Australian Farmers Told To Dynamite Rabbits

Australian Farmers Told To Dynamite Rabbits: "The South Australian Environment Department has told farmers that they should use poison gas or even explosives to deal with the out-of-control rabbit population. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Invasive Animals chief Professor Tony Peacock, owner of the largest business card ever, says that blowing up rabbits isn't as inhuman as people might think, and has been ranked by the RSPCA as one of the best ways to destroy warrens.

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Lawsuit claims Pomona College student was detained by TSA over Arabic flashcards

Lawsuit claims Pomona College student was detained by TSA over Arabic flashcards: "

A Pomona College student who says he was detained at a Philadelphia airport because he was carrying English-Arabic flashcards filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against employees of the Transportation Security Administration, the FBI and the Philadelphia Police Department, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Nicholas George, a senior majoring in physics and Middle Eastern studies, was returning to California from Philadelphia in August when he was randomly selected for extra screening at Philadelphia International Airport, the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia states.

When George emptied his pockets, he took out the flashcards.

Authorities detained him in the screening area for 30 minutes before he was questioned by a TSA supervisor, the lawsuit states. At one point, the supervisor asked George if he knew who committed the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to the lawsuit.

George answered, "Osama bin Laden."

"Do you know what language he spoke?" the supervisor asked, according to the document.

"Arabic," George answered.

The supervisor then held up the flashcards and said, "Do you see why these cards are suspicious?"

George said he was handcuffed and held for almost five hours, during which time he was questioned by two FBI agents, who asked if George was "Islamic" or a member of a "communist group," according to the complaint.

One of the agents concluded that George, 22, was "not a real threat," the lawsuit states.

"I don't understand how locking me up and harassing me just because I was carrying the flashcards made anybody safer," George said in statement released by the ACLU. "No one should be treated like a criminal for simply learning one of the most widely spoken languages in the world."

TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said she could not comment on pending litigation.

-- Raja Abdulrahim

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What's the Best Age to Have Children?

What's the Best Age to Have Children?: "A study published yesterday in the journal Autism Research suggests that an intricate equation may exist between autism in children and the age of both the mother and father."

Study shows genes for inflammation play a role in preterm births

Study shows genes for inflammation play a role in preterm births: "

Genes that make both a mother and her fetus more susceptible to inflammation as a result of infections raise the risk of premature delivery, a finding that may help explain why some women give birth prematurely even though they have seemingly done everything right during their pregnancies. The genes may be an evolutionary response to infections during pregnancy, in effect causing the baby to be expelled prematurely in an effort to save the mother's life, according to Dr. Roberto Romero of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Premature births -- before the 37th week of gestation -- are a continuing problem worldwide. An estimated 500,000 babies in the United States and about 13 million worldwide are born prematurely each year, with complications that include delayed neurological and behavioral development, breathing problems, bleeding into the brain and other difficulties. By some estimates, as many as a third of all pregnant women suffer from undetected infections of the uterus during their pregnancy.

Romero and his colleagues studied 190 genes and more than 700 DNA mutations in 229 women who delivered prematurely and in 179 premature babies in Chile, comparing them with 600 women whose gestation went full-term. Romero reported this week at a Chicago meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine that several genetic variations were assocaited with preterm birth, but two stood out. In fetuses, a variation in the interleukin 6 receptor, which is involved in the body's response to inflammation, was most closely associated with prematurity. In the mother, the strongest association was with a gene called tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2, which also plays a role in the inflammatory response.

The findings "add evidence that individual genetic variation in that [inflammatory] response may account for why preterm birth occurs in some pregnancies and not in others," Dr. Alan E. Guttmacher, acting director of the institute, said in a statement.

Romero hopes eventually to develop a genetic test that will allow physicians to identify those women at greatest risk of a preterm delivery.

-- Thomas H. Maugh II

Photo: Infants born prematurely are small and usually face a number of health risks. Credit: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times

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