쌍둥아빠의 티스토리

A doctor attends to a hepatitis patient in a special isolation area at a hospital in Ahmadabad, India

STEVE EMBER: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I’m Steve Ember.

BARBARA KLEIN: And I’m Barbara Klein. This week, we will tell about six diseases of the liver. The diseases come from six different viruses. Doctors have one name for all of them: hepatitis.

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STEVE EMBER: The liver is in the upper right part of the stomach. This dark, red organ is big. It weighs more than one kilogram. And, it has a big job. The liver helps clean the blood and fight infection. It also helps break down food and store energy until the body needs it.

Hepatitis destroys liver cells. Some kinds of hepatitis are much more serious than others. Which kind a person has can only be known from tests for antibodies in the blood.

Antibodies are special proteins that the body's natural defenses against disease produce in answer to a threat. Identify the antibody and you identify the threat.

BARBARA KLEIN: Hepatitis A is usually spread through human waste in water or food. It is in the same group of viruses as those that cause the disease polio.

The hepatitis A virus causes high body temperature, pain and weakness. It causes problems with the stomach and intestines, making it difficult to eat or break down food. Also, the skin of a person with hepatitis may become yellow. This is a sign that the liver is not operating normally.

To help prevent the spread of hepatitis A, people should wash their hands after they use the restroom or change a baby's diaper. People should also wash their hands before they eat or prepare food.

STEVE EMBER: Hepatitis A can spread quickly to hundreds or thousands of people. But the virus is deadly in less than one percent of cases. Many people infected with the virus never even get sick. But those who do usually recover within two months.

The World Health Organization says hepatitis A is often found in Africa, Asia and Central and South America. People who have had hepatitis A cannot get it again. There is a vaccine to prevent hepatitis A. America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the vaccine is the best way to protect against the disease.

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BARBARA KLEIN: The World Health Organization says as many as two billion people are infected with the hepatitis B virus. More than three hundred fifty million of those infected have lifelong infections. WHO officials say an estimated six hundred thousand people die each year as a result of hepatitis B.

The virus is in the same group as the herpes and smallpox viruses. Hepatitis B vaccines have been given since the nineteen eighties. The W-H-O says the vaccine is ninety-five percent effective in preventing the development of infection.

AP

A boy in Lima, Peru, reacts to a hepatitis B vaccine

STEVE EMBER: Hepatitis B spreads when blood from an infected person enters the body of another person. An infected mother can infect her baby. The virus can also spread through sexual activity, and if people share injection devices.

Blood products from an infected person can spread hepatitis B. People also can get infected if they share personal-care products that might have blood on them. Some examples are toothbrushes and sharp hair-cutting instruments.

BARBARA KLEIN: Worldwide, most hepatitis B infections are found in children. Young children are the ones most likely to develop a chronic or lifelong infection. The risk of such an infection is small for children older than four years.

About ninety percent of babies infected with hepatitis B during the first year develop chronic infections. Such persons are at high risk of death from liver disease or liver cancer. The hepatitis B vaccine is considered to be the first medicine that can protect people against liver cancer.

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STEVE EMBER: Hepatitis C is even more dangerous. Like hepatitis B, it spreads when blood from an infected person enters someone who is not infected.

The hepatitis C virus belongs to the same group of viruses as yellow fever and West Nile virus. Most people living with hepatitis C develop chronic infections, often without any signs. They are at high risk for liver disease and liver cancer.

The World Health Organization says about one hundred seventy million people are infected with hepatitis C. That is three percent of the population of the world! The WHO. also says that as many as four million more become infected each year. It warns that those infected may develop diseases of the liver, including liver cancer. The WHO says the highest rates of infection are in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America.

BARBARA KLEIN: The hepatitis C virus was first observed in nineteen seventy-four. But it was not officially recognized as a new kind of hepatitis until nineteen eighty-nine. Scientists have been working to develop a vaccine and other treatments.

Last month, the journal Lancet reported that a combination of two experimental drugs could clear the infection in eight to twelve weeks. However, researchers are still studying the effects of the treatment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about three million Americans are infected with hepatitis C. The rates are highest among people born between nineteen forty-five and nineteen sixty-five. Those especially at risk include persons who inject themselves with drugs and those who received blood or blood products before nineteen ninety.

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STEVE EMBER: Hepatitis D is spread through blood, but only infects people who already have hepatitis B. The hepatitis D virus greatly increases the chance of severe liver damage. Experts say the virus infects about fifteen million people around the world. They say it also appears in five percent of persons infected with hepatitis B.

Doctors say the best way to prevent hepatitis D is to get vaccine that protects against hepatitis B. Doctors can treat some cases of hepatitis B, C and D. The drugs used are costly, however. But they are less costly than getting a new liver.

BARBARA KLEIN: The fifth virus is hepatitis E. Experts say it spreads the same way as hepatitis A -- through infectious waste. Cases often result from polluted drinking water. Medical science recognized hepatitis E as a separate disease in nineteen eighty.

Hepatitis E is also found in animal waste. Studies have shown that the virus can infect many kinds of animals.

STEVE EMBER: The WHO says many hepatitis E cases have been reported in Central and Southeast Asia, North and West Africa and Mexico. No vaccines or medicines are effective against hepatitis E. Most people recover, usually in several weeks or months. But the disease can cause liver damage. In some cases, hepatitis E can be deadly.

The virus is especially dangerous to pregnant women. Twenty percent of those living with hepatitis E die in the last three months of pregnancy.

BARBARA KLEIN: Scientists discovered yet another kind of hepatitis in the nineteen nineties. It has been named hepatitis G. The hepatitis G virus is totally different from any of the other hepatitis viruses.

Donald Poretz is an infectious disease specialist in Washington, DC. He says the hepatitis G virus is spread through blood and blood products. But he says the virus has not been found to cause any real disease.

STEVE EMBER: The World Hepatitis Alliance works to increase knowledge about the dangers of hepatitis. The group says people should know that the disease kills about one million five hundred thousand people each year. It also says one in twelve people worldwide is living with hepatitis B or hepatitis C. And, it says, most of those infected do not even know it.

Hepatitis cannot be cured. The only way to protect against infection is to receive vaccines against hepatitis A and B, and to avoid contact with the other viruses. And that may be difficult.

Remember that some kinds of hepatitis spread through sex or sharing needles. Blood products should be carefully tested for hepatitis. People in high-risk groups and those who have had hepatitis should not give blood. They also should not agree to leave their organs to others after they die. Donated organs can also spread hepatitis.

BARBARA KLEIN: Experts say people can take other steps to protect themselves. These include always washing your hands with soap and water after using the restroom and before preparing or eating food.

Experts say travelers should not drink water of unknown quality when visiting foreign or unknown areas. They also should avoid eating uncooked fruits and vegetables.

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STEVE EMBER: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Brianna Blake. George Grow was our producer. I’m Steve Ember.

BARBARA KLEIN: And I’m Barbara Klein. Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

Chinese youths use computers at an Internet cafe in Beijing

This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

The world has almost seven billion people. At least two billion are expected to be on the Internet by January. New growth is mostly from developing countries. Yet only twenty-one percent of their population is online.

A group called the World Wide Web Foundation is working to make the Web more usable to more of the world.

Tim Berners-Lee is the British computer scientist who invented the World Wide Web. He announced the launch of the Web Foundation last November.

The group says many people can access the Web but are unable to use it. The biggest reason is illiteracy.

The latest United Nations report says almost eight hundred million adults are unable to read or write. Even for those who can read, much of the information that is available on the Web is not in a language they can understand.

Steve Bratt is chief executive of the Web Foundation.

STEVE BRATT: "If you're a poor shopkeeper living in a very impoverished part of Botswana and you're trying to feed your family, trying to buy and sell goods, trying to get medical services for your kids or your employees, and you speak a local language, there's nothing on today's Web that's going to help you, right?

"So even if they had connectivity and they had a mobile phone, or something they could get to the Web, what would they look for? What would they be able to understand?"

Tim Berners-Lee first proposed the idea for the World Wide Web in nineteen eighty-nine. This was twenty years after Americans developed the first version of what we know as the Internet.

The Internet is a network of networks. It lets millions of computers communicate with each other. The Web is a major part. However, people now often use applications that are not Web-based, like on social networks and mobile devices like the iPhone.

Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web as a way to help people share information. His early work brought the Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML, used to create Web pages. It also gave us the Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- the HTTP before Web addresses.

By two thousand eight, Google reported that the number of Web pages had passed one trillion. Steve Bratt says the World Wide Web Foundation wants everyone to be able to use this information.

STEVE BRATT: "Our main purpose is to advance the Web to empower people. It's focusing on the Web not just as a technology, but as one of the most powerful means for connecting people to knowledge and people to each other."

Partnerships with the Web Science Trust and the World Wide Web Consortium aim to create applications that make the Web more user-friendly. Steve Bratt says mobile technology is an important part of that work, as more and more people use their phones to go online.

STEVE BRATT: "One of the challenges we have is to make the Web a lot easier to use even on the simplest and least expensive mobile phones."

And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.

Children at a KaBOOM playground in Washington

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

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I'm Doug Johnson.

This week we play new music from Taylor Swift …

And, answer a question about Veterans Day …

But first, a report on a group that has built hundreds of playgrounds in America and how it is now reaching beyond those borders.

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KaBOOM

DOUG JOHNSON: Back in nineteen ninety-five, Darrell Hammond read a tragic story in the newspaper about two children in a poor area of Washington, D.C. They had been playing in an old car because they had nowhere else to play. They got stuck inside and died from a lack of air.

Mr. Hammond was struck by the tragedy. Soon after, he and his friend Dawn Hutchinson established a non-profit group to build community playgrounds across America. The first went up that same year in Washington. In the fifteen years since, KaBOOM has built almost two thousand community playgrounds. But KaBOOM’s playground plans are not just for America. Faith Lapidus has more.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Mark White built his first non-American playground in Poland. He is known in that country as “Pan Plac Zabaw” or Mr. Playground. The project took place at an orphanage, a large housing center for children without parents. Mark White says the playground brought the wider community together. Families came to play. Orphaned children made friends with children they had never had the chance to play with before.

Mark White’s earlier work with KaBOOM in the American Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina helped inspire and guide the playground in Poland.

MARK WHITE: “I thought couldn’t this playground model work elsewhere in the world? With Skype, and the Internet and cell phones? Couldn’t we do the same type of thing? So I looked at the eight steps of the roadmap that KaBOOM uses to teach people how to build a playground, using community involvement. And went one by one and planned the playground there in Poland.”

Currently, Mark White is working on a playground in Nepal. That is the kind of story sure to make Laurence Hooper happy. He is Senior Director of Online Initiatives at KaBoom. He takes everything KaBOOM knows about building playgrounds and puts that information online in a simple, easy-to-use design.

He says there are fifteen years of playground-building knowledge available on KaBOOM’s website. He says you can find checklists, design plans, even information about soil testing. Mr. Hooper also says visitors can post questions that KaBOOM experts will answer. Or visitors can exchange information with other playground builders, no matter where they are.

LAURENCE HOOPER: “It’s astonishing. You hear stories about people using our tools in Nepal or in Africa. The power of the web is that it really does reach into every single corner and makes this knowledge available to someone who just goes onto a search engine and types a couple of words looking for this information. You know, they will find us.”

You can find a link to the KaBOOM website on our website voaspecialenglish.com.

Veterans Day

AFP Photo

Soldiers mark Veterans Day with a wreath-laying ceremony in Afghanistan

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DOUG JOHNSON: Our listener question this week is from China. Albert Lee wants to know about Veterans Day. November eleventh is a day Americans honor men and women who have served in the United States armed forces.

World War One ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Germany surrendered at eleven o'clock in the morning on November eleventh, nineteen eighteen. The next year, President Woodrow Wilson signed a document declaring November eleventh as Armistice Day in the United States. It would be a day to honor the men and women who had served in the American armed forces during the war.

The United States now has more than twenty-three million veterans. The term "veteran" is not just for soldiers who have served in wars.

It describes anyone who has ever been in the military. On November eleventh, communities across the United States hold ceremonies to observe Veterans Day. Military bands play. Veterans march in parades. The president and other public officials give speeches.

Congress wanted the nation to hear the stories of its older veterans. Many veterans have reached old age. Each day, more than one thousand veterans die. So, in two thousand, Congress created a program to keep these memories alive for future Americans. It is called the Veterans History Project.

The project collects the remembrances of American war veterans and civilian workers who supported them. These collections are kept in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington.

The project collects remembrances of veterans who served in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War. It also includes veterans of the Persian Gulf War and conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Civilians who actively supported war efforts are also invited to share their valuable stories. Volunteers throughout the nation collect veterans’ stories for the Library of Congress.

You can hear more about Veterans Day Monday on the Special English program This is America.

Taylor Swift

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DOUG JOHNSON: Taylor Swift is a singer, songwriter and musician who hardly needs an introduction these days. Her two thousand eight album, “Fearless,” won more awards than any other album in the history of country music. Taylor Swift is also the top-selling digital artist in music history. Not bad for a performer who is only twenty years old. Last week, Taylor Swift released her third studio album, “Speak Now.” Some critics say it may be her best yet. Katherine Cole has more.

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KATHERINE COLE: That was “Dear John” from Taylor Swift’s latest album, “Speak Now.” Like most of her songs, this one tells about a deeply personal experience. Media reports say the song is about Swift’s failed relationship earlier this year with musician John Mayer. However, she has not publicly confirmed that the song is about him.

Taylor Swift does say in the album notes of “Speak Now” that she wrote each song with a person in mind. She says the songs contain the words she meant to say but didn’t. The next song, “Innocent,” was written with rapper Kanye West in mind. It is her answer to his behavior when he interrupted her award acceptance speech at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards.

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Taylor Swift’s earlier albums were heavily influenced by country music. One reason for her huge success is that her music is popular with country music fans as well as with wider audiences. However, her new album shows that she is also at ease with other music styles. We leave you with “Back to December.”

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DOUG JOHNSON: I’m Doug Johnson. Our program was written by Dana Demange, Jeri Watson and Caty Weaver, who also was our producer.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.

Women sell fruits and vegetables in front of a damaged house in Jacmel, Haiti, after the earthquake in January. The Global Heritage Fund says Jacmel is one of the world’s last historic cities of steel and iron architecture.

BOB DOUGHTY: I’m Bob Doughty.

FAITH LAPIDUS: And I’m Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. The Global Heritage Fund organization recently released a list of cultural treasures in the developing world that are in danger of disappearing.

These “On the Verge” places face many threats. They include war and conflict, development pressures, poor supervision, stealing and misuse by visitors.

The Global Heritage Fund says these places are important because they are records of our human civilization. And the group says countries can learn to use these treasures to help support responsible development in the future.

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BOB DOUGHTY: The Global Heritage Fund says globalization has created an international culture that is about sameness. But the endangered places it is trying to protect represent the rich differences of human culture throughout history.

The group says there are more than two hundred places around the developing world that are at serious risk. In a new report, the fund has chosen twelve places that are the most threatened.

AP

The ruins of a church in Ani, Turkey

FAITH LAPIDUS: One of these is Ani, a city in Turkey near the border with Armenia. This ancient city is now mostly in ruins. But it was once the capital of a large and powerful Armenian kingdom.

Ani’s ruined buildings tell an important story about the Armenian culture that existed there during the tenth and eleventh centuries. The city contains many fine examples of religious and civil buildings.

But these buildings have long been damaged by robbers. Experts say the Turkish government has done little to protect the buildings and many are at risk of collapse.

BOB DOUGHTY: The town of Lamu is one of the oldest and best-kept traditional Swahili settlements in East Africa. Lamu is on an island of the same name, off the coast of Kenya. Lamu’s buildings are made of coral stone and wood from mangrove forests.

Ancient settlements on this island date as far back as the eighth century.

Lamu was once a very important trading center in East Africa. It is also important for its special Islamic culture and celebrations. This ancient city became part of the United Nations World Heritage list in two thousand one. But it still faces the threats of modern development, such as the possible building of a modern port nearby.

Several old buildings in town are also in danger of collapsing.

FAITH LAPIDUS: The town of Maluti in India is known for its many religious buildings which date back to the seventeen hundreds. Pala rulers built the Maluti Temples to honor their gods including Shiva, Durga and Kali.

Many of the temples have fallen apart, and rainwater has further weakened those that are still standing. If repaired, these beautiful buildings could offer this small town an important source of income.

Other endangered places include the ancient city of Ninevah in northern Iraq, the Sans-Souci palace in Haiti, and the former capital of Ayutthaya in Thailand.

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BOB DOUGHTY: The Global Heritage Fund is a nonprofit organization based in California. Its goal is to protect places of cultural importance in developing countries.

The group says it pays attention to developing countries because they often have few resources to protect places of cultural importance. And, other major cultural organizations often pay more attention to protecting places in the developed world.

For example, the fund points out that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has forty-five World Heritage places in Italy. UNESCO has forty-two in Spain. But Peru, famous for its ancient Incan buildings, has only nine World Heritage Places. Guatemala has only three.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Many of the Global Heritage Fund’s efforts help communities learn how best to protect their cultural treasures. The fund says it also aims to show how countries can use these places to support economic growth.

The organization has developed a protection method using local communities, science and partnerships with other groups.

The Global Heritage Fund recently published a report called “Saving Our Vanishing Heritage.” The report has several goals. One is to raise public awareness about the threats to historical places around the world.

The fund says the problem is an international crisis that is equal to environmental destruction around the world. Another goal of the report is to identify inventive technologies to help solve the crisis. The report also aims to increase funding to these projects through partnerships between public and private groups.

BOB DOUGHTY: The Global Heritage Fund says its new report attempts to place a value on cultural places so that they can also be considered as economic resources. The group says thinking of the cultural places in economic terms can help to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of ending poverty.

It also estimates that by two thousand twenty five, these places of cultural importance could produce one hundred billion dollar a year in income for developing countries.

Protecting a cultural place has a big effect on local economies by creating jobs and bringing new life to city areas. Once a place of cultural importance begins to attract visitors, property values increase and small businesses find new markets.

But the Global Heritage Fund says increasing the number of visitors to an area must be done responsibly. Controls and policies must be established to avoid overuse.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Both the Global Heritage Fund and UNESCO work toward protecting historical places. UNESCO’s World Heritage list includes over nine hundred natural or cultural places considered to have universal value.

However, UNESCO has very little money in its budget to pay for protecting historical places. UNESCO does provide professional help and training to help countries and communities create and maintain programs.

BOB DOUGHTY: Experts say that being selected for the UNESCO World Heritage List can bring needed aid as well as problems. Once a place of cultural importance makes the list, it can become so popular with visitors that the goal of protection fails.

UNESCO has said that business goals aimed at increasing visitors often end up shaping policies instead of protection goals. Other critics say there are so many places on UNESCO’s World Heritage list that the organization can no longer be very effective.

Still, UNESCO plays a very important role in bringing attention to culturally and historically important places around the world.

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FAITH LAPIDUS: One of the Global Heritage Fund’s current projects is in Guatemala’s Mirador Basin. This area in northern Guatemala contains several important examples of ancient Mayan settlements. These include the Mayan cities of El Mirador, Nakbe, Tintal and Wakna.

The many buildings are surrounded by forest. Centuries of tree growth have covered the pyramids and religious buildings. These buildings provide some of the finest examples of the early part of the Mayan civilization.

But this area is in danger from robbers and people cutting trees illegally. Also, over the past ten years, much of the natural environment in the Mirador area has been destroyed by fires. The Global Heritage Fund says over seventy percent of the environment in this area has been lost in the past ten years.

AP

US archaeologist Richard Hansen shows a limestone frieze found at El Mirador archaeological site

BOB DOUGHTY: The Global Heritage Fund has three main goals for its Mirador project. One is helping the Guatemalan government obtain UNESCO recognition. Another is establishing permanent protection for the area. And the third is working to make the area a sustainable protected area within ten years.

To meet these goals, the Global Heritage Fund is working with the Guatemalan government to gain support for its protection plan. Money from The fund will go toward restoring the buildings of El Mirador and mapping and exploring newly discovered buildings.

The organization is also paying to train local guides on how to stop theft and illegal tree-cutting. Educational programs are helping to give people in the area the skills they need to have jobs that do not endanger this protected area.

The United States and Guatemalan governments, area nonprofit organizations and private donors have given money to help support the Mirador project.

FAITH LAPIDUS: The Global Heritage Fund says we have a duty to the people of the past, present and future to make sure we do not lose these examples of human history.

And it says every country, organization and individual can play a role in helping to protect this rich history.

BOB DOUGHTY: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Bob Doughty.

FAITH LAPIDUS: And I’m Faith Lapidus. Visit us online at voaspecialenglish.com or on Facebook or Twitter at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

Younger members of Studio Heat performing at the release party for the Music Clubhouse's second CD, "Because of You"

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Twenty-five-year-old Rick Aggeler says he discovered early in life that music is magic.

RICK AGGELER: "Music made me feel like anything was possible."

At the age of seven, a medical condition required him to have a brain operation. It also prevented him from playing sports. So his mother suggested that he learn to play drums instead.

RICK AGGELER: "I started playing drums with Ronit Glick. She was my elementary teacher. I remember just the joy it brought to me. It was my favorite thing. Sixth grade was a new school to me and I had a hard time kind of getting along with all the kids. And Ms. Glick just took me in and I had so much fun at the program. It just felt great all the time."

Rick Aggeler graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, in two thousand seven. While there, he volunteered as a music teacher at a youth center in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.

He helped create a small music club within the center.  The Music Clubhouse at the Blue Hill Boys and Girls Club quickly grew.

Young people come to the Music Clubhouse after school and during summer break. The club provides a safe environment to learn to play instruments and to perform together in bands. The club even has its own recording studio.

(MUSIC-“Super Hero”)

The club has released two albums. "Super Hero" is one of the songs from the second album, "Because of You."

Fourteen-year-old Javon Martin performs under the name Yung Fresh. He joined the Music Clubhouse three years ago.

YUNG FRESH: "It has impacted my life in a big way because I never thought I would be doing this. We now give shows. I'm on the radio. People are actually starting to see me as like an artist."

(MUSIC: “Blue Hill Shuffle”)

Ten-year-old Akheylah Hunter joined the club last year but did not play an instrument. Now, she plays piano and sings in a band. What she likes best, she says, is performing.

AKHEYLAH HUNTER: "We performed in different places like at Berklee College of Music. We go on trips, like we went to the House of Blues and we went on stage and we performed, and it was very fun."

The Music Clubhouse opened three years ago and has served almost five hundred young people. Rick Aggeler says preparing and performing is good for them.

RICK AGGELER: "I can see what it does for them, and it just develops confidence. It's also an escape. A big problem we have in the neighborhood is obviously gangs, and family dynamics. And we have a lot of challenges. We can have those conversations and then they can write, too. They can rap about it and kind of let it out a little bit."

(MUSIC-“Wake Up”)

Rick Aggeler says he is happy but not surprised by the results of the Music Clubhouse at the Blue Hill Boys and Girls Club.

RICK AGGELER: "As much fun as I do have drumming and performing live, it's definitely more rewarding and more fun, watching these kids grow up and develop."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Steve Ember.

A Cambodian man purchases malaria medicine

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Malaria kills about one million people a year and sickens another two hundred fifty million. Most of the deaths are in young children in Africa. Malaria causes twenty percent of childhood deaths in Africa.

People become infected when they are bitten by mosquitoes carrying the malaria parasite.

A new study estimates the possibility of ending malaria in countries that have the deadliest form of the disease. Researchers found that this could be possible in most parts of the world within ten to fifteen years.

What it would require, they say, is reducing the spread of malaria by ninety percent from two thousand seven rates.

An international team created mathematical models and maps of areas where the disease is gone or almost gone. Andrew Tatem, an assistant professor at the University of Florida, led the study. Professor Tatem says a number of things have helped countries successfully fight malaria.

ANDREW TATEM: " ... such as relatively low levels of malaria risk to start with, political stability, a good health system and low levels of population movement bringing in infections from elsewhere."

The study says malaria could be eliminated if countries are serious about using proven control measures. These include insecticides and bed nets.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation partly financed the research. The study appears in the Lancet medical journal in a series of reports on eliminating malaria.

Other malaria experts writing in the Lancet expressed concern about giving too much attention to eliminating malaria. They say such a goal could take many years, if it is possible at all. The concern is that resources for controlling malaria could be lost if the money is spent instead on trying to defeat it.

Years of efforts to eliminate another disease, polio, have largely succeeded. Now, the World Health Organization says a new vaccine combination will help in the fight to end polio in countries where it is still found.

That report, based on a study from India, also appears in the Lancet.

There are three kinds of polio virus. Vaccination campaigns normally use vaccines designed to protect against all three types.

But cases of the type two virus have not been seen in years. And the new study confirmed that the type two vaccine reduces the effectiveness of the other vaccines when given together.

To avoid that problem, the new combination contains vaccine only for the type one and type three polio viruses.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. For more health news, go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find captioned videos of our reports on the VOA Learning English channel on YouTube. I'm Steve Ember.

1. se-tech-pcrecycler-30oct10.mp3

This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

Each year, Americans throw away millions of tons of electronic devices. That means business is good for a small electronics recycler in Chantilly, Virginia.

Company President Jeremy Faber established PC Recycler. He spoke to us from the floor of his company’s processing center. Workers were busy taking apart televisions, cell phones and computers -- anything electronic.

Jeremy Faber says the flow of discarded electronics is only increasing.

JEREMY FABER: “Electronics recycling is the fastest growing waste stream in the United States right now.”

Recycling electronic waste is not a single job. Newer devices can be rebuilt and resold. Breaking down electronics into small parts for refiners to melt and purify is another part of the business. Operations Manager Andrew Portare says computer circuit boards are rich resources.

ANDREW PORTARE: “Boards have the highest scrap value in them so you can actually see on the back you’re looking at different types of metals. This one is a really good example. Some of the older ones are mainly all gold.”

Gold now sells for more than one thousand three hundred dollars an ounce. Twenty-five percent of PC Recycler’s sales come from selling parts to refiners.

Refining companies pay more than ten dollars a kilogram for computer boards. PC Recycler can also lift profits by holding metal-rich parts until prices rise.

ANDREW PORTARE: “If copper’s up one day, we can ship all of our copper extract and capitalize on the market.”

Computers also hold private or secret information. And securing that data is the fastest growing part of PC Recycler's business. Completely removing data from a computer hard drive is not easy. PC Recycler can remove data magnetically or completely destroy and recycle the drives.

Discarding waste in a way that meets government environmental protection rules is also important. Old TVs can contain over a kilogram of lead as well as cadmium -- both highly poisonous.

PC Recycler supports the Basel Action Network, which seeks to limit harmful waste and technology. The company says it does not export electronics to China, India or Africa where environmental rules are weak.

Jeremy Faber says PC Recycler has been in business since two thousand three, expanding from waste management to other, more technical services.

JEREMY FABER: “There really isn’t a lot of industries out there that are like this. There’s either the scrap industry where they’re shredding cars and shredding tires and there’s the refurbished PC market and we’re sort of sit right in between both of those.”

And that’s the VOA Special English Technology Report. Go to voaspecialenglish.com and click on the Classroom to explore our new English teaching activities. I’m Mario Ritter.

A file photo of children living in a cocoa producing village near the town of Oume, Ivory Coast

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Chocolate comes from cocoa beans, and more than half of those beans come from two countries in West Africa. But the situation is not all sweetness for poor cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast and neighboring Ghana. The United States has announced ten million dollars for renewed efforts to end the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa industry in those countries.

The grant will support efforts to reduce poverty so parents do not have to depend on the labor of their children. Another aim is to give children more access to education.

The money will go toward a new "Framework of Action" related to an international agreement from two thousand one. That agreement is called the Harkin-Engel Protocol. American Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Elliott Engel led negotiations with the chocolate and cocoa industries.

The Department of Labor announced the grant in September, along with seven million dollars promised by the international cocoa industry. The governments of Ghana and Ivory Coast have also promised resources and policy support for the new efforts.

Kevin Willcutts is an official in the Labor Department's Office of Child Labor.

KEVIN WILLCUTTS: "We’re at a point in time when we think we have a real opportunity because with the signing of this joint declaration, the parties are coming together and saying that we share a common commitment to address the situation and to offer children better hope for the future through education."

Daan de Vries is with Utz Certified, a program that tries to create a fair marketplace for agricultural products. Mr. de Vries says some crops are grown closer to cities because they must be processed quickly.

But he says crops like cocoa and coffee are often grown in very rural areas with more poverty and less enforcement of rules.

Bama Athreya directs the International Labor Rights Forum.

BAMA ATHREYA: "There's been a real unwillingness to act that I think is driven by the business proposition of getting cheap child labor to produce the cocoa for quite some time. And that is a major challenge."

Larry Graham, president of the National Confectioners Association in Washington, represented industry groups at the launch of the framework. He said "Our industry is fully committed to helping even more cocoa farming families through this innovative partnership."

Ivory Coast is the world's largest cocoa grower. But the country has been split in half since a failed overthrow in two thousand two led to armed conflict. A long-delayed presidential election is set for this Sunday.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson, with Drew Hinshaw reporting from Senegal. I'm Bob Doughty.

Doctors at the medical center of New York University are monitoring This epileptic patient's seizures in the hope of performing an operation to minimize them

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.  I'm Shirley Griffith.

BOB DOUGHTY: And I'm Bob Doughty.  This week, we will examine the brain disorder known as epilepsy.  Many people do not understand epilepsy.  Medical experts are working to understand the disorder and improve the lives of those who suffer from it.

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SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The sixteen-year-old son of actor John Travolta died suddenly during a family vacation early last year in The Bahamas.  Jett Travolta reportedly suffered a seizure before dying.

A seizure is a sudden attack that may affect a person's mind or body for a short period.  People who suffer from repeated seizures are said to have epilepsy.  Whether Jett Travolta had epilepsy is not clear.  But just what is epilepsy and how is it treated?

BOB DOUGHTY: Epilepsy is a medical condition that produces seizures.  A seizure happens when a sudden increase of electrical activity interferes with normal operations in the brain.

Nerve cells use electrical particles to communicate with each other.  Millions of electrical particles pass between nerve cells in the brain. When the brain has a sudden burst of electricity, the body experiences physical changes called epileptic seizures.  Victims can shake uncontrollably for brief periods. They also can temporarily lose the ability to communicate or think clearly.

New research is helping to explain how cells communicate to cause conditions like epilepsy.  Researcher Doug Fields works at America's National Institutes of Health.  He showed that a chemical called ATP could have links to brain disorders like epilepsy and chronic pain.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Most seizures can last anywhere between thirty seconds and two minutes.  These seizures do not cause permanent damage.  However, a seizure is considered a medical emergency if it lasts more than five minutes.  One in ten adults will have a seizure during their life.

Different kinds of seizures result when different parts of the brain are affected.  If electrical activity increases in only one area of the brain, the person will have what doctors call a partial seizure.  Many times, people may suffer a partial seizure and not know it.  They might note strange feelings in an arm or leg.  They also might hear noises or look straight ahead for a few minutes.

Sometimes the individual will have an uncontrolled movement, like turning the head to one side.  Most partial seizures last less than ninety seconds.  So it is not always possible for others to recognize them as signs of a disorder.

BOB DOUGHTY: When people hear the word seizure, they often think of what doctors call a grand mal seizure.  A person experiencing this kind of seizure will fall to the ground.  His or her body will become firm and start to shake.  After a few minutes, the individual will stop moving, appear awake and know what has happened.  He or she may move slowly for about thirty minutes.  Some grand mal seizures start with partial seizures and become worse.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Experts have reported different reasons why an individual may suffer epileptic seizures.  For example, head injuries or a lack of oxygen at birth may damage the electrical system in the brain.  Other causes are poisoning and high body temperatures.

Older adults may develop epilepsy because of an infection, stroke, or Alzheimer's disease.  Yet experts say the cause of the disorder is unknown in more than half of all cases.

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BOB DOUGHTY: The World Health Organization estimates that fifty million people around the world have epilepsy.  Nearly ninety percent of cases are in developing areas.  The WHO says many people in developing countries suffer from epilepsy because of local conditions.  In those areas, people have a greater chance of experiencing a medical condition or disease that can lead to permanent brain damage.

The WHO says misunderstandings about epilepsy have resulted in laws against people with the disorder.  For years, it was not illegal for American businesses to discriminate against individuals who suffered seizures.  Now, a law called the Americans with Disabilities Act of nineteen ninety protects the civil rights of people with disabilities in the United States.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The World Health Organization says many people with epilepsy receive no treatment.  However, many treatments for the disorder are available.

Generally, the first treatment choice for epilepsy is medicine.  The Epilepsy Foundation says different kinds of medicines can stop or control different kinds of seizures.  There are now more than fifteen kinds of drugs on the market.  These drugs work best only after they reach what experts call a desired level in the body.  It might take months to identify the right drug to control the disorder because each one may cause problems.  These include weight gain or loss, eye or stomach problems, sleepiness and loss of balance.  Some people may suffer depression, or have problems thinking or talking after taking some drugs.

BOB DOUGHTY: About ten years ago, a device called the Vagus Nerve Stimulator was developed.  It is used to treat adults and young people who have partial seizures that are not controlled in other ways.

In this treatment, electrical energy enters the brain through the vagus nerve in the neck.  The electricity comes from a small power supply placed under the skin in the chest.  Medical experts set the device to provide a small amount of energy every few minutes. The patient can also send a few seconds of energy through the nerve if he or she feels that a seizure is near.  This has been known to stop a seizure.

The Epilepsy Foundation says people using Vagus Nerve Stimulation still must take anti-seizure medicines.  But the amount may decrease as the treatment continues.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Another treatment for epilepsy is an operation to remove the part of the brain suspected of causing the seizures.  This is done only when medicines fail to control the disorder.  One requirement for the operation is that doctors be able to remove the suspected area without damaging speech, memory or other abilities.

Other kinds of operations can block the spread of electrical activity in the brain.  The Epilepsy Foundation says doctors are performing more operations now because new information has increased their safety.  Still, some people get no help from operations and others continue to need medication for their seizures.

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BOB DOUGHTY: Some people with epilepsy may be able to control their seizures by controlling what they eat.  The ketogenic diet was developed about eighty years ago.  It is very high in fats and low in carbohydrates.  It makes the body burn fat for energy instead of sugar.

This diet requires family cooperation if the patient is a child.  It also requires trained medical supervision.  The patient must be in a hospital for the first part of the treatment.  The amount of food and liquid the patient can have at each meal must be carefully weighed for each individual. The patient should obey the dietary restrictions for at least one month before experts know if the treatment is successful.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The Epilepsy Foundation says about one third of children on the ketogenic diet become seizure-free or almost seizure-free.  Another third improve but still experience some seizures.  The others cannot continue with the diet or it has no effect on their seizures.

Possible effects of the diet include digestive problems, loss of fluids in the body, and development of kidney stones or gall stones.  Another danger of the diet is that high levels of fat could develop in the blood.

BOB DOUGHTY: People being treated for epilepsy in one of these ways can still suffer an unexpected seizure.  So what can you do if you see someone in this situation?  Experts say the most important thing is to keep the individual safe until the seizure stops.

Stay with the person.  Clear the area of anything that could cause harm.  If you can, turn the body on one side.  Do not force the mouth open or hold the person down.  The seizure will stop on its own.  Then speak to the person calmly and offer help to get home.

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SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Brianna Blake.  Our producer was June Simms.  I’m Shirley Griffith.

BOB DOUGHTY: And I’m Bob Doughty.  Read and listen to our programs at voaspecialenglish.com.  Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

The Windsor-Cornish covered bridge in Windsor, Vermont