4:Still Alice

Julianne Moore’s Performance in ‘Still Alice’ Brings Attention to Alzheimer’s Disease

By:  Office of Public Affairs  |  Feb 20, 2015 2:00 PM

In the new movie Still Alice, Julianne Moore plays a linguistics professor diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Her performance has drawn rave reviews, earning her an Academy Award.

The movie also has doctors talking, such as Richard D. King, M.D., Ph.D., an Alzheimer’s specialist at University of Utah Health Care. “If a movie can raise awareness and show the humanity of the disease, that is very useful,” he says.

Moore’s character develops a relatively rare form of early-onset Alzheimer’s at age 50. King says the majority of people who develop Alzheimer’s are over age 65, and the risk nearly doubles with each successive decade. “The biggest risk factor is age.”

Family history, a central theme of Still Alice, is also a risk factor. King says, “When individuals develop Alzheimer’s disease in their 40s or 50s, it indicates a very strong genetic influence."

New research suggests other factors may precede the onset of the disease. A recent studyfound that depression and behavioral changes were more likely in people who later developed Alzheimer’s.

“Memory symptoms are the most troubling and most noticeable,” King says. “But the changes in brain structure associated with Alzheimer’s disease start decades before memory symptoms are noticed.”

For the study, researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis evaluated nearly 2,500 people 50 and older. About half of the people in their research were people with Alzheimer’s disease. They found that those who developed dementia were more likely to have experienced mood and behavioral changes first.

Senior author Catherine M. Roe, Ph.D., wrote, “We still don’t know whether some of these symptoms, such as irritability and sadness, are due to people realizing on some level that they are having problems with memory and thinking, or whether these symptoms are caused directly by Alzheimer’s effects on the brain.” 

It’s also worth noting that depression and appetite loss are symptomatic of many other illnesses.

“What you don’t want to do is tell anyone who is 50 and depressed with appetite loss, ‘You have Alzheimer’s,’” King says.

But a study like this can help doctors do a better job in identifying possible early symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

Website:

http://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2015/02/022015_cvarticle-alzheimers-disease.php

Structure:

What: Still Alice’ Brings Attention to Alzheimer’s Disease

Who: Julianne Moore

Key words

Rave (n)狂歡

Successive (a)連續的

Precede (v)優於

Dementia (n)痴呆

3:Charlie

Charlie Hebdo: Satirical magazine is no stranger to controversy

(CNN)Charlie Hebdo, the French magazine targeted by gunmen who killed journalists and police in a brazen lunchtime attack Wednesday, is no stranger to controversy.

The Paris-based weekly satirical publication, which was founded in 1970, became famous for its risqué cartoons and daring takedowns of politicians, public figures and religious symbols of all faiths.

And although the motive behind Wednesday's massacre is not yet clear, Charlie Hebdo's notorious cartoons satirizing the Prophet Mohammed in recent years have angered some Muslims and made it a target for attacks.

"Everybody knows them when you work in journalism," said Marie Turcan, a journalist who was just 200 meters from Charlie Hebdo's central Paris office when the shooting began. "They have marked French journalism forever with their drawings and their cover stories."

A reputation for controversy

In November 2011 Charlie Hebdo's office was burned down on the same day the magazine was due to release an issue with a cover that appeared to poke fun at Islamic law. The cover cartoon depicted a bearded and turbaned cartoon figure of the Prophet Mohammed with a bubble saying, "100 lashes if you're not dying of laughter."

In September 2012, despite the ongoing global furor over the anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims," the magazine published an issue featuring a cartoon that appeared to depict a naked Mohammed, along with a cover that appeared to depict Mohammed being pushed in a wheelchair by an Orthodox Jew. French and American officials expressed dismay with the decision, and France closed embassies and schools in about 20 countries temporarily as a precaution.

Charlie Hebdo journalist Laurent Leger defended the magazine at the time, saying the cartoons were not intended to provoke anger or violence.

"The aim is to laugh," Leger told BFM-TV in 2012. "We want to laugh at the extremists -- every extremist. They can be Muslim, Jewish, Catholic. Everyone can be religious, but extremist thoughts and acts we cannot accept."

"In France, we always have the right to write and draw. And if some people are not happy with this, they can sue us and we can defend ourselves. That's democracy," Leger said. "You don't throw bombs, you discuss, you debate. But you don't act violently. We have to stand and resist pressure from extremism."

Massacre at editorial meeting

Charlie Hebdo's last tweet before Wednesday's attack featured a cartoon of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi seemingly sending out his wishes for the new year with the words "And, above all, health."

Police surveillance had reportedly been fairly tight around the magazine's office until recently, and there had been 24-hour surveillance of the premises before that, according to CNN's Jim Bittermann in Paris. Bittermann said the staff of Charlie Hebdo, which publishes weekly on Wednesday, were in their lunchtime editorial meeting when the gunmen stormed the building.

Among the dead are editor Stephane "Charb" Charbonnier along with Georges Wolinski, Jean "Cabu" Cabut and Bernard Verlhac, known as "Tignous" -- some of France's "most talented cartoonists," according to French journalist Agnes C. Poirier.

Christopher Dickey, the Paris-based foreign editor of The Daily Beast, said Charlie Hebdo is a small publication that packs a big punch.

"It doesn't have a huge readership, but it has always had a very controversial approach to the news," Dickey told CNN. "To see it silenced this way, especially after it survived a firebombing of its headquarters three years ago, is really reprehensible."

Thousands of people took to social media in the attack's aftermath to express solidarity with Charlie Hebdo, posting images with the words "Je Suis Charlie" in white on a black background, or paying tributes to the magazine on Twitter using the #JeSuisCharlie hashtag.

Some considered cartoons blasphemous

Any depiction of Islam's prophet is considered blasphemy by many Muslims. France has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, with an estimated 4.7 million followers of the faith.

France, which is known for its stark separation of church and state, angered some Muslims in 2011 when it banned full-face Islamic veils like the burqa, claiming they were degrading and a security risk.

Charlie Hebdo is far from the only publication whose depiction of Mohammed sparked controversy. Newspapers in Norway and Denmark prompted furious demonstrations around the world in 2005 when they ran Mohammed cartoons.

Several cartoonists were attacked in the fallout of that controversy. Sweden's Lars Vilks got death threats after drawing Mohammed with the body of a dog. And a man tried to break into Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard's house after he portrayed Mohammed wearing a turban shaped like a bomb.

Hollande reacts

On Wednesday, French President Francois Hollande reacted to the news: "France is today facing a shock, the shock a of a terror attack, because this is a terrorist attack without a doubt, against a publication that was threatened several times and that was protected."

"In these moments we have to form a block to show we are a united country. We know how to react appropriately, with firmness, but always with the concern for national unity."

Website:

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/07/europe/charlie-hebdo-controversy/index.html

Structure:

What: Gunmen storm satirical magazine's office in Paris.

Why: Gunmen think Charlie Hebdo's notorious cartoons satirizing the Prophet Mohammed.

When: 2015/01/07

Where: In Paris

Keywords:

Brazen (adv)厚顏無恥地

Satirize (v)諷刺

Turbaned (a)帶頭巾的

Surveillance (n)監控

Blasphemous (a)褻瀆神靈的

Prophet (n)先知

2:New York

Suspect in Police Shootings Carries Lengthy Arrest Resume

A man who had been arrested 19 times and had tried to commit suicide at least once vowed in an Instagram post to put “wings on pigs” Saturday before fatally shooting two New York Police Department officers and later himself in apparent retaliation for the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.

Brooklyn, New York native Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, is suspected of killing Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu of the NYPD as they ate lunch in their patrol car Saturday shortly before 3 p.m., according to the The Wall Street Journal and WPIX New York. Brinsley then fled to a nearby subway station, where he shot and killed himself. 

Earlier in the day, Brinsley reportedly visited the home of a former girlfriend, whom he shot in the abdomen before stealing a cell phone and fleeing. She was not fatally wounded, according to CBS New York. New York City Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said Brinsley called the woman’s mother after the attack as he traveled from Baltimore to New York City.

“At about 6:05 in the morning he calls the mother on her phone, the girlfriend’s mother on the phone, and he says he shot her by accident and that he hopes she lives,” Boyce said, according to CBS New York.

Shortly before 2:45 p.m., Brinsley approached a group of pedestrians in Brooklyn and asked them if they had gang affiliations, according to the Journal. He then asked them to follow him on Instagram before saying, “Watch what I’m going to do.” 
Brinsley then fired four shots into Liu’s and Ramos’ police cruiser. Liu was struck once and Ramos was hit three times. Brinsley was reportedly then chased by other police officers to a nearby subway station, where he shot himself in the head.

Though Brinsley’s suicide assured that Saturday would be his last run in with law enforcement, it was not his first. The man had been arrested 19 times in Georgia and Ohio on charges ranging from criminal trespassing, felony possession of a firearm, obstructing a police officer, theft and robbery, disorderly conduct and criminal damage of property, among other charges.

Brinsley was picked up in 2006 on charges of carrying a concealed weapon and shoplifting, according to the New York Post. At least one robbery charge Brinsley faced in 2009 while in Ohio was later dismissed, but he was arrested again in 2011 and charged with reckless conduct, tampering with evidence, criminal property damage and discharging a firearm. 
“Brinsley attempted suicide in the past and attempted to hang himself a year ago,” Boyce said during a news conference Sunday, according to The Washington Post. “He had a very troubled childhood and was often violent. [His] mother expressed fear of him and she says she hasn’t seen him in one month.” 

A woman who identified herself as Brinsley’s sister said she had not seen him in two years, according to The New York Times. Neither Brinsley’s sister nor mother said they were aware Brinsley carried any radical anti-police ideology. 
“The family is grieving and they’re still trying to cope with what’s happening. It was an estranged relationship,” said Tony Lindsey, a friend of Brinsley’s mother, according to WABC and theHuffington Post.

“I Always Wanted To Be Known For Doing Something Right ……. But My Past Is Stalking Me And My Present Is Haunting Me,” reads a Facebook post from an account believed to belong to Brinsley, according to the Journal.

The New York Daily News reported Saturday that “sources” told them Brinsley was tied to the Black Guerrilla Family, a prison-based gang who earlier this month called for a wave of violence against police officers. But the Baltimore Sun reported later that day that a federal official said Brinsley had no known ties to the gang, and the Daily News reports the NYPD does not consider the gang’s declaration a “credible threat.”

Website:

http://www.usnews.com/news/newsgram/articles/2014/12/22/ismaaiyl-brinsley-arrested-19-times-before-shooting-pair-of-nypd-officers-in-brooklyn

Structure:

Who: Ismaaiyl Brinsley, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu

What: Brinsley shot Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu

Where: Brooklyn

Keywords:

Fled (v)逃離

Abdomen (n)腹部

Affiliation (n)聯繫

Ideology (n)思想

1:Ting Hsin

Taiwan finance minister warns against extending credit to Ting Hsin amid tainted oil scandal

Oct 29 (Reuters) - Taiwan's finance minister said on Wednesday that Ting Hsin International Group has become a high risk enterprise and lending to the embattled food maker should be restricted.

Ting Hsin is at the center of a major food safety scandal in Taiwan for allegedly selling tainted oil meant for animal and industrial use as fit for human consumption.

Prosecutors in Taiwan have been investigating Ting Hsin and earlier this month detained Wei Ying-chun, a key member of the family that controls Ting Hsin International Group over the alleged sale of tainted cooking oil.

Ting Hsin is the parent company of Hong Kong-listed Tingyi Cayman Islands Holding Corp and makes China's popular Master Kong instant noodles and beverages, while its Taiwan-listed Wei Chuan Foods Corp. produces popular Wei Chuan branded goods.

Public outrage on the island has been intensifying and pressure has been growing on the Wei family to step away from its various investments, including its management positions at Taipei Financial Center Corp, which runs the iconic 101 Taipei skyscraper.

Taiwan Finance Minister Chang Sheng-Ford, speaking to lawmakers in a parliamentary committee session, said that Ting Hsin has become a high risk enterprise, therefore no new credit should be extended to Ting Hsin and any existing borrowing should be backed by collateral if it is not already.

Ting Hsin should also bear higher interest rates in any borrowing, he said.

"Ting Hsin has no social responsibility," Chang said.

Ting Hsin's unit, Cheng-I Food Co, is already being investigated on suspicion of mixing animal feed oil with cooking oil and selling it for human consumption, prosecutors have said.

Officials at Ting Hsin could not be reached for comment immediately.

In September, another company, Chang Guann Co, said it had sold adulterated cooking oil to restaurants, schools and food processors.

(Reporting by J.R. Wu; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Website: 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/29/taiwan-food-scandal-idUSL4N0SO1I320141029

Structure:

What: Taiwan finance minister warns against extending credit to Ting Hsin

Why: Ting Hsin sold tainted oil

Keywords:

Embattled (a)四面楚歌

Allegedly (adv)據稱

Prosecutor (n)檢察官

Detain (v)拘留

Intensify (v)強化

Parliamentary (n)議會

Collateral (n)抵押