Category: READING COURSE

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Simple, Moderate and Complex Reading material

Pesticides Are Dangerous # Practice Reading

Pesticides Are Dangerous

Source – http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/29/pesticide-exposure.aspx

More than one billion pounds ( the basic monetary unit of the United Kingdom )of pesticides (a chemical preparation for destroying plant, fungal, or animal pests) are used in the US each year, an amount that has quintupled (being five times as as much or as many)since 1945. This includes 20,000 products made from varying formulations (to create or prepare something carefully, giving particular attention to the details)of more than 1,000 chemicals, sprayed everywhere from farm fields and gardens to playgrounds and schools.

It should be revealing (giving your interesting information that you did not know before)that one commonly used type of pesticide, organophosphates (chemical containing carbon and phosphates), were first developed as nerve gas during World War II. They work by inhibiting (to prevent something from happening or make it happen more slowly or less frequently than normal)cholinesterase (an enzyme, found especially in the heart, brain, and blood, thathydrolyzes acetylcholine to acetic acid and choline), an enzyme that regulates a key messenger in your brain called acetylcholine.

In effect, these poisons disrupt the signals between neurons (a cell that carries information within the brain and between the brain and other parts of the body), an action that has been linked to neuro degenerative diseases (Neurodegenerative disease is an umbrella term for a range of conditions which primarily affect the neurons in the human brain)like Alzheimer’s disease (a serious disease, especially affecting older people, that prevents the brain from functioning normally and cause loss of memory, loss of ability to speak clearly etc)and Parkinson’s (a disease of the nervous system that gets worse over a period of time and causes the muscles to become weak and the arms and legs to shake)in humans. In children, there is increasing evidence (the facts, signs, or objects that make you believe that something is true)that these pesticides are especially damaging, not only at high exposure levels but also at low, chronic (lasting for a long time)levels to which millions are exposed (to show something that is usually hidden).

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Pharmaceutical Companies # Practice Reading

Lately pharma (pharmaceutical companies collectively as a sector of industry)execs have been taking yet another volley (a number of bullets, arrows, or other projectiles discharged at one time)of criticism (the expression of disapproval of someone or something on the basis of perceived faults or mistakes)over drug-pricing practices from Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio—and plenty of others—without offering much in the way of a defense (the action of defending from or resisting attack). Now two CEOs say the industry—whose stocks tumbled (fall suddenly, clumsily, or headlong)on a Clinton tweet about ‘price gouging ( a large amount, as of money, exacted or extorted)’ and whose share prices have been ailing (in poor health)since July—is quietly formulating (express (an idea) in a concise or systematic way)its response plan.

When Biogen BIIB 0.84% CEO George Scangos was asked on a third quarter earnings (gain deservedly in return for one’s behaviour or achievements)call Tuesday about the industry’s relative silence on the subject of late, he predicted (say or estimate that (a specified thing) will happen in the future or will be a consequence of something)drug companies would soon weigh in. “Obviously, there has been a lot of rhetoric (the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques)recently,” Scangos said. “The industry is preparing a thoughtful presentation of a different perspective (a particular attitude towards or way of regarding something; a point of view)on drug prices and the value that we bring to patients and the medical community.”

Eli Lilly LLY -0.19% CEO John Lechleiter offered a similar response when asked about the subject by an analyst (a person who conducts analysis)this morning, on an earnings call: “You can expect to see more coming from the industry,” he said, noting that the response needs to be well-calibrated (to determine, check, or rectify the graduation of (any instrument giving quantitative measurements)). “We have to be careful and thoughtful here. I don’t think there is a way you can spend enough money to all of a sudden change people’s mind.”

That said, Lechleiter believes it can be done. “We have a great story to tell,” he said. “If you look at the hepatitis space, the cancer space, diabetes—there are huge advances in recent years…I’ve never been as optimistic (disposed to take a favorable view of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome)about our chance to make a difference.” He added that the media focuses on examples of individual drug price hikes, it has overlooked the fact that expense of drugs as a proportion of healthcare spending has remained “remarkably constant” over the years. Moreover, drug companies, Lechleiter says, are mandated (a command or authorization to act in a particular way on a public issue given by the electorate to its representative)by the government to provide “deep discounts”, and are increasingly under pressure to do so to get their medicines on formularies (a collection or systems of formulas)and to be able to compete for business. “We have more work to do, and you can expect to see more.”

Source – http://fortune.com/2015/10/22/big-pharma-wont-stay-silent-in-drug-pricing-debate-for-long/

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Pest And Pollinators # Practice Reading

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have recently published a report on using insects as a protein source for animal feed and human consumption. It found that edible  (fit to be eaten as food) insects could contain biological (of or relating to the products and operations ofapplied biology) and chemical contaminants (something that contaminates (to make impure or unsuitable by contact or mixture with something unclean, bad, etc)), depending on how the large scale insect farms were managed.

With an estimated (to form an approximate judgment or opinion regarding the worth, amount, size, weight, etc.,of; calculate approximately) global population of 9 billion by 2050, using insects as a high quality source of protein as feed (for chickens, for example) could give a much needed food conversion rate (lower levels of initial energy and water required). Insect meat is also a quality source of fat, fibre, minerals and vitamins.

It is estimated that insects such as flies , moths, meal worms and crickets/locust

Insects

Insects

already form the diet of at least 2 billion people. There is still clearly a way to go until western cultures can adopt new foodstuffs (a substance used or capable of being used as nutriment) and a better understanding of the hazards  (an unavoidable danger or risk, even though often foreseeable)of eating insects is required for the next step.

Source : http://pestsandpollinators.com/

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Decline Of Pollinators # Practice Reading

Pollinators ( an insect that carries pollen from one flower to another) contribute (to give to a common supply)to about 10% of the economic (involving or pertaining to one’s personal resources of money) value of crop production, but the contribution to human nutrition (the process by which organisms take in and utilize food material)by these pollinators is potentially much higher. This is because pollinators support the sexual reproduction (the state of being reproduced)(by transfer of gametes aka pollen) of crops high in essential nutrients that malnourished (poorly or improperly nourished)regions of the world rely on. This suggests that regions already facing food shortages and nutritional (providing nutrition) deficiencies (the quality or condition of being deficient; incompleteness or inadequacy)will suffer particularly hard from the global decline of bees and other pollinators.

Many of the crops dependent on animal vectors (In epidemiology, a vector is any agent (person,animal, or microorganism) that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism)to pollinate (convey pollen to or deposit pollen on (a stigma, ovule, flower, or plant) and so allow fertilization)(instead of wind) are the ones most rich in micro nutrients essential for human health. The recent decline of important pollinators, such as the domesticated (tame and kept as a pet or on a farm.)Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, has lead to concerns on the economic and now nutritional situation of crop production.  Dr Chaplin-Kramer and colleagues (a person with whom one works in a profession or business)set out to assess (the ​act of ​judging or ​deciding the ​amount, ​value, ​quality, or ​importance of something, or the ​judgment or ​decision that is made)the importance of pollinators to global health by determining which regions these crops are most critical for and what their micro-nutrient content is.

Source :http://pestsandpollinators.com/

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