Author Archives: markdowe1

Arts, History, Religion, Society, Spain

La Sagrada Familia

ANTONI GAUDI

I WONDER if you know the story of Antoni Gaudi, who became known as “God’s architect”. It is one of courage, patience and faith in adversity.

Antoni was born in Catalonia in 1852 and trained as an architect in Barcelona. Inspired by Catalan, Christian and Moorish culture, he developed his own individual style using patterned brick, stone, bright ceramic tiles and distinctive metal work.

From 1882 Gaudi began to devote almost all his time to the design and building of his monumental church in Barcelona dedicated to the Holy Family, La Sagrada Familia.

His last years were dogged by personal sorrows and lack of money to continue the building of La Sagrada Familia, which he saw as “the last great sanctuary of Christendom”, but “God’s architect” did not give up. He held fast, and struggled on with his great endeavour to create “a place of fraternity for all”. He died in June 1926, after being knocked down by a tram and was buried in his unfinished masterpiece.

Today many thousands visit La Sagrada Familia where work continues, funded from sources which share its creator’s vision. It is hoped that the great church will be completed to mark the one hundredth anniversary of Gaudi’s death.

 

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Health, Medical, Research, Science

New heart drug offers biggest breakthrough since statins

MEDICAL RESEARCH

Unlike other treatments that tend to focus on cholesterol, Canakinumab works to lower inflammation in the body.

The discovery of a new heart drug is being hailed as the biggest breakthrough since statins. Thousands of lives could be saved.

In a four-year trial, scientists found that the drug – given by injection every three months – cut the risk of heart attacks by a quarter.

The study involving 10,000 patients, and around 1,000 doctors in 39 countries, also suggested that the drug could halve the risk of dying from lung cancer and prevent arthritis and gout.

Scientists said the treatment marked “a new era of therapeutics” that could save thousands of lives.

The drug, canakinumab, works by reducing inflammation – a major new approach in heart medicine. For the past 30 years cholesterol-busting statins have been given to nearly all people deemed to be at risk of cardiovascular disease in an effort to save them from heart attacks and strokes.

Yet half of the 200,000 people who have a heart attack in Britain each year do not have high cholesterol, so there is a desperate need for a different approach to treatment.

Experts have long thought that inflammation – the body’s natural responses to infection or injury – might also play a major role in causing heart attacks and strokes, possibly because it causes swelling in the arteries, increasing the risk of a blockage.

The new trial, however, is the first definitive proof that cutting inflammation slashes heart risk.

Study leader Professor Paul Ridker of Harvard Medical School said the new drug opened up a “third front” in the war on heart disease, following the previous focus on cholesterol and lifestyle.

Presenting his findings at the European Society of Cardiology congress in Barcelona, Professor Ridker said: “These findings represent the end game of more than two decades of research, stemming from a critical observation – half of heart attacks occur in people who do not have high cholesterol.

“We’ve been able to definitively show that lowering inflammation independent of cholesterol reduces cardiovascular risk.”

Professor Ridker, whose results are published in the New England Journal of Medicine, added: “This has far-reaching implications.

“It tells us that by leveraging an entirely new way to treat patients – targeting inflammation – we may be able to improve outcomes for certain very high-risk populations.”

Canakinumab is an antibody that attacks an immune-system protein called interleukin-1, which in high levels results in increased inflammation throughout the body.

The scientific trial involved high-risk patients who had already suffered a heart attack – a group in desperate need of help because a quarter of patients suffer a second attack within five years, even with statins.

All patients in the trial took statins as well, but canakinumab cut the risk of repeat heart attacks by 24 per cent, over and above the impact of the cholesterol drug.

People who took the drug were 36 per cent less likely to be hospitalised with unstable angina, and 32 per cent less likely to require costly bypass surgery.

Researchers reported a sharp rise in infections, which killed one in every 1,000 patients. But patients had a 51 per cent reduced risk of lung cancer deaths – a finding they said was “very exciting”. Gout and arthritis, which are linked to inflammation, also fell.

Canakinumab manufacturer Novartis said it would seek a licence to use the drug for heart disease.

Canakinumab is used for inflammatory problems, including forms of arthritis, at the cost of £9,928 per jab. Experts said the price – £40,000 a year for heart patients – would have to be lowered for it to be made available on the NHS.

Professor Jeremy Pearson, of the British Heart Foundation, said: “These exciting trial results finally confirm that ongoing inflammation contributes to risk of heart disease, and could help save lives.

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Government, Society, Technology, Transport

Autonomous-driving lorries ‘at risk of crashing in cyber-attack’

TRANSPORT

Self Driving Lorries

Self-driving and autonomous running vehicle platoons pose many risks. They include a ‘malicious takeover’ by cyber-attack putting the safety of road users at risk.

SELF-DRIVING lorries which are to be trialled on England’s motorways could be vulnerable to cyber-attack, an official report has warned.

A feasibility study of the Government’s plans said there was a risk of a ‘malicious takeover’ of the convoys, putting road users at risk.

Under the scheme, up to three wirelessly connected HGVs will move in a platoon, with acceleration and braking controlled by the lead vehicle. The lorries would still be steered by drivers.

The report, commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT), concludes that the system has the potential to reduce accidents and emissions, while improving traffic flow. But it also outlines 20 risks, including cyber-attack and the potential for drivers in the middle and back vehicles to lose concentration.

Extreme weather conditions could lead to the sensing system keeping the vehicles a set distance apart malfunctioning. Other cars could enter the convoy by mistake, and the lead lorry could suffer a tyre blow-out.

The scheme is expected to be tried on major roads next year.

Driving in a convoy could see the front lorry push air out of the way, making the vehicles more efficient and lowering emissions. But Edmund King, AA president, said the safety of drivers must come first.

He said: ‘There have been causes of connected and autonomous vehicles and even road signs being hacked. The safety of the drivers is paramount.

‘If the platoon is hacked it could put on the brakes or try to make it accelerate.’

The study into “heavy vehicle platoons on UK roads” was carried out by the independent Transport Research Laboratory consultancy and others in 2014 but has only just been published.

One lorry drivers’ organisation, which was not named, told the authors it was worried about ‘the safety impact of running so close together,’ adding: ‘There is no fuel-saving amount that is worth risking road safety for.’

The report said the probability of a ‘malicious takeover of platoon (cyber-attack)’ was ‘very low’, but its impact would be ‘very high’ and would involve a ‘threat to road user safety, road infrastructure and reputation’ of the convoy system.

It said, ‘adverse environmental conditions’ such as fog and snow could ‘affect sensing capability’. The report also said other motorists could be unaware of the convoy and drive between the lorries. And the authors said ‘driver underload’ was a problem as they may lose concentration when they are not performing the full range of driving tasks. They suggest training drivers for ‘behavioural adaptation awareness’.

The document said: ‘It must be ensured that they will always be able to re-engage in the driving task within a few seconds.’

The report said it believed convoys would be safer overall, adding: ‘Around 90 per cent of accidents involve driver error. Automatic control (or driver assistance) reduces the magnitude of the risk of driver error.’ The DfT has not responded to a request for comment.

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