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LOS ANGELES, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Eating earth may protect the stomach against toxins, parasites and pathogens, a new study suggests.To examine the possible benefits from eating earth, researchers at Cornell University analyzed reports from missionaries, plantation doctors, explorers, and anthropologists to put together a database of more than 480 cultural accounts of geophagy -- the eating of earth.The database includes as many details as possible about the circumstances under which earth was consumed, and by whom. The researchers could then use patterns in the data to evaluate each potential explanation.Studies in the database indicate that geophagy is common even when food is plentiful. Moreover, when people eat dirt they tend to eat only small quantities that are unlikely to fill an empty stomach.The database shows that geophagy is documented most commonly in women in the early stages of pregnancy and in pre-adolescent children. Both categories of people are especially sensitive to parasites and pathogens, according to the researchers.In addition, geophagy is most common in tropical climates where foodborne microbes are abundant. Finally, the database shows that people often eat earth during episodes of gastrointestinal stress.It's unlikely the intestinal problems are caused by the dirt itself because the type of clay people usually eat comes from deep in the ground, where pathogens and parasites are unlikely to contaminate it. Plus, people usually boil the clay before eating it.More study would be helpful to confirm the protection hypothesis, the researchers say, but the available data at this point clearly support it over the other explanations for eating earth."We hope this paper stimulates (more) research," said Sera Young, a researcher at Cornell University and the study's lead author. "More importantly, we hope readers agree that it is time to stop regarding geophagy as a bizarre, non-adaptive gustatory mistake.""With these data, it is clear that geophagy is a widespread behavior in humans ...that occurs during both vulnerable life stages and when facing ecological conditions that require protection."The study is appearing in the June issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology.

BEIJING, Sept. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Insomnia costs average U.S. worker 11.3 days, or 2,280 dollars, in lost productivity each year, according to a new study published in journal Sleep.The total cost to the nation is 63.2 billion dollars annually, the study said.Researchers analyzed information about sleep habits and work performance from 7,428 workers taking part in Harvard Medical School's American Insomnia Study survey in 2008-09.As a result, 23.2 percent of the participants suffered insomnia, characterized by a hard time falling or staying asleep.Moreover, insomnia rates were 19.9 percent for those with less than a high school education and 21.5 percent for college graduates."We were shocked by the enormous impact insomnia has on the average person's life," said Ronald C. Kessler, a lead author and a psychiatric epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School."It's an underappreciated problem. Americans are not missing work because of insomnia. They are still going to their jobs but accomplishing less because they're tired," Kessler noted.Employers usually ignore the consequences of insomnia because it's not considered an illness resulting in workers' absenteeism.But the high cost of lost sleep identified in this study indicates that employers need to take it more seriously.

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin population in the Mekong River numbers just 85, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) new research revealed on Wednesday.Calf survival was found to be very low, leading researchers to conclude that the small population is declining and at high risk of extinction, said the Fund's statement sent to Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.According to Li Lifeng, Director of WWF's Freshwater Program, the research is based on photographic identification of dolphins through individually unique features of their dorsal fins. "Most of the dolphins can be identified, and we use that information to estimate the population size," he said.Although this population estimate is slightly higher than the previous estimate, the researchers were quick to note that the population had not increased over the last few years."With a larger dataset and recent analytical advances, previously unidentifiable dolphins which had few marks on their dorsal fins have been included," he added.However, surveys conducted from 2007 to 2010 show the population slowly declining."Evidence is strong that very few young animals survive to adulthood, as older dolphins die off and are not replaced," he explained."Pressures of gill net entanglement and high calf mortality we are really worried for the future of dolphins," Li said.However, Touch Seang Tana, chairman of Cambodia's Commission for Conversation and Development of the Mekong River Dolphins Eco- tourism Zone, rejected the WWF's finding, saying that last year, 4 dolphins were killed by fishing nets, but up to 7 newborn dolphin babies were found.He estimated that the total population of Mekong dolphins in the north-eastern provinces of Kratie and Stung Treng is between 155 and 177 now, up from just 100 in 2006.The Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin has been listed as critically endangered on the World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species since 2004.

coastline in the U.S. State of California sampled by the state water board harbored fish with mercury in such high concentrations that they shouldn't be eaten by young women and children, a newly released survey has found.Fourteen percent of locations had similarly elevated levels of PCBs, according to the survey published by The Los Angeles Times on Sunday.The most elevated concentrations of mercury and PCBs were found in San Francisco Bay and San Diego Bay, said the survey funded by the state water board.The findings, part of a two-year inquiry that is the largest statewide survey of contaminants in sport fish along the California coast, examined more than 2,000 fish from three dozen species gathered in 2009 from waters near Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, the paper said.The survey highlights the health problem of lingering mercury, a poisonous metal that is found in fish globally, and of PCBs, toxic chemicals the United States banned in the 1970s, the report said.Both substances continue to pose a risk to people who eat fish caught along the California coast because they can lead to nervous system damage and developmental problems in children and can cause cancer, liver damage and reproductive harm, the report quoted researchers as saying."Unfortunately, we're not seeing many areas that are totally clean," said Jay Davis, a senior scientist for the San Francisco Estuary Institute and lead author of the study. But a catalog of where and in what fish the substances abound should help anglers make better choices, Davis said. "With good information, people can reduce their exposure significantly."Sharks had some of the highest levels of mercury because of their unusual tendency to accumulate contaminants in their flesh, while chub mackerel had the lowest levels of contamination, according to the survey.The survey results were used in part to help craft new fish consumption guidelines issued earlier this week for anglers in San Francisco Bay, the first update there by state health officials in 17 years. The advisory identifies shiner perch and other surf perches as unsafe to eat in any quantity and warns young women and children not to eat white sturgeon, striped bass and sharks caught in the bay, The Times said.The buildup of metals and other chemicals in fish is such a problem along the Southern California coast that health officials two years ago expanded the number of fish species on the "do not eat" list from one to five because of high levels of PCBs, mercury and the banned pesticide DDT, the report noted.

BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's top economic planner announced Wednesday that it will raise the minimum purchase prices for wheat from farmers in 2012 to boost grain output.The move "aims to protect farmers' enthusiasm to grow grains and further stimulate grain production," the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement.The minimum purchase price for white wheat in the country's major wheat-producing areas will be increased to 102 yuan (16 U.S. dollars) per 50 kg, up 7 yuan from the 2011 price, said the NDRC.It said the minimum purchase prices for red and mixed wheat will both rise 9 yuan to 102 yuan per 50 kg next year.Wheat is one of China's major grains, which feeds its population of 1.3 billion people mainly with domestically-produced grains.A stable food supply is crucial to China's efforts to check inflation, as food prices account for about a third of the weighting in its consumer price index (CPI) calculation, a main gauge of inflation.China's CPI rose to a 27-month year-on-year high of 6.5 percent in July and weakened slightly to 6.2 percent in August.The country's grain output rose 2.9 percent last year to 546.41 million tonnes, marking the seventh consecutive year of output growth.The Ministry of Agriculture expects the output to reach a record high of 550 million tonnes this year.