Ribeirao preto sao paulo

By Rachel Cernansky Feb. 11, 2021 , 1:18 PM After returning home from college to northwest Cameroon in 2004, Tabi Joda felt a sense of profound loss. Trees that once bore fruit, provided medicine, and created shade had been cut down. Rich soils had turned to dust. “The land I used to know as a forest was no longer a forest,” he recalls. Joda, a business consultant, got to work, calling on what he’d learned in school and from local knowledge passed down over generations. He collected seeds, started a tree nursery, and launched an agroforestry initiative that enlisted local people in planting trees. They chose species that provided food and timber, supported livelihoods, and helped wildlife thrive. The effort soon spread to nearby communities. And Joda ultimately became a vocal advocate for an even bigger dream: the Great Green Wall, which aims to transform the lives of some 100 million people by planting a mosaic of trees, shrubs, and grasses along a corridor stretching some 8000 … [Read more...] about The Great Green Wall could save Africa. But can the massive forestry effort learn from past mistakes?

RIO DE JANEIRO — Nutrition experts gathered here last week for the World Nutrition Rio 2012 meeting harped upon familiar themes: obesity and unhealthy food. Yet surprisingly many of them, in leading academic and government positions of public health, apparently have all but given up on tried-and-true public-health campaigns. "Want to end obesity? Then talk to the ministries of finance, not health," said Philip James of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and president of the London-based International Association for the Study of Obesity. "The impact of health education is zero." The food industry is making us fat, according to James, and efforts to educate the public on proper nutrition or to ask industry to voluntarily reduce unhealthy ingredients such as sugar, salt, fat and myriad additives is "a load of diverting, delaying rubbish," he said. Government-initiated economic policies are needed to make healthy food affordable. While James possesses a more … [Read more...] about Fight Obesity With Economics, Not Health Campaigns, Experts Say

By Jon Cohen , Sofia Moutinho Jan. 7, 2021 , 7:15 PM Science ’ s COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Heising-Simons Foundation. Brazil, with more COVID-19 cases than any other country after the United States and India, is on the verge of having its first authorized vaccine for the pandemic disease. At a press conference today, Brazilian researchers reported that a vaccine made by a Chinese company, Sinovac, was safe and had 78% efficacy in preventing mild cases of COVID-19 in a study of more than 12,000 health care workers. It also completely prevented moderate and severe illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 infections, the team said. “The result we are seeing today is fantastic,” Rosana Richtmann, a physician from the Emilio Ribas Institute of Infectious Disease, said at the press conference. Dimas Tadeu Covas, head of the Butantan Institute—a state-owned vaccinemaker that is co-sponsoring the trial—expects Brazil’s regulatory agency to authorize … [Read more...] about Brazil announces ‘fantastic’ results for Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine, but details remain sketchy

By Rachel Cernansky Feb. 11, 2021 , 1:18 PM After returning home from college to northwest Cameroon in 2004, Tabi Joda felt a sense of profound loss. Trees that once bore fruit, provided medicine, and created shade had been cut down. Rich soils had turned to dust. “The land I used to know as a forest was no longer a forest,” he recalls. Joda, a business consultant, got to work, calling on what he’d learned in school and from local knowledge passed down over generations. He collected seeds, started a tree nursery, and launched an agroforestry initiative that enlisted local people in planting trees. They chose species that provided food and timber, supported livelihoods, and helped wildlife thrive. The effort soon spread to nearby communities. And Joda ultimately became a vocal advocate for an even bigger dream: the Great Green Wall, which aims to transform the lives of some 100 million people by planting a mosaic of trees, shrubs, and grasses along a corridor stretching some 8000 … [Read more...] about New funds could help grow Africa’s Great Green Wall. But can the massive forestry effort learn from past mistakes?

An entire Brazilian city will be vaccinated against COVID-19 in a giant experiment to test whether the vaccines reduce the spread of the virus. The city of Serrana in the state of São Paulo is home to about 30,000 adults who will all be offered a COVID-19 vaccine within the next three months as part of a research study run by the Butantan Institute in Brazil. Everyone in the city over the age of 18 (except for pregnant or breastfeeding women and those with serious illnesses) will be offered the CoronaVac vaccine, developed by Chinese company Sinovac, CNN reported . The aim of the study, known as "Project S," is to figure out whether the vaccine will reduce the spread of the virus. Related: 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history While clinical trials have clearly shown that the Sinovac and other COVID-19 vaccines decrease the odds of developing symptomatic disease, data on whether vaccines could fully prevent infections (even asymptomatic ones) remain … [Read more...] about Entire Brazilian city will be vaccinated against COVID-19 in giant experiment