Cats, dogs teaming up is best way to keep rodents away.

Dogs and cats may be longtime enemies but when they team up can help control rodents and prevent damage to crops.The findings are published in the online journal PLOS ONE, and show that farmers trying to keep rodents from eating their crops and for homeowners trying to keep the nuisances at bay and from spoiling food and potentially spreading disease should have dogs and cats on the farm. Farmers should consider cats and dogs as a way to discourage rodent pests in areas where they store their crops.The team of researchers conducted their experiment in four agricultural villages in Swaziland, but their findings apply globally. To test whether cats and dogs would keep rodents away, researchers selected 40 homesteads. The homesteads housed six to 10 people and included more than one buildings. Researchers divided the homesteads this way: Dogs at one group of 10 homesteads; cats at another group of 10; cats and dogs at another group of 10; and neither dogs nor cats at the final group of 10. The researchers also studied the fear factor in the rodents,as they wanted to know if the rodents were afraid to forage with cats and dogs at the homestead. The researchers found that the presence of cats and dogs at the same homestead significantly reduced foraging activity and increased the amount of fear displayed by rodents. This is a simple but effective effort at managing rodents in and around homesteads.

Google adds iconic African landmarks to Street View.

They include the 161-meter-tall African Renaissance bronze monument .It's not all jungles, mud houses and wild animals in Africa: the continent has cities, art centers, monuments and other landmarks, just like everywhere else in the world. To bust myths going around about African countries and to give more people a chance to get to know what they truly look like, Google has tweaked Street View to add iconic landmarks and monuments in Ghana, Senegal and Uganda. One of them is a UNESCO World Heritage village built on top of water, while another is the snazzy-looking National Theatre of Ghana. You can also visit Senegal's 49-meter/161-foot bronze statue called the African Renaissance monument unveiled in the presence of 19 African heads of state back in 2010. There's also Lake Retba in Senegal that's known for its pink waters. If you're a nature person through and through, you can visit all seven national parks Google and the Uganda Wildlife Authority captured on film, as well. The big G used its famous Street View trekker to film the sights and the wildlife. continue

Google uses Valentine's Day Doodle to raise awareness of endangered pangolins.

Google is getting into the Valentine's Day spirit with a Google Doodle game designed to highlight the plight of the pangolin. Pangolins are the most poached and trafficked mammal in the world and, as such, are an endangered species. Often referred to as “scaly anteaters,” the mammals, found in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, eat ants and termites with their long tongues and can curl into a ball to protect themselves using their overlapping scales. The Doodle has been designed to raise awareness of the animals via a game about two long-distance pangolin lovers. Writing love letters to each other from far-off places, these pangolins know in their hearts they’re scaly soulmates, Continue

Poultry market tests spark flu advisory.

Consumers in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, are being urged to avoid contact with live poultry after tests found that more than 30 percent of live poultry markets in the city were contaminated with the H7N9 avian flu virus, according to Guangzhou's disease control authority. Health experts have called for stricter measures to contain the virus to prevent possible outbreaks. Zhang Zhoubin, deputy director of the Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said surveillance reports in the past week show that the H7N9 virus exists in about 30 percent of the city's farmers markets that sell live poultry. The Guangzhou government had decided to suspend live poultry trade in all markets from Jan 16 to 18, Feb 16 to 18 and March 16 to 18 as a preventive measure to curb bird flu virus.An assessment report shows that the three-day trade halt in January helped reduce all types of bird flu virus at these markets by at least 60 percent.continue

China steps up human H7N9 avian flu prevention.

A number of provinces in China have stepped up efforts to prevent H7N9 avian flu following reports of scattered human cases of the virus. Authorities closed 280 live poultry trading and slaughtering venues in Suining city, southwest China's Sichuan Province, after four human H7N9 cases were reported in the city this year, according to the provincial health authorities. Commerce officials in Suining have enhanced inspections to crack down on unlicensed poultry businesses. The central province of Hubei has set up headquarters for the prevention and control of human H7N9 outbreak, according to the provincial Health and Family Planning Commission. Hubei confirmed 19 human H7N9 cases from Jan.1 to Feb. 9, scattered across several cities. Two patients have been discharged from hospital after recovering. The province has dispatched 16 inspection teams to check on prevention efforts. In Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, all live poultry markets have been suspended. The province has reported 24 H7N9 cases, including five fatalities, this year. Eastern China's Zhejiang Province ordered all markets across the province to halt live poultry trading by 6 p.m. Saturday, over bird flu concerns. Staff with the Zhejiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that the province had entered a high season of bird flu outbreak. In January alone, Zhejiang reported 35 infections of the H7N9 strain of bird flu. Contact with live poultry is the major source of infection, particularly in rural areas. H7N9 is a bird flu strain first reported to have infected humans in China in March 2013. It is most likely to strike in winter and spring. Beijing on Saturday reported a human H7N9 case. The patient is a 68-year-old man from Langfang city in neighboring Hebei Province. Liaoning, Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, Guangdong and Guizhou provinces have all reported human H7N9 cases this year.source

Curbing cancer from the nutrition angle.

Food is medicine is a popular saying and its holding true for prevention and treatment of certain conditions especially cancer. Cancer occurs as a result of previous mitochondrial damage, which then triggers a nuclear genetic mutations that may lead to cancer. Mitochondrial function can be significantly improved through diet especially eating higher amounts of healthy fats and lower amounts of net carbs, mixed with moderate amounts of high-quality protein. Several studies points too the fact that a diet high in healthy fats and low in net carbohydrates (total carbs minus fiber, i.e. non-fiber carbs) may significantly lower the risk of developing cancer by improving mitochondrial and metabolic function. Fermented foods are also being touted as an important anti-cancer therapy. The beneficial bacteria found in fermented foods have been shown particularly effective for suppressing colon cancer, but may also inhibit cancers of the breast, liver, small intestine and other organs.

Aspirin can prevent cancer.

A new study involving scientists from Veterans Affairs in Texas suggested that aspirin,a pain-relief medication's interaction with platelets, the blood cells that form clots to stop bleeding, could stop tumors from growing thus help prevent cancer. Aspirin has been used as a medication to treat pain, fever and inflammation, but this new study shows that daily doses of aspirin could actually help prevent cancer.The research, published in the February issues of Cancer Prevention Research, found that aspirin disrupts the normal clotting process by shutting down a key enzyme called COX-1, thereby blocking interactions between platelets and cancer cells and curbing the growth of tumors.