Hollande and Obama confirm strong Franco-US friendship

Hollande and Obama confirm strong Franco-US friendship

 

The presidents of France and the United States have confirmed the strong friendship between the two countries at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday.

 

Obama and Hollande said they were both in agreement on foreign policy, trade and the environment.

 

On the subject of Iran, Obama said sanctions would continue for now.

 

“President Hollande and I agree on the need to continue enforcing existing sanctions even as we believe that new sanctions during these negotiations would endanger the possibility of a diplomatic solution.”

 

After the press conference, a state dinner will be held in honour of Hollande.

 

The next time the two will meet will be in June.

 

Copyright © 2014 euronews

 

(euronews, 11 Monday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Putin takes Olympic officials to meet Sochi leopards

Putin takes Olympic officials to meet Sochi leopards

 

[caption id="attachment_11926" align="alignnone" width="375"] (Russia’s President Vladimir Putin caresses a Persian leopard cub as he visits the Persian leopard breeding and rehabilitation centre in the National Park in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on 4 Tuesday February 2014 The Roman (AFP Photo/Alexei Nikolsky))[/caption]

 

Sochi (Russia) (AFP)

 

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday took senior members of the IOC to meet leopards that are to be re-introduced in the Sochi region, in an attempt by Russia to show the Games are positive for the environment.

 

However one of the leopards called Grom (Thunder) took none to happily to the arrival of the large group of guests and attacked two journalists inside the cage, state Russian media said.

 

Putin took Jean Claude Killy, the French skiing legend who has been the International Olympic Committee's pointman for Sochi, and IOC Executive Director Gilbert Felli in his own jeep to the nature reserve above Sochi.

 

Russia is working to reintroduce the Persian leopard to the mountains above the city as part of measures aimed at showing that the Olympic Games will benefit and not hurt the environment.

 

"The ecological situation has improved many times over," said Putin.

 

"According to some estimates, it has improved by a factor of four."

 

"There are questions which always crop up during such huge construction but in general the situation has not worsened but improved."

 

However environmentalists scoff at such claims, saying that the Games have irreversibly damaged once virgin environments by the sea and in the mountains.

 

After six-month old Grom had lashed out at journalists, state television noted that the media left the cage and Putin went in himself to calm the animal.

 

One reporter was scratched on the hand and one lightly bitten in the knee, the RIA Novosti news agency said.

 

State television showed Putin cradling Grom on his knee with the animal now seemingly at ease.

 

"I like animals, it seems I have a feeling for them," said Putin.

 

"We liked each other."

 

Putin is well known for his meetings with wild animals which he uses to burnish his hardman image.

 

As well as leopards, in the past he has met beasts including a tiger and a polar bear.

 

Three pairs of adult leopards being kept in the big cages of the reserve have already given birth to four leopards in the last months.

 

Leopards have been extinct in this part of Russia since the 1950s.

 

To start the reintroduction programme, Russia received two male leopards as gifts from Turkmenistan and two females from Iran.

 

The first two offspring come from another leopard pair who came from Lisbon zoo.

 

But then a Turkmen-Iranian partnership then produced two more leopards.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 4 Tesday February 2014 The Roman)

Katy Perry hat über 50 Millionen Anhänger auf Twitter Katy Perry has over 50 million followers on Twitter

Katy Perry hat über 50 Millionen Anhänger auf Twitter

 

Washington (AFP)

 

Die US-Popsängerin Katy Perry hat für einen kurzen Moment Twitter-Geschichte geschrieben: Als erste Nutzerin des Kurzbotschaftendiensts im Internet verzeichnete die 29-Jährige am Freitag um 22.43 Uhr (MEZ) mehr als 50 Millionen Anhänger.

 

Laut einer Vergleichszählung von Twitter Counter kam Perry auf 50.025.667 Anhängern, gefolgt vom kanadischen Sänger Justin Bieber mit 49.230.470 "Followern".

 

US-Präsident Barack Obama als Nummer drei folgten noch 41.219.748 Menschen.

 

Lady Gaga, die im März 2012 als erste die Marke von 20 Millionen Anhängern überschritten hatte, landete am Freitag auf dem vierten Platz.

 

Siegerin Perry verzichtete bisher auf einen Kommentar zu ihrem Rekord.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 1 Samstag Februar 2014 Der Roman)

 

 

Katy Perry has over 50 million followers on Twitter

 

Washington (AFP)

 

The U.S. pop singer Katy Perry has written for a brief moment in Twitter history: The first user of the short message service on the Internet, the 29-year-old posted on Friday at 22.43 clock (CET) more than 50 million followers.

 

According to a comparison count of Twitter Counter Perry came up with 50,025,667 adherents, followed by the Canadian singer Justin Bieber with 49.23047 million "followers".

 

U.S. President Barack Obama as number three was followed by 41,219,748 people.

 

Lady Gaga, who had crossed first the mark of 20 million followers in March 2012, ended on Friday in fourth place.

 

Perry winner so far refrained from commenting on her record.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 1 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 1 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

 

 

Natur und Umweltpark in Güstrow

Natur und Umweltpark in Güstrow

 

[caption id="attachment_11589" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo DPA/AFP - Bernd Wuestneck)[/caption]

 

Mach mich nicht nass!

 

Mach mich nicht nass!

 

Im Natur und Umweltpark in Güstrow sind die Bären trotz der eisigen Temperaturen aus ihrem Winterschlaf aufgewacht.

 

Do not make me wet!

 

Do not make me wet!

 

In Nature and Environment Park in Güstrow the bears woke up, despite the freezing temperatures of winter hibernation.

 

(DPA/AFP - Bernd Wuestneck)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 31 Friday January 2014 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 1 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Team Yaeyama Norin makes final in low-carbon championship

Team Yaeyama Norin makes final in low-carbon championship

 

Yaeyama Norin High School Civil Engineering Department Environmental Engineering Project Team made it to the final in the Student Project Division for the Low-carbon Championship 2014.

 

Groups, companies and schools nationwide presented their projects for preventing global warming in the championship.

 

On February 14 and 15, four students will take part in the final presentation at Tokyo Big Sight.

 

Yaeyama Norin High School Team will present its project with the theme of “Protect Yaeyama’s nature by recycling wood! We build a low-carbon society by creative design and manufacturing.”

 

They will present a project that makes playground equipment out of timber from forest thinning and discarded cardboard to pre-schools.

 

They promote recycling society by effectively using forest and bark for dyeing and growing mushrooms.

 

The school has been contributing to a local community by effectively using experimental forests from three years ago.

 

They will highlight the practical achievements of the projects in the final.

 

The championship had applications from 1,620 groups, with 11 groups from the student project division in the final.

 

High-ranking groups will win Environment Minister Awards.

 

Team leader and senior student Daiki Sunagawa stated, “I would like to listen to other schools’ presentations carefully and teach them to junior students.”

 

A junior student Syukyu Shimabukuro said, “I want to understand how the project is passed down from seniors, and to present it to impress other groups.”

 

(English translation by T&CT and Megumi Chibana)

 

(Ryukyu Shimpo, 3 Friday January 2014 The Roman)

 

US weather: all 50 states fall below freezing

US weather: all 50 states fall below freezing

 

All 50 of America’s states recorded temperatures below freezing at some point on Tuesday and even the polar bear at Chicago zoo spent most of the day indoors, as bitterly cold air gripped the country

 

[caption id="attachment_11040" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Ice covers rocks and brush on the break wall at Edgewater Park in Cleveland (Photo The Telegraph))[/caption]

 

Parts of the country which were not victims of the “Polar vortex” that afflicted swathes of the US none the less suffered abnormally chilly weather as US authorities declared it the coldest Jan 7 on record.

 

The lowest temperature was reported at Embarrass, Minnesota, a township of just over 600 people, where the thermometer fell to -35F (-37C).

 

Once the wind chill factor was taken into account, the temperature felt as low as -45F (-43C).

 

On Hawaii the weather station on Mauna Kea, the island’s highest mountain, recorded a temperature of 21F (-6C), and temperatures plummeted at all levels in the southern states of the US mainland.

 

“It’s not unprecedented, but it is unusual,” a spokesman for the US National Weather Service said.

 

“Normally either Florida, Texas or Louisiana stays above freezing.”

 

In Chicago, the zoo’s polar bear, Anana, which has less insulating fat than if it lived in the wild, was kept in its heated indoor enclosure all day on Monday and only ventured outside briefly yesterday as the thermometer fell to -16F (-27C).

 

At least 21 people are believed to have died across the USA as a result of the cold blast which has crippled much of the country.

 

According to the latest official figures 187 million people have been affected by the severe weather.

 

Across the country wind chill warnings were in place for 32 states from Montana in the north to Florida in the south east.

 

School closures were reported from as far afield as Minneapolis and Chicago in the north to Atlanta and northern Florida in the south.

 

The eastern seaboard, which had escaped the initial impact of the Polar vortex, was also affected.

 

Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York state, closed swathes of the state highways as a precaution.

 

In Illinois the governor, Pat Quinn, declared a state of emergency as the state wrestled with the most severe temperatures in two decades.

 

So cold was the temperature that water thrown into the air turned into ice before landing on the ground.

 

In Iowa, Tom Rauen became an internet sensation when he posted a film on YouTube showing a wet T-shirt turning into ice in a minute.

 

“I thought, 'Why not do something a little different?’ and wondered what would happen if we froze a T-shirt? How long would it take to freeze?

 

“I thought it would be cool if I could shape it into what it would look like if someone was wearing it. I left it standing up on the sidewalk for a while and when I brought it inside there was a little tear in it - just from it freezing, it had become it very brittle. I took the tear and just ripped the T-shirt in half like it was a piece of paper. It was crazy.”

 

The cold weather in the south triggered fears the Florida citrus crop could be hit.

 

America’s transport system continued to be hit.

 

In Illinois, more than 500 passengers were stuck on three Amtrak trains overnight after they were trapped by the snow.

 

Air travel was also hit with thousands of flights cancelled across the country.

 

However according to US weather forecasters the worst is over, with temperatures expected to climb slowly by the end of the week.

 

(The Telegraph, 7 Tuesday January 2014 The Roman)

 

We sent many informations to the United States through Paris Police.

 

(R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 8 Wednesday January 2014 The Roman)

 

US weather: all 50 states fall below freezing

US weather: all 50 states fall below freezing

 

All 50 of America’s states recorded temperatures below freezing at some point on Tuesday and even the polar bear at Chicago zoo spent most of the day indoors, as bitterly cold air gripped the country

 

[caption id="attachment_11040" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Ice covers rocks and brush on the break wall at Edgewater Park in Cleveland (Photo The Telegraph))[/caption]

 

Parts of the country which were not victims of the “Polar vortex” that afflicted swathes of the US none the less suffered abnormally chilly weather as US authorities declared it the coldest Jan 7 on record.

 

The lowest temperature was reported at Embarrass, Minnesota, a township of just over 600 people, where the thermometer fell to -35F (-37C).

 

Once the wind chill factor was taken into account, the temperature felt as low as -45F (-43C).

 

On Hawaii the weather station on Mauna Kea, the island’s highest mountain, recorded a temperature of 21F (-6C), and temperatures plummeted at all levels in the southern states of the US mainland.

 

“It’s not unprecedented, but it is unusual,” a spokesman for the US National Weather Service said.

 

“Normally either Florida, Texas or Louisiana stays above freezing.”

 

In Chicago, the zoo’s polar bear, Anana, which has less insulating fat than if it lived in the wild, was kept in its heated indoor enclosure all day on Monday and only ventured outside briefly yesterday as the thermometer fell to -16F (-27C).

 

At least 21 people are believed to have died across the USA as a result of the cold blast which has crippled much of the country.

 

According to the latest official figures 187 million people have been affected by the severe weather.

 

Across the country wind chill warnings were in place for 32 states from Montana in the north to Florida in the south east.

 

School closures were reported from as far afield as Minneapolis and Chicago in the north to Atlanta and northern Florida in the south.

 

The eastern seaboard, which had escaped the initial impact of the Polar vortex, was also affected.

 

Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York state, closed swathes of the state highways as a precaution.

 

In Illinois the governor, Pat Quinn, declared a state of emergency as the state wrestled with the most severe temperatures in two decades.

 

So cold was the temperature that water thrown into the air turned into ice before landing on the ground.

 

In Iowa, Tom Rauen became an internet sensation when he posted a film on YouTube showing a wet T-shirt turning into ice in a minute.

 

“I thought, 'Why not do something a little different?’ and wondered what would happen if we froze a T-shirt? How long would it take to freeze?

 

“I thought it would be cool if I could shape it into what it would look like if someone was wearing it. I left it standing up on the sidewalk for a while and when I brought it inside there was a little tear in it - just from it freezing, it had become it very brittle. I took the tear and just ripped the T-shirt in half like it was a piece of paper. It was crazy.”

 

The cold weather in the south triggered fears the Florida citrus crop could be hit.

 

America’s transport system continued to be hit.

 

In Illinois, more than 500 passengers were stuck on three Amtrak trains overnight after they were trapped by the snow.

 

Air travel was also hit with thousands of flights cancelled across the country.

 

However according to US weather forecasters the worst is over, with temperatures expected to climb slowly by the end of the week.

 

(The Telegraph, 7 Tuesday January 2014 The Roman)

 

We sent many informations to the United States through Paris Police.

 

(R.S.F. toshiki   eed news press, Agence France-Presse, 8 Wednesday january 2014 The Roman)

 

Noguchigera spotted in Nago for first time in four years

Noguchigera spotted in Nago for first time in four years

 

[caption id="attachment_9250" align="alignnone" width="156"] (At 8:00 a.m. on September 28, a noguchigera appeared in the Nagodake in Nago for the first time in four years. (Photograph provided by Yutaka Toguchi))[/caption]

 

A male noguchigera Okinawa woodpecker was confirmed as having been seen in Nago-dake in Nago in the morning of September 28.

 

This sighting is the first time in over four years.

 

The noguchigera is designated as a special national treasure and is an endangered species that inhabits part of an area in Ogimi and Kunigami Village.

 

It is extremely rare for there to be a sighting of the bird in Nago.

 

Masakuni Yamashiro, the chairman of the Wild Bird Society of Okinawa said, “We hope that the natural distribution range of the noguchigera is expanding. This bird symbolizes the rich nature of Okinawa.”

 

On September 28, Yutaka Toguchi, a warden of the Yagaji national wildlife protection, confirmed the sightseeing of the bird.

 

He heard the sound of the woodpecker pecking on a tree and then the bird appeared.

 

He has received information that residents have seen the woodpecker since August.

 

In the Red Data Book by the Ministry of the Environment, the noguchigera is listed as endangered 1A class, which means that it has a very high risk of extinction in the immediate future.

 

According to Toguchi, until 1980 there were sightings of the bird at Tano-dake in Nago.

 

The warden is observing the bird in Nago-dake in cooperation with Nago Museum.

 

Please send information of sightings of noguchigera to the Nago Museum.

 

Telephone: 0980 (53) 1342.

 

(English translation by T&CT, Mark Ealey)

 

(Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 Tuesday October 2013 The Roman)

 

 

Advice About Sleep Deficiency in Midlife, Part 1

Advice About Sleep Deficiency in Midlife, Part 1

 

Nearly 200 people sent questions about sleep to Orfeu Marcello Buxton, a neuroscientist who studies chronic sleep deficiency in the workplace and home and how it contributes to disorders like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

 

Dr. Buxton is an associate neuroscientist in the Division of Sleep Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, as well as an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health.

 

He received his doctorate from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. (Note: Dr. Buxton is a researcher, not a physician, and he emphasizes that his responses should not take the place of recommendations from your health care provider.)

 

More responses will be posted next week.

 

Because of the volume of questions, not all may be answered.

 

Disclosure statement: Dr. Buxton’s current research is financed by several branches of the National Institutes of Health. He is a consultant to the Harvard School of Public Health Center for Work, Health and Well-being and is on the scientific advisory board for Matsutani America (a dietary fiber supplement manufacturer). He has served as an expert witness for Dinsmore L.L.C., received speaking/consulting fees from Takeda Inc., and was the principal investigator on investigator-initiated research financed by Cephalon Inc. (now Teva) and Sepracor Inc. (now Sunovion).

 

Introduction

 

Thank you to all readers who commented and submitted questions.

 

The breadth of the questions speaks to the many different ways that we sleep, and how our expectation about sleep, and our sleep patterns and habits can vary with circumstances and our environment, and across the course of life.

 

Healthy Sleep in Midlife

 

Q. I go to sleep fairly early (8:30 p.m.) because I am exhausted, yet I wake up around 2:30 or 3 a.m. and cannot get back to sleep. I used to sleep much longer and arise more rested. Is this probably just age? Are there things I can do to help myself sleep longer? — CM, Placitas, N.M.

 

A. Many readers addressed directly or indirectly the question, “What is ‘normal sleep’ in midlife?” Setting aside the possibility of a sleep disorder (some of which are addressed below), normal sleep has a physiological basis, but also a cultural basis (see below on the relatively modern emergence of an expectation of a single consolidated night’s sleep).

 

What we might consider normal sleep in midlife varies depending on individuals and their circumstances.

 

Typical advice has been to get a full eight hours of sleep, but this is the “tyranny of the mean.”

 

Our individual sleep need is roughly the same across adulthood, though as discussed below (“Sleep and Aging”), the amount of sleep we need may decline slightly as we age.

 

For most adults, routinely sleeping seven to nine hours per night regularly is appropriate for optimal functioning and health.

 

That said, there will be some people who need less, and some who may need more sleep; it’s just that there are far more of us getting less than we probably need (the United States average is just above seven hours a night, and the proportion of short sleepers is increasing).

 

Information is available from the Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine on the benefits of healthy sleep and getting enough sleep, including a “sleep makeover,” and 12 simple steps to improving your sleep.

 

So how can you tell if you are getting enough sleep at this time in your life? I have a nonclinical litmus test.

 

First, pay off your sleep debt by getting plenty of extra sleep for a few weeks.

 

Vacations outside of our normal pressures can work well for this.

 

Then, begin going to sleep and waking up at about the same times each day, and you will find that your individual number may emerge — the number of hours of sleep after which you wake up and generally feel refreshed, without stimulants.

 

The test is: can you sleep this amount, get up without an alarm clock (except for backup to avoid worrying about missing a morning obligation), and feel good? Bonus: someone else may also report you are (even more) pleasant?

As you can imagine, maintaining healthy sleep is a lifestyle and is not achieved through a quick fix.

 

We don’t go to the gym once and expect immediate fitness, or eat salads for one day and expect leanness.

 

Getting enough sleep gives more energy for vigorous exercise and improves healthy food choices.

 

But where is the time for all this, you might say? To achieve healthy sleep, prioritize your health and recognize that being your best, rested self is more important than something else like watching television or mobile-device screens, especially in their most ad-infused forms, or social media indulgences that don’t bring real joy.

 

The three pillars of health (diet, sleep and exercise) can help everything else go better in our lives, especially the most important things like our relationships and true passions.

 

Sleep Apnea

 

Q. How we can differentiate between normal snoring and sleep apnea? — Jnanawala, Surat, India

 

A. Some readers asked directly about the symptoms of sleep apnea and snoring, or described extremes of daytime sleepiness that might suggest sleep-disordered breathing or other sleep disorders that would be good to rule out.

 

Sleep-disordered breathing results in a lack of sufficient oxygen being taken into the lungs and throughout the body, usually because of a constriction of the airway, but possibly also related to structural issues or sometimes breathing centers in the brain not working ideally.

 

Sleep-disordered breathing also causes frequent interruptions and awakenings during sleep.

 

Symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing include excessive daytime sleepiness, choking or gasping during sleep and sometimes morning headaches because of low oxygen during sleep.

 

In response to falling oxygen levels in the blood (and or rising carbon dioxide levels), a brain “arousal” lightens sleep and a gasp or deeper breathing takes in more air.

 

Risk factors include having a greater than 17-inch neck size, obesity, being male and a family history of apnea.

 

But it is possible to have none of these factors and have sleep-disordered breathing.

 

Snoring is much more common than sleep-disordered breathing, and snoring doesn’t necessarily mean one has sleep-disordered breathing.

 

But the cessation of breathing for more than 20 seconds during sleep is an indicator of sleep apnea.

 

A diagnosis of sleep apnea involves a sleep test at a sleep clinic or in the home.

 

There are a variety of treatment options, but the most common is an air pump and a mask that is worn during sleep to provide enough extra air pressure to overcome the obstruction.

 

These work best if worn the entire night.

 

The Harvard Division of Sleep medicine has accessible and engaging content on sleep apnea here.

 

Detailed patient information about sleep-related breathing disorders and treatment options is available from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

 

Insomnia

 

Q. What can be done about middle-of-night insomnia? I go to bed at 9:30 or so, exhausted and fall asleep in 2 seconds. Then I wake up anywhere from 1:30 to 4 a.m., and cannot fall back asleep for hours if at all. It turns the days into endurance events. Once in a great while, I get a full seven to nine hours and feel magnificent. There is no pattern to it and I cannot make it happen. I cannot take my 1:30 a.m. start of the day. Don’t want to take pills to sleep. — xojoyox, Brooklyn

 

A. Difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep on a regular basis (three or more times per week for at least a month), and a complaint about this sleeplessness causing other problems, is chronic insomnia.

 

Acute insomnia usually has a clear precipitating cause, like stress, anxiety, conflict, grief or a medical condition or medication with side effects.

 

In contrast, chronic insomnia can have less obvious or long-past precipitating factors.

 

Chronic insomnia is thought to be perpetuated by established habits and expectations about sleep, as well as potential brain neurotransmitter or brain system changes that cause the brain to be hyperaroused during sleep, or in other words, cause the wake centers of the brain to be stuck in the “on” position.

 

Chronic conflict at work, harassment at work, or stress at work in general can contribute to insomnia.

 

The inability to sleep in the middle of the night is an especially difficult form of insomnia on the minds of many of us in midlife.

 

Sleep maintenance difficulty is, for example, more strongly related to diabetes risk than short-sleep duration or difficulty getting to sleep.

 

But it’s important not to overly worry about this because this rumination can worsen insomnia.

 

There are several active steps to take.

 

Try to understand what might be causing the awakening: is there a regular interruption like noise that is contributing to this? Snow days are so peaceful and restful when airplane flights are canceled and snow dampens traffic and other sounds, but only until the snow plows grind down the street.

 

Pets and bed partners can be a source of potential interruptions.

 

If it seems that the awakenings are internally generated, start with an assessment of sleep disruptors, like excess caffeine; or a sleep environment that is too bright, hot, cold or noisy.

 

If these things don’t work, it may be time to talk to your physician about potential medical causes of insomnia, like medications, sleep disorders (sleep apnea, restless-legs syndrome) and medical and psychiatric causes.

 

Additionally, consulting a sleep specialist may help.

 

New formulations of F.D.A.-approved medications with short half-lives may be useful in treating middle-of-the-night insomnia — in the short term.

 

In the long term, behavioral treatments to improve sleep, including cognitive behavioral therapies or mindfulness practice can improve sleep, and have a sustained impact after the cessation of active treatment.

 

A lot of work remains to be done to determine the effectiveness of these various pharmacological and behavioral treatments, especially head-to-head comparisons, but promising ones are available now.

 

For useful patient information on all manners of sleep disorders, include information from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, which includes a Find a Sleep Center tool.

 

Sleep and Aging

 

Q. What can a 65-year-old woman, who ever since menopause wakes up 10 times a night, do to get a good night’s sleep? — Bonnie Rozanski, Lawrenceville, N.J.

 

A. Many of us are concerned about sleep changes with age.

 

In general, sleep is much deeper when we are very young — thus the expression “sleeping like a baby.”

 

Insomnia reports are thought to be more common in women than men in midlife, and further increase in peri-menopause and post-menopause.

 

There are several aspects of sleep changing with age, including our response to the sleep environment.

 

External stimuli are less likely to awaken us during this deep, non-R.E.M. or slow-wave sleep.

 

The amount of deep, slow-wave sleep declines over the first several decades of life.

 

In the third decade of life the amount of this deep sleep decreases rapidly, and thus we become more likely to be awakened by external stimuli like sounds.

 

Also, even in healthy sleepers, as we grow older it can take a bit longer to fall back to sleep once we are awake.

 

This causes us to be awake for longer periods of time, increasing our chances of remembering awakenings during the night that might otherwise be so brief as not to be recalled the next day.

 

We also exhibit more awakenings during the night.

 

It also appears that as we age we have a reduced capacity for sleep, or potentially, even a reduced “need” for sleep.

 

It is important to remember that frequent and longer awakenings in midlife are fairly common.

 

Bonnie and other readers with similar questions about generally sleeping better did not express a concern with some aspect of daytime functioning, like excessive sleepiness.

 

A sleep-related complaint might warrant a closer look, but adjusting expectations and not worrying about sleep unnecessarily is also part of sleeping better.

 

If you think that your daytime function is not optimal because of a sleep problem, and the 12 simple steps to improving your sleep, which you can read here, don’t seem to help, you may want to consult your physician and then a sleep specialist.

 

More answers from Dr. Buxton will be posted on Booming on Oct. 2.

 

Previous Ask an Expert columns can be found here.

 

Booming: Living Through the Middle Ages offers news and commentary about baby boomers, anchored by Michael Winerip. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here. You may also follow Booming via RSS here or visit nytimes.com/booming. Our e-mail is booming@nytimes.com.

 

(The New York Times, 25 Wednesday September 2013 The Roman)

 

TCC News Summer 2013

TCC News Summer 2013

 

Contents

 

Urban Heat Island Effect Enhancement caused by Hot Summer Conditions

 

Summary of Kosa (Aeolian dust) Events over Japan in 2013

 

Sea Ice in the Sea of Okhotsk for the 2012/2013 Winter Season

 

Introduction of New Climate Monitoring Products on the TCC Website

 

JMA’s Contribution to improving Climate Risk Management

 

http://ds.data.jma.go.jp/tcc/tcc/news/tccnews33.pdf

 

(Tokyo Climate Center, Japan Meteorological Agency, 30 August 2013)

(Edited: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 4 Wednesday September 2013 The Roman)

 

East Japan the hottest in history, West Japan No.3 hottest summer, in Japan Meteorological Agency recorded

East Japan the hottest in history, West Japan No.3 hottest summer, in Japan Meteorological Agency recorded

 

西日本、史上最も暑い夏　東日本３位タイ　気象庁まとめ

 

今夏（６～８月）の平均気温は、西日本（近畿、中四国、九州）で平年を１・２度上回り統計史上最高の暑さだったことが９月１日、気象庁のまとめで分かった。

 

東日本（関東甲信、北陸、東海）はプラス１・１度で３位タイ、沖縄・奄美はプラス０・７度で２位タイの記録だった。

 

北日本（北海道、東北）は平年を１・０度上回った。

 

気象庁は９月２日、専門家でつくる「異常気象分析検討会」を開き、要因などを議論する。

 

（共同通信）

 

（琉球新報、2013年9月1日）

 

 

East Japan the hottest in history, West Japan No.3 hottest summer, in Japan Meteorological Agency recorded

 

1 September 2013 The Roman, the average temperature in summer (July-August) was found in the summary of Japan Meteorological Agency that was the hottest statistics ever exceeded 1.2 degree the average year in West Japan.

 

East Japan  (Kanto Koshin, Hokuriku, Tokai) was No.3 in tie recorded at 1.1 degree plus, Okinawa-Amami was the record of No.2 in tie recorded at 0.7 degree plus, than the average year.

 

Northern Japan (Hokkaido, Tohoku)  was 1.0 degree higher than the average year.

 

2 September, Japan Meteorological Agency opens to discuss such factors with experts, the “Abnormal weather analysis Study Group".

 

(Kyodo News)

 

(Ryukyu Shimpo, 1 September 2013 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse,  2 September 2013 The Roman)

 

2013年9月2日、猛暑は全く変わらない。

 

室温、外気温ともに、３０度を超えている。

 

未だにクーラーをかけないと物凄く暑い。

 

秋の９月に猛暑。

 

これは日本の気候ではない。

 

(R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse,  2 September 2013 The Roman)

 

2 September 2013 The Roman, heat wave does not change at all.

 

Room temperature and outside temperature both are over 30 degrees.

 

This is still too hot, if we do not power on the cooler.

 

Heat wave in September of autumn.

 

This is not the weather in Japan.

 

(R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse,  2 September 2013 The Roman)