Mandarin mania in America

With China’s fast expanding role as a global player, schools in the United States are initiating Chinese “immersion” programmes for its students.

Eager hands: Students raise their hands during a Chinese language lesson. — AFP

 

SHE arrived in California from Taiwan as a 16-year-old but wasn’t able to speak in English. Now, at 49, Susan Wang heads a school offering children in the United States a similar experience, plunging them into a “Chinese world”.

And her establishment is part of a rapid expansion of Chinese language “immersion” programmes in the United States, helped notably by Beijing, which is providing low-cost native-speaker teachers to cash-strapped US schools.

Pupils as young as five at her Broadway Elementary School in Venice, west of Los Angeles, take classes entirely in Chinese, in a project so successful that it will be moving into new premises soon.

“The single most exciting thing has to be watching the kids learn Mandarin, and how they learn, and how fast they pick up another language, it’s just amazing,” she said taking a break from her busy day at the local school.

“I didn’t speak English when I came to the US, so when it comes to dual language and language learning ... it’s something close to my heart,” she added.

Chinese immersion programmes are not new in American schools. But China’s rapidly expanding world role has fuelled growing demand for Mandarin language skills, mirroring Washington’s diplomatic pivot across the Pacific.

Mandarin teaching has expanded nationwide over the last decade, in contrast to other foreign languages which have steadily decreased, according to data compiled by the Centre for Applied Linguistics (CAL).
“Mandarin is really taking off ... Chinese is one of the few languages that is becoming increasingly popular, while most other language offerings have not “grown” as much including French, German, and Japanese,” said Nancy Rhodes of the Washington DC-based CAL.

Beijing’s Education Ministry is also helping by sending native speaker teachers effectively for free to work in US schools.

“Schools are of course experiencing huge budget cuts, so the offer of free or low-cost native-speaker teachers from China to teach language classes really looks good,” said Rhodes.

California has been in the forefront, both geographically and historically, ever since huge numbers of Chinese workers helped build the US railroad system. San Francisco and Los Angeles have the biggest Chinese communities after New York.

Traditionally, families with one or both parents from Chinese backgrounds have put children into Mandarin-language schools to bolster their cultural “heritage,” or ability to communicate with grandparents back home.

But increasingly, parents cite economic and career-prospect reasons for making sure that their offspring are able to speak in Chinese.

“I wanted them to have the opportunity to be able to leave the United States if they wished to go and seek employment somewhere else,” said Julie Wang, an Australian who came to the United States when she was 25.

“I did that myself ... I came out here. I think it’s a great opportunity for them to experience different cultures, different ways of life, not just the one that they grew up in,” she added.

In the classroom, the linguistic immersion is total. The walls are plastered with pictures and signs entirely in Chinese and so are the text books, and the teacher will not accept a word of English.

And while some children have a Chinese parent or grandparents, the eager faces around the room are from all backgrounds, from African American and white Caucasian to Latino youngsters.

Many don’t speak a word of Mandarin when they arrive. “At the beginning, it is difficult,” said kindergarten teacher Carol Chan, adding that at first, she had to use a lot of gestures, visual aids and games.

“I use a lot of pictures and ... a lot of music. It is difficult because they don’t understand a word I’m saying. But through physical language and gestures, they really catch on. And they’re having fun with me too!”

First-grader Grace Ehlers says it was tough at first, but now she is equally confident in both languages.

“It’s the same, or maybe a little bit easier in Chinese because my dad speaks many languages and sometimes he teaches me a little bit of it,” she said, when asked to compare classes in English and Mandarin.

The school’s principal says the availability of free Chinese teachers was crucial to Broadway Elementary’s decision to offer the Mandarin language immersion programme.

“I am Chinese, born and raised in Taiwan. But that has nothing to do with why I’m here doing this programme

“The Chinese volunteer teachers were what we were able to get. Had we been able to get free French teachers, or free Spanish teachers, we’d be teaching those,” she added.

According to the centre, there were 74 Mandarin language immersion programmes in the United States in 2008, the last time the data was updated. “I do know that there are more programmes not yet listed,” said Rhodes.

Overall, Spanish has the most immersion programmes, with 45% of the total, followed by French (22%), Mandarin (13%) and Hawaiian, Japanese and German.

“In the past, Chinese has traditionally been taught more on the West Coast and in major cities but we’re seeing more Chinese programmes cropping up all over the country now,” she said.

“Even smaller districts that we work with ... that are starting up elementary school language programmes are considering switching between Spanish and Chinese,” she said, adding that the expansion will likely continue.
“I don’t see the trend slowing anytime soon,” said Rhodes.

By MICHAEL THURSTON - AFP

Upgrade the standard of education to defrag high cost!

A LARGE section of teenagers will now decide what to do with their lives after receiving their SPM and STPM results.

Decision-time beckons for them as they will ponder whether to pursue a tertiary education, enrol in a skills programme or enter the workforce.

The higher number of those scoring straight As will please them and their parents to no end but the results also show that overall, students did perform poorer than last year.

It's interesting to note that nearly 20% of candidates who sat for the history paper failed and I wonder what will happen to the overall passing rate for SPM students once that subject becomes a compulsory paper for future students. They will need to pass the subject if they were to get their SPM certificate.

While receiving education through government schools is still the most popular route for students in Malaysia, there is a growing number of parents who have chosen that their children study in international schools.

Such schools teach and prepare their students based on the curriculum of other countries, namely the UK, America, Australia and even Singapore.

The rationale for sending their children to those schools would certainly be to enable their children to receive what they perceive is better education.

Sure. Children who make their journey through such schools will be exposed to a different learning system, a different curriculum and the broad-based approach to learning employed by those schools certainly will equip their students to think critically and maybe be more engaging during the learning process.

But the thing is that the allure of giving such an education certainly masks the cost of providing such learning to their children and many who enrolled their children in international or private schools will feel the pinch as they progress through the years.

One friend says that the school where he is sending his two kids to will raise its fees by 40% for the intake of students from September this year.

He is lucky because he doesn't have to feel the brunt of such a steep increase in fees but the annual cost of sending his kids to that school certainly keeps rising faster than the rate of inflation in Malaysia. Plus when they cross a certain year, there is a big bump in the fees he pays.

The thing is that when he first took the plunge to send his kids through the school, it was estimated it will cost him the price of a Mercedes E class. Today, he thinks it's close to RM1mil.

That's basically the cost of sending a student to study medicine overseas, and it's no secret that the cost of education from international schools is far more than what it will be to receive a university degree from a local institution of higher learning.

But that's a business and parents have to fork out huge sums of money if they want their children to go through such an education system. Some may feel it's worth it but parents should really examine what will be the hidden costs of sending their children to international schools.

The top international schools do have a long waiting list and with restrictions to open up such schools lifted, more of such schools will be built and hopefully competitive pressure will mean that fees will be a little more reasonable.

The one drawback of receiving an education from international schools, even though there is a growing number of Malaysians enrolled, is that pupils do not really receive the education that integrates them into the fabric of Malaysian culture.

There are no students from impoverished backgrounds and I don't think you will find them from the broad layers of society. One CEO I met refused to send his two children to a private school. It's not that he cannot afford the fees but it's because he didn't want them to miss out on society's education.

But the higher fees and the clamour for more middle and upper class Malaysians to choose international and private schools should translate to an urgency to raise the quality of education in government schools.

There is a national education blueprint and hopefully the final report on what needs to be done gets implemented fast. Otherwise, there will be a lot of middle class Malaysians who will feel the pinch as they choose to give what they think is a better education for their children.

MAKING A POINTBy JAGDEV SINGH SIDHU
jagdev@thestar.com.my

Acting business features editor Jagdev Singh Sidhu wishes the quality of education in government schools was better than what it was like when he was a student.

Measuring your Heart Rate for fitness

Why do you need to know your heart rate? What heart rate zone will give you the absolute BEST results for fat burning from your cardio?

I was recently inspired to write this article on heart rates in relation to fitness due to the numerous questions I have received lately about it, and the importance of knowing what it is, and why. Even though the heart rate is a huge element to achieving an optimal workout, and its been around forever, many individuals do not know what theirs is, or how to measure it, or even to care about it. So I am going to clarify this simple yet important component to fitness. 

Resting, Exercise and Maximum
Heart Rates  
There are three HR to consider when training to get fit, or as it relates to cardiovascular fitness, as well as your Target Zone. 

The first is the Resting HR. This is your HR when you are not engaging in any physical activity that elevates it, or when you are in a resting state such as sleep. As you become more fit, this number will decrease because your heart and lungs have become stronger. The heart is then able to pump more blood, which is called stroke volume, throughout the body with less effort. The lungs are able to pull in more oxygen, which is called maximum oxygen uptake, with less effort, which means more blood and oxygen to the working muscles makes up the endurance portion of being fit. Having enough oxygen going into the blood keeps the lactic acid out-thus you can sustain a prolonged aerobic workout. 

A normal Resting HR can vary as low as 40 BPM to as high as 100 BPM. 70 BPM is usually the average for a man, and 75 BPM is average for a woman. The Resting HR should be used as an index to improve your cardiovascular fitness level, with a focus on decreasing it. The best time to measure your Resting HR is when you first arise from sleep in the morning. The palpation (beats) of the Radial Pulse is accurately measured in your wrist in line with the base of your thumb. Place the tips of your index and middle fingers over the Radial Artery and apply a light pressure to it. DO NOT USE YOUR THUMB. It has a pulse of it's own. You may count the beats for one full minute to get the HR, or for 30 seconds and multiply by 2 for the number of BPM. 

The Second is the Exercise HR. This is the rate at which your body is in motion from a sustained exercise, and the rate increases. Of course you measure it during exercise. The goal here is to stay within your Target HR Range or Zone, which is normally between 75% to 85% of your Maximum HR which is the third. Maximum HR is the rate at which your heart beats at 100% Max. during a sustained aerobic activity. You never want to work at 100% of your Max. HR unless a professional has you on a specific program designed for that, and your fitness level can sustain it. 100% of Max. will cause you to cross over into an Anaerobic Threshold. These numbers can vary depending on your age and fitness level. 

The Exercise Pulse is most accurately palpated at the larger Carotid Artery on the side of the neck. It is usually located beside the larynx. Place your index and middle fingers alongside the base of your ear lobe and slide it down to the side of your throat and apply a light pressure. DO NOT apply a heavy pressure to the Carotid Artery when measuring your Exercise HR. These arteries contain Baroreceptors that sense increases in pressure and will respond by slowing down your HR. You will feel this pulse easily during a workout, so heavy pressure is not needed to locate it. The Exercise HR should be taken for 10 seconds, always counting the first beat as "0," then multiply by 6. This number is your Exercise HR. Which brings me to the point of all of this information. 



For Determining Your Max Heart Rate 

To determine your Maximum HR, use the calculators below. The simple formula: Take 220 and minus your age which is accurate to approximately +15 BPM. You then take that number and multiply it by .75 - .85, which will give you your percentages of 75% -- 85% of your Max. HR. This is the Target Range or Zone that you want to stay in when doing any type of cardiovascular (aerobic) activity. When in this range your body is getting an optimum workout with maximum benefit, and it stays in a Fat Burning mode. 

There are two different ways to calculate your maximum heart rate and your target heart rates. The method I just explained is the simple method. 

Simple Target Heart Rate Calculator
Using the 220 - Age formula.

HEART RATE CALCULATOR

Enter Your Age Results Max Heart Rate 75-85% Max Heart Rate THR 15 sec count

 

The Karvonnen formula is more advanced since it also takes into account your resting heart rate. This is your heart rate at complete rest. To determine this, take your pulse for 60 seconds just before you get out of bed... or take it for 30 seconds and multiply by 2. 

Advanced Target Heart Rate Calculator
Using the Karvonen Formula.

• For your age, use a whole year. (Between 0 and 100)
• Put your Resting Heart Rate in the next box. (Between 30 and 100)
• In the % box, use a number between 50 and 85. Do not include the %.
• Click on the Calculate button, and it will calculate your target heart rate or that percentage.

Your Age in Years	Resting Heart Rate	% of Maximum Effort	Your Target Heart Rate
		%

When you start to work over these percentages, not unless you are in great shape and can push yourself into a higher range, then you have gone into an Anaerobic Threshold. Which means that you are pushing yourself way too hard, and no healthy benefits are being obtained. You are defeating your purpose. If you push yourself into an Anaerobic Threshold your body can no longer meet its demand for oxygen. You will start to feel exhausted, your HR increases above the Max. (which is 100%), you will stop the fat burning process, and you will start to hyperventilate due to the excessive amounts of lactic acid in your body. In other words, you are not pulling in enough clean oxygen through the lungs to clean it out of the blood. Your heart can no longer pump enough blood to your working muscles to sustain your activity, and you are overloading yourself. You prevent this from happening by staying in your Target HR Range. As you become more fit, you can push yourself into a higher range without going over into the Anaerobic Threshold. The purpose of this article is to give you insight to perceive that, and always know where you are in your range or zone when working out.

AN FYI 

Remember that Aerobic means "with oxygen," and Anaerobic means "without oxygen." Aerobic exercise is training at a certain level of intensity for a sustained period of time, usually 20 minutes to 1 hour as on a stair-climber, treadmill, or in an aerobics class. You need oxygen rich blood to maintain this. 

Anaerobic exercise is training at a level of intensity that does not require a sustained period of time, usually 30 seconds to 1 minute. Such as weight training, strength circuit, circuit and interval training sessions when sets/reps are involved. Because the time period is shorter and faster in cases of intervals and circuits, you use all of the oxygen rich blood more quickly to complete your sets/reps before lactic acid causes you to stop the exercise. That's what "The Burn" means. Then you take a break so the blood can be cleaned of lactic acid and you catch your breath before your next set. 

One more element to consider is the Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale. This scale provides a standard means for evaluating your perception of your exercise intensity. You can use this scale on a 1 - 10 basis with 1 being "very very easy," and 10 being "very very hard." If you're like me, I don't like to stop during my aerobic exercise sessions to measure my HR, so I use this scale to measure where I am in my Target Range. I know how I feel at 75% -- 95% of my Maximum HR, so I can either increase or decrease my intensity before I cross over into an Anaerobic Threshold, and maintain my work out and Fat Burning process. If you are going to use this scale, make sure that you too know how you feel at 75% -- 85% of your Max. HR so that your perception is accurate on this scale.

Working out in the Target Zone helps me get lean!
(Editor's Note: This pic gets MY heart going.)

Knowing this simple information will help you greatly in evaluating your progress when training to get fit, or when training to compete. You can develop your training sessions and know what you need to change or add in your program by being in tune to your Heart Rate. Always be aware that you are in THE ZONE!

Train for Success!!!

Source:

Related post:

Rightways for Heart Health

Rightways for Heart Health

Work to stretch and strengthen your body for 30 minutes, and you will pump up your heart

Run For Heart Health!

Unless you live on another planet or under a rock, you probably know by now how important exercise is to overall fitness and heart health.

It is a message that is hard to escape these days. There is plenty of research to suggest that exercise can reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers.

It can also help lower high blood pressure and lift your mood. And it has been shown to improve self-esteem and help with weight loss.

Yet despite the many studies backing the role exercise plays in heart health, a lot of adults aren't listening. Two-thirds of them are considered overweight and one-third fall into the obese category with a body mass index over 30.

For many, getting fit and healthy might seem like an unachievable goal, but experts say you don't have to spend hours in the gym to see the benefits of exercise.

A minimum of 30 minutes of cardio exercise can do the trick.

"It doesn't matter what type, as long as you do it," said Dr. Daniel Clearfield, Cowtown Medical director and a sports medicine and primary-care physician.

 "Ideally, you should do it five days a week but even two is beneficial."

Casual exercising is not going to do the trick, said Dr. Benjamin Levine, director of the Institute of Exercise and Environmental Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Texas Health Resources.

It has to be something that you are committed to doing on a regular basis.

"Exercise should be part of hygiene, just like brushing your teeth," said Levine, who is also a professor of medicine and cardiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Running and swimming are excellent. But cycling, walking on a treadmill or working out on an elliptical can also be beneficial.

Even yoga or tai chi can make a difference if the workout is strenuous enough to elevate your heart rate.

Any combination of endurance exercises that get the large muscle groups moving is going to get results.

Whatever exercise you chose, you should be moving enough to produce a sweat. Runners should be moving at a clip that is fast enough to make talking possible but not easy. A Zumba class can get you the same results, if you are moving fast enough.

"Anything that gets your heart rate up, makes you sweat a little and makes you short of breath," Levine said.

To improve your overall health and keep your ticker pumping effectively, add strength and stretching exercises to a cardio routine one or two days a week. Yoga is great for stretching, and you can build strength with or without the use of weights.

Commit to exercising regularly and your body will respond.

The heart is a muscle, so you want to strengthen it, but you also want to tone the arteries around the heart, just like you would tone your arms, Clearfield said.

"When you work your biceps, you'll find it easier to lift things," he said. "It's the same thing with your heart."
With regular exercise, the heart starts pumping more efficiently and your stamina improves. That can pay off in big ways.

If someone is sedentary and one day has to run hard to catch a bus, he may end up having a heart attack, Levine says, as an example. "But for someone who is fit, that's barely a blip," he said.

Although the younger you start exercising, the better, you are never too old to get into shape. Someone who is really committed to fitness when they are young could have a heart that is as youthful as a 30-year-old later in life.

If you start at 70, you won't be able to protect against arteriosclerosis but you can protect your heart against sudden death and see the health benefits of regular exercise, such as lower blood pressure, Levine said.

It takes about six weeks to start seeing an improvement in physical fitness, but the payoff continues over a lifetime, Clearfield said.

"Exercise is great at combating obesity and keeping the heart healthy," he said. "In the long run that can mean more years of life."

Expert tips on starting a healthy, heart-wise excercise rountine


We asked three fitness pros from the Amon G. Carter Downtown YMCA to demonstrate three ways to kick off a healthy routine that includes cardio, strength and stretching.

Stretching

Yoga is one of the best ways to stretch the body, but a lot of people steer clear of this type of exercise because they are afraid it is just too hard to get into those pretzellike poses.

But you don't have to be limber like a rubber band to benefit from yoga. Poses can be modified, and most teachers are more than willing to do what it takes to make yoga accessible.

Yoga is all about focusing on your mat and not worrying about how flexible your neighbor is. The best way to enjoy the many heart-healthy benefits of yoga, including stress reduction and lower blood pressure, is to just do it.

"Yoga is how you get flexible," said Lisa Rodriguez, a trainer and instructor at the Downtown YMCA. "You don't have to start off flexible to do it."

Two to try at least twice a week:

1. Downward-facing dog - (Watch your dog stretch for hints on how to do this)

What it does: Strengthens shoulders and back. Stretches hamstrings and calves.

What to remember: Breathe through your nose. Keep your core muscles tight, your spine long and your shoulders down.

Kneel on all fours with your hands providing support and your fingers spread like starfish. Lift your hips so your tailbone is pointed toward the ceiling. Your body should be in an upside-down V shape. Shoulders should be down. Your hands and feet should be your foundation. If your hamstrings are less flexible, you can bend your knees to lift your hips up and back. Listen to your body and only stretch as far as you are comfortable.

2. Side gate

What it does: Increases strength, balance and flexibility. Opens hips.

What to remember: Maintain your alignment so you don't injure your rotator cuff.

From all fours, turn toward one side, bend one leg and use it for support. Raise the other leg, pushing the heel forward and keeping it flexed. Raise your arm to the ceiling, keeping your hand and shoulder aligned, fingers spread. Hold the position for a few seconds.

Strength

3. Lunge

What it does: Strengthens glutes, thighs and calves

What to remember: Keep your knee behind your toes when bending.

Standing tall, step forward with one leg, bending at the knee. Drop the other leg toward the floor, then slowly return to starting position. Repeat on the other side, working up to 12 reps. If this too easy, try holding light weights in each hand.

4. Pushup

What it does: Strengthens chest, triceps and shoulders.

What to remember: Keep core muscles tight

Start on all fours with your spine in a neutral position and hands spread wide apart. Drop toward the floor, keeping your spine straight. Repeat.

Cardio

5. Running

What it does: Improves endurance, stamina and heart health

What to remember: Start off slowly and gradually build up. You need to walk fast or run about 30 minutes five times a week for heart health.

For fitness, you need to move fast enough to sweat for 30 minutes.

For interval training, alternate between 1 to 2 minutes of running at 85 percent of your maximum heart rate and 2 to 3 minutes at 65 percent of your maximum heart rate. Repeat for up to 30 minutes.

By Jan Jarvis jjarvis@star-telegram.com

Related post:
Exercise for the brain

Breast is Best

These children will naturally learn the purpose of breasts as being for feeding the baby

As Hong Kong restricts the purchase of baby formula by visitors, many new mothers in China are turning to breastfeeding.
 
WHEN the Hong Kong authorities decided to restrict the amount of baby formula (two cans or about 1.8kg) that visitors can take out of the city, that regulation sent ripples of indignation throughout the Chinese mainland, and many cried foul, and even more said the new rule was merciless.

The outcry is the result of a long chain of events, which started after melamine was found in milk powder produced on the mainland. This safety scandal made parents look abroad for safer infant formula for their babies, and Hong Kong became an important source.

Scores of buyers cleared the shelves in Hong Kong, resulting in a flood of protests from Hong Kong parents, who had suddenly found their milk supplies drying up.

One of the better side effects of this confidence crisis is that more new mothers in China are choosing to breastfeed their babies.

“Nothing is better than mother’s milk,” says Liu Zhaoqiu, a children’s healthcare specialist with the No.1 Hospital of Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Breast milk is rich in antibodies and nutrients, and provides the child with a head start in health, growth and development. Breastfeeding also strengthens the bond between mother and child, which is good for the children’s psychological development, Liu underlines.

Excluding unusual cases, such as mothers with infectious diseases and severe heart disease, Liu recommends breastfeeding for the first six months, after which mother’s milk should be complemented with other foods up to two years and later.

“I breastfeed my daughter, and I’m confident that breastfeeding is the best and safest food for her,” says Yang Yang, 38, a mother of a nine-month-old girl in Beijing. She is a consultant who works from home and did not realise the benefits of breastfeeding at first.

After her baby was born, she fed the infant with an imported baby formula that was sent to her by relatives living abroad.

Later, after she and her husband found out that breastfeeding was better than any formula, she made the switch.

“Parents always want to give their children the best,” Yang says. “Since we know breast milk is better than formula, there is no reason not to breastfeed.”

She feels fortunate that her hours at work are flexible, and she has a lot of time to stay home with her daughter. Her daughter is healthier and stronger than many other infants she knows, Yang says.

Currently, there are many breastfeeding support groups online, Yang says, which new mothers can go to for advice.

Han Tongyan, a paediatric healthcare specialist with the No.3 Hospital of Peking University, has noticed the changes in attitude towards breastfeeding.

Han became a paediatrician in 1998. At that time, infant formula was new to the Chinese, and many scrimped and saved to buy formula for their children, because they thought it was better than breast milk.

After safety scandals repeatedly hit both local and imported foreign sources of milk powder in 2008, many parents were forced to reconsider the situation. Some changed tack and got friends and relatives abroad to start a supply chain. Others used online resources to bring in the imported milk powder.

And they also became more aware that nothing is safer, or better, for the child than mother’s milk – a message that has been promoted through government campaigns and better support groups online, Han observes.

“Quite a few mothers I know quit their jobs so they can breastfeed their children better. This would have been unimaginable in the past,” Han says.

Liu Qidi, 27, a mother to an eight-month-old boy in Wuhan, Hubei province, manages to breastfeed her boy against all odds.

During the first two months after a caesarian delivery, she did not produce enough breast milk, and had to resort to supplemented feeding. In spite of the difficulty, she resisted pressure from her mother-in-law, who tried to persuade her to use infant formula.

When her child was two months old, Liu was finally able to feed him exclusively on breast milk. She also resigned from her job as operation director assistant in a large international company, so she could breastfeed her son undistracted.

“It was a hard choice. But nothing is more important than my son,” Liu says. “The job kept me too busy and there was a lot of overtime. If I worked, I couldn’t have continued to breastfeed my son.”

Liu now works at her mother’s cosmetics distributing company, and is able to nurse her child anytime she wishes.

But not every breastfeeding mother has that luxury.

One of Liu’s cousins, for instance, has to continue working even while breastfeeding. As a result of the pressure from work, the mother could not produce enough milk and has to buy milk formula from abroad.

“For babies under four months, they can only survive on milk. If mother’s milk is not available, then milk formula is next best,” says Liu Zhaoqiu, the healthcare specialist.

At the bottom line, parents suffer such concern about their babies’ diet because they need to have the confidence that what they feed their children is safe and uncontaminated.

As Liu sums up, “the authorities must adopt efficient quality control measures to make sure formula in the market is safe. This will re-establish confidence”.

Perhaps then, parents would not have to risk breaking the law by buying milk from Hong Kong.

By LIU ZHIHUA – China Daily/Asia News Network

Laws of attraction

Are men attracted to women who look like them?

THE next time you happen to be with your spouse or your partner, take a good look at their features. Do they look a bit familiar?

And no, I don’t mean familiar just because you’ve been with that person for a while. I mean familiar in the sense that you’ve seen those same features, or at least some of them, somewhere else. Like, in the mirror every morning.

If the results of a French study are anything to go by, men are most attracted to women who look like them. That being the case, my partner must have left his glasses at home the day we met. I mean to say, his eyes are blue, while mine are brown, his eyebrows are thick, while mine are thin (too much plucking back in the 70s), his nose is slender, while mine is more rounded, and he has full lips, while mine are lacking plumpness.

I can only conclude that he is more attracted to my wit, charm and personality than some narcissistic ideal. Either that or the female versions of him were a bit thin on the ground when he was looking for a partner.

According to another study, physically attractive people generally date other physically attractive people. Leaving the not-so-attractive people to date other not-so-attractive people. It’s almost like a caste system that’s difficult to break out of.

Right about now you might be asking, “How do these researchers account for those not-so-attractive, rich men who opt for a “trophy wife”? Shouldn’t Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch and Woody Allen be seen around town with women who are more homely than the much younger, more attractive women who currently appear by their sides?”

It seems that attractive women who date someone below their level of attractiveness tend to justify their choices by saying something like, “He sure is ugly, and it’s kinda embarrassing to have to appear in public with gorilla man, but as long as I have access to his money, my life will be beautiful.”

However, such cases are the exceptions.
In a nutshell then, the so-called experts will have you believe that attractive people generally date other attractive people who look a bit like themselves; while ugly people generally date other ugly people who look a bit like themselves.

When the experts talk about people dating others who look like themselves, this concurs with yet another study that indicates that a woman often looks for a man who looks like her father, while a man often looks for a woman who looks like his mother.

Like, how creepy is all that? Fancy waking up in the morning to find someone resembling your mother or father snoring on the pillow next to you!

Researchers are quick to point out that there is nothing narcissistic about these attractions. We are attracted to people who look like ourselves (and possibly our parents as well) simply because of the comfort we get from familiarity.

I’m not disputing the results of the research, but they certainly don’t apply in my case. My father was an Irishman with light brown hair and green eyes, whereas my ex is a Chinese Malaysian. One of my sisters married a man of Italian origin, another married a Hispanic guy, and yet another married a blond-haired, blue-eyed Scottish man. None of our partners, past or present, look remotely like my father.

Of course, other researchers might tell me that my father was not a good role model and so we were all looking subconsciously for completely different men.

But who gives a toss, anyway?

All of this research into the laws of physical attraction really tells me just one thing: we are wasting a lot of money on studies that can’t be put to any practical use. Unless of course, you’re a fortune teller.

I can just imagine the scene in the fortune teller’s tent as she gazes into her crystal ball, with a young woman sitting opposite her: “Ah, I can see a man with blond hair and blue eyes in your life. He even looks a bit like you. Cross my palm with silver and I will reveal more.”

Most research costs money and is time consuming. As such, I think we ought to be more discerning about how we apply our research funds. Instead of focusing on who we might be attracted to and why, it might be better if the funding could be used to finance research on things like climate change, green energy, and how best to persuade newspaper editors that you really deserve a raise.

Perhaps I can get someone to fund a study on how much money has been wasted on useless studies.

But Then Again

By MARY SCHNEIDER 

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Superbug lurking! Drug resistance now a nightmare!

Top health officials in the UK and US warn that resistance of bacteria to medicines is a catastrophe and nightmare, and as serious a threat as terrorism and climate change.



MANY a Malaysian has lost a family member because of an infection contracted during an operation while in a hospital.

Several office colleagues and friends have told me that a close relative had died after being infected by a superbug that was so toxic that it could not be eliminated by antibiotics.

This, in essence, is the problem of antibiotic resistance – that a bacterium can evolve and change so that it becomes immune to the medicines given to a sick patient that are meant to kill it.

When a bacterium becomes resistant to one antibiotic, scientists develop a more powerful antibiotic to kill it. But bacteria can then change to also become immune to the new medicine.

When the dangerous pathogens out-run the drugs developed to combat them, humanity is at risk of losing the race between life and death.

Equally problematic is that many of these incurable diseases are contracted when patients stay in hospitals, especially during operations.

In the past two weeks, two top health officials – the Chief Medical Officer of the United Kingdom Dame Sally Davies and the director of the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr Thomas Frieden – have sounded the alarm bells.

Davies, the top health official in the UK, warned of a looming “catastrophe” of antibiotic resistance being so widespread that we would be back to a 19th century medical situation, a pre-antibiotic era when many diseases were difficult or impossible to treat.

Frieden evoked a “nightmare” scenario, a “very serious” problem caused by the advance of highly drug-resistant bacteria known as CRE.

A major cause of the acceleration of antibiotic resistance is the inappropriate use of the medicines and the inadequate action (or even inaction) of health authorities.

Drug companies often over-promote the use and sales of their medicines; some doctors over-prescribe or wrongly prescribe antibiotics (sometimes for the wrong ailment); and patients who are not informed enough sometimes pressure their doctors for antibiotics for a quick cure and often do not use the medicines properly by not completing the course of medicines.

There’s not enough action to make the public aware of the proper use of antibiotics, and not enough regulations (or their implementation) to ensure drug companies and medical personnel sell or prescribe the medicines properly.

The alarm raised by the two top health officials was aimed at pushing the regulators and also the patients into action.

Davies, during media interviews, even placed antibiotic resistance on par with terrorism and climate change as critical risks facing the nation.

She said: “Antimicrobial resistance poses a catastrophic threat. If we don’t act now, any one of us could go into hospital in 20 years for minor surgery and die because of an ordinary infection that can’t be treated by antibiotics.

“Routine operations like hip replacements or organ transplants could be deadly because of the risk of infection.

“That’s why governments and organisations across the world, including the World Health Organisation and G8, need to take this seriously.”

Although there has been a great reduction in cases in English hospitals of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), which is a skin disease, this has been replaced by many times more cases of gram-negative bacteria which are found in the gut.

These bacteria include E. coli and Klebsiella (which causes pneumonia) which are resistant to many drugs.

Besides the new drug-resistant pathogens, resistance is also emerging in old pathogens.

In particular, the report cites tuberculosis, which has re-emerged in Europe in the form of new strains that are resistant to many or even all available drugs.

Another classical disease with increasing drug resistance is gonorrhoea.

Davies’ 152-page report also warned of a “discovery void” with few new antibiotics developed in the past two decades.

“While a new infectious disease has been discovered nearly every year over the past 30 years, there have been very few new antibiotics developed leaving our armoury nearly empty as diseases evolve and become resistant to existing drugs,” said a press release on the report.

Meanwhile, Frieden warned about the rapid spread of CRE or the carbapenem-resistant variety of Enterobacteriaceae, a gro­up of more than 70 bacteria which dwell in the gut, including Klebsiella, Salmonella, Shigella and E. coli.

Carbapenems are powerful drugs that are used as a last resort when the bacteria have become resistant to other drugs.

The occurrence of resistance has risen four-fold in 10 years.

According to Frieden, CRE was found in 4.6% of hospitals and 17.8% of long-term care in 2012.

While resistance is building up, there have been few new antibiotics.

No new classes of antibiotics have been developed since 1987, and none is in the pipeline across the world, said Davies.

“Antimicrobial resistance is a ticking time-bomb not only for the UK but also for the world.
“We need to work with everyone to ensure the apocalyptic scenario of widespread antimicrobial resistance does not become a reality. This threat is arguably as important as climate change.”

 

GLOBAL TRENDS By MARTIN KHOR

Foot-Notes:

Superbug lurking

 No, not this “Superbug.” W’ere talking about something much more sinister!

Patients receiving long-term or complex medical care in hospitals and nursing homes are at the greatest risk for CRE infection.

The bug is spread mainly by unclean hands, but medical devices like ventilators and catheters increase the risk of infection because they allow the bacteria to get deep into a patient’s body, Frieden said. - RYOT

Overprescribing of antibiotics creates superbugs

These bugs are named and defined by their resistance to the Carbapenem class of antibiotics. Unlike previous superbugs, there are no 'last resort' antibiotics after resistance develops and these stop working.

CRE infections can lead to pneumonia, meningitis, wound infections, sepsis and a host of deadly infections.

"CRE are nightmare bacteria," said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

"Our strongest antibiotics don’t work and patients are left with potentially untreatable infections."

Resistance to antibiotics continues to be an issue worldwide, with overprescribing and overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics being the main culprits.

In this week’s Lancet magazine, UK's chief medical officer Dame Sally Davis, said that that antibiotic resistance is "as great a threat to our future as terrorism."

That's because routine surgeries, treatments for cancer and autoimmune disease all leave patients vulnerable to superbug infections.

"If we don't take action then we may all be back in an almost 19th century environment where infections kill us as a result of routine operations. We won't be able to do a lot of our cancer treatments or organ transplants," Davis warned.

The problem is that much of the antibiotic resistance occurs in developing countries where antibiotics are readily available, resources scarce and education around resistance non-existent.

“Antibiotic stewardship has to be a global effort in order to make an impact on resistance,” said Romney, the medical microbiologist in Vancouver.

In addition, no new major antibiotics have been made since the late 1980's because antibiotics can have a short lifespan before superbugs become resistant, making them unprofitable for pharmaceutical companies when compared to the other drugs.

But there is hope. Over the last decade, recognition of antibiotic resistance has led to decreased rates of other superbug classes such as Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in parts of Canada. - CBS