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Page 6A
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Thursday, February 8, ](i ursday, 1-
THE BATTALION
Tests show woman in Canada
not infected with Ebola virus,
UN IV
Reading and Riding: a nauseous combination
Question: The other day I was
reading a book on the shuttle bus and
started to feel nauseous. Why does
reading in a moving vehicle cause
motion sicbiess?
— Eric Dickens,
1 senior English major
Answer: For those ever-diligent studiers who are
compelled to catch up on their reading during those few
minutes spent traveling from point A to point B, I have
some bad news: You are predators.
What I mean is, while human eyes are meant to be
able to focus on a point directly in front of them (pre
sumably prey, but for college students this may more
likely be a ham sandwich or a great pair of legs), your
eyes are also extraordinarily sensitive to motion in your
peripheral vision.
This was originally designed to warn us of attackers
from the side, but was also designed to correspond with
the movement in our central field of vision. In other
words, if you are moving forward, you should be able
to see movement in our front and side vision.
When you read while traveling in a vehicle, your cen
tral vision tells you that you are stationary while your
peripheral vision tells you that you are moving. Ac
cording to an October 1999 article in the Journal of Post
graduate Medicine, these contradictory signals, along
with the sensations felt by the balance-sensitive organs
of the inner ear, confuse your brain.
(At this interval I would like to point out that, if you
are reading this on the bus, it may be important to note
that a properly-folded Battalion may serve as a suffi
cient substitute for an air-sickness bag.)
This confusion panics the brain into releasing the
stress hormones that cause the muscles of the stomach
to increase their movement rates from the normal three
cycles a minute to as much as nine a minute. At this
point, you may blow chunks.
According to information from Dr. A. Gregory Tol
er Jr., a fellow in the Virginia Academy of Optometry,
about 38 percent of the population is born without the
ability to read in a moving vehicle under any circum
stances other than while medicated.
Those whose hormones are already up in arms,
such as pregnant women and children (everyone un
dergoes hormone readjustments from infancy to post
adolescence), are also at higher risk to experience mo
tion sickness.
However, for the rest of us who are sometimes just a
little queasy, turning away from the window while read
ing in a car will help with the motion sickness.
It’s that simple.
If you are interested in further information, or if you
have another question about how or why something hap
pens, send me an email at scifyi@hotmail.com and I will
see if I can regurgitate an answer.
. HAMILTON, Ontario (AP) —
Preliminary tests show that a Con
golese woman who arrived in Cana
da and fell ill with symptoms of a
hemorrhagic virus does not have
Ebola, a doctor said Wednesday. •
It was not yet clear what the 32-
year-old woman was suffering
from. Dr. Mark Lobe said at a news
conference at Henderson Hospital
in Hamilton.
“This greatly reduces the likeli
hood that this patient has been infect
ed with the Ebola virus,” Lobe said.
Further tests were being conducted.
The woman, who has not been-
identified, was admitted to the hos
pital Sunday drifting in and out of
consciousness, doctors said.
Earlier, a health ministry official
said doctors diagnosed her as hav
ing a low-grade case of malaria and
were still testing into the possibili
ty of a sort of hemorrhagic fever.
Blood samples were sent to a
Winnipeg laboratory and the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta, said Rosalyn
Trembly of Health Canada. Results
were expected Thursday.
Ebola has never been confirmed
in humans in North America.
The woman was in serious con
dition but was showing signs of im
provement, said Lobe, an expert in
infectious diseases.
She arrived Saturday at Toron
to’s Pearson International Airport
on Air Canada Flight 735 from
Newark International Airport in
New Jersey, airline spokeswoman
Laura Cooke said. The flight had 39
passengers and five crew members.
Her flight had arrived in New Jer
sey from Ethiopia, but it was not
clear how she got to Ethiopia from
Congo, The Toronto Star newspaper
<6
This greatly
ces the likelil
re
duces the likelihood
that this patient has
been infected with
the Ebola virus. ”
— Dr. Mark Lobe
Henderson Hospital
■D/4JNCE 4 11 I
■ ■ !nK, Sroeeials
TTitirsday-$l BAR DRINKS &
LONGNECKS till 11:00
Friday & Satruday- $2 BAR DRINKS
& LONGNECKS till 11:00
NO Cover For 21 and Up
NO Cover with College ID! 18 & Up Welcome
GEANL OPENING
Thursdav* Feb. 8
Located at Texas Ave. and Southwest Pkwy. in
Park Place Plaza (next to 4.0 & GO)
flight, but also “advised us they; 11° 'd'
reported. She apparently came to
Canada on a legitimate visitor’s visa.
Lobe said the woman’s symp
toms were “possibly compatible”
with hemorrhagic fevers.
Doctors said she had not shown
signs of bleeding from the ears,
eyes or mouth — conditions that
would suggest the Ebola virus that
can be lethal in more than 50 per
cent of cases. A recent outbreak in
Uganda killed 173 of the more than
400 people who fell ill.
Tests for meningitis — an infec
tion of the fluid of the spinal cord
and brain — have so far proved
negative, doctors said.
Canadian health authorities
asked for a list of passengers on the
Connc
andish
A witr
g sour
that, S
d then
iund,”
m Cen
area.
|“We w
sa
lAnotht
not consider this passenger tol
contagious for casual contaci
Cooke said. The flight'screw met
bers have been notified, but nosp ^ an *
cial steps for them were ordered ^ ens ’
taken, she said. ocaus
“We’ve been told there’s no sj^ 0111 1
cific health concern,” she said. fcrs 10 e
Ebola and the other hemorrk
ic fevers are not transmitted throiii
the air.
Infection occurs throughdirtkj
contact with the infected persoift^j j
blood or bodily fluids such assiMj a £. v
va or semen, and only after sa j
have exhibited symptoms suclM^gj; u
fever and malaise. ■ initial
That’s why it was a reliefiffl‘Polic<
health officials to learn that i]] in ghin
woman did not fall visibly illu:jay, put
after arriving in Hamilton onS, aid “The
day night. "i lice all
It was not until MondayafelConno
noon that concerns about EbAkesma
were raised and the woman was Ad, and
into total isolation. le the W
Lobe and the others insin
there was little chance that the:t
ease would spread and almosi tojsA
possibility of a widescale outk-^ ' '
“She arrived Saturday, so the, j
cle of contacts is limited,” saidDl ei it into
Colin D’Cunha, an OntariomecMpe,” C<
official. “Based on informatio jlZawiej
this time. I wouldn’t say theda jy the d<
is zero. But it would be misleacmement.
to say it’s a lot. The evidence 1“We di(
pointing to minimal.” ila :e all
■mbing.
■Anothe
itallatio
lag Strei
New rules!-
for meat
processin
to be madt
WASHINGTON (AP)-Tt
Agriculture Department is movii
forward with new microbialtestii
requirements for meat processors!!
were proposed in the Clintonadffi
istration’s last days, then putonW
by the incoming Bush administn®
The rules would require maker;
hot dogs, cold cuts and other rei
to-eat meat products to test
equipment regularly for Li®
monocytogenes and allow the?’
eminent to look at company rew
Agriculture Secretary Ann Vd
man said Wednesday that heragfi
would release the rules forpe!
comment “in a matter of days.'
The department announced'
rules on Jan. 19, President Gif
last full day in office, but they K
published. The Bush administrt
could have killed the proposal;
leaving them on hold indefinite!
could have altered them signifu
ly before publishing them andt
ing public comment
The department could stillcf
the rules after they are released
comment. Any changes before!
are likely to be small, VenemaflS
“We could make some altera®
Obviously, since we’re goingtoc
(release the rules) in short ordc
wouldn’t be much,” she said.
Listeria contamination kills®
timated 500 people and causes!
serious illnesses each year. Thef
standards were among a series of
minute regulations put on hold!)
White House when President &
was inaugurated Jan. 20 softs
ministration could review them
“It’s great news that the sectf :
said that this was a priority's
Caroline Smith DeWaal, direct
food safety for the Center for Sci<
in the Public Interest, a consume 1
vocacy group.
The Listeria rules are “agoo
case for the administration on ft
safety policy. If they had sat® 1
they would be headed for a
grade,” she said.
The National Food Procf
Association, which represents®
panics such as Kraft, Horniel-
Campbell’s, has not taken a{
on the rules. But the industry^
is concerned they may require! 1
ing of products such as cat
soups that the industry does!
think pose a significant riskMj
crobial contamination.
“You’re looking at a
amount of proposed ruling ona' L* Monday thre
i >> nu«««®minutfiinerp
array of products,” said Rhona'g,™^^
plebaum, who monitors regulfrfminuiesafte
for the association.