Gateses commit $10 billion to vaccines
STOCKHOLM, Switzerland, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates say their foundation will spend a record $10 billion over 10 years to develop vaccines for AIDS and other diseases.
"We must make this the decade of vaccines," Bill Gates said Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The commitment is the largest pledge ever made by a charitable foundation to a single cause, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported.
The $10 billion program is to focus on vaccines for AIDS, pneumonia, tuberculosis and rota virus, the Gateses said, adding vaccines for those diseases could prevent nearly 9 million deaths.
The Gateses, who amassed their wealth through Bill Gates's development of Microsoft Corp. into today's computer software behemoth, said they were concerned the global recession and competing government prioritize would slow effort to combat diseases in developing countries, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Excluding Friday's commitment, the Gates Foundation has committed more than $21 billion to global health, education and agriculture since it was established in 1994.
Lead may be ADHD trigger
PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 29 (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher says attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder may be linked to the neurotoxin lead -- still found in some toys, jewelry and water.
Joel Nigg of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland points to lead as an ideal candidate to trigger the developmental disorder called ADHD.
In his article, published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, Nigg offers a causal model in which lead attaches to sites in the brain's striatum and frontal cortex, and acts on the genes in these regions -- causing them to turn on or remain inactive. This disruption in brain activity alters cognitive control, and in turn results in hyperactivity and lack of vigilance.
Two recent studies, Nigg says, provide strong evidence of the link between ADHD and lead. One found children who had been diagnosed with ADHD had slightly higher levels of lead in their blood than healthy controls.
The second study shows a link between blood lead and both parent and teacher ratings of ADHD symptoms, including both hyperactivity and attention problems. In both studies, the connection was independent of IQ, family income, race or maternal smoking during pregnancy.
Pelicans starve along Oregon coast
ASTORIA, Ore., Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Scores of brown pelicans that failed to migrate south have starved or been injured along Oregon's coast this winter, biologists said.
The birds are some of the estimated 20,000 brown pelicans that live along the Oregon coast in warmer months and migrate to Southern California and Mexico for the winter to breed.
A shift in ocean and wind patterns, which could be related to climate change, provided an abundance of bait fish for the pelicans to eat through last month.
Now, the food supply has moved into deeper waters, forcing the pelicans to come ashore to hunt for food around piers, backyards and beaches, The (Portland) Oregonian reported Friday.
"This is the most (pelicans) we've ever seen here in January," said Roy Lowe of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife office in Newport.
Dozens have starved to death, while an estimated 100 dying and injured pelicans were being treated at the Wildlife Center of the North Coast near Astoria.
India plans manned space flight in 2016
NEW DELHI, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- India's space agency says it needs $4.8 billion to put two astronauts in orbit for seven days in 2016.
The Indian Space Research Organization has asked the federal government to approve the project, which would involve no help from foreign countries, CNN reported Friday.
An astronaut training facility would be built in southern India in preparation for the flight.
India plans in 2012 to launch a second version of Chandrayaan, the moon probe launched in 2008 that completed 3,400 lunar orbits and accomplished most of its scientific goals before mysteriously vanishing last year, the space agency said.
Chandrayaan-1 carried payloads from Bulgaria, the United States and Europe in its search to identify chemical compositions of lunar rocks.
