Obesity: in statistics

People are getting fatter almost everywhere in the world. Obesity is a modern problem - statistics for it did not even exist 50 years ago. The increase of convenience foods, labour-saving devices, motorised transport and more sedentary jobs means people are getting fatter. Figures for 2005 showed 1.6 billion adults were overweight and 400 million were obese. The World Health Organization predicted there would be 2.3 billion overweight adults in the world by 2015 and more than 700 million ofthem would be obese.

TEXTO:

Study: Thirdhand Smoke Could Cause Harm

A new study reveals that the so-called “thirdhand
smoke,” or the residue from cigarette smoke that lands
on surfaces after a smoker lights up, could be hazardous
to passers-by even well after the smoker has left the
[5] scene.
New research from the University of California
Riverside shows that the so-called “thirdhand smoke”
exposure harms organs in mice and increases symptoms
of hyperactivity — which suggests humans too might
[10] suffer similar negative consequences.
The researchers exposed lab mice to levels of
thirdhand smoke meant to imitate the levels humans
come into contact with in a smoking environment. They
found that the mice exhibited higher levels of lipids and
[15] fatty liver disease, as well as inflammation in their lungs.
The mice also had trouble healing wounds. Both of these
findings are found among people exposed to secondhand
smoke. Smokers also tend to take longer to heal their
wounds after a surgery.
[20] The researchers also noted increased levels of
hyperactivity in the mice, which they compared to similar
symptoms reported in children exposed to second and
thirdhand smoke. “It follows that children in environments
where smoking is, or has been allowed, are at significant
[25] risk for suffering from multiple short-term and longer health
problems, many of which may not manifest fully until
later in life,” the researchers conclude in the study,
published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Dilbert é um personagem das tiras diárias criadas por Scott Adams, o qual era economista na Pacific Bell, o que lhe deu uma enorme experiência em burocracia e na generalidade das “coisas absurdas” da vida empresarial.

Leia a tirinha abaixo observando o uso do auxiliar “WILL”.

Would it be wrong to eradicate mosquitoes?

The mosquito is the most dangerous animal in the world, carrying diseases that kill one million people a year. Now the Zika virus, which is carried by mosquitoes, has been linked with thousands of babies born with brain defects in South America. There are 3,500 known species of mosquitoes, but only the females from just 6% of species draw blood from humans - to help them develop their eggs. Of these, just half carry parasites that cause human diseases.

More than a million people, mostly from poorer nations, die each year from mosquito-borne diseases, including Malaria, Dengue Fever and Yellow Fever. Some mosquitoes also carry the Zika virus, which was first thought to cause only mild fever and rashes. However, scientists are now worried that it can damage babies in the womb. There’s a constant effort to educate people to use nets and other tactics to avoid being bitten. But would it just be simpler to make an entire species of disease-carrying mosquito extinct?

In Britain, scientists at Oxford University and the biotech firm Oxitec have genetically modified (GM) the males of Aedes aegypti - a mosquito species that carries both the Zika and Dengue viruses. These GM males carry a gene that stops their offspring from developing properly. This second generation of mosquitoes then die before they can reproduce and become carriers of disease themselves.

So are there any downsides to removing mosquitoes? Mosquitoes, which mostly feed on plant nectar, are important pollinators. They are also a food source for birds and bats while their young - as larvae - are consumed by fish and frogs. This could have an effect further ahead in the food chain. Mosquitoes also have limited the destructive impact of humanity on nature. Mosquitoes make tropical rainforests, for humans, virtually uninhabitable. Rainforests are home to a large share of our total plant and animal species, and nothing has done more to delay man-made destruction over the past 10,000 years than the mosquito.

Adapted from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35408835

Positive aspects of Immigration

For industrialized countries in Western Europe or the USA, immigrants offer various benefits such as the following:

-Immigrants will often do jobs that people in the host country will not, or cannot do;

- Migrant workers often work longer hours and for lower salaries, and while that is controversial, sometimes exploitive, it benefits the host country;

- Immigrants, when made to feel welcome in the host society, can contribute to the diversity of that society, which can help with tolerance and understanding;

- For the host country’s economy, immigrants offer an increased talent pool, if they have been well educated in their original country.

Read the text below and answer question.

A Region’s Soccer Strongmen are facing a hard fall
[1] After rising as a governor under Brazil’s military
dictatorship, José Maria Marin became such a towering
figure in the world of Brazilian sports that the
headquarters of the nation’s soccer federation was
[5] recently named in his honor.
Now, the United States Justice Department’s charging
Mr. Marin, 83, and 13 other senior sports officials and
executives across the Americas with taking part in a
sweeping bribery and kickback scheme within FIFA, the
[10] governing body of global soccer.
Of the 14 men named as defendants in the indictment,
all but two of them are citizens of Latin American and
Caribbean nations, a reflection of the investigation’s
focus on corruption in the hemisphere.
(Fonte: www.nytimes.com)

GLOSSARY
but: exceto
bribery: suborno
headquarters: sede

Top chocolate myths

- Dark chocolate contains fewer calories than milk chocolate Both dark and milk chocolate contain roughly the same amount of calories per 100g, which is about 550kcals. But dark chocolate contains more cocoa, which has health benefits.

- Chocolate gives you acne Some people feel their skin health is more sensitive to chocolate, so they prefer to avoid it, but there is no evidence that the two are linked.

- Chocolate causes migraines Chocolate does contain small amounts of tyramine and phenylethylamine - amino acids from the protein in chocolate - both of which can trigger a migraine. However, there is no evidence to suggest that chocolate alone can cause them.

- Chocolate makes you fat It all depends on how much you eat. Eating a large chocolate bar every day on top of your usual daily intake could lead to some weight gain. However, as part of a healthy and balanced diet including 30 minutes of exercise five times a week, chocolate as a treat will not make you fat.

TEXTO:

Study: Thirdhand Smoke Could Cause Harm

A new study reveals that the so-called “thirdhand
smoke,” or the residue from cigarette smoke that lands
on surfaces after a smoker lights up, could be hazardous
to passers-by even well after the smoker has left the
[5] scene.
New research from the University of California
Riverside shows that the so-called “thirdhand smoke”
exposure harms organs in mice and increases symptoms
of hyperactivity — which suggests humans too might
[10] suffer similar negative consequences.
The researchers exposed lab mice to levels of
thirdhand smoke meant to imitate the levels humans
come into contact with in a smoking environment. They
found that the mice exhibited higher levels of lipids and
[15] fatty liver disease, as well as inflammation in their lungs.
The mice also had trouble healing wounds. Both of these
findings are found among people exposed to secondhand
smoke. Smokers also tend to take longer to heal their
wounds after a surgery.
[20] The researchers also noted increased levels of
hyperactivity in the mice, which they compared to similar
symptoms reported in children exposed to second and
thirdhand smoke. “It follows that children in environments
where smoking is, or has been allowed, are at significant
[25] risk for suffering from multiple short-term and longer health
problems, many of which may not manifest fully until
later in life,” the researchers conclude in the study,
published in the journal PLOS ONE.

How does social media use influence political participation and civic engagement? A metaanalysis

Academic research has consistently found that people Blank I consume more news media have a greater probability of being civically and politically engaged across a variety of measures. In an era whenthe public’s time and attention is increasingly directed toward platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, scholars are seeking to evaluate the stillemerging relationship between social media use and public engagement. The Obama presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012 and the Arab Spring in 2011 catalyzed interest in networked digital connectivity and political action, but the data remain far from conclusive.

The largest and perhaps bestknown inquiry into this issue so far is a 2012 study published in the journal Nature, “A 61MillionPersonExperiment in Social Influence and Political Mobilization,” whichsuggested that messages on users’ Facebook feeds could significantly influence voting patterns.

The study data — analyzed in collaboration with Facebook data scientists — suggested that certain messages promoted by friends “increased turnout directly by about 60,000 voters and indirectly through social contagion by another 280,000 voters, for a total of 340,000 additional votes.” Close friends with realworld ties were found to be much more influential than casual online acquaintances. (Following the study, concerns were raised about the potential manipulation of users and “digital gerrymandering.”)

There are now thousands of studies on the effects of social networking sites (SNS) on offline behavior, but isolating common themes is not easy. Researchers often use unique datasets, ask different questions and measure a range of outcomes. However, a 2015 meta study in the journal Information, Communication & Society, “Social Media Use and Participation: A Meta analysis of Current Research.” analyzes 36 studies on the relationship between SNS use and everything from civic engagement broadly speaking to tangibleactions such as voting and protesting. Some focus on youth populations, others on SNS use in countries outside the United States. Within these 36 studies, there were 170 separate “coefficients” — different factors potentially correlated with SNS use. The author, Shelley Boulianne of Grant MacEwan University (Canada), notes that the studies are all based on selfreported surveys, with the number of respondents ranging from 250 to more than 1,500. Twenty studies were conducted between 2008 and 2011, while eight were from 20122013.

http://journalistsresource.org/studies/politics/digitaldemocracy/ socialmediainfluencepoliticsparticipationengagementmetaanalysis. Accessed on 05/03/2016