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Medical News Clinical Massage, Guided Imagery Show Promise as Tools to Relieve Pain, Anxiety and Insomnia for Hospitalized Patients Researchers with Beaumont Health System found that patients’ self-reported pain and anxiety scores improved immediately after a clinical massage, while other patients who listened to a guided-imagery recording found the intervention to be very help... – American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Critical Care Nurse, February 2017 Embargo expired on 01-Feb-2017 at 06:00 ET Understanding When Eating Soy Might Help or Harm in Breast Cancer Treatment Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have used animal models to reveal new information about the impact – positive and negative – that soy consumption could have on a common breast cancer treatment. – Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Clinical Cancer Research Embargo expired on 01-Feb-2017 at 00:05 ET Fast Food Packaging Contains Potentially Harmful Chemicals That Can Leach Into Food First comprehensive analysis finds more than two dozen toxic highly fluorinated chemicals, including a phased-out substance. – Silent Spring Institute Environmental Science & Technology Letters Embargo expired on 01-Feb-2017 at 08:00 ET Brain-Computer Interface Allows Completely Locked-in People to Communicate Completely locked-in participants report being “happy” – PLOS PLOS Biology Embargo expired on 31-Jan-2017 at 14:00 ET How a Bacterial Protein’s Structure Aids Biomedical Studies A light-sensing protein from a salt-loving, sulfur-forming microbe has proved key to developing methods essential to advanced drug discovery, understanding human vision and other biomedical applications. In a review published this week in Structural ... – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Embargo expired on 31-Jan-2017 at 11:00 ET 13 Facts Every Woman Should Know About Heart Disease Every minute, a woman dies from heart disease in the United States – it is the number one killer of women, causing one in three deaths each year, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). Expert Available – New York-Presbyterian Hospital Embargo expired on 01-Feb-2017 at 09:00 ET ACG Guideline on Evaluation of Abnormal Liver Chemistries Recommends “New Normal” for Serum ALT Levels A new clinical guideline from the American College of Gastroenterology offers the first recommendations in over 10 years on the evaluation of abnormal liver chemistries. For the first time in a liver test guideline, the authors define a normal health... – American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) American Journal of Gastroenterology Adults with Autism See Interests as Strengths, Career Paths Adults on the autism spectrum see their interests as possible fields of study and career paths, as well as ways to mitigate anxiety, finds a study by NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. – New York University Occupational Therapy in Mental Health Endocrine Society Experts Issue Clinical Practice Guideline on Pediatric Obesity The Endocrine Society today issued a Clinical Practice Guideline advising healthcare providers on how to prevent and treat childhood obesity with lifestyle changes. – Endocrine Society Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Mar-2017 Wolters Kluwer and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Publish a Comprehensive Spinal Injury Guide for Athletes Wolters Kluwer, a leading global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry, in partnership with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), is excited to announce the release of Spine Injuries in Athlete... – Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Drugs, Diseases and Proteins: New Archive Helps Precision Medicine, Drug Development Tudor Oprea, MD, PhD, at UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center and his collaborators from the UK-based European Bioinformatics Institute in Hinxton and from the Institute for Cancer Research in London have created the beginnings of an open archive that lin... – University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center Nature Reviews Mount Sinai Researchers Generate First in-Depth Characterization of a Genetically Modified Rat Model for Autism and Intellectual Disability Study finds oxytocin improves behavioral and electrophysiological deficits in a novel Shank3-deficient rat – Mount Sinai Health System UNH Research Finds Deaths Involving Drugs, Alcohol and Suicide Are on the Rise Nationwide, the mortality rate from deaths caused by drugs, alcohol and suicide rose 52 percent from 2000 to 2014, according to new research from the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Most of the increase was driven b... – University of New Hampshire UT Southwestern Researchers Urge Use of Evidence-Based Medicine to Avoid Overtreatment of Type 2 Diabetes UT Southwestern Medical Center research supports an evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach that embraces individualized care to prevent overtreatment, specifically for patients with type 2 diabetes. – UT Southwestern Medical Center Astronauts' Brains Change Shape During Spaceflight MRIs before and after space missions reveal that astronauts' brains compress and expand during spaceflight, according to a University of Michigan study. – University of Michigan Nature New Study Connects Running Motion to Ground Force, Provides Patterns for Any Runner Concise scientific approach accurately predicts runner's patterns of foot ground-force application -- at all speeds and regardless of foot-strike mechanics – Southern Methodist University Journal of Experimental Biology Scientists Study Live Human Hearts to See What Sustains Irregular Heartbeats Unique research being done at OSU Wexner Medical Center is changing the way doctors treat one type of irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation. Scientists here are the only ones in the world studying revived human atria, donated after a heart t... – Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Super Bowl 2017 "Big Game" Calorie Costs in Exercise Director of the New York City Food Policy Center at HUNTER College Dr. Charles Platkin Shows Big Game Activities to Burn off Foods You Just Ate - Is it Splurge-worthy? Since a calorie doesn’t mean much to the average person, the idea is to use exe... – Hunter College, NYC Food Policy Center at HUNTER College / DietDetective.com American Thyroid Association Awards Research Grant The ATA has awarded a 2016 ThyCa Research Grant to Trevor Angell, MD, Instructor in the Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, for his project entitled "Assessment of Circulation Immune Suppressor ... – American Thyroid Association Becoming the Compleat Dean In 2009, Dr. Ralph Clayman attained the crowning achievement in academic medicine – he accepted the position as dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. He quickly discovered, though, that having had served as the founding c... – University of California, Irvine Two New Trials for Pediatric Brain Cancer Open at UTHealth/Children’s Memorial Hermann Two new clinical trials for pediatric brain cancer have begun at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. – University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston New Technology Alleviates Tinnitus by Retraining the Brain to Ignore Ringing in the Ears Tinnitus -- "ringing in the ears" -- affects an estimated 50 million Americans and is the leading service-related disability among U.S. veterans. Until recently, very little could be done for sufferers, but now a new, FDA-approved technology is succe... – Cedars-Sinai Sanford Studying Immunotherapy Drug for Esophageal Cancer A clinical trial at Sanford Health is studying if an immunotherapy drug developed by Merck might be able to treat certain patients with advanced esophageal cancer. The Merck Keynote 181 trial is now open at Sanford. – Sanford Health Team Demonstrates Digital Health Platform for Department of Veterans Affairs “Liberate the data.” That was a principal design goal for a team of public-private health care technology collaborators established by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Veterans Health Administration to develop a working and scalable pr... – Georgia Institute of Technology Saving Limbs From Diabetes Drives Ben Taub Hospital Experts Oscar Betancourt knows letting his diabetes get out of control is serious. So when a sore on his foot was not healing, he knew it required immediate attention. Fortunately, his medical team knew to refer him to in-house experts who specialize in savi... Expert Available – Harris Health System UW’s Forefront to Recreate Memorial, Advocate for Solutions at Suicide Prevention Education Day in Olympia The University of Washington-based Forefront will host a Feb. 16 memorial for state residents who died by suicide and join firearms dealers, veterans’ organizations, pharmacists, health care providers and suicide attempt and loss survivors to advoc... – University of Washington Endocrine Society Honors Early Investigators Award Winners The Endocrine Society is pleased to announce the recipients of the Early Investigators Awards. The Early Investigators Awards were established to recognize the achievements of early career investigators in endocrine research. Winners are honored at t... – Endocrine Society ENDO 2017, Apr-2017; ENDO 2016, Apr-2016 Berkeley Lab Breaks Ground on Integrative Genomics Building Extending the roots of team science at its birthplace, Berkeley Lab will soon bring together researchers from the DOE Joint Genome Institute with those from the Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase) under one roof. The groundbreaking for the Integrat... – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Temple Launches Center of Excellence to Address Opioid Use in Pregnancy Temple/Wedge Center of Excellence Funded by $500,000 State Grant – Temple University American Association of Colleges of Nursing to Move its Headquarters Office in Washington, DC AACN is pleased to announce that it will be moving its headquarters office to 655 K Street in Washington, DC in late summer 2017. At its new home base, AACN will be co-located with peer associations representing medicine, dentistry, physician assista... – American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Receives 2017 Future of Nursing Scholars Grant to Prepare PhD Nurses The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON) is one of only 28 schools of nursing nationwide to receive a grant to increase the number of nurses holding PhDs. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Future of Nursing Scholars program will provide finan... – Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Can a Novel Combination of Treatments Help Eradicate HIV? A Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher has received a $2.5 million grant from Gilead Sciences, a California-based biopharmaceutical company, to see if two so-far separately-used AIDS treatments are even more effective when us... – Case Western Reserve University Science News High-Resolution Imaging Reveals New Understanding of Battery Cathode Particles Using advanced imaging techniques, scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have been able to observe what exactly happens inside a cathode particle as lithium-ion batteries are charged and disch... – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS14309 Embargo expired on 01-Feb-2017 at 05:00 ET Spider Silk Demonstrates Spider Man-Like Abilities Spider silk offers new inspiration for developments in artificial muscle technology thanks to research from a collaboration of scientists in China and the U.S., the results of which are published today in Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing.... – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Applied Physics Letters Embargo expired on 31-Jan-2017 at 11:00 ET TMS Names 2017 Class of Fellows The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) congratulates the four new members of its Class of Fellows. Honorees will receive the award at the TMS 2017 Annual Meeting & Exhibition (TMS2017) held from February 26–March 2 in San Diego, California.... – TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society) Embargo expired on 01-Feb-2017 at 07:00 ET TMS Names 2017 Society Awardees The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) announces the recipients of its 2017 Society Awards. – TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society) Embargo expired on 01-Feb-2017 at 07:00 ET TMS Names 2017 Technical Division Awardees The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) announces its 2017 division-level awardees. These awards recognize outstanding contributions and excellence within each of the society’s five technical divisions. – TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society) TMS 2017 Annual Meeting & Exhibition (TMS2017) Embargo expired on 01-Feb-2017 at 07:00 ET American Physiological Society and ADInstruments Announce Partnership to Provide Enhanced Support for Scientific Community As part of the new partnership, ADI will expand its financial support for a range of APS early career research awards across a number of fields, including cardiovascular, respiratory, physiological genomics and neural control and autonomic regulation... – American Physiological Society (APS) Embargo expired on 31-Jan-2017 at 12:00 ET UNMC Research Team Discovers Novel Pharmaceutic Action for HIV/AIDS Using a process called LASER ART (long-acting slow effective release antiretroviral therapy), a research team has discovered an unexpected pathway to open cell storage areas for antiviral drugs. The discovery could revolutionize current treatments fo... – University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) Journal of Clinical Investigation, March-2017 FAU First to Video Newly Discovered Population of Monkeys Believed to be Nearing Extinction Using remote sensing cameras and sound recorders, FAU scientists are the first to capture rare video footage of a newly discovered population of critically endangered monkeys in one of the most remote regions in the world. First discovered in 1932 an... – Florida Atlantic University Architecture Professor, Students Reduce Structural Vibrations with Simple, Groundbreaking Device A revolutionary portable device invented by a Virginia Tech architecture professor with help from students promises to make structural vibration-reducing technology universally accessible. – Virginia Tech Oil Production Releases More Methane Than Previously Thought Emissions of methane and ethane from oil production have been substantially higher than previously estimated, particularly before 2005. – International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis Environmental Research Letters New Study Finds Extensive Use of Fluorinated Chemicals in Fast Food Wrappers Previous studies have linked the chemicals to kidney and testicular cancers, thyroid disease, low birth weight and immunotoxicity in children, among other health issues. – University of Notre Dame Environmental Science & Technology First-Ever GPS Data Release to Boost Space-Weather Science, Astronomers Measure Universe Expansion, Isotopic Similarities Seen in Materials That Formed Earth and Moon, and More in the Space News Source The latest in space and astronomy in the Space News Source – Newswise Chimps’ Behavior Following Death Disturbing to ISU Anthropologist Shocking is one word Jill Pruetz uses to describe the behavior she witnessed after a chimp was killed at her research site in Senegal. The fact that chimps would kill a member of their own community is extremely rare, but the abuse that followed was ... – Iowa State University International Journal of Primatology Researchers Explore Essential Cell Behavior with Crystal Sensor A team of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health has developed a new tool to monitor under a microscope how cells attach to an adjacent substrate. Studying adhesion events can help researcher... – National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering EB018481; DK099528; Progress in Quantum Electronics Queen’s University Belfast Expert Leads International Study to Improve Safety of Carbon Fibre Aircraft and Vehicles Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have developed state-of-the-art simulation tools which will help to improve the safety of the latest generation of carbon fibre airplanes, formula one racing cars and future lightweight family cars. – Queen's University Belfast Iowa State University Scientists Design Electricity Generator That Mimics Trees ISU researchers have built a prototype biomimetic tree that generates electricity when wind blows through its artificial leaves. The researchers think such technology may help people charge household appliances without the need for large wind turbine... – Iowa State University Mind Reader: A Consumer EEG Device Serves Up Rich New Troves of Scientific Data A brain-sensing headband designed to help consumers focus their thoughts is also generating valuable data for neuroscience research, shedding light on what happens to our thinking processes as we age, for example, or how women and men process thought... – McMaster University E Neuro UNH Research Finds White Mountain National Forest Home to Nearly 140 Species of Bees The White Mountain National Forest is home to nearly 140 species of native bees, including two species of native bumble bees that are in decline in the Northeast, according to researchers with the University of New Hampshire who recently completed th... – University of New Hampshire Journal of Insect Science Tracing the Cosmic Web with Star-Forming Galaxies in the Distant Universe Galaxies in the universe trace patterns on very large scales; there are large empty regions (called "voids") and dense regions where the galaxies exist. This distribution is called the cosmic web. The most massive concentrations of galaxies are clust... – National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) Astrophysical Journal Increasing Factory and Auto Emissions Disrupt Natural Cycle in East China Sea China’s rapid ascent to global economic superpower is taking a toll on some of its ancient ways. For millennia, people have patterned their lives and diets around the vast fisheries of the East China Sea, but now those waters are increasingly threa... – University of California, Irvine UF/IFAS Faculty Lead Contest That Connects Insects, Art An interdisciplinary team of undergraduate students from across UF is helping to lead the contest. The team generates 3-D files -- based on real ants and spiders. For the contest, UF students in any discipline use the 3-D files of the insects and spi... – University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Four with UF/IFAS Ties to Be Inducted Into Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame Each was born and raised on a Florida farm, and each has made outstanding contributions to Florida’s agriculture industry and mentored future leaders in the field. – University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Migrating Birds May Bring Bird Flu to North America Colin Parrish, John M. Olin Professor of Virology at the Baker Institute for Animal Health in Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, an expert on influenza viruses and the spread of the virus in animals, says the highly pathogenic inf... Expert Available – Cornell University Yeager Wins Presidential Early Career Award John Yeager, of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s High Explosives Science and Technology group, is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. – Los Alamos National Laboratory Penn State Engineer Michael Tonks Named Presidential Early Career Award Winner Michael Tonks, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and nuclear engineering at Penn State, was selected by former U.S. President Barack Obama to receive a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. – Penn State College of Engineering Taking Down a Giant: 699 Tons of SLAC’s Accelerator Removed for Upgrade For the first time in more than 50 years, a door that is opened at the western end of the historic linear accelerator at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory casts light on four empty walls stretching as far as the eye ca... – SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory APS Announces Move to Atypon for Journal Hosting The American Physiological Society will move its physiology research journal titles to Atypon’s Literatum platform, the professional and scholarly publishing industry’s technologically advanced and most widely used online publishing platform for ... – American Physiological Society (APS) Lifestyle & Social Sciences Social Media and Work Relations: Do People “Like” Their Boss? Marketing expert Deborah Cohn of NYIT School of Management and conflict resolution expert Joshua Bienstock (also at NYIT) have won two grants to research social media behaviors and work relationships across four countries. – New York Institute of Technology Intimate Partner Violence Among Youth Linked to Suicide, Weapons and Drug Use Adolescents who are violent toward their romantic partners are also more likely to think about or attempt suicide, carry a weapon, threaten others with a weapon and use drugs or alcohol than peers in non-violent relationships, according to new resear... – University of Georgia Journal of Youth and Adolescence IU Study Examines Sexual Risk-Taking, HIV Prevention Among Older Adults in Sub-Saharan Africa A recent study conducted by researchers at Indiana University found that older men and women are maintaining sexual relationships into their 80s and beyond and are often ignored in sexual health education, increasing the possibility for HIV transmiss... – Indiana University Journal for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, Jan. 2017 Gonzaga Men’s Basketball Rises to No. 1, Student-Athletes Score in School SPOKANE, Wash. – While the Gonzaga University men’s basketball team reached No. 1 on Monday in both the AP and USA Today polls for the second time in history, the University also reported that 98 percent of its student-athletes are graduating, th... – Gonzaga University Workplace Courage: When Vulnerability Signals Strength UVA Darden Professor Jim Detert discusses workplace courage and a surprising behavior that makes for strong leadership: embracing voluntary vulnerability. – University of Virginia Darden School Foundation Going Deep: Sport and Spirituality Course Opens Students to Human, Divine Ideas of Athletics Creighton theologians ask students to examine Super Bowl as akin to religious festival. – Creighton University Founding Fathers Used Fake News, Racial Fear-Mongering to Unite Colonies During American Revolution, New Book Reveals Fake news and fear-based political dialogue are nothing new to politics. In fact, the Founding Fathers of the United States used these types of tactics to unite the 13 colonies during the American Revolution, according to a new book from Robert Parki... Expert Available – Binghamton University, State University of New York

Philippine Minister says some mines need to be shut on eve of green audit results

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MANILA - Some Philippine mines need to be shut given the environmental harm they have caused, the minister in charge of sector said on Wednesday, a day before the government announces the results of a months-long review of the country's mineral producers.

"We'll be really, really strict," Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez told radio station DZMM. "There's some really that have to be closed," Lopez said, without identifying which mines she meant in the review to be published on Thursday.

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"That's what I see, because it's too much, it's extreme" Lopez said on the destruction some mines have caused.

The Southeast Asian nation, the world's biggest nickel ore supplier, last year suspended operations at a group of 10 of its 41 mines - including gold and copper mines as well as nickel ore producers - for environmental infractions after launching an audit of the sector in July. Manila said in September that 20 more mines were at risk of suspension.

The country's firebrand leader Rodrigo Duterte has backed Lopez's mining audit, warning shortly after taking office last June that the Philippines could survive without a miningindustry.

"The decisions that we're making are not political," the minister said. "I'm not looking at who owns the mines. What's important is the welfare of those people who live there."

Some 22 of the 30 mines under review are nickel ore producers, and the threat to disruption of supply from the Philippines has helped fuel a 14 percent rally in global nickel prices since last year.

On Wednesday, three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.5 percent at $10,000 a tonne by 0302 GMT, recovering from a seven-month low reached last week. 

Kenyans Turn to Wild Fruits and Insects as Drought Looms

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Once fertile agricultural land in Kenya is being degraded by encroachment and the effects of climate change. Credit: Miriam Gathigah/IPS

NAIROBI, Jan 31 2017 (IPS) - Too hungry to play, hundreds of starving children in Tiaty Constituency of Baringo County instead sit by the fire, watching the pot boil, in the hope that it is only a matter of minutes before their next meal.

Unbeknownst to them, the food cooking inside the pot is no ordinary supper. It is actually a toxic combination of wild fruits and tubers mixed with dirty water, as surrounding rivers have all run dry.

“We are now facing severe effects of desertification because we are cutting down more trees than we can plant." --Hilda Mukui

Tiaty sits some 297 kilometers from the capital Nairobi and the ongoing dry spell is not a unique scenario.

Neighbouring Elgeyo Marakwet and Turkana County are among the counties spread across this East African nation where food security reports show that thousands are feeling the impact of desertification, climate change and rainfall shortage.

“In most of these counties, mothers are feeding their children wild fruits and tubers. They boil them for at least 12 hours, believing that this will remove the poison they carry,” Hilda Mukui, an agriculturalist and soil conservationist, told IPS.

Teresa Lokwee, a mother of eight children, all of them under the age of 12, who lives in Tiaty, explains that the boiling pot is a symbol of hope. “When our children see that there is something cooking, the hope that they will soon enjoy a meal keeps them going.”

Mukui, who was head of agriculture within the Ministry of Agriculture and worked in most of the affected counties for more than two decades, says that rainfall deficit, shortage of water and unusually high temperatures is the scenario that characterizes 23 out of the 47 counties in Kenya.

The situation is so dire that in Baringo County alone, 10 schools and 19 Early Childhood Development Schools are empty as children join other family members in search of water.

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“Sometimes once you leave in the morning to search for water, you return home in the evening,” Lokwee told IPS.

In other affected counties, especially in Western Kenya, communities have resorted to eating insects such as termites which were previously taboo.

Though these unconventional eating habits are a respite for starving households, experts warn that this is a ticking time bomb since the country lacks an insect-inclusive legislation and key regulatory instruments.

In the Kenya Bureau of Standards, which assesses quality and safety of goods and services, insects are labeled as impure and to be avoided.

But if predictions by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation are anything to go by, the worst is yet to come as the country watches the onset of what experts like Mukui call a crisis after the failure of both the long and short rains.

“We are now facing severe effects of desertification because we are cutting down more trees than we can plant,” she explains.

She added that Vision 2030 – the country’s development blueprint – calls for the planting of at least one billion trees before 2030 to combat the effects of climate change, but the campaign has been a non-starter.

Mukui told IPS it is no wonder that at least 10 million people are food insecure, with two million of them facing starvation.

According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which works in countries such as Kenya buckling under the weight of desertification, land degradation and severe drought, the number of people living on degraded agricultural land is on the rise.

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, with at least 45 percent of government revenue being derived from this sector.

Mukui says it is consequently alarming that at least 10 million of the estimated 44 million Kenyans live in degraded agricultural areas, accounting for an estimated 40 percent of the country’s rural community.

Other statistics by UNCCD show that though arid and semi-arid lands constitute about 80 percent of the country’s total land mass and are home to at least 35 percent of the country’s population, areas that were once fertile for agriculture are slowly becoming dry and unproductive.

A survey by the Kenya Forest Service has revealed that not only is the country’s forest cover at seven percent, which is less than the ten percent global standard, an estimated 25 percent of the Mau Forest Complex – Kenya’s largest water catchment area – has been lost due to human activity.

Within this context, UNCCD is working with various stakeholders in Kenya to ensure that at least five million hectares of degraded land is restored. According to Executive Secretary Monique Barbut, there is a need to ensure that “in the next decade, the country is not losing more land than what it is restoring.”

“Land issues must become a central focus since land is a resource with the largest untapped opportunities,” she said.

Research has shown that the state of land impacts heavily on the effectiveness of policies to address poverty and hunger.

Restoring forest cover in Kenya is key. Since 1975, official government statistics show that the country has suffered 11 droughts – and the 12th is currently looming.

The cost implications that the country continues to suffer can no longer be ignored. UNCCD estimates that the annual cost of land degradation in Kenya is at least five percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. And addressing land degradation can earn the country four dollars for every one dollar spent in land restoration efforts.

Barbut has, however, commended the country’s efforts to address desertification caused by both human activity and the adverse effects of climate change, particularly through practical and sustainable legislation.

Mukui says that UNCCD works through a country-specific National Action Programme which Kenya already has in place. “What we need is better coordination and concerted efforts among the many stakeholders involved, government, communities, donors and the civil society, just to name a few,” she said.

Efforts to enhance the country’s capacity to combat desertification by the UNCCD include providing financial and technical resources to promote management of local natural resources, improving food security and partnering with local communities to build sustainable land use plans.

Coal mine dust accelerates snow melt in the Arctic

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Researchers measured the affects of coal mine dust on the reflectivity of snow samples collected on an island north of the Arctic Circle. Photo by Alia Khan/University of Colorado

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- According to a new study, dust expelled by a coal mine in Svalbard, Norway, encourages snow and ice melt in the Arctic. The spectral reflectance of nearby snow was reduced 84 percent by the presence of dust.

Researchers measured the albedo, the reflecting power of a surface, of snow samples collected at four sites on the Arctic island. Each sample site was a different distance from the mine.

In calculating the diffuse reflectivity of each snow sample, scientists accounted for other factors, like snow grain size. Their findings -- detailed in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres -- showed a significant reduction in the albedo of snow samples within the immediate vicinity of the coal mine.

Darker snow and ice absorbs more solar energy, retains heat and melts faster.

Researchers suggest their numbers can be used to predict the effects of dust and soot on snow with satellite images and computer models.

"The extreme contrast between snow and dust at this particular site gave us a baseline to develop algorithms that we can now use to take future measurements in areas that aren't easily accessible," Alia Khan, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Colorado, Boulder, said in a news release.

Future measurements could be used to calculate the environmental risks of energy production ventures in the Arctic.

"We hope these ground-based spectral measurements could be used in the management of future energy development in the Arctic, especially for mines that may be unavailable for ground-based observations, but may be large enough to be visible by satellite," said Khan.

ENERGY NEWS

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Market factors give boost to oil prices

Crude oil prices rallied again on signs of compliance with a managed decline deal, though emerging market factors may drag on the rally.

Statoil completes sale of Alberta oil sands

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy major Statoil said it closed on the sale of its entire oil sands operations in the oil-rich Canadian province of Alberta.

EU ahead of the curve on climate fight

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The European Union is taking the lead in the transition to a low-carbon era by meeting many of its stated goals, commissioners said Wednesday.

Easement imminent for final leg of Dakota Access pipeline

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline will proceed, though the immediate timeline remains unclear, a state senator said.

Cuba oil potential estimate revised higher

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Cuba-focused Melbana Energy said it more the doubled its reserve estimates for onshore oil, though recovery rates there are low so far.

Iraqi oil player may be facing headwinds

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Iraqi oil player Gulf Keystone Petroleum said it was planning further investments this year, but still facing commercial pressures.

A tale of two shales in Texas

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The Permian shale oil basin in the southern United States is among the few to show gains even during the market downturn, a federal report finds.

WORLD NEWS

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Volkswagen to pay $1.2B to car owners in emissions scandal

Volkswagen announced Wednesday it reached an agreement to pay $1.2 billion to owners of diesel vehicles related to the company's emissions scandal.

Iran confirms ballistic missile test launch

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Iran confirmed it conducted a ballistic missile test launch, and rejected criticism of the launch from Israel and the United States.

North Korea rated "worst of the worst" for violations of rights, liberties

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- North Korea received a "worst of the worst" rating for its lack of political rights and civil liberties from a U.S.-based think tank.

Colombian soldier killed by ELN ahead of peace talks

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The Colombian army said one soldier was killed after a firefight with ELN rebels ahead of the latest attempt to restart peace negotiations with the government.

Ninth soldier killed in fighting as situation in town in eastern Ukraine detoriates

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- A Ukrainian soldier was the ninth killed in escalating fighting between government troops and pro-Russian separatists, the Ukrainian military said Wednesday.

Venezuelan Aeropostal flight evacuated after fake bomb threat

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- An Aeropostal flight in Venezuela's Margarita Island was evacuated and an airport was shut down after a man on the plane allegedly made a fake bomb threat.

Billionaire Xiao Jianhua missing, believed abducted by Chinese police

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Xiao Jianhua, a billionaire with ties to the Chinese government, was abducted from his Hong Kong residence by Chinese police, a person close to him said.

Ban Ki-moon drops out of South Korea presidential race

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- He was initially hesitant to run in Korea's presidential race, but when Ban Ki-moon withdrew his bid on Wednesday, the decision took his rivals by surprise.

Czech government blames foreign power in email hacking

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The Czech Republic said that its email system was hacked, that it appears to have been done by a foreign government, and resembles the hack of the DNC.

Israel approves more West Bank settlements

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Israel's government approved 3,000 new West Bank housing units, accelerating a settlement program in areas disputed by Palestinians.

Police accused of being paid for drug war-linked killings in report

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Amnesty International alleges police in the Philippines are being paid under the table to kill people on "drug" lists provided by the government, among other corrupt actions.