Machine learning detects marketing and sale of opioids on Twitter.

Machine learning detects marketing and sale of opioids on Twitter.Using advanced machine learning, a cross disciplinary team of University of California San Diego researchers developed technology that mined Twitter to identify entities illegally selling prescription opioids online. Between June and November 2015, some 619,937 tweets containing the keywords codeine, Percocet, fentanyl, Vicodin, Oxycontin, oxycodone and hydrocodone were collected. The findings, published online in the American Journal of Public Health in October, detected 1,778 posts that were marketing the sale of controlled substances, 90 percent included hyperlinks to online sites for purchase.

Food Safety : Use of banned drugs in food animal production and the health implication in man.

Animals raised and processed for food have a great deal of impact on the health and well being of man. The saying "you are what you eat" hold true ,as whatever you throw in or gulp down shows up in terms of fat or a trim frame. 

Now a days the term is modified to you are "what your animals eat", meaning if you feed crap,you get crap at the end. The business of raising animals for consumption is not a minor issue, aside the monetary issue(profit margin),the health status of the animals and by extension humans that consume these products is very important as the drugs used in the production line must be safe for the animals and humans as well. 

 The superbugs issue has actually been traced to misuse or overuse of antibiotics in food animal production and this has birthed the antibiotic free production movement ,everyone is alert and aware of nutrients,health benefits,side effects and most importantly,people are going organic. 

This awareness has helped to enforce certain regulation and formulation of new regulations regarding what drugs to use and what not to administer during production. The regulation coupled with surveillance and strict inspection during slaughter to test for residues has helped to prevent greedy producers from passing dangerous products to the public. 

 This is the case of a cattle breeder;Stanley Richardson (67) from Woodford, Newtowngore,convicted and fined €500 and ordered to pay costs of €5,000 after he was found guilty of selling an animal which had been given bute, a banned substance.

Richardson was found guilty of selling a bull which had been administered the banned substance phenylbutazone, also known as bute. 

 Phenylbutazone is known to induce blood dyscrasias, including aplastic anemia, leukopenia, agranulocytosis, and thrombocytopenia, and can result in death. Hypersensitivity reactions of the serum-sickness type have also been reported. 

 The banned substance has the potential to have a carcinogenic effect on humans, thus why it is prohibited in food producing animals. Bute can be used to treat horses, as it is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, provided horses treated are not intended for human consumption.

PARKINSON'S DISEASE AND THE LINK TO CHEMICAL EXPOSURE.

Science cannot prove that a veterinarian Dr David Rendell's and his lifelong exposure to farm chemicals caused his Parkinson's disease, nor can it provide any other known aetiology. There is a potential connection between chemical exposure and the degenerative disease as researchers have explained. They are links that were made by researchers last century, but were not of great interest to the Victorian vet until 2007,that was when his left leg started to drag and he lost dexterity in his left hand. Dr Rendell had been examining, diagnosing and solving health issues for decades. He was credited with ground-breaking research and has published dozens of articles in international journals. A neurologist handed him a lifelong mystery that will unlikely be solved in the veterinarian's lifetime after examination that he has Parkinson's disease. A study released by Monash University pointed to "a cluster of Parkinson's" in Dr Rendell's region, where sales of Parkinson's medication was up to 78 per cent higher than the average. Researchers said barley and pulse production was popular in the areas of concern, pointing to a possible connection between chemical use and the disease. It is unlikely Dr Rendell will ever know the official cause behind his degenerative condition, but the chemical associations are clear enough to raise alarm bells. Dr Rendell recalls that "as a teenager I waved a flag for an aeroplane to spray paddocks with Paraquat [herbicide], and the evidence is quite clear today that Paraquat is definitely linked to an increased chance of Parkinson's."If you give enough of it to mice, they'll get Parkinson's." Dr Rendell said farmers' attitudes toward chemicals had changed "dramatically" over the past three decades, but cultural changes needed to continue. "How many people have drenched a mob of sheep in the last fortnight and put gloves on?" he said. "We allow ourselves massive contact with these drench chemicals on a daily basis and think nothing of it." Read more ;http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-15/parkinsons-disease-chemical-exposure-pesticides-herbicides/7322560

TICK VACCINE FOR AFRICAN CATTLE .

Two Queensland scientists have been recruited as part of a global project to help develop a tick vaccine for the African cattle industry.The tick may be an enemy of the Australian beef industry, but the situation is even more dire in Africa.The research is part of a global project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to help the overseas cattle producers combat tick infestation. Researcher Alicja Lew-Tabor said ticks were having a significant impact on domestic beef production in Africa.Unlike Australian producers, African producers generally only supply their domestic market and Dr Lew-Tabor said ticks caused significant problems in meat and milk supply. "Most of the countries in Africa have cattle of sorts, whether it is for milk or beef production, and most of them would be in regions that are affected by cattle tick and the diseases that they carry," Dr Lew-Tabor said."Ticks are resistant to a lot of the drugs that they use to put on the cattle; they become resistant to them in time."That chemical resistance was the very reason why Dr Lew-Tabor and fellow researcher Manuel Rodriguez-Valle were selected to join the worldwide project. For five years, they have worked on the development of many vaccine strains which could have potential in Africa.They started with 300 possibilities and have selected 25 vaccines which could be successful in controlling the tick infestation.Dr Rodriguez-Valle said the work was tedious, but the results looked good."We have two candidates that look very interesting [and] we will have results very quickly, at the end of February; we are very confident in them," he said.To control the results, the cattle are kept isolated in pens.The goal is to try to reduce the number of ticks per animal by 70 per cent. We infect the animals with around 5,000 tick larvae and wait until the ticks drop off each animal, then we collect the tick, weigh it and analyse the reduction in the number of ticks," Dr Rodriguez-Valle said.The vaccines inject antigens into the cattle, creating antibodies to attack the ticks."We got 80 per cent protection in a trial that we did in Brazil but what they [Gates Foundation] has wanted us to do is pull that mixture apart and work out what the most active components are," Dr Lew-Tabor said.The vaccine is expected to be ready to use within five years, and Dr Lew-Tabor said there could be benefits for Australian beef producers too."They will be able to bring the more susceptible breeds into regions where they don't have those breeds," she said. source; ABC NEWS.

AGRICULTURE : A NEW APPROACH.

The raising of birds can be a tedious task, or outright stressful if you dont know how to raise birds.The myth in the chain can be broken with proper education and hands-on work through with professionals. There are various methods of investing in the poultry value chain, these are direct and indirect investment.The common mode of investment here is the direct type; here the investors are involved in various stages of production that resonant with them. Agriculture The indirect phase,the investors pay a certain amount of money depending on level of investment such as gold,bronze and diamond.The investors partners with agri investors,that raise the birds,sell and give profit to the investor. This is an easy way of investing in the value chain,just pay required amount according to level of participation.Its with so much excitement that i announce the participation of a foreign agri-investment company to the investors forum.The company are coming down with all their expertise ,partnering with farmers to ensure food security.I was amazed at their track records, fast delivery,monitoring of progress of business online, broilers the Ross type, ready for market at 2.6kg at 6 weeks,and the investment is safe and covered by agreements backed by law. This is a new approach to the poultry value chain, another MDGS goal realized by partnering with foreign bodies for growth and development. Yes, you can be a silent partner in the poultry value chain and still make profit. The march towards food security and sustainability is on,and the call for investors to the value chain is on-going.The players in this value chain have been highlighted and our network increasing daily. These group of investors bring all the players of the chain on a platform; a central data pool. This platform will be multifaceted,it will bring all the aspects of the chain together,providing a tracking and tracing model,which will be a planning tool,marketing tool and learning platform. How will it work?? the platform will have data of those involved in the various aspect of the chain,their location, the aspect of production they are involved in and the population of the birds. This information will give data on vaccination/medication, so that at any point in time the health status of various sets of birds can be accessed. The platform will be a marketing tool,where manufacturers of drugs,feed,farm tools can reach out to customers.The platform will be a vital tool for planning,because you know the number of birds in chain,the vaccines can be acquired, medications/vitamins can be sourced and distributed.Each chain operator will have a code,this will allow tracing,tracking and tailored medical interventions. The platform will grant open access to all strata of the chain; linking all aspects together so that customers can access all sale information on the site.Training and learning will be available on site,with hand outs,webinars and interactive forum;where producers can be tutored and new interested producers can be trained. The platform will make access about the chain easy,the platform will also be a money market where goods and services can be accessed and paid for by using your phone.This platform will provide an onsite information about the value chain. Partnership with local and international companies for exchange of technology will be easy using this inter phase.The value change is broad and a platform for bringing all investors together is so vital to the success.