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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015 HEALTH & SCIENCE Maternal hormonal imbalance linked to child autism STOCKHOLM: Children born to mothers ASD represents a range of neurode- early in life-from mothers with PCOS PCOS. The researchers conducted a pop- between maternal PCOS and ASD in the with a hormonal imbalance run a much velopmental disorders in children. “We who are producing excessive amounts of ulation-based nationwide study of all children were not fully explored in this higher risk of developing autism, accord- found that a maternal diagnosis of PCOS androgens-can play a role in the devel- children born in Sweden from 1984 to epidemiological study. Further studies ing to a new study released by Sweden’s increased the risk of ASD in the offspring opment of autism in children. “The risk 2007. They identified around 24,000 ASD are necessary to fully explain the find- Karolinska Institutet yesterday. The find- by 59 percent”, said Kyriaki Kosidou, lead was further increased among mothers cases. ASD is about four times more ings, according to researchers. “It is too ings, published in the journal Molecular researcher at Karolinska’s Department of with both PCOS and obesity,” Kosidou common in boys than girls, but there early to make specific recommendations Psychiatry, link an imbalance called poly- Public Health Sciences. The causes are said in the press release. were no observed differences in risks to clinicians in terms of care for pregnant cystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) to autism not entirely clear, but evidence suggests Between 5 and 15 percent of women between boys and girls in the study. The women with PCOS”, said Renee Gardner, spectrum disorder (ASD) in children. that exposure to certain sex hormones of child-bearing age are affected by mechanisms that explain the link senior investigator on the study. — AFP Peruvian farmer takes climate change fight to Europe courts HUARAZ: The soft murmur of water unrelated third parties. Germanwatch trickling from a glacier in the Peruvian said this is the first time a private indi- Andes into the pale blue lake below is vidual affected by climate change has broken by the roar of a chunk of ice sued a company for damages. breaking off. Saul Luciano Lliuya, who Luciano’s lawsuit also highlights the grew up in these mountains, has spent tough questions besetting the negotia- his whole life watching climate change tions in Paris, where there are deep divi- break the glaciers apart. Now the 34- sions between wealthy countries that year-old Peruvian farmer and mountain developed their economies for more guide is suing one of Europe’s largest than a century with little concern for energy companies, RWE of Germany, for pollution and poor countries demand- what he says is its role in causing global ing financial help to do it more sustain- warming-and putting his hometown ably. It remains to be seen what the and his farm at risk. courts will make of Luciano’s lawsuit. Luciano looks out his window, which What is clear is that the melting of the boasts a view of Churup, a 5,400-meter glaciers is creating new lakes and rais- (17,700-foot) peak. He still remembers ing the water level in existing ones, put- when it was covered in snow. Today its ting communities like Luciano’s at risk. summit looks like the head of a bald old The volume of water in the Palcacocha BEIJING, China : Pedestrians wearing face masks walk along an elevated walkway amid heavy air pollution in Beijing man, sparsely covered with tufts of lake is 34 times higher today than in yesterday. — AFP photos white hair. “It’s a shame the glaciers 1970. aren’t the same anymore. We’re losing The US Agency for International them to global warming,” Luciano said. Development (USAID) said in a report “Someone caused this, and those peo- last year that the lake is so swollen it Blanket of humid air ple have to be held responsible. It’s not has become a permanent threat. The right to remain silent. The world lake’s last major flood was in 1941, belongs to all of us, not just the pol- when it burst its shores and killed 5,000 luters.” people in the regional capital, Huaraz- traps smog in Beijing Luciano lives with his wife and two today a city of 100,000 people. Luciano kids, farming potatoes, corn, quinoa, wants RWE to help pay for a series of barley and wheat in the northern projects to prevent floods, including Vehicles taken off roads, schools told to close region of Ancash as his family has done building a dam. “This is a precedent,” for generations. The mountains that said Germanwatch lawyer Roda line the horizon are part of the Verheyen. “RWE releases significant BEIJING: A blanket of humid air trap- growth and car ownership over the 12, ThePaper.cn, a state-backed news first and foremost, that the Beijing Huascaran National Park, a UNESCO emissions, principally through its coal- ping smog brought Beijing’s first pol- past decade or more have led to high website, reported. Smog has been a authorities are taking air quality, and lution “red alert” yesterday although levels of pollution in major urban public health concern in Beijing for related health issues, very seriously”. World Heritage Site that has lost 30 fired power plants, which makes global many residents ignored warnings to areas and Chinese researches have years but the government’s response The Beijing City Emergency Office said percent of its snow cover in the past temperatures rise, causes glaciers to limit time outdoors and authorities identified the problem as a major has come under extra scrutiny in the “still weather, reduced cold tempera- four decades, according to the melt and leads to an acute threat to my said the pollution would last several source of unrest. Certain weather con- past week because it faced heavy criti- tures and an increase in humidity” Peruvian government. Luciano blames client’s property. We request that the more days. Hundreds of people, ditions can exacerbate the problem. cism for not issuing a red alert during prompted the alert, the Xinhua state carbon-emitting industries for that. A court declare RWE liable.” including toddlers, packed Tiananmen Environment Minister Chen Jining an earlier episode of hazardous smog. news agency reported. In the north- year ago, at a United Nations climate Square to watch a daily flag-raising called a special meeting late on A red alert means nearly half of vehi- ern city of Taiyuan, six people were conference in Peru-the precursor to Climate change tourism ceremony while China’s state radio Monday to urge greater vigilance cles are ordered off the roads, heavy killed and four injured in a 33-vehicle high-stakes talks currently being held Global warming has forced the gov- said some motorists were ignoring a against pollution in Beijing and near- vehicles banned, schools advised to pileup on a highway cloaked in smog, in Paris-he met up with activists from ernment to come up with a new ban on vehicles bearing odd-num- by cities and he increased the number cancel classes, businesses recom- the Xinhua said. Some people in the German environmental group tourism concept at nearby Pastoruri bered licence plates. Rapid industrial of environmental inspection teams to mended to allow flexible working Beijing tried to dodge the restrictions. Germanwatch, who helped him come mountain, which had alpine ski trails hours and all “large-scale, outdoor State media showed a policeman up with a novel answer to the problem. until the early 2000s but now has bare- activities” should be stopped. removing paper stuck over the last, With Germanwatch’s help, Luciano is ly any snow. “We launched a new proj- “This measure reflects that the odd, digit of a car’s license plate. suing RWE, Germany’s number two ect last year: Pastoruri, the climate government, at least, has the courage By late afternoon, the US energy producer and what the environ- change tour,” said Ricardo Gomez, head to face this problem,” said Ma Jun, embassy’s monitoring station mental group calls the “single-greatest of the national park. The day-long hike director of the Institute of Public and recorded “hazardous” air quality. CO2 emitter in Europe.” takes visitors to seven stops where they Environmental Affairs, a Chinese envi- Many city residents donned industri- can see melting glaciers, swelling lakes ronmental group, referring to the red al-strength face masks. “I feel like I’m The 20,000 euro question and disappearing snow cover. The 720 alert. “Before, they were more or less engaged in chemical warfare,” one Germanwatch announced the law- square kilometers of glaciers that cov- somewhat reluctant to acknowledge commuter said on social media. Still, suit late last month. RWE did not imme- ered the national park in the 1970s the problem. Now there’s a willing- the ruling Communist Party’s official diately respond, telling AFP it had only have been reduced to 527, according ness to face this problem directly.” The People’s Daily, without a hint of learned of the case through the media. to park officials. At that rate, those red alert has been imposed until irony, praised China’s contribution to Luciano is seeking a relatively modest below 4,500 meters of altitude risk dis- tomorrow. Environmental group fighting climate change in a com- 20,000 euros in the German courts-his appearing in the next 25 years, they Greenpeace called it “a welcome sign mentary written to coincide with cli- calculation of RWE’s rightful share in the warn.

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