报刊阅读大作业

HIT NEWS India's diabetes epidemic has triggered surging demand for dialysis For nearly two years, Manoramani has made the three-hour bus journey on the first Sunday of the month to sit on a tiny plastic chair in a crowded hall and wait. Wrapped in a green sari, the portly 41-year-old was diagnosed with diabetes seven years ago. Her health deteriorated until a relative, and fellow diabetic, recommended she come here, to the Jnana Sanjeevini Medical Center in southern Bangalore, a long way from her small town in a neighboring state. The reason? Supplies of insulin and four other medicines, all free of charge.
In recent years, the
two-decade-old clinic has seen more and more Indians like Manoramani pass through its doors —patients who reflect the
shifting demographics of the
disease nationwide. They are
younger and poorer. They
come from rural areas. And
they often have alarmingly
minimal health education. At
a small table in the clinic, a
counselor reminds a diabetic
from a nearby village, whose
sugar levels remain
persistently high, that she
should eat more fresh fruit
and vegetables. ―We repeat
the same thing every month,‖
says Vidula Krishnaswamy, a
volunteer. ―They’re not used
to taking care of themselves.‖
While people in some parts of
India continue to battle
malnutrition, many residents
in the wealthier states have,
during the past two decades
of the nation’s boom, faced a
menace of excess. Rising
incomes paired with
sedentary lifestyles and
starchy, sugary diets have
helped diabetes spread
furiously. For years, most
Indian diabetics fit one profile:
urban, educated, with a cozy
office job. Now that’s
changing. More and more,
Indians in lower income
brackets, often living in rural
areas, are being diagnosed
with the disease. With their
incomes rising and job
opportunities broadening,
Indians have been
performing less manual labor
and have been turning more
readily to Western-style fast
foods and sugar-laden drinks
that were not available two
decades ago. Also, while
physical activity has fallen,
consumption of polished
white rice, a staple food
strongly linked to the disease,
has remained steady.
In 1998, researchers in the
southern city of Chennai
tracking the disease found
that rates were high in the
middle class and negligible
among the poor. By 2008,
however, the Madras
Diabetes Research
Foundation (MDRF) found
that diabetes rates among
people earning less than $94
a month more than doubled
from 6.5% to 15.3%. Other
rural areas with virtually zero
prevalence a decade ago are
clocking in at 10% or more.
―The rural transition is very,
very worrisome for us,‖ says
Dr. V. Mohan, director of the
MDRF.
Research on diabetes in India
has meanwhile been scant,
making it hard to build up a
true picture of the crisis and,
in turn, formulate an
adequate national response.
The first comprehensive
study was not published until
December 2011. The report,
produced by Mohan and his
colleagues at the MDRF,
estimated that there were
62.4 million diabetics across
the country — a 65% leap
from their 2004 estimate. The
study also hypothesized that
an additional 77.2 million
Indians could be prediabetic,
and that, by 2030, 100 million
Indians could suffer from the disease. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2015,
India’s losses from diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases will top $236 billion, just
$73 billion less than this year’s national budget.
As a proportion of the population, diabetics make up about 8% of India’s total — less than the
U.S. figure of 10.3%, according to the International Diabetes Federation. Gulf nations have
proportions hovering around 20%, among the highest in the world, and several Pacific-island
countries exceed that. But what makes India different is the untold number of diabetics that fall
through the net. Researchers believe there are nearly five times the total of undiagnosed
patients and diabetes-related deaths in India than in the U.S. That’s especially alarming now
that diabetes is moving to the villages, where health resources are rudimentary.
Patients are also getting younger. Mohan’s team recently examined teenagers in Chennai,
where young people had no signs of onset diabetes two decades ago. Now 12% of girls
screened between the ages of 12 and 19 show clear traits of the disease. ―That can actually
destroy a country if it reaches epidemic proportions,‖ Mohan says.
Officials in New Delhi have acknowledged the problem but have been slow in implementing
remedial measures. In July 2010, the government unveiled a $230 million program for
noncommunicable diseases — the first of its kind in India. Minister of Health Ghulam Nabi Azad
promised diabetes screenings for some 200 million adults over the age of 30 in the program’s
first year. That target was promptly scaled back to 70 million, and as of mid-March, the Ministry
of Health and Family Welfare reported screening a mere 17 million. The problem is that the
professionals needed for such an ambitious program simply aren’t there: just 693 medical
officers of a hoped-for 32,000 have been trained in diabetes screening. Especially in rural
areas, finding medically educated staffers, and affording to keep them, is a near impossible
task. The situation is so acute that ordinary citizens are being trained instead. Sucre Blue, a
new Bangalore social enterprise, has trained residents in two villages outside the city to screen
other villagers. They found prevalence rates approaching a third of all adults.
Creative approaches like this — alongside dietary changes and education programs — are
sorely needed. But even if they could be executed on a national scale, the real dilemma lies in
whether a country with such an acute shortage of medical professionals and resources can
even treat such a large number of diabetics. As Mohan says: ―Screening is nice, but then what
do you do after that?‖ India’s health officials had better come up with answers, and fast.
How Do You Take Over for a Legend?
I’ll admit that I knew fairly little about Manchester United soccer manager Sir Alex Ferguson
until this week. Despite my hopeless ignorance of the world’s most popular sport, however, I
was intrigued by Ferguson’s retirement — and even more so by the trials that lay ahead for his
successor, David Moyes.
Moyes has had a successful career himself, both as a player and manager, but surely taking
over the role of manager of Manchester United from Ferguson — who ran the club for 27 years
with an unprecedented record of success that is unlikely ever to be matched — represents one
of the biggest challenges of his career. As my TIME colleague Bill Saporito mused a few days
ago, ―No one can actually succeed Sir Alex, only follow him.‖
How do you take over for a legend?
Of course, this question isn’t limited to sports. In every discipline there are icons that come and eventually go — and then there are the poor saps who have to take over. Pondering this phenomenon, I was reminded of what President Harry Truman reportedly told a group of journalists the day after his assumption of the Presidency from the man who held that role far longer than any in history: ―Boys, if you pray, pray for me now. I don’t know if you fellows ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me yesterday what had happened, I felt like the moon, the stars, and
all the planets had fallen on
me.‖
Harry Truman is one of my
favorite examples of a man
who had to succeed a legend
because he was such a
humble figure both in
disposition and, in some
respects, ability. Regardless
of what you think of his
presidency, his allure as a
historical figure is undeniable,
as he’s the quintessential
everyman who had greatness
thrust upon him. In 1934,
Truman was a 50-year-old
failed farmer, speculator, and
haberdasher. Ten years later
he had the fate of the planet –
and the most awful weapon in
human history – in his hands.
There is a world of difference
between coaching a soccer
team and leading the free
world through an existential
struggle, to be sure. But on a
human level, there are
parallels. Whether you are an
economist like Ben Bernanke
taking over for Alan
Greenspan — the
recession-addled among us
might forget that when
Greenspan stepped down as
Fed chairman in 2006, he
was being hailed as a
―Maestro‖ beyond compare
— or a comedian like Jay
Leno succeeding Johnny
Carson, these represent the
few moments in life where
fate taps you on the shoulder
and says, ―Alright, you’re up.
Let’s see what you can do.‖
And in this sense, we can all
relate to the stories of Moyes,
Truman, Leno, and the rest.
Whatever your vocation or
calling, there will be moments,
and probably no more than a
few, where your success or
failure will determine whether
you advance or stagnate.
These are the hours in life
where time seems to slow
because of the gravity of the
situation, but also quicken
because you know you will
have but a few of these
chances in your life.
Moyes now has the
opportunity to also ascend to
greatness. As the handpicked
successor of one of the most
distinguished managers in
the history of the sport, he
surely has the talent to rise to
the occasion. Unfortunately,
however, he’ll be judged not
just on his own merits, but
also against the idealized
performance of his
predecessor. And just as is
the case for all of us, fate will
not be fully in Moyes hands.
He will rely those who
assemble his team to provide
him with the necessary talent.
He will rely on that talent to
play to the best of its ability.
And lastly he’ll rely on that
mysterious variable – call it
luck or the divine – that can
make or break any venture.
And so in that sense,
regardless of their previous
success, Moyes and his ilk
are the ultimate underdogs.
Whether, like Truman, your
chance at greatness falls in your lap, or like Moyes, you have been preparing for this chance
your whole life, watching these men attempt to climb that very last rung on the ladder is the
ultimate drama. Soccer fan or no, how can you resist watching to see if Moyes makes it?\
Earth’s Great Gift to the Moon: Water
The moon is home to some of the most lyrically named bodies of water that never existed. The Sea of Tranquility is familiar enough, but what about the Ocean of Storms, the Sea of Nectar, the Lake of Forgetfulness, the Bay of Rainbows? Altogether, the lunar map features 20 seas, 14 bays, 20 lakes and one ocean. That’s both poetic and ironic, because a world that’s positively drenched in aquatic names has not a drop of actual water.
Or that’s what we always thought. In recent years, however, evidence for a watery moon has been mounting—particularly from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and its sister probe, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite. The moon is hardly a sodden place—it’s wetter than the Sahara Desert, but that’s about it. Still, that’s huge compared to what we once believed. Now, a paper in Science explains in greater detail than ever
how water got to so unlikely a place and how it survived the fiery violence that gave birth to the moon in the first place.
The prevailing—and now all-but universally accepted—theory for how the Earth-moon system came to be was first proposed in 1975 and quickly became known as the Big Whack theory. About 4.5 billion years ago, a
Mars-sized planetesimal careered through the solar system and collided with the infant Earth, sending up a massive cloud of molten and vaporous debris. The hit-and-run world sailed
on its way and the cloud of debris slowly accreted into the moon, eventually retreating
to a stable orbit roughly 239,000 mi. (385,000
km) away, where it has remained ever since.
―The angular momentum, the distance, the
size of the moon,‖ says Brown University
geochemist Alberto Saal, the lead author of
the Science paper, ―there is no other model
that can explain the physics of the Earth-Moon
system than the Big Whack.‖
Physics isn’t chemistry, however, and none of
this explained with any precision the elements
and compounds—particularly water—that
would have survived aboard the early moon.
The inner solar system as a whole ought to be
a very dry place. When the planets and moons
that orbit the sun were first accreting, it took a
very particular environment for water
molecules to form. Anything too close to the
sun would simply be too hot and energetic for
H2O molecules to assemble themselves.
You’d have to get about 3 astronomical units
away (1 AU is the distance from the sun to the
Earth) to reach what Saal calls the ―snow
line,‖ the place water could form. That
boundary is roughly between Mars and
Jupiter.
Nothing, however, would prevent water from
being imported from the wet zone into the dry
zone aboard comets or water-rich meteors
known as carbonaceous chondrites. In recent
years, comets have gained traction as the
source of Earthly water. They’re mostly made
of water ice and rock after all, and we now
understand just how many billions—perhaps
trillions—of them there are surrounding the
solar system in the formations known as the
Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud.
But there’s a good case to make for the
carbonaceous chondrites too. They’re hardly
the sodden snowballs comets are, and the
little bit of water they do contain is integrated
deep in their matrices. But there are a great,
great many of the meteors flying around out
there, and there’s nothing to say a downpour
of rocks, rather than two or three comets,
could not have watered us too. The growing
study of exoplanets is helping to explain just
how this could happen.
―In 2011,‖ Saal says, ―there were observations
in other solar systems of large planets like
Jupiter that probably migrated in towards their
suns and then migrated back out, due to
gravitational resonance. This would affect
overall gravitational fields causing materials
from deeper out to move in.‖ That material
would likely include meteors. That same
scenario could have played out here too, and
there’s a relatively straightforward way to
prove it.
Water comes in more than one form. So-called
heavy water is not simple H2O, but 2H2O,
containing a hydrogen isotope, known as
deuterium. Unlike ordinary hydrogen, with just
a proton in its nucleus, deuterium also
contains a neutron. Heavy water and ordinary
water are present on comets, carbonaceous
chondrite meteors and Earth, but in different
ratios, known as their deuterium/hydrogen, or
D/H ratio. Studies since 1998 have shown that
Earth’s D/H ratio is more similar to that of the
meteors than of the comets, making a strong
case for meteoric origins for Earth’s water.
That case is not closed: a 2011 study of Comet
Hartley 2 drew the opposite conclusion. Still, at
the moment, the meteor camp is winning.
What Saal and his colleagues succeeded in
doing was analyzing the D/H ratios in tiny
beads of volcanically cooked glass in lunar
samples brought back by Apollo 15 and Apollo
17 to see how closely they parallel Earth’s.
The answer: exceedingly closely. ―The moon’s
D/H rations are similar to Earth’s and they’re
both similar to the chondrites’,‖ says Saal.
―What difference there is is probably due to
the impact.‖
So the moon’s water came from the Earth and maybe the impactor. But the fact that any water at all survived that collision is something of a surprise, since
water’s extreme volatility should have caused it simply to vanish into space. Saal, however, cites research by Caltech astrophysicist David Stevenson and others
that the blast might have created a sort of envelope of hot gasses, protecting the water while the moon accreted.
Of course, just as the Earth and moon drew apart in distance over time, so too did they part ways developmentally. The Earth’s greater gravity allowed it to retain
an atmosphere, protecting the water that was there, as well as any that barreled in later. The moon could keep enough only to achieve its decidedly humbler
wetter-than-the-Sahara status. Lunar gravity may turn the tides in our distant oceans, but the moon’s own seas and lakes and bays were—and always will
be—mere phantasms.
Is Not Voting For LeBron James As NBA MVP Defensible?
As expected, LeBron James won his fourth MVP award on Sunday afternoon. The only surprise: he didn’t receive every first place vote.
James had a stunning statistical season. He became the fifth player in NBA history to average at least 26 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in a season (Oscar Robertson did it 5 times, John Havlicek did it twice, and both Larry Bird and Michael Jordan did it once). But only James has registered these numbers while shooting better than 55 percent from the field.
These stats, however, didn’t stop one writer from casting a first-place MVP vote for Carmelo Anthony, denying James the opportunity to become the first unanimous league MVP in NBA history. On Monday morning, Boston Globe writer Gary Washburn came clean, explaining in a column why he voted for
Anthony.
If you were to take Anthony
off the Knicks, they are a
lottery team. James plays
with two other All-Stars, the
league’s all-time 3-point
leader, a defensive stalwart,
and a fearless point guard.
The Heat are loaded.
If LeBron was taken away
from the Heat, they still
would be a fifth or sixth seed.
He is the best player of this
generation, a multifaceted
superstar with the physical
prowess of Adonis, but I
chose to reward a player
who has lifted his team to
new heights.
Washburn makes clear that
he didn’t vote for Anthony
because he was seeking
publicity:
The perception that I knew
the other 120 voters cast
their first-place votes for
LeBron and that I went
against the grain as some
kind of statement is
inaccurate…
For the most part, MVP
controversies are tired
philosophical debates. How
do you define ―valuable?‖
Do you vote for the best
player — even Washburn
calls ―James unquestionably
is the best player in the
game‖– or do you vote for
the player who means the
most to his given team? In
Washburn’s mind, a Knicks
team without Anthony would
be bottom-feeders, while a
Miami Heat team with
Dwyane Wade and Chris
Bosh would still be a tough
out.
Today, basketball fans and
MVP voters have new tools
that can help settle these
debates: advanced analytics.
And even if you’re still
skeptical of metrics that
purport to boil down a
player’s value into a single
number, via some hopelessly
complicated formula, it’s
easy to see that Washburn is
likely very wrong about
Anthony.
Moneyball godfather Bill
James first developed the
―Win Shares‖ statistic for
baseball, and basketball
analysts have adapted the
formula for their sport. Win
Shares, according to the
excellent stats site
, is
the ―estimate of the number
of wins contributed by a
player.‖ The formula is
complex. A primer on how
it’s calculated is here. In
short, the stat considers
efficiency to be the key to
winning games, and rewards
players whose efficiency
rankings outperform the
league average by wide
margins. Win Shares also
has a defensive component.
James led the NBA in Win Shares, at 19.3. So contrary to Washburn’s thinking, if you took James off
the Heat, Miami would suffer more losses than any other team would, if that team also lost a star
player. Where does Anthony rank? Anthony produced 9.5 wins for the Knicks. That was 14th best in
the NBA (Kevin Durant was second, at 18.9 Win Shares). And lest you think Anthony’s numbers
suffer because he missed 15 games this season, when you look at the stat on a per 48
minutes-played basis, the results are identical: James is first, at .322 win shares per 48 minutes.
Anthony is 14th, at .184.
Even if you don’t completely trust these advanced metrics, the James-Anthony gap has to sound an
alarm. How can you justify giving the Most Valuable Player award to someone who finished 14th in a
stat that measures total wins, on the basis that player is responsible for more team wins than anyone
else?
And you know who is buying into these stats? The teams themselves. Most NBA teams have
analytics gurus. In December, the Memphis Grizzlies hired columnist John Hollinger as
VP of Basketball Operations. Hollinger is the creator of the Player Efficiency Rating (PER) statistic,
another advanced metric that assigns value to a player (James finished first in PER, Anthony 4th).
So if stats like Win Shares and PER are inaccurate, a lot of teams are making bad investments. I’d
like to give NBA franchises more credit. LeBron James is this year’s NBA MVP, without question.
Carmelo Anthony, as lethal of a scorer as he is, should barely be in the conversation.
Man City: Manuel Pellegrini denies deal to replace Roberto Mancini
Malaga's Manuel Pellegrini has denied he has agreed a deal to replace Roberto Mancini as Manchester City manager.
After losing the FA Cup final to Wigan on Saturday, Mancini criticised City's owners for not quashing reports that a deal with Pellegrini, 59, was done.
But Chilean Pellegrini
told Malaga's website:
"I categorically deny
that I am the new
Manchester City
coach."
On Monday morning,
Mancini took training
ahead of the match
against Reading on
Tuesday.
He made no comment
as he arrived at Loftus
Road, where City are
based following the FA
Cup final.
In his statement
Pellegrini said: "I have
an agreement with
Malaga not to talk to
anyone and nothing
has been agreed with
any other outfit."
He added: "Nothing
has been signed and
no agreement reached.
I've been fortunate
enough, and very
proud, that every year
the big clubs are
interested in me.
"I hope the future of
this club will become
somewhat clearer in
the next few days."
Mancini took over from
Mark Hughes in
December 2009,
leading City to the FA
Cup in 2011 and the
Premier League title a
year later.
City officials met with with Pellegrini's agent, Jesus Martinez, in April. Martinez
also represents Malaga midfielder Isco, a reported target for the Blues.
Mancini said he did not know why the meeting had taken place.
Pellegrini, who has previously had spells in charge of Real Madrid and Villarreal,
took charge of Malaga in November 2010.
In his first full season in charge, he guided Malaga to fourth in La Liga and
Champions League qualification for the first time.
Malaga reached the last eight of the Champions League, before being knocked
out by Dortmund. They are currently sixth in La Liga.
They will not play in European competition next term after being banned by Uefa
over unpaid bills.
Malaga's Manuel Pellegrini has denied he has agreed a deal to replace Roberto Mancini as Manchester City manager. After losing the FA
Cup final to Wigan on
Saturday, Mancini
criticised City's
owners for not
quashing reports that
a deal with Pellegrini,
59, was done.
But Chilean Pellegrini
told Malaga's website:
"I categorically deny that I am the new
Manchester City
coach."
On Monday morning,
Mancini took training
ahead of the match
against Reading on
Tuesday.
He made no
comment as he
arrived at Loftus
Road, where City are
based following the
FA Cup final.
In his statement
Pellegrini said: "I
have an agreement
with Malaga not to
talk to anyone and
nothing has been
agreed with any other
outfit."
He added: "Nothing
has been signed and
no agreement
reached. I've been
fortunate enough,
and very proud, that
every year the big
clubs are interested
in me.
"I hope the future of
this club will become
somewhat clearer in
the next few days."
Mancini took over
from Mark Hughes in
December 2009,
leading City to the FA
Cup in 2011 and the
Premier League title
a year later.
City officials met with with Pellegrini's agent, Jesus Martinez, in April.
Martinez also represents Malaga midfielder Isco, a reported target for the
Blues.
Mancini said he did not know why the meeting had taken place.
Pellegrini, who has previously had spells in charge of Real Madrid and
Villarreal, took charge of Malaga in November 2010.
In his first full season in charge, he guided Malaga to fourth in La Liga and
Champions League qualification for the first time.
Malaga reached the last eight of the Champions League, before being
knocked out by Dortmund. They are currently sixth in La Liga.
They will not play in European competition next term after being banned by
Uefa over unpaid bills.
Cheers for Iker Casillas and whistles for Jose Mourinho Ronaldo's double overshadowed by growing disquiet among Real fans Cristiano Ronaldo headed in two goals to help Real Madrid beat Valladolid 4-3 in the Spanish league, but the entertaining win was overshadowed by growing disquiet over controversial coach Jose Mourinho.
Madrid's ninth straight home-ground win in the league means runaway leaders Barcelona will have to wait at least a few more days before sealing the championship.
Madrid fans appeared to give their backing to Iker Casillas over Mourinho on Saturday when they cheered their benched goalkeeper and captain and whistled at the Portuguese coach.
A hero to Real fans and club captain for more than a decade, Casillas has barely featured since recovering from a broken hand, with Mourinho preferring to stick with Diego Lopez, who was
brought in as cover from
Sevilla in January.
Mourinho has hinted he may
leave at the end of the
season and appeared to
confirm reports his
relationship with Casillas had
broken down with a series of
barbed comments on Friday.
He said he regretted not
buying Lopez earlier in his
three-year stint in Madrid
and that he could not work
with players who "think they
are above the rest".
Fans at the Bernabeu made
their feelings clear when
Casillas' name was loudly
cheered when it was read
out among the list of
substitutes, while Mourinho
was whistled by a significant
section of the crowd.
The sense that all was not
well at the club following last
Tuesday's elimination from
the Champions League was
heightened after the game
when Pepe, Mourinho's
Portuguese compatriot,
criticised the coach in a
television interview.
Pepe's comments were
particularly surprising given
that he and Mourinho share
the same agent.
"In my opinion, maybe the
coach's words [on Friday]
were not entirely
appropriate," he said. "We
have to show a bit more
respect for Iker. He
is a
player who is part of Madrid,
he is an institution in this club
and in Spain. He has to know
that we, the players, are with
him."
As has become customary
when Real win a league
match, Mourinho sent out his
assistant Aitor Karanka to
give the post-match news
conference.
Asked about the fans'
reaction to Mourinho,
Karanka said: "We have to
respect the fans' decision.
We have done our jobs for
the past three years, some
people have liked it more
than others. We have to
respect that."
Club spokesman Emilio
Butragueno refused to talk
about Mourinho. "We are
here to talk about the match,
not about Mourinho," he
said.
With Barcelona closing in on
the La Liga title and Real
Madrid's reign as champions
all but over, Real still have
one more chance for
silverware this season in the
King's Cup final against
Atletico Madrid on May 17.
Elsewhere, third-placed
Atletico Madrid booked their
spot in next season's
Champions League with a
0-0 draw at Deportivo La Coruna.
Valencia eased to a 4-0 win over nine-man Osasuna to stay in the hunt for a top-four finish, while
Malaga lost 1-0 at Granada to slip three points behind Valencia in sixth place.。