- Sesame joins the major food allergens list, FDA says
- Ozempic: How a TikTok weight loss trend caused a global diabetes drug shortage - and health concerns
- A secret site for the Knights Templar? Three centuries after it was rediscovered, Royston Cave remains one of Britain's most mysterious places.
- Always wanted to move to Spain? A new digital nomad visa is expected to launch this January
- COVID Drug Paxlovid was Hailed as a Game-changer. What Happened?
- Fungi that Cause Serious Lung Infections are Now Found Throughout the U.S.
Sesame joins the major food allergens list, FDA says
FDA說明芝麻被列為主要食品過敏源
Health
Sesame has joined the list of major food allergens defined by law, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. The change, which went into effect on January 1, comes as a result of the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education and Research Act, or FASTER Act, which was signed into law in April 2021. The FDA has been reviewing whether to put sesame seeds on the major food allergens list — which also includes milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans — for several years. Adding sesame to the major food allergens list means foods containing sesame will be subject to specific food allergen regulatory requirements, including those regarding labeling and manufacturing.
--from CNN Health
根據美國食品藥物管理局（U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA），芝麻在法律上已經列入主要食物過敏源名單中。該條例在2021年4月條依據食品過敏安全、治療、教育和研究法（Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education and Research Act, FASTER Act）簽署立案，於今年1月1日生效。FDA歷經多年審查是否應將芝麻列入主要食物過敏原名單，該名單成員還包括牛奶、雞蛋、魚、貝類甲殼類（魚貝類、甲殼類）、堅果、花生、小麥和大豆。把芝麻加入主要食物過敏源名單中意味著，含有芝麻的食品將受到特定食品過敏原監管要求約束，包括相關的食品標示與生產規範等要求。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN Health
Ozempic: How a TikTok weight loss trend caused a global diabetes drug shortage - and health concerns
Ozempic：TikTok減肥流行如何導致全球糖尿病藥物短缺與健康問題
Health
A diabetes drug is facing shortages worldwide and causing health concerns as social media users boast its properties as a “wonder” weight loss hack. Produced by the Danish company Novo Nordisk, Ozempic is an injectable drug that regulates blood sugar levels and insulin. It’s usually prescribed to adults suffering from Type 2 diabetes, the most common type of diabetes. But the drug’s active ingredient, semaglutide, also mimics a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that targets areas of the brain that regulate appetite and food. Because it makes users feel full faster, it can lead them to lose weight. As a result, Ozempic has been touted on the Internet as a miracle diet drug. On TikTok, the hashtag #Ozempic already has over 360 million views and counting.
--from Euronews
一款糖尿病藥物目前正面臨全球短缺，且引發健康隱慮，這是因為網路用戶吹噓該藥物有如「奇跡般」的減肥效果。丹麥公司Novo Nordisk生產的Ozempic（胰妥讚注射劑）是一種能調節血糖指數和胰島素的注射藥物。一般常用於第2型糖尿病（最常見的糖尿病類型）的成人。然而，該藥物的有效成分Semaglutide，是一種效仿類升糖素胜肽-1（glucagon-like peptide 1，GLP-1）的激素，該激素主要作用於大腦調節食慾的區塊。因為它能給使用者更快帶來飽腹感的特性，可以讓使用者得以減重。因此，Ozempic在互聯網上被吹捧為奇跡般的減肥藥。TikTok上，#Ozempic 標籤的瀏覽量已超過3.6億，並且還在持續增長中。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews
A secret site for the Knights Templar? Three centuries after it was rediscovered, Royston Cave remains one of Britain's most mysterious places.
聖殿騎士團的秘密基地？在發現三個世紀後，羅伊斯頓洞穴仍然是英國最神秘的地方之一。
Culture
"What makes the cave so intriguing to visitors and historians is that it's still an enigma; still a mystery as to who made it, or when or why," said Paton. "That's mainly because there is no documentation about its existence prior to that accidental discovery. No books, no drawings, no diaries – nothing to suggest it was even here." The theory that has ensnared the public imagination more than any other is that Royston Cave was an underground hiding place for the Knights Templar, that enigmatic order of warrior monks who achieved vast wealth and influence across Europe before being violently suppressed in 1307.
--from BBC Travel
「使遊客和歷史學家對這個洞穴如此著迷的原因在於對它的未知。是誰、在何時、為了什麼目的而創造了它，都仍然是個謎」Paton解釋道。「因為在那個意外的發現之前沒有任何關於它存在的紀載。沒有書籍、圖畫或日記－沒有任何跡象顯示這個洞就在這裡。」流傳於大眾間最受歡迎的假設是羅伊斯頓洞穴曾是聖殿騎士團的地下藏身之地。這個神秘的武僧組織在 1307年遭到暴力鎮壓之前在整個歐洲曾擁有巨大的財富和影響力。
--摘錄翻譯自BBC Travel
Always wanted to move to Spain? A new digital nomad visa is expected to launch this January
想移居西班牙？ 西國預計今年1月推出數位游牧簽證
Culture
Spain is poised to introduce a digital nomad visa that would give non-EU nationals the chance to live and work there for up to five years. The scheme, recently approved by parliament, is expected to pass in January 2023. If it goes ahead as planned, the country will join a number of other European nations that have introduced some form of digital nomad scheme in the last few years including Italy, Greece, Croatia, and Portugal. It is part of a law recently passed by the Spanish Parliament called the Startup Act aimed at attracting entrepreneurship and bolstering the country's tech scene.
--from Euronews Travel
西班牙準備推出數位游牧簽證，讓非歐盟成員國的外籍人士有機會在那裡生活與工作長達五年。該計劃近期獲得西國議會批准，預計於2023年1月通過。如按計劃進行，該國將加入也在近幾年引入數位游牧簽證的歐洲國家行列。目前已開放數位游牧簽證的國家包括意大利、希臘、克羅地亞和葡萄牙。 數位游牧簽證是「創業法案」的一部分，旨在吸引創業精神並加強該國的科技領域。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews Travel
COVID Drug Paxlovid was Hailed as a Game-changer. What Happened?
曾被譽為改變遊戲規則的COVID藥物Paxlovid而今安在？
Sciences
When clinical trial data for the antiviral drug Paxlovid emerged in late 2021, physicians hailed its astonishing efficacy — a reduction of nearly 90% in the risk of severe COVID-19. But more than a year later, COVID-19 remains a leading cause of death in many countries, and not only in low-income nations where the drug is in short supply. In the United States, for example, hundreds of people still die from COVID-19 each day. Researchers say that the drug’s rollout has been hampered by worries about ‘rebound’ (the mysterious return of symptoms or detectable virus days after a person starts to feel better) and side effects — as well as by declining concern about the risk of COVID-19. Inadequate funding for distribution, the drug’s high price tag and the need for it be taken soon after infection have also slowed its uptake.
--from Nature news
當抗病毒藥物Paxlovid的臨床試驗數據於 2021年底公布時，醫生們盛讚其驚人的療效－它將患COVID-19重症的風險降低了近90%。但一年多後，COVID-19仍然是許多國家的主要死因，且不僅止於藥物短缺的低收入國家。例如在美國，每天仍有數百人死於COVID-19。研究人員表示，該藥物的生產受到對「反彈」（症狀或可檢測到的病毒在人開始感覺好了幾天後神秘地回歸）和副作用的擔憂、以及對COVID-19風險的焦慮下降所阻礙。分配資金不足、藥物價格高昂以及必須在感染後立即服用，也減緩了其接受度。
--摘錄翻譯自Nature news
Fungi that Cause Serious Lung Infections are Now Found Throughout the U.S.
導致嚴重肺部感染的真菌現已遍布美國
Sciences
Three types of fungi that cause serious lung infections and were once thought to be confined to certain regions of the United States are now widespread. In 1955, Histoplasma fungi grew mainly in Midwest soil and in parts of the East and South, and that’s where histoplasmosis infections mainly occurred. But Medicare records from 2007 through 2016 indicate that 47 states and Washington, D.C., had cases of histoplasmosis above a certain threshold, researchers report November 11 in Clinical Infectious Diseases. These fungi are now “a lot more common than we think they are,” says Andrej Spec, an infectious diseases doctor and mycologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Doctors using maps from the 1950s and ’60s may fail to diagnose infections in patients who live outside of the fungi’s historical borders. Such missed or delayed diagnoses can have deadly consequences.
--from Science News
導致嚴重肺部感染、並曾被認為僅限於美國某些地區的三種真菌現已擴散。1955年，組織胞漿菌屬真菌主要生長在中西部土壤以及東部和南部的部分地區，這是組織胞漿菌病的主要發生地。但研究人員於11月11日的《臨床傳染病》中報告：2007年至2016年的醫療記錄顯示，47個州和華盛頓特區的組織胞漿菌病例已超過一定閾值。聖路易斯華盛頓大學醫學院的傳染病醫生、真菌學家Andrej Spec說：「這些真菌現在遠比我們想像的普遍。」使用1950年代和60年代分布圖的醫生可能無法診斷出生活在真菌歷史範圍之外受感染的患者。此漏診或延誤診斷可能會造成致命的後果。
--摘錄翻譯自Science News