- Weight loss surgery extends lives, study finds
- Poor sleep during teen years may raise risk of multiple sclerosis (MS)
- A UK community that refuses to conform
- Lunar New Year holiday trips surge in China after lifting of Covid restrictions
- Dolphins and humans team up to catch fish in Brazil
- From Ashes to Fly Larvae, New Ideas Aim to Revive Farm Soil
Weight loss surgery extends lives, study finds
研究發現，減肥手術可延長壽命
Health
Weight loss surgery reduces the risk of premature death, especially from such obesity-related conditions as cancer, diabetes and heart disease, according to a new 40-year study of nearly 22,000 people who had bariatric surgery in Utah. Compared with those of similar weight, people who underwent one of four types of weight loss surgery (gastric bypass, gastric banding, gastric sleeve and duodenal switch) were 16% less likely to die from any cause, the study found. The drop in deaths from diseases triggered by obesity, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, was even more dramatic. One significant downside: The study also found younger people who had the surgery were at higher risk for suicide.
--from CNN Health
減肥手術降低了人類英年早逝的風險，特別是因癌症、糖尿病和心臟病等疾病而導致肥胖的族群，這是根據一項長達40年調查猶他州內曾進行減重手術近22,000位患者的病例資料得出的新研究成果。研究發現，與體重相似的一般人相比，接受過四種減肥手術（胃繞道術、胃束帶術、袖狀胃切除術和十二指腸轉位繞道手術）的任一種，可降低16%因各類原因致死的可能性。因肥胖而引發的疾病（如心臟病、癌症與糖尿病）的死亡人數也大幅下降。一個顯著的缺點是—此項研究發現接受手術後年輕人的自殺風險更高。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN Health
Poor sleep during teen years may raise risk of multiple sclerosis (MS)
青少年時期睡眠不足可能會提高患多發性硬化症 (MS) 的風險
Health
Sleep is essential to health, helping the body maintain its typical functions. But researchers are still working to understand the health benefits of sleep and the dangers of poor sleep. One area of interest is the importance of sleep during adolescence. A recent study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry found that poor sleep in adolescence may increase the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder with damage to the central nervous system. Generally, the symptom onset occurs between the ages of 20 to 40. The study found that sleeping less than seven hours at night during adolescence was associated with an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis. Low sleep quality offered a similar associated risk. They found that the sleep timing differences between weekends and schooldays did not significantly impact a person’s risk for multiple sclerosis.
--from Medical News Today
睡眠對健康至關重要，主要目的在於維持身體的正常運作。但研究人員仍在努力研究睡眠對健康的好處與睡眠不足的危害。一個令人感興趣的領域是在青春期睡眠的重要性。近期發表於《神經病學、神經外科學與精神病學期刊》上的研究指出，青春期睡眠不足可能提高罹患多發性硬化症（multiple sclerosis, MS）的風險。多發性硬化症是一種自體免疫性疾病（autoimmune disorder），會損害中樞神經系統。它們常發於20至40歲間。研究發現，青春期夜間睡眠時間少於7小時與罹患多發性硬化症的風險提高有關。它們也發現週末與上學日的睡眠時間差異對患上多發性硬化症的風險無顯著影響。
--摘錄翻譯自Medical News Today
A UK community that refuses to conform
一個不願順從時代的英國小鎮
Culture
In Wales' rural Gwaun Valley, everything seems slightly out of sync, from pubs stuck in the Victorian era to New Year's Day being celebrated 13 days late. The Gwaun Valley is a quiet, pastoral landscape that's markedly different than the rest of Wales. The steep-sided valley was shaped by geological convulsions in the form of strong and fast-moving water from melting glaciers during the last Ice Age, creating a fertile and abundant expanse of water meadows, flat floodplains and an ancient woodland that has long concealed Gwaun residents from sight.
--from BBC Travel
在英國威爾斯鄉村地區的Gwaun Valley一切似乎都與現代社會有些不同步：停留在維多利亞時代酒吧、晚13天慶祝的新年。Gwaun Valley有著一片寧靜的田園風光，與威爾斯其他地區截然不同。 陡峭的山谷是由上一個冰河時期冰川融化時形成的強烈又快速流動的水雕刻而成，進而形成了肥沃又豐富的水草甸、平坦的洪氾區和古老的林地。格旺谷的居民便是居住在該林地裡，使他們長期被外界忽略。
--摘錄翻譯自BBC Travel
Lunar New Year holiday trips surge in China after lifting of Covid restrictions
取消Covid限制後，中國農曆新年假期旅行數量激增
Culture
China saw 226 million domestic trips during the Lunar New Year holiday, state media reported, a 74% surge from last year after the government lifted all travel curbs under its now-abandoned zero-Covid policy. For the first time in three years, Chinese people were free to travel without the hassle of quarantine or fear of lockdown for the most important holiday of the year, when families reunite in their hometowns to celebrate the new year or go on vacation together. The number of trips made inside China during the week-long holiday, which ended on Friday, is the highest since 2020. They include journeys made by all means from flights, trains and cars to boats.
--from CNN World (article with video)
據官方媒體報導，中國政府取消了清零政策下的旅行限制，中國在農曆新年假期間有2.26億人次的國內旅行，與去年相比激增了74%。三年來，中國人首次在一年中最重要的節日期間自由出行，與家人返鄉團聚慶祝新年或度假之時，沒有隔離與封城的顧慮。在週五（1月27日）結束的為期一周的假期間，中國境內的旅行次數是2020年以來的最高數量。這其中包括飛機、火車、汽車與輪船的各種旅行方式。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN World (原文含影片)
Dolphins and humans team up to catch fish in Brazil
海豚與人類在巴西聯手捕魚
Sciences
For more than 140 years, fishers in southeastern Brazil have formed an unusual partnership with local dolphins. In the small coastal city of Laguna, men wait for the marine mammals to swim up a narrow lagoon, herding silvery mullet from the Atlantic Ocean into shallower waters. As soon as the fishers spot a dolphin slapping its tail, lifting its head, and diving deeply, they race into the water with their nets. Now, a new study suggests the dolphins are willing partners in this collaboration. They pay close attention to the humans, timing their actions to maximize their catch. Eighty-six percent of the fishers’ catches came from “synchronous interactions” with dolphins—that is, perfectly timed behaviors by both dolphins and humans that resulted in both catching fish, the team reported on January 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
--from Science news
140多年來，巴西東南部的漁民與當地海豚形成了非比尋常的伙伴關係。在Laguna沿海小城市，人們等待海洋哺乳動物游上狹窄的潟湖，將大西洋的銀烏魚趕到較淺的水域。漁民們一發現海豚拍打著尾巴、揚起頭，然後潛入深水中，他們就帶著漁網飛奔入水。現在，一項新的研究顯示海豚是這種合作中的自願夥伴。牠們密切關注人類，促使他們適時行動以最大化他們的捕獲量。該團隊1月30日在《美國國家科學院院刊》上發表，86%漁民的漁獲來自與海豚的「同步互動」—也就是說，海豚與人類完美配合行為成就了雙方的漁獲。
--摘錄翻譯自Science news
From Ashes to Fly Larvae, New Ideas Aim to Revive Farm Soil
從灰燼到蒼蠅幼蟲，使土壤重生的新計畫
Sciences/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/SPIERUQ22ZI7HBQK7ULM4W4BPU.jpg)
As extreme weather and human activity degrade the world's arable land, scientists and developers are looking at new and largely unproven methods to save soil for agriculture. Soil erosion is depleting dirt's ability to produce food, and could lead to a 10% loss in global crop production by 2050, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. One company is injecting liquid clay into California desert to trap moisture and help fruit to grow, while another in Malaysia boosts soil with droppings from fly larvae. In a Nova Scotia greenhouse, Canadian scientist Vicky Levesque is adding biochar - the burnt residue of plants and wood waste - to soil to help apples grow better. New "soil amendment" solutions, which improve the physical properties of soil, may complement the traditional ways -- if they prove profitable and effective.
--from Reuters
隨著極端氣候和人類活動導致世界耕地退化，科學家和開發商正在尋找新的、大多未經證實的方法來拯救農業土壤。據聯合國糧食及農業組織表示，土壤侵蝕正在消耗土壤生產食物的能力，並可能導致全球作物於2050年前減產10%。一家公司正在向加州沙漠注入液體粘土以鎖住水分、幫助水果生長，而馬來西亞的另一家公司則用孑孓的糞便來強化土壤。在Nova Scotia的溫室，加拿大科學家Vicky Levesque正將生物炭（植物和木材廢料額雸稍後的殘留物）加入土壤中，以使蘋果長得更好。若新的“土壤改良劑”解決方案可以改善土壤的物理特性，且被證明有利可圖與有效，則可與傳統方式互補。
--摘錄翻譯自Reuters