1 Climate change may not be responsible for the recent

skyrocketing cost of natural disasters, but it is very likely that

it will impact future catastrophes. Climate models provide a

4 glimpse of the future, and while they do not agree on all of the

details, most models predict a few general trends. According to

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an increase of

7 greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will probably boost

temperatures over most land surfaces, though the exact change

will vary regionally. More uncertain — but possible —

10 outcomes of an increase in global temperatures include

increased risk of drought and increased intensity of storms,

including tropical cyclones with higher wind speeds, a wetter

13 Asian monsoon, and, possibly, more intense mid-latitude

storms.

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Fatal Superbugs: Antibiotics Losing Effectiveness, WHO says.

The World Health Organization’s new report on the growing global threat adds to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report last year showing that two million people in the United States are infected annually with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and 23,000 of them die each year as a result. To understand the dangers posed by superbugs, National Geographic spoke with Stuart Levy, chair of the board of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.

What exactly are superbugs?

They are bacteria resistant to one or more antibiotics, and they make it difficult to treat or cure infections that once were easily treated. The antibiotic has lost its ability to control or kill bacterial growth. The bacteria can grow even in a sea of antibiotics because the antibiotic doesn’t touch them.

How are the bacteria able to circumvent the power of antibiotics?

The bacteria have acquired the ability to destroy the antibiotic in order to protect themselves. They’ve developed a gene for resistance to, say, penicillin, and that gene protects them. A genetic mutation might enable a bacteria to produce enzymes that inactivate antibiotics. Or [a mutation] might eliminate the target that the antibiotic is supposed to attack. A bacteria may have developed resistance to five or six antibiotics, so in treatment, you don’t know which one to choose. And the bacteria accumulate resistance by developing new genes. Genetics is working against us, almost like a science-fiction story.

Why are these superbugs spreading and the threat growing?

We’re continuing to use antibiotics in a bad way. They’re supposed to be used to combat bacteria, not viruses. The common cold is a virus. Any time you use an antibiotic when it’s not needed, you’re pushing antibiotic resistance ahead. People are misusing them in their homes. They may have a stockpile they’ve saved, and think taking [an antibiotic] will help them with a cold. They’re not helping their cold, and they’re propagating resistance.

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Leia o texto a seguir, extraído do livro He knows too much, e responda à questão.

Chapter 1 - Madras 1986

“He knows too much. I must ask you to do nothing.”

“But this time I caught him in the act. I have proof, witnesses, everything. There is no possible doubt.”

“I said he knows too much! The company can’t afford to have any problems. Our position is very sensitive in this country. We can’t afford to take risks. I am telling you once again – you will do nothing. And if there is any trouble, I’m afraid I shall have to hold you personally responsible. So be sensible for once in your life.”

“I see. So you are telling me to close my eyes to corruption and behave as if nothing has happened. Is that right?”

“I didn’t put it quite like that. But, if you insist, yes. What Vish does or doesn’t do is a minor matter compared with the company’s global strategy. Just try to get things in perspective. After all, you won’t be stuck in Madras for ever – I’ll make sure that you are not. So just go with the flow for a bit longer. When you’re in your next post this will all seem a very long way away, I can assure you. But meantime, no trouble. I hope I’ve made myself clear. Oh, and, by the way, I advise you to forget that we have had this conversation. Goodbye.”

Dick Sterling put the phone down. His hands were trembling. He was furious with himself for failing to persuade his boss in Delhi, Keith Lennox, to support him, and was disgusted at the mixture of veiled threats and vague promises Lennox had made.

Which is the correct alternative to complete the dialogue?

Susan: What did George ask you yesterday?

A new law in Brazil has come into force under which employers can be fined if they fail to register their domestic workers.

It is part of new measures to provide basic protection for some seven million domestic workers long excluded from Brazil's stringent labour laws.

[…]

Read the following passage to answer question.

One of the most important features of our closed material system is its degree of organization. Whereas the biosphere is an open system in terms of energy, constantly receiving solar rays, no new physical identity has been created since the birth of the planet. Thus, the recycling of everything is an absolute necessity to the nature of all ecological processes. The waste products of one process must become the materials of the next. Some of the more highly organized materials, such as fossil fuels, have taken millions of years to develop. These are nonrenewable resources — that is, once used, they cannot be replaced, at least in this geological age. In order to avoid entropy, materials cannot be used up faster than they are produced. In its simplest terms, then, pollution can be seen as our creation of more wastes than ecosystem can handle. We have interfered with nature's system of recycling and purification. The excess wastes we have produced are not being recycled and purified.

Alzheimer’s breakthrough: ultrasound successfully treats disease in mice

Rodents found to have improved memories after ultrasound treatment, without any apparent damage to brain tissue

Scientists believe they may have found a new weapon in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease
– not in the form of a drug, but in focused beams of ultrasound.
While the approach has only been tested in mice, researchers said on Wednesday it proved
surprisingly good at clearing tangles of plaques linked to Alzheimer’s in the animals’ brains and
[5] improving their memory, as measured by tests such as navigating a maze.
In the past, high-energy ultrasound has been combined with injected microbubbles, which
vibrate in response to sound waves, to get drugs across the so-called blood brain barrier.
But the new research, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, is the first
demonstration that ultrasound alone might have a beneficial effect on the memory-robbing
[10] condition. “Our research was very exploratory and we really didn’t expect to see such a massive
effect”, Juergen Goetz of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, one of the study authors,
said. “I’m really excited by this.”
After several weeks of treating mice that had been genetically altered to produce amyloid
plaques, the scientists found the ultrasound almost completely cleared the plaques in 75% of
[15] the animals, without apparent damage to brain tissue.
While there is still some debate as to whether plaques are a cause or a symptom of Alzheimer’s,
the experiment did find that the treated mice had improved memory, as measured by three
different tests, compared with untreated ones.
Goetz stressed that his research was at a very early stage and it would be several years before it
[20] could be tested in people. Several hurdles must be overcome first, including long-term checks
for side effects in animals and much more research into whether the approach will work with
thicker skulls and larger brains. While mice studies can give us an indication of how a treatment
may affect humans, they are only indications, as there are inherent differences between the
species, and between the model and the actual human disease.
[25] Dementia, of which Alzheimer’s is the most common form, affects close to 50 milion people
worldwide and that number is set to reach 135 milion by 2050, according to Alzheimer’s Disease
International, a non-profit campaign group.

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