April
5
Wikinews Shorts: April 9, 2007
Wikinews Shorts: April 9, 2007
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A compilation of brief news reports for Monday, April 9, 2007.
The New Zealand Police has reported that a three-year-old boy choked to death on Saturday afternoon, due to what they believe was a piece of candy at his birthday party.
The parents did call New Zealand’s emergency number, 1-1-1, after their son alerted his parents to the fact that he was choking. The paramedics were unable to revive the Napier boy when they arrived at the scene.
The case has been referred to a coroner.
Sources
- Nzpa. “Three year old dies after choking on candy” — Fairfax New Zealand, April 9, 2007
- “Three-year-old birthday boy chokes to death” — New Zealand Herald, April 9, 2007
Relatively unknown golfer Zach Johnson won the 71st Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. Johnson shot 3-under-par 69 in Sunday’s fourth round, to win by 2 strokes over Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen, and Rory Sabbattini.
Johnson won a purse worth US$1,305,000 and a lifetime qualification to the Masters Tournament, held annually at the Augusta National Golf Club.
Sources
- Press Release: Vartan Kupelian. “Johnson Proves His Mettle In Masters Victory” — The Masters Tournament, April 9, 2007
- Gene Wojciechowski. “Johnson beats Tiger at his own game” — ESPN.com, April 9, 2007
- “A strange week ends with a green jacket for Johnson” — CBS Sportsline, April 8, 2007
A couple living in New York City have decided to take a taxi all the way to Arizona. Betty and Bob Matas are retiring and leaving the city for good. What started as joke, has become reality, in part to spare their cats from traveling in a jetliner cargo-hold. They have negotiated a US$3,000 flat fee instead of the metered rate, which was estimated at US$5,000.
Sources
- “New York couple taking cab to Arizona retirement” — CNN, April 8, 2007
- “New York City Couple Hails Cab to Arizona” — Fox News, April 8, 2007
A vocational nurse working for Dr. John Capriotti, a plastic surgeon, was accused of setting the fire that wounded several and killed three people in Houston, Texas on March 28. She was allegedly trying to cover up the fact that she hadn’t completed the paperwork for an upcoming audit.
The fire began in Dr. Capriotti’s office on the fifth floor and quickly spread to the sixth. Arson investigators from the Houston Fire Department, the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had been working to determine the source of the fire.
Sources
- Anne Marie Kilday. “Bond set at $330,000 for nurse in fatal fire” — Houston Chronicle, April 8, 2007
- Associated Press. “Woman afraid of losing job confesses to fatal fire” — The Dallas Morning News, April 8, 2007
- Kimberly Pina. “Area fire departments evaluate high-rise strategy” — Houston Chronicle, April 6, 2007
- Joe Stinebaker. “3 dead in Houston office building fire” — Lexington Herald-Leader, March 29, 2007
Iran announced that it has started industrial scale production of nuclear fuel involving hundreds of centrifuges. The announcement comes as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reasserts his nation’s nuclear rights in the face of two rounds of sanctions by the UN Security Council, which is seeking a halt to such work.
The United States denounced the declaration, saying it showed Iran was defying the international community.
Sources
- Parisa Hafezi. “Iran announces “industrial” nuclear fuel work” — Reuters, April 9, 2007
- Marc Wolfensberger and Patrick Donahue. “Iran Says Nuclear Enrichment Reaches Industrial Scale” — Bloomberg L.P., April 9, 2007
- “President: Iran to generate nuclear power on schedule” — Islamic Republic News Agency, April 9, 2007
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April
4
A Lesser Known Mineral, But Potassium Is Vital For Every Single Cell
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By Steve P Smith
Potassium is one of the most important minerals for human health, playing an essential role in maintaining the correct electro-chemical balance in cells and the proper functioning of cell membranes. This role makes potassium vital for muscle contraction (including the heart muscle), the transmission of nerve impulses, the regulation of blood sugar levels and the synthesis of vital proteins and acids. The maintenance of proper potassium levels within cells, particularly in relation to the corresponding levels of sodium, is consequently crucial for the well-being of the organism.
Clinical potassium deficiency (hypokalemia) is therefore a serious and even potentially fatal medical problem. Fortunately it is hardly ever seen in the generally healthy population, but has been encountered in alcoholics, anorexics and bulimics, those taking certain types of diuretic drug, those suffering from illnesses causing vomiting or diarrhea, and, believe it or not, those given to consuming large quantities of licorice.
But although outright hypokalemia is thankfully very rare, there’s evidence that many people obtain insufficient dietary potassium for optimum health; and that this insufficiency may expose them to an increased risk of chronic diseases, including hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease, osteoarthritis and even cancer.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKc3mDYAgDY[/youtube]
Ample evidence of the importance of potassium is provided by the fact that around a third of the body’s at rest energy expenditure is used in maintaing the potassium/ sodium balance in cells Most people are now familiar with idea that a high sodium (salt) intake is one of the main risk factors for the development of high blood pressure, a serious condition if left untreated, but known as the ‘silent killer’ because of lack of obvious symptoms.
Many nutritionists now believe, however, that it is not so much high sodium, but low potassium which may be the real culprit and a substantial body of research evidence supports the idea that a diet rich in potassium will indeed help prevent high blood pressure. The importance of this should not be underestimated, as high blood pressure is strongly associated with an increased risk of stroke – still one of the biggest killers in the West.
It almost goes without saying the that profile of the modern Western diet is far from helpful in this regard. A diet high in processed foods is one likely also to be very high in sodium; and a relatively low consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables is also likely to mean a relatively low intake of dietary potassium. It follows, therefore, that the proportion of sodium to potassium consumed by the typical modern Westerner is almost certainly far higher than ever before in human history; and it is not unreasonable to suppose that that this new imbalance may be a causative factor in some of the degenerative ‘diseases of affluence’, sadly so characteristic of modern urban societies.
By far the best way to ensure an adequate intake of dietary potassium is to consume a diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables; particularly good sources being bananas and potatoes (in their jackets). Fresh fruit juices, including tomato and orange, also provide a good supply, as do green vegetables such as spinach and dried fruits such as raisins. Soil depletion, however, means that even these foods are poorer in minerals, potassium included, than they used to be; and research suggests that most adults eating a typical Western diet obtain only around 2,000- 3,000 mg of potassium a day.
This figure needs to be set against the adequate intake established by the US Institute of Medicine Food and Nutrition Board of 4,700 mg. And it should also be noted that for those consuming a typical modern diet, high in refined and processed foods, the potassium requirement will be even higher because of the very high sodium content of such a diet. For athletes, and those undertaking strenuous physical work, or intensive exercise programmes, the requirements may be still higher because of greater losses of potassium from the body during these activities.
Nevertheless, nutritional therapists do not generally recommend commercially available potassium supplements, as these normally contain quantities too low to be effective. But high dose supplements are in any case potentially dangerous, as they may have profound effects on the body’s biochemical balance, and should therefore not be taken except under medical supervision. Where the diet is inadequate in potassium, however, this may be simply remedied by using as a food seasoning a low sodium/high potassium salt substitute available from any good supermarket.
As always, however, the body’s holistic functioning means that potassium works best in the presence of a good supply of every other vital nutrient and so it is always worth taking a good quality and comprehensive multi-vitamin/multi-vitamin preparation.
About the Author: Steve Smith is a freelance copywriter specialising in direct marketing and with a particular interest in health products. Find out more at
sisyphuspublicationsonline.com/LiquidNutrition/Potassium.htm
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Marussia F1 test driver Maria de Villota seriously injured in testing accident
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Tuesday, July 3, 2012
The Marussia F1 team’s test driver, Spaniard María de Villota, was taken to hospital by air ambulance today after a collision in testing at Duxford Aerodrome.
At the end of her first installation run, the car she was driving had a low-speed collision with the loading ramp of the team’s support truck. According to BBC Cambridgeshire presenter Chris Mann, the car “suddenly accelerated” into the rear of the vehicle. The Marussia team released a statement an hour and a half after the accident, stating that she had been transferred to hospital, and a further statement would be issued once her condition had been assessed.
A spokesman for the East of England ambulance service, Gary Sanderson, said de Villota had “[…] sustained life-threatening injuries and following treatment at the scene by paramedics, she has been taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for further care.” According to witnesses, she was motionless for about fifteen minutes as medical teams attended to her, but did move her hands before being taken away from the test track. Medical charity Magpas, whose volunteer paramedics attended the accident, reported she had sustained injuries to her head and face, and was in a ‘stable condition’ when she reached the hospital.
Marussia reported her as conscious later in the afternoon: “Since Maria’s arrival at the hospital at approximately 10.45am this morning, she has been receiving the best medical attention possible at the hospital, which is the region’s major trauma centre. Maria is conscious and medical assessments are ongoing. The team will await the outcome of these assessments before providing further comment. The team’s first priority at this time is Maria and her family.”
De Villota was announced as Marussia’s test driver in March, having prior experience driving for Alan Docking Racing in Superleague Formula in Spain.
