married people -- especially those in happy marriages-(61)more during sleep than in single people. “Research has shown that people whose blood pressure remains high throughout the night are at(62)greater risk of heart disease than people whose blood pressure drops,“ Holt-Lunstad said. The study was published in the March 20(63)of the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine. The study also found that unhappily married ’adults have higher blood pressure than(64)happily married and single adults. Holt-Lunstad noted that married couples can encourage healthy habits in one(65) , such as eating a healthy diet and having regular doctor visits. People in happy marriages also have a source of emotional support, she said. from to than by

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