Mamata urges senior doctors to take care of patients
Kolkata: Amid the ongoing impasse in the West Bengal hospitals over junior doctors’ strike, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday issued a letter to the senior doctors in the state, appealing to them to take care of all patients. She urged them to run the hospitals “smoothly and peacefully”. Earlier in the day, Banerjee went to the state-run SSKM Hospital, where she gave agitating doctors a four-hour ultimatum to withdraw their strike and warned of “strong action” if the situation was not normalised within the deadline. Also Read – IAF receives its first Rafale fighter jet from France “My humble regards to all of you. Please take care of all patients. The poor people are coming from all districts. I will be honoured and obliged if you all please take full care of the hospitals,” Banerjee wrote in her letter to the senior doctors. “Hospitals must run smoothly and peacefully,” she added. Protests erupted at the NRS Hospital on Tuesday morning bringing regular services to a standstill after a junior doctor was allegedly beaten up by the kin of a 75-year-old patient who died there late on Monday night. The family members of the deceased patient alleged medical negligence. An intern named Paribaha Mukherjee sustained a serious skull injury in the attack and has been admitted in the intensive care unit of the Institute of Neurosciences in Kolkata’s Park Circus area. Going on the warpath, junior doctors in almost all state-run hospitals have gone on strike for over two days.
TORONTO – Ontario’s Liberals must do some soul-searching in the wake of the devastating defeat they suffered in the provincial election in order to understand where things went wrong, the party’s new interim leader said Monday.John Fraser, an Ottawa-are legislator first elected in 2013, said the party respects the electorate’s decision and must now look internally for answers.“The people of Ontario sent the Liberal party a very clear message,” he said in an interview. “They want us to take a break and they want us to do some soul-searching.”Fraser was appointed interim leader last week following outgoing Premier Kathleen Wynne’s resignation. The Liberals, who have been in power in Ontario for 15 years, won only seven seats in the June 7 election, one short of the eight seats required to maintain official party status in the legislature.His mission as interim leader will be to begin the rebuild of the party brand, Fraser said, describing himself as a “caretaker.” Chief amongst his concerns will be getting the party’s financial house in order and addressing millions in debt accumulated through the election.“We spent approximately $10 million to get seven seats,” Fraser said. “I think Liberals want an answer in that regard. They want us to take a look at the campaign and pre-campaign and look at where we made mistakes.”Fraser said the party also needs to address its lack of party status at the legislature, which means they’ve also lost funding for research, staffing and designated speaking time.Fraser said he hopes to have discussions with incoming premier Doug Ford, whose Progressive Conservatives won a majority of seats, about the Tory government granting the Liberals party status.“We’re going to try to establish with the government our status in the legislature,” he said. “I think one million Ontarians voted for us. It’s important their voice be effective in the legislature.”Fraser said it’s too early to talk about a leadership race, adding that in the meantime, the party has to begin the process of becoming competitive in time for the next provincial vote in 2022.“It’s going to take a lot of work,” he said. “Ontarians sent us a very clear message. What comes along with that message is the fact that we’ve got work to do.”University of Ottawa political science professor Geneviève Tellier said while the road ahead for the Ontario Liberals will be difficult, the party brand has not been irreparably damaged. It will take years but it can come back from this defeat, she said.“I think the results of the election show that people weren’t ready to head further to the left with the NDP,” she said. “There is room for an alternative that is in the middle. That would be the branding of the Liberals. … In the last year the Liberals were not the traditional party of the centre that they used to be.”Tellier said the party must now conduct a deep “post-mortem” of the election and learn from their errors. The focus must gradually shift to selecting a new leader but the party should take its time and avoid infighting, she added.“Even if we don’t see them too much now during this session, I wouldn’t be too concerned about that, that’s very short-term,” she said. “The more long-term rebuilding based on the ideas of the new leader will be important.”
The Canadian Press HALIFAX — Heavy rain is being reported in parts of the Maritimes as Erin, now a post-tropical weather system, advances toward the region.Environment Canada has issued rainfall warnings for southeastern New Brunswick, parts of western and northern Nova Scotia and western Prince Edward Island.Some big downpours have already been reported in communities west of a line that extends from Halifax to Fredericton.Meteorologist Jim Abraham says Erin’s current track is expected to cut through the middle of mainland Nova Scotia later tonight, with the heaviest rain expected to fall on the left side of the sprawling low-pressure system.Abraham says a weather station near St. Stephen, N.B., reported almost 60 millimetres of rain this morning.The Canadian Hurricane Centre in Halifax says some gusty winds will likely accompany Erin, especially in those areas to the right of its track as it crosses Nova Scotia tonight.Abraham says some coastal areas could get gusts exceeding 70 kilometres per hour, which could cause power outages because most trees in the region have yet to shed their leaves.
(A man is arrested by the RCMP Friday morning near Elisipogtog First Nation. Photo courtesy @1tnb)APTN National NewsTwelve people were arrested Friday morning by the RCMP at the site of a sacred fire as part of an on-going protest in New Brunswick over seismic testing in the area.RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Chantal Farrah said the arrests were made because people were attempting to block trucks and workers.Farrah said seven men and five women were taken into custody on Route 126 outside Moncton near Elisipogtog First Nation.The sacred fire was lit by members of Elsipogtog on June 11 beside a highway where seismic testing vehicles are searching for shale gas deposits.Opponents of the exploration fear that once the company, SWN Resources Canada, finds shale gas, it won’t be long before it employs a controversial drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, to get at it.Photos on social media show some of the arrests, including one that appears to be a man holding a sacred pipe, with his hands in plastic cuffs.tfontaine@aptn.ca
Not everybody who lives in the countryside lives in some sort of rural idyll. There are pockets of poverty and deprivation right across the countrysideNigel Huddleston, MP for Mid Worcestershire Nigel Huddleston, MP for Mid Worcestershire, said funding per pupil in his area was £1,000 per head lower than in neighbouring areas. “Not everybody who lives in the countryside lives in some sort of rural idyll. There are pockets of poverty and deprivation right across the countryside,” he said.Following Ms Greening’s announcement in Parliament on Wednesday Cllr Paul Carter, chairman of the County Councils Network, said he supported the proposals, as the current system sees County schools receive half the funding per pupil that inner London schools get. “This is inequitable and needs redressing,” he said. Natalie Perera, the Education Policy Institute’s executive director, said: “Small schools in rural areas can often find it difficult to manage because they suffer from small pupil numbers. In areas where those small schools are vital to avoid children having to travel very long distances, the sparsity factor should help them to be sustainable.” 
The announcement was welcomed by MPs in rural areasCredit:Fredrick Kippe / Alamy Rural schools are set for a boost in funding as the Government proposes to change rules to ensure that institutions in remote areas have enough money to stay open.Education Secretary Justine Greening unveiled proposals on Wednesday to end an “unfair, opaque and outdated” funding system that favoured children in London over those in the countryside.Under the biggest reforms to school funding in a decade, a new national formula will use a host of factors to calculate how much money is allocated to each school, including “sparsity”, which takes into account how small and remote it is. Education Secretary Justine Greening unveiled proposals on WednesdayCredit: PETER NICHOLLS
Ms Greening told the Commons: “We’ll protect those small rural schools which are so important to their local communities by inclusion of a sparsity factor.”What we can’t accept is other areas in other parts of the country that have similar challenges in relation to deprivation and lower prior attainment, not being funded, for no other reason than that they’re not London. It’s now time to have a fair approach.”Under the proposed changes, primary schools which qualify for sparsity funding would receive up to £25,000, which rises to £65,000 for secondary, middle and all-through schools. Overall, an extra £27 million would be spent on the sparsity factor.The announcement was welcomed by MPs in rural areas. Simon Hoare, MP for North Dorset, said one of the biggest issues facing schools in his constituency is “recruitment of and retention of staff in a rural areas where costs are higher, living costs are higher and all the rest of it. The sparsity quota will be warmly welcomed by those head teachers”. The Education Secretary also promised extra money to schools with a high population of “mobile” students, meaning children who join mid-way through the academic year.Schools in areas with an influx of migrants, as well as military children, Roma gypsies and travellers stand to gain under this measure.Kevin Courtney, General Secretary at the National Union of Teachers, said: “Far from being the levelling up that some councils and heads have demanded, this is a levelling down. Even the schools currently worst funded will see real terms cuts in this Parliament.” Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings.
To pick out the changes, researchers studied more than 1,000 skulls and jaws from pre-industrial groups throughout the world who were either hunter gatherers or farmers.They found that in farming communities one part of one of the major chewing muscles, the temporalis, became smaller and changed position as communities changed their diet. As a result the upper jaw became shorter and the lower jaw smaller.”The main differences between forager and farmer skulls are where we would expect to find them, and change in ways we might expect them to, if chewing demands decreased in farming groups,” added Dr Katz.“Agriculture changed not only human culture and lifeways, but human biology as well.The largest changes in skull morphology were observed in groups consuming dairy products, suggesting that the effect of agriculture on skull morphology was greatest in populations consuming the softest food.”At least in early farmers, milk did not make for bigger, stronger skull bones.” 
Moving to a dairy diet changed the whole human face Credit: Christopher Furlong It’s certainly a fact worth chewing over.Humans have small, slender heads and weaker jaws, because of our discovery of soft foods like cheese and dairy, a new study suggests.Research by The University of California suggests the advent of farming, especially dairy products, had a small but significant effect on the shape of human skulls.The reason is all in the effort it took to eat farmed food. Humans who live by hunting and foraging wild foods have to put more effort into chewing than those surviving on a softer diet of cheese and cereal mush.Without the daily work-out of crunching, grinding and gnawing, bones and muscle declined, refining the features of farming communities.“The effect of farming is mostly visible in the areas of the skull that generate or experience stress during chewing,” said graduate student David Katz, formerly of UC Davis, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Calgary, Alberta.“The simplest explanation is that these stresses were reduced because farming diets were generally softer.” Hunter gatherers began to rely on diets from domesticated plants and animals from around 10,000 years ago, and archaeologists have noted the skulls began to shrink but could never quantify the change or say why it happened.
Commenting on the findings, Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel, Associate Professor at the University of Buffalo, said: “The profound effects of the transition to agriculture on the biology of modern humans cannot be overstated. “Anthropologists have noted for some time that even prehistoric farmers had more gracile crania and lower jaws than foragers. “Drawing on an expansive global dataset and an innovative analytical approach (this study). demonstrates small but consistent effects of a soft agricultural diet on skull morphology thatrelate directly to chewing anatomy.”A previous study by The University of Cambridge suggested that over time human skeletons have become much lighter and more fragile since the invention of agriculture as we switched from foraging to farming.While human hunter-gatherers from around 7,000 years ago had bones comparable in strength to modern orangutans, farmers from the same area over 6,000 years later had significantly lighter and weaker bones that would have been more susceptible to breaking.Bone mass was around 20 per cent higher in the foragers – the equivalent to what an average person would lose after three months of weightlessness in space.The new research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings. Scientists mapped points of the skull from farming communities and compared them with hunter gatherers Credit:David Katz and Tim Weaver, UC Davis
Last Monday evening’s (February 16) gala dinner during the week of the 2015 SME Annual Conference here in Denver, Colorado, celebrated the 2014 inductees into the International Mining Technology Hall of Fame in the Brown Palace. It was a glorious evening, attended by the great and the good, including a large group from the Benavides family – considered by many to be the ‘first family’ of Peruvian Mining – the Peruvian ambassador to the USA, three former CEOs of Newmont Mining, the President of Freeport-McMoRan Americas and many other notable figures of the mining industry, too numerous to mention. Remember to get your nominations for this year in before end July – for additional information, visit www.im-halloffame.comThe inductees were:OUTSTANDING INNOVATOR – Alberto Benavides de la Quintana, founder of Compañia de Mínas BuenaventuraENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND STEWARDSHIP – Andy Robertson funder of SRK, Gemcom and InfomineUNDERGROUND SUPPORT – Tom Melbye, Mike Rispin, Odd Bjorn Kleven, Janne Lehto, Ismael Anabalon, Jouko Tenhunen, Rick Kraft (Normet wet shotcrete)UNDERGROUND PRODUCTION – Wilhelm Löbbe and Konrad Grebe, the coal plowUNDERGROUND LOAD AND HAUL – Joe Joy, founder of what today is Joy GlobalUNDERGROUND DEVELOPMENT – Udo Fischer, Torbjörn Hartzell and Jan Åkerman (Sandvik rock cutting tools)SURFACE PRODUCTION – Mark Cooper, Jeff Flahive, Jim Hutchins of Vermeer, Terrain Leveler surface excavation machinesSURFACE LOAD AND HAUL – Dr James White, founder of Modular Mining Systems – DISPATCH®SAFETY – Jim Joy (G-MIRM)MINING SOFTWARE – Fred Banfield, founder of MineSightMETALLURGY – Rami Saario, Jussi Vaarno, Henri Fredriksson, Jussi Pajala, Juri Matinheikki, the development team for Outotec’s Modular SX-plant, VSF®XEXPLORATION – Ray Roussy, Sonic DrillingCONCENTRATION – Byron Knelson, father of the Knelson concentratorCOMMINUTION – Professor Klaus Schoenert, developer of HPGRBULK HANDLING – John Frater, internationally renowned pump designsMark Cooper, Managing Director of specialty excavation for Vermeer Corp said: “Today this technology is being adopted by leading mines across the globe and it is an honour to be recognised by our peers.”The evening got off to a great start with a keynote presentation by Sandy Watson, Vice President, Mining – US and International for Stantec, the lead sponsor of this year’s International Mining Technology Hall of Fame. Particularly interesting were the details he provided of some of the work Stantec is doing at the Grasberg underground block cave operations in Indonesia, which is becoming the biggest underground mine in the world.All the other sponsors joined in celebrating these great innovators and technology facilitators of the global mining industry – SRK Consulting, The Graña y Montero Group, Hexagon Mining, ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions, FLSmidth, Sandvik, Orica, Joy Global and Metso. Thanks to them all for supporting what really was a triumphant event and a celebration of innovators.All the inductees and their representatives had interesting observations to make about the industry and in many cases poignant reminiscences about the struggles and challenges they faced, both personally and professionally, to achieve their successes. A detailed report will appear in the May 2015 issue of International Mining and all the 2014 inductee citations can be found on www.im-halloffame.com. Nominations are sought for next year’s event that will be held during the SME Annual Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, February 21-24, 2016.
Stay on target Lego has polished up another classic Star Wars set. Much to your minifig Han Solo’s chagrin, they’ve given the deluxe treatment to the very place he was encased in carbonite: the Cloud City of the planet Bespin.The original Cloud City was released 15 years ago and it’s one of the hardest Lego sets to find. One of the reasons it’s so sought after is the Boba Fett minifig, which was Lego’s first ever with printed arms. In good condition with all the minifigs, you can expect to pay well over $600 if you manage to get your hands on one of the 698-piece sets today.The new set, called Betrayal at Cloud City, will be significantly easier to track down, at least for the time being. It’s also three times bigger and will only set you back $349.99. That’s right in line with pricing for the similarly massive Death Star.The 2018 edition counts 2,812 pieces and includes a whopping 18 minifigs: Luke Skywalker in Bespin clothes, Han Solo and Princess Leia (in both Bespin and Hoth gear), Chewbacca, C3PO, R2D2, an IG-88, Lando Calrissian, Lobot, Cloud Car pilot and gunner, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, a pair of Cloud City Guards and Stormtroopers and an Ugnaught. The finished build showcases four scenes from the Cloud City. Each one is packed with detail.On the inside, there’s a full dining area with room for 5 figs that features a miniature decorative Cloud City. The attached garbage room has a conveyor belt and incinerator for doing away with expired (or nuisance) droids. A promenade leads your minifigs to other areas of the model.Cloud City wouldn’t be complete without a carbonite freezing chamber (complete with a “freezing” function), or a landing pad. This is where you can load Han’s frozen form into the back of Slave I. There’s also a precarious walkway were Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader can tangle in an epic lightsaber duel and one of those awesome twin-pod Cloud Cars to patrol the skies.If you’re a Lego VIP, you can order Betrayal at Cloud City from the official store starting on September 13. Everyone else has to wait until October 1, so it might be a good idea to snag yourself a VIP membership if you want to make sure you don’t miss out.LEGO is for everyone and everything. Watch this industrial robot turn construction worker, one LEGO brick at a time. There are plenty of Star Wars LEGO sets you can purchase now too. You can even build the Hyperdrive while you wait for Cloud City. Follow the latest in Star Wars news right here.Let us know what you like about Geek by taking our survey. The New Lego UCS Imperial Star Destroyer Is Nearly Four Feet LongLego Makes Building Sets Accessible to the Blind 
At a legislative committee Thursday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says it could absorb part of the responsibilities of the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission if it was eliminated.The House Fisheries Committee heard Kodiak Rep. Louise Stutes’ House Bill 112, which would transfer duties of the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission to the Department of Fish and Game and the Office of Administrative Hearings. Twenty-five full time employees would move to Fish and Game.Kevin Brooks is Fish and Game deputy commissioner.“The department believes that we could make this work without service degradation to commercial fishermen. I think that’s important. Issuing permits, doing emergency transfers, those types of things,” Brooks says.The CFEC is responsible for deciding what commercial fisheries to limit, who gets to participate in them and adjudicating appeal cases. It also issues permits and licenses, which bring in the majority of the agency’s revenue.This is not the first time a lawmaker has tried to eliminate the CFEC. Homer Rep. Paul Seaton first introduced a similar bill at the end of the last legislative session and initiated a legislative audit.Fish and Game conducted its own review that came out in February. It made several recommendations and highlighted some inefficiencies, like a backlog of 28 application cases more than 15 years old.Sitka Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins sits on the fisheries committee.“There seems to be some stubborn resistance getting to the number zero with that backlog. The backlog is low, but it doesn’t seem to be working its way down, at least quickly. And just put directly, why has the backlog not been worked through?” Kreiss-Tomkins asks.CFEC Chair Bruce Twomley says he and the other two commissioners adjudicated 143 cases last year, mostly permit transfers. He says they are committed to finishing the backlogged cases in 2016.Stutes’ bill would do away with the agency’s three heads and add an executive director, saving $424,000, according to a Fish and Game estimate.The House Fisheries Committee will take public testimony on the bill to eliminate CFEC Thursday at 10 a.m. As of Friday, at least two letters of opposition have come from the fishing community, including the United Southeast Alaska Gillnetters Association.
Noted singer Shahnaz RahmatullahNoted singer Shahnaz Rahmatullah was laid to eternal rest at Banani Military Graveyard in the capital on Sunday, reports UNB.Before the burial, her namaz-e-janaza was held at the ‘Park Mosque’ at Baridhara road No. 9 after Zohr prayers.Shahnaz Rahmatullah, known as the queen of modern Bangla music having an illustrious career spanning over decades, passed away at her Baridhara residence early Sunday at the age of 67.”She suffered a major cardiac arrest,” said lyricist Shafiq Tuhin.The singer left behind husband, one son and one daughter and a host of relatives, well-wishers and thousands of spectators to mourn her death.The singer’s notable songs include ‘Ekbar Jete De Na Amar Chotto Sonar Gaye’, ‘Je Chilo Drishtir Shimanay’ and ‘Ek Tara Tui Desher Kotha’.Her main areas of singing entailed modern (Adhunik) and patriotic songs.She emerged as a singer in Dhaka in the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she sang many patriotic songs, including ‘Sohni DhartiAllah Rakhe’ and ‘Jeevay Jeevay Pakistan’ to inspire the freedom fighters as well as freedom-seeking people of the country.In her career, she also had playback voice in many songs for Urdu films as well as gazals in the Pakistan era.In recognition of her timeless songs, she was awarded Ekushey Padak in 1992, National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the film ‘Chhutir Phande’ in 1990, Bangladesh Shilpakala Award and many more.Shahnaz was born on 2 January 1952 in Dhaka.Actor Zafar Iqbal and music director Anwar Parvez were Shahnaz Rahmatullah’s brothers.
Microsoft decided that Black Friday was as good a time as any to try and close the sales gap between the the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It attempted this by knocking $50 off all Xbox One bundles, meaning you could pick one up for just $299 with a game.With Sony seeing similar success with its own discounts during the sales, Microsoft may not have closed the sales gap, but it did sell a lot of consoles. In the US, Xbox One sales increased 22% compared to last year’s Black Friday offerings. So it may come as no surprise that Microsoft is now repeating the offer for Christmas.The $50 discount applies to all Xbox One bundles currently available, and will run until December 26.Here’s a reminder of what’s on offer as seen on Black Friday:Xbox One The Lego Movie Videogame Bundle $299Xbox One Special Edition Gears of War Bundle $299Xbox One Gears of War: Ultimate Edition Bundle $299Xbox One 1TB Holiday Bundle $349Xbox One Rise of the Tomb Raider Bundle $349Xbox One with Kinect Bundle $349Xbox One Fallout 4 Bundle $349Xbox One Limited Edition Forza Motorsport 6 Console $349Xbox One Madden NFL 16 Bundle $349Xbox One FIFA 16 1TB Bundle $349Xbox One Elite Bundle $449Xbox One Limited Edition Halo 5: Guardians Bundle $449Once you’ve acquired a sub-$300 Xbox One, you can settle down and wait for Microsoft’s Countdown sale to start. It kicks off on December 22 and runs to January 7. Every day there will be digital game deals offering between 40-60% off normal prices. If you opt to subscribe to Xbox Live Gold the discounts will increase by a further 10%.Tempted? Or will a PS4 be wrapped and under the tree this year instead? If it’s a PS4, IGN has some ideas on what Microsoft can learn from Sony:
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court Wednesday refused to interfere in the West Bengal government’s decision to give Rs 10,000 each to 28,000 Durga puja committees in the state. An interim stay granted by the court on disbursal of funds stands vacated as the court disposed of the public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the state government’s decision to give funds to the puja committees. A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Debasish Kar Gupta and Justice Sampa Sarkar said that the Legislature is the appropriate forum to decide on expenditure by the state government. Also Read – Rain batters Kolkata, cripples normal life Stating that the court does not want to interfere in the government’s decision to disburse funds to Durga puja committees at this stage, the bench, however, said that the court can interfere at a later stage when the scope arises. Advocate General Kishore Dutta had submitted before the division bench that the funds are to be used for assisting police under its traffic safety campaign and not for any religious purpose. The petitioner had challenged the government’s decision to disburse funds to the tune of Rs 28 crore, claiming that it was a dole to the puja committees and had no public purpose.
Young women are more likely to experience sleep disruption in the days leading up to their menstrual period, a study has found. “Sleep is more disrupted in the several days directly prior to menses in young healthy women,” said Anne E Kim, a medical student at Case Western Reserve University in the US. “Increased sleep disruption was found in the late luteal phase, which corresponds with the days directly prior to menses,” said Kim. Menstrual phase affected sleep efficiency, wake after sleep onset (WASO), number of awakenings per night, and sleep fragmentation index, in keeping with increased sleep disruption in the late luteal phase. Also Read – Add new books to your shelfCompared with the early follicular phase, sleep efficiency decreased by 3.3 per cent, WASO increased by 15 minutes, and number of awakenings per night increased by three in the late luteal phase. Researchers collected daily sleep data from 10 healthy women between the ages of 18 and 28 who had regular menstrual cycles. The researchers tracked the women’s sleep during two of their cycles. The women wore actigraphic sensors on their wrist to record patterns of activity and rest over 578 sleep episodes and they provided morning urine samples for measurement of concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH), estrone-3-glucuronide (E1G), and pregnanediol-3-glucuronide (PDG). Also Read – Over 2 hours screen time daily will make your kids impulsiveAll participants ovulated in both cycles. The women also completed five-day diets during the early follicular phases of each cycle. The diet during one cycle contained neutral energy availability, and the diet during the other cycle contained 55 per cent fewer calories. Menstrual cycle lengths were standardised to 14-day follicular and 14-day luteal phases, centered on the day of ovulation. “Short-term caloric restriction had negative effects on sleep in both the late follicular phase, just before ovulation, and in the late luteal phase, just before the onset of menses,” said Kim, who performed this study. Decreased energy availability increased sleep disruption, with less sleep efficiency, greater WASO, and higher sleep fragmentation index in the late follicular phase in addition to the effects noted above in the late luteal phase. It is likely these effects are mediated by the dynamic changes in ovarian hormones across the menstrual cycle. Their study found that E1G was linked with more awakenings, and PDG was linked with a trend toward higher sleep fragmentation index. The study validates perceptions using objective measures, and further documents the negative impact of dieting on sleep. “These findings suggest that women need to be particularly cognizant of practicing good sleep hygiene in the week before menses and with decreased caloric intake,” Kim noted.
Archaeologists studying a stone circle they believed to be thousands of years old were left embarrassed, when the former owner of the land admitted he’d built it in the 1990s. According to The Guardian, the stone circle in Leochel-Cushnie in the northeast of Scotland was being studied by Historic Environment Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council archaeology service.Appearing to be a recumbent stone circle, it struck archaeologists as worthy of study due to its unusually small diameter and the small size of its stones.Easter Aquhorthies recumbent stone circle. Photo by stu smith CC BY SA 2.0Recumbent stone circles are only found in Aberdeenshire in the northeast of Scotland, and Cork and Kerry in the southwest of Ireland.Of approximately 200 known to exist, 99 of them are Scottish. They are made up of a ring of vertical upright stones and single recumbent horizontal one which is often raised on a bed of earth so that it has the same height as the other stones.The Aberdeenshire stones were believed to have been used for astronomical purposes, as generally the horizontal stone is set on the southwestern side of the circle and once every 18 and half years the moon appears to be lower to the Earth (called a lunar standstill) and look as if it is “framed” above the horizontal stone.Recumbent stone circle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.Further evidence of sacred ritualistic use comes from the recovering of shards of pottery and charred human bones, and shards of glittering quartz crystal were scattered around the recumbent stone, perhaps to reflect the moonlight.They’ve fascinated people for centuries. Antiquarians attributed them to the druids, the semi-mythical pagan priesthood of the Celts, and called them “Druid’s Temples” or “Druid Circles” — with the recumbent stone referred to as “the altar.”In reality, very little is known of the belief systems of the ancient cultures who inhabited Britain, only the propaganda of the later Roman invaders, and the romantic fantasies of more recent writers.Ilton Druid’s Temple. Photo by Paul Allison CC BY-SA 2.0With few facts to explain their purpose or indeed how these massive stones were moved into place, communities local to recumbent stone circles resorted to folklore instead.Many recumbent stone circles have tales of guardian spirits or hidden treasure fixed to them. Hollow indentations in the stones were sometimes said to be the sinister cloven hoof marks of the Devil, while horizontal stones were described as the seats of early Christian saints and missionaries, especially if they were near to churches or other religious sites.Aberdeenshire’s recumbent stone circles were erected between 3,000 and 2,500 BC during the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age — with one exception, of course. Not an intentional hoax, the Leochel-Cushnie stone circle was built in the Nineties as a replica, but when the farm which owned the land was sold, the new owners thought it was real and reported it to the authorities.A winter day at a recumbent prehistoric stone circle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, just after sunset. The Easter Aquhorthies Stone Circle was placed here some 4,500 years ago.Neil Ackerman, the historic environment record assistant at Aberdeenshire council, tried to look on the bright side.“It is obviously disappointing to learn of this development, but it also adds an interesting element to its story,” Ackerman told the Guardian. “That it so closely copies a regional monument type shows the local knowledge, appreciation and engagement with the archaeology of the region by the local community.“I hope the stones continue to be used and enjoyed. While not ancient, it is still in a fantastic location and makes for a great feature in the landscape.”Ackerman added: “These types of monument are notoriously difficult to date. For this reason we include any modern replicas of ancient monuments in our records in case they are later misidentified.Read another story from us: 4,500-yr-old Stone Pillar Depicts History’s First Known Border Dispute“We always welcome reports of any new, modern reconstructions of ancient monuments, especially those built with the skill of this stone circle and that reference existing monument types.”
AccorHotels signs partnership deal with Mantis Group TORONTO — AccorHotels has signed a strategic agreement with South Africa-based Mantis Group, acquiring 50% stake in their business.The acquisition will allow Accor to expand its hotel network in Africa and beyond, as Mantis boasts a collection of award-winning, privately owned, five-star properties and lodges across all seven continents. It will also combine both parties’ vision of embodying conservation and education into its operations.This strategic partnership is accompanied by the launch of Community Conservation Fund Africa (CCFA), a non-profit organization that aims to amplify both Groups’ commitment towards preventing the accelerating decline of Africa’s wildlife. Both groups are also committed to bring together three internationally renowned conservation organizations: Wilderness Foundation, Tusk Trust and African Parks.“Mantis is a pioneer in customized one-of-a-kind travel services in some of the most imaginative hotels across the world,” said Sebastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO, AccorHotels. “With this strategic partnership, we are reinforcing the Group’s footprint in Africa and we have access to a brand with strong roots and heritage, recognised for its commitment to preserve the environment and its prestigious credentials in the hospitality space.”More news: TRAVELSAVERS welcomes Julie Virgilio to the teamAdded Adrian Gardiner, founder and chairman of the Mantis Group: “This agreement presents an attractive proposition for the Mantis Group to utilize AccorHotels’ robust distribution channels and world-wide reach to further develop the hospitality concepts and sustainability projects we have worked so tirelessly to grow.”Mantis’ network features 28 managed properties, plus a global network of branded hotels and residences that include boutique hotels and flagship properties such as Founders Lodge, a South African game reserve in the Eastern Cape. Mantis Group also owns and operates a number of unique luxury houseboats and a lodge under the Zambezi Queen Collection brand. Share Travelweek Group Posted by
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