The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Rats help Colombia sniff out deadly landmines Posted: 23 Nov 2011 05:41 AM PST  A landmine victim, stands near his wheelchair in Managua, Nicaragua. In Colombia, rats are being trained to find landmines that kill or injure hundreds of people each year. Thousands of landmines were laid during Colombia's decades-long conflict with left-wing guerrillas. – Reuters pic The rodents could play an important role in making conflict-wracked Colombia safer. They are in the final stages of a training programme to find landmines that kill or injure hundreds of people each year in Colombia. The government project, which began in 2006, trains specially bred rats to detect the metals used in landmines, thousands of which have been laid during the country's decades-long conflict with left-wing guerrillas. Colombian scientists decided to use rats because, like the dogs more traditionally used in landmine detection, they have a highly developed sense of smell. But the rats are lightweight and unlikely to detonate mines. The rats are first taught to recognize voice commands and the specific smells of metals used in landmines, and then to work in large, outdoor areas. It has taken government scientists five generations of rats to be confident their training programme is thorough enough to begin sending rats out into the countryside. In the laboratory, an element of instinct has been built into the training, with baby rats scurrying after their mothers in plastic mazes during practice sessions. The mothers show their young how finding the dead end containing the same wires and metal pieces used in landmines can earn you a treat. "These rats will be a great help, and will provide great input to those trying to carry out demining," said Erick Guzman, the police official and former canine handler who now is responsible for much of the rats' outdoor training. "We are hoping that this generation will be ready at the beginning of next year to be tested in a real environment," he added as his favorite rat Sophie perched on his shoulder. LANDMINES A CONSTANT MENACE Experts say it is impossible to estimate the number of undetonated mines which remain in Colombia, but their impact is horrifying real. In the first half of 2011, for example, mines killed 40 people and injured another 247, government statistics show. That compared with 535 dead and injured throughout 2010. Experts confirm that most mines are planted by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), other guerrilla groups and criminal gangs to deter security forces. The government says 31 of the country's 32 provinces may contain mines. "Contrary to what you see in other countries that have signed the Mine Ban Treaty, mines continue to be planted in our country ... while other countries continue to get the number of mines down, ours goes up," Luisa Fernanda Mendez, the scientific director of the rat programme said. Landmines are a pressing problem for security forces. More than half, 63 per cent according to government figures, of landmine victims are military and police personnel. Landmine clearance in Colombia is unusually slow-going because mines are sown in very close proximity to each other, making clearance operations treacherous. The Colombian government cleared less than a tenth of a square mile in all of 2010, but uncovered a total of 194 explosive devices. Non-government organizations (NGOs) in Colombia have until recently only been allowed to help landmine victims, not to mount demining operations themselves. "Currently there is no humanitarian demining process except the one undertaken by the armed forces ... we have objections to that demining because, in our judgment, the process is not compatible with international standards for humanitarian demining," said Alvaro Jimenez, the national coordinator of the Colombian Campaign Against Mines. "Demining should be a development carried out in service of the community, and the community should participate in all the steps." The Organisation of American States hopes to help NGOs expand their fledgling demining operations. They have mounted a programme, to be completed by the end of the year, to train and accredit NGO demining teams to work in Colombia. But despite any critiques of the government's current demining effort, rat project director Mendez has high hopes. "If we do not begin to master the demining process, we will never complete the terms of the treaty, and moreover, we'll never have a free countryside," she said, while giving the rat crawling up the sleeve of her lab coat an affectionate pat. – Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Scientists develop weight-loss chewing gum Posted: 23 Nov 2011 04:39 AM PST  Scientists say they're close to developing a hormone-laced weight loss gum that suppresses the appetite. – Media Bakery13/shutterstock.com The key to the gum's formulation is a hormone called human PYY that regulates appetite and energy and is released into the bloodstream when people eat or exercise, say researchers out of Syracuse University in an announcement made November 21. Studies have shown that obese people have lower concentrations of PYY in their bloodstream compared to their non-obese counterparts. When given PYY intravenously, however, the hormone acted as an appetite suppressant in obese and non-obese volunteers as both groups consumed less calories. The hard part? Delivering the hormone so that it can travel through the digestive system unharmed and allow it to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Lead researcher Robert Doyle believes the answer lies in vitamin B12. It would be the second time Doyle developed the vitamin to act as a carrier for a hormone. Several years ago, he created an oral delivery system for insulin that was masked under vitamin B12. Early tests accomplished the same task for PYY. Results of the study were published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry earlier this month. "Phase one of this study was to show that we could deliver a clinically relevant amount of PYY into the bloodstream," Doyle said in a statement. "We did that, and we are very excited by the results." Like nicotine-laced gums which are used to help people stop smoking, PYY-laced gums and oral pills would be a natural way to help people lose weight, Doyle said. About four hours after chewing the gum, the PYY supplement would begin to kick in and decrease appetites as users approach their next meal. Meanwhile, a story published last week on WebMD.com also highlighted the benefits of chewing gum sweetened with xylitol, also known as birch sugar. While some dentists recommend chewing the gum to prevent cavities, scientists have also found that xylitol-sweetened gum could help prevent painful middle ear infections common in children because of its bacteria-fighting properties. – AFP Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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