Tuesday, February 21, 2006

A group of former senior Communist Party officials in China have denounced the recent closure of Freezing Point (Bing Dian), an investigative newspaper, along with the state of government censorship in that country. The group includes Li Rui, a former aid to Chairman Mao Zedong, Hu Jiwei, a former newspaper editor, and Zhu Houze, an ex-propaganda chief.

In an open letter addressed to the current government, the group said that strict censorship may “sow the seeds of disaster” for China’s political transition.

In the letter, signed on February 2 but released on Tuesday, the group called current censorship methods overly restrictive and unnecessary for the modern China: “History has shown that only a totalitarian system needs news censorship, out of the delusion that it can keep the people locked in ignorance.”

Freezing Point was a supplement of the China Youth Daily and was allegedly shut down due to the publication on January 11 of an article by Zhongshan University professor Yuan Weishi regarding the way history is currently taught in China, although the papers editor, Li Datong, says that it has experienced difficulties with the government on several occasions in the past. Mr. Yuan’s article was critical of Chinese textbooks, which never admit the culpability of the government and instead shift the blame to other nations.

No response from the government has yet been issued.

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

As of 10:00 p.m EST November 8, 2006, the Democratic Party is projected to have gained control of both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate in the 2006 United States general elections. MSNBC projects that the Democrats now control 234 seats in the House of Representatives, 16 more seats than the 218 needed to control the House of Representatives as all 435 seats were up for election. In the Senate, where the balance of power is closer, one-third of all seats were up for grab. As of 10:00 p.m. EST, AP and Reuters were projecting that the Democrats had picked up all six seats they needed to retake the Senate, including the seats of incumbents Rick Santorum (Penn.), Lincoln Chafee (R.I.), Jim Talent (Missouri), Mike DeWine (Ohio), John Tester (Montana), and Jim Webb (VA). The Tester victory by less than 3,000 votes was projected at approximately 2 p.m. EST after the State of Montana announced the results of overnight recounts. Democrat Jim Webb has prevailed in that race by slightly more than 7,000 votes, though his opponent has not conceded and a recount may still occur.

Friday, November 3, 2006

On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is Don Valley West (Ward 25). Three candidates responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include John Blair, Robertson Boyle, Tony Dickins, Cliff Jenkins (incumbent), and Peter Kapsalis.

For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.

Sunday, April 1, 2007

In Estonia, a mouse made its nest in a cash machine and spent the weekend eating tens of thousands of kroons in bank notes. The critter was discovered after a customer making a withdrawal got half-eaten bills from the machine.

Experts are now investigating how the rodent was able to get into the ATM.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

In Germany’s DFB Pokal, the three remaining quarterfinal fixtures took place Wednesday. First Bundesliga sides Werder Bremen, Hamburger SV, and Bayer Leverkusen will join Second Bundesliga side 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the semifinals, scheduled for April 21 and 22, 2009. The finals for Germany’s FA Cup equivalent will be played on May 30 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

In a study that appeared on Monday in Biological Psychiatry, scientists from the Universities of California and North Carolina, with several other universities in the United States and Canada, report a strong correlation between abnormal distribution of cerebrospinal fluid in infants and later development of autistic symptoms.

“The more extra-axial CSF present at six months, the more severe the autism symptoms when the kids were diagnosed at 24 months of age,” said first author Dr. Mark Shen, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina.

The study covered 343 children examined aged six months, twelve months, and twenty-four months, 221 of whom had older siblings with autism. Children with higher than usual volumes of cerebrospinal fluid in the subarachnoid space — the area just around the brain — were more likely to be diagnosed with autism later in life, with a strong correlation in the high-risk group. Ultimately, cerebrospinal volume was able to provide an early diagnosis of probably ASD in high-risk children with 70% accuracy. The six-month-old babies who later went on to a diagnosis of autism had an average of 18% more CSF by volume than those who were not so diagnosed. This built on the findings of a 2013 study that covered only 55 children.

Researchers said it is not clear whether a large amount of cerebrospinal fluid actually causes autism or not. While studies have shown that cerebrospinal fluid, once thought to act solely as a cushioner and shock absorber for the brain, can influence the way neurons grow, Shen speculated that the large amount of fluid may itself be a symptom: “We believe that extra-axial CSF is an early sign that CSF is not filtering and draining when it should. The result is that there could be a buildup of neuro-inflammation that isn’t being washed [a]way.”

Currently, coauthor David Amaral said, children are not diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders until they are old enough for their behavior to change, usually at two or three years old. Researchers said these findings could be used to develop an early diagnostic system usable when the patient is as young as six months old.