Features

PARIS — From scaling Rio’s iconic statue to a novel solution to the daily rigmarole of showing your vaccine certificate... Your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world.

The view from here

We all like a good sunrise but two Frenchmen holidaying in Rio de Janeiro went the extra mile this week, scaling the city’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue while it was closed, and getting nabbed for their effort.

The twenty-something Parisians entered the site at night then snuck inside the 38-metre monument before dawn, climbing a spiral staircase and exiting through a hatch on one of the arms. 

Taking in the scene, the duo were spotted by a security guard who promptly ended the adventure. 

“The view was nice. Few people get a chance to see that... We were able to get inside the skin of Christ,” said Paul Roux-dit-Buisson, who with his chum Clement Dumais has staged similar feats at sites in Dubai, New York and Paris.

They usually document these on social media but Rio’s police have confiscated the latest footage.

Tattoo: Let me through

For one man in Italy, the daily faff is over. 

Student Andrea Colonnetta has become an internet sensation after a video online showed his novel solution to the rigmarole now involved in entering a restaurant or cinema.

The all-important barcode of his vaccine passport is now tattooed on his arm.

The 22-year-old said he had not given much thought in advance before getting his latest tattoo, but decided on the topical — and practical — choice after talking with tattoo artist Gabriele Pellerone. 

While he has enjoyed the newfound fame after Pellerone posted a clip on TikTok showing the student and his tattoo entering a McDonald’s, Colonnetta admitted his parents had been left a bit perplexed. 

“Certainly they encouraged me to be less impulsive and to better reflect on things”.

Nature’s call

A bit more reflection is required these days for anyone taking a leak on the banks of the Jakobselva river that separates Norway from Russia.

A new sign has appeared there warning visitors “No Peeing Towards Russia”, placed handily next to an official signpost stating that the area is under video surveillance.

“Urinating in nature is not necessarily offensive but it depends on your point of view. In this case it falls under the law banning offensive behaviour at the border,” said Norway’s border commissioner Jens-Arne Hoilund.

Those who dare to do the deed in Russia’s direction face a hefty fine of 3,000 kroner (290 euros, $340).

Hollywood comes 

to Wrexham

A more heartwarming sign has appeared in Wrexham, a market town and former mining hub in northeast Wales.

Not quite Tinsel Town, but it now has its own imitation of the famous Hollywood letters atop sun-kissed Californian hills, spelling out ‘W.R.E.X.H.A.M’ and resting on the slagheap of a disused coalmine.

Why all the fuss? 

It’s in honour of the town’s football club, Wrexham FC, preparing to kick off its campaign at the weekend, in the humble fifth tier of English football but with new glam owners.

A-List actor Ryan Reynolds, star of “Deadpool”, “Free Guy” and former husband of Scarlett Johansson, bought the club in February with top producer Rob McElhenney saying they wanted to turn it into a “global force”.

“Well, first off, super excited,” Reynolds told a press conference recently about his venture into the lower leagues of English football. “It’s the role of a lifetime”.

No doubt he’ll be watching Saturday’s kick-off, against Solihull Moors.

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Tee shot to T-shirt

When one golf fan set off to watch some of the game’s elite players compete in a suburban New York competition this week, he did not count on a golf ball landing directly in his T-shirt, delivered direct from the club of a Masters champ.

But that’s just what happened at the US PGA Northern Trust tournament, when reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama hit an errant tee shot that landed inside the spectator’s shirt.

The 29-year-old Japanese star struck the astonishing shot at the 506-yard 10th hole at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Matsuyama watched as his ball went off target, struck a paved cart path, took a high bounce and then nestled its way inside the shirt of a male fan walking by.

“Went between my legs, hit my knee and somehow rolled up into my shirt,” said the lucky fan who got the ball autographed after Matsuyama eventually holed it.

WASHINGTON — Streetlights — particularly those that use white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) — not only disrupt insect behaviour but are also a culprit behind their declining numbers, a new study carried out in southern England showed on Wednesday.

Artificial lights at night had been identified as a possible factor behind falling insect populations around the world, but the topic had been under-researched.

To address the question, scientists compared 26 roadside sites consisting of either hedgerows or grass verges that were lit by streetlights, against an equal number of nearly identical sites that were unlit.

They also examined a site with one unlit and two lit sections, all of which were similar in their vegetation.

The team chose moth caterpillars as a proxy for nocturnal insects more broadly, because they remain within a few metres of where they hatched during the larval stage of their lives, before they acquire the ability to fly.

The team either struck the hedges with sticks so that the caterpillars fell out, or swept the grass with nets to pick them up.

The results were eye-opening, with a 47 per cent reduction in insect population at the hedgerow sites and 37 per cent reduction at the roadside grassy areas.

“We were really quite taken aback by just how stark it was,” lead author Douglas Boyes, of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, told AFP, adding the team had expected a more modest decline of around 10 per cent.

“We consider it most likely that it’s due to females, mums, not laying eggs in these areas,” he said. 

The lighting also disturbed their feeding behaviour: When the team weighed the caterpillars, they found that those in the lighted areas were heavier.

Boyes said the team interpreted that as the caterpillars not knowing how to respond to the unfamiliar situation that runs counter to the conditions they evolved in over millions of years, and feeding more as a result to rush through their development.

The team found that the disruption was most pronounced in areas lit by LED lights as opposed to high-pressure sodium lamps or older low-pressure sodium lamps, both of which produce a yellow-orange glow that is less like sunlight.

LED lamps have grown more popular in recent years because of their superior energy efficiency.

The paper acknowledged the effect of street lighting is localised and a “minor contributor” to declining insect numbers, with other important factors including urbanisation and destruction of their habitats, intensive agriculture, pollution and climate change.

But even localised reductions can have cascading consequences for the wider ecosystem, resulting in less food for the birds and bats that prey upon insects.

Moreover, “there are really quite accessible solutions,” said Boyes — like applying filters to change the lamps’ colour, or adding shields so that the light shines only on the road, not insect habitats.

LOS ANGELES — Health experts warned Wednesday that people should not attempt the latest viral challenge — walking over a pyramid of precariously balanced milk crates.

TikTok and other social media sites have been flooded in recent days by videos of people in the United States and beyond trying — and mostly failing — the climb the crates.

Most videos end with what looks like a painful fall onto the collapsing crates, or the ground, as onlookers film on their phones in what some dubbed an event in the "Hood Olympics."

"You're at risk for... hitting your head and getting a head bleed," said Dr Chad Cannon, an emergency room doctor at the University of Kansas Health System.

If "you land on the milk crate, you will break your back and be paralysed."

Baltimore City Health pointed out that hospitals are already under strain from the pandemic.

"With Covid-19 hospitalisations rising around the country, please check with your local hospital to see if they have a bed available for you, before attempting the #milkcratechallenge," the official account tweeted.

While the hashtag was readily searchable on Twitter and Instagram on Wednesday, searches on TikTok returned no results.

"This phrase may be associated with behaviour or content that violates our guidelines. Promoting a safe and positive experience is TikTok's top priority," the search result page said.

The videos — and photographs of some appalling injuries — were reminiscent of an earlier Internet sensation that had doctors tearing their hair out.

The 2018 Tide Pod Challenge saw young people biting into a liquid laundry detergent packets.

Some social media users pointed out the likelihood that not all of those appearing in these videos in the United States would get free medical treatment.

"People doing this like they have the best health insurance" tweeted @ogmike.

Others contrasted the willingness of people to attempt something so patently dangerous with the attitude to getting a coronavirus jab that has proven safe and effective.

"You'll do the milk crate challenge but won't get the vaccine. Got it," quipped 'Star Trek' actor George Takei.

Just over half of Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, despite the shots being free and widely available.

Opposition to the jabs is driven by politics, distrust of government and antipathy towards science, and is particularly acute in poorer, more conservative parts of the country.

PARIS — The number of people living with high blood pressure more than doubled since 1990, according to a major study published on Wednesday that found half of all sufferers — about 720 million people — went untreated in 2019. 

Hypertension is directly linked to more than 8.5 million deaths each year, and is the leading risk factor for stroke, heart and liver disease. 

To find out how rates of hypertension have developed globally over the past 30 years, an international team from Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration analysed data from more than 1,200 national studies covering nearly every country in the world. 

They used modelling to estimate high blood pressure rates across populations, as well as the number of people taking medication for the condition. 

The analysis found that in 2019 there were 626 million women and 652 million men living with hypertension. 

This represented roughly double the estimated 331 million women and 317 million men with the condition in 1990. 

The analysis found that 41 per cent of women and 51 per cent of men with high blood pressure were unaware of their condition, meaning hundreds of millions of people were missing out on effective treatment.

“Despite medical and pharmacological advances over decades, global progress in hypertension management has been slow, and the vast majority of people with hypertension remain untreated,” said Majid Ezzati from Imperial College London and senior study author. 

‘Time bomb’

In the analysis, published in The Lancet medical journal, Canada and Peru had the lowest proportion of high blood pressure among adults in 2019, with around 1-in-4 people living with the condition.

Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, and Britain had the lowest hypertension rates in women — less than 24 per cent — while Eritrea, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and the Solomon Islands had the lowest rates in men less than 25 per cent. 

At the other end of the spectrum, more than half of women in Paraguay and Tuvalu had hypertension; over half of men in Argentina, Paraguay, Tajikistan also have the condition, the analysis showed. 

Authors of the research said it showed an urgent need to boost high blood pressure diagnosis and access to treatment. 

Fewer than one in four women and one in five men globally are being treated for their condition.

Robert Storey, professor of Cardiology at the University of Sheffield, said COVID-19 had distracted governments from the reality of hypertension.

“The pandemic of cardiovascular disease has received less attention in the last 18 months but reflects concerning worldwide trends in unhealthy lifestyle choices such as high fat, sugar, salt and alcohol intake, sedentary lifestyles with avoidance of exercise, and smoking,” said Storey, who was not involved in Wednesday’s study. 

“It is essential that best practice in government policy is adopted by all countries in order to avoid a time bomb of heart disease and stroke.”

PARIS — A 1987 treaty to repair a thin layer of ozone in the atmosphere that shields life on Earth from cancer-causing ultraviolet rays probably had the unintended benefit of preventing runaway climate change, even if that danger persists for other reasons, researchers recently said.

If the Montreal Protocol had not banned the manmade gases that dissolve naturally occurring ozone, by 2100 they would have heated up the planet’s surface 2.5ºC above-and-beyond warming caused by the carbon pollution humanity is struggling to curb today, they reported in the journal Nature.

An increase of barely 1ºC since the mid-19th century has seen climate change amplify deadly heatwaves, rainfall and coastal storms made more destructive by rising seas.

Even if nations manage against all odds to cap global warming below the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5ºC, the extra heat avoided thanks to the ozone treaty would have created an unliveable 4ºC world, the modelling study suggests.

It was already understood that the outlawed CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) would have added roughly 1.5ºC to the global thermometer had they been allowed to further proliferate. 

Besides their corrosive effect on the ozone layer, CFCs — widely used in the 1970s and 1980s as a refrigerant — are also a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat up to 10,000 times more efficiently that carbon dioxide. 

But what researchers have neglected to investigate until now is the impact that extra UV radiation would have had on nature’s capacity to absorb greenhouse gases.

Since about 1960, forests and soil have soaked about 30 per cent of all the CO2 humanity has chucked into the atmosphere — even as those emissions have increased by half. Oceans have syphoned off another 20 per cent.

Researchers led by Paul Young from Lancaster University in England created models combining data on ozone depletion, plant damage caused by UV, Earth’s natural carbon cycle, and climate change.

An alternate future avoided

They discovered that the ability of plants to absorb CO2 would have been severely degraded by the ozone-destroying molecules.

“A world where these chemicals increased and continued to strip away at our protective ozone layer would have been catastrophic for human health,” said Young.

“But also for vegetation,” he added. “The increased UV would have massively stunted the ability of plants to soak up carbon from the atmosphere, meaning higher CO2 levels and more global warming.” 

Continued growth in CFCs would have led to a worldwide collapse in the ozone layer by the 2040s, the model showed.

The researchers calculated that by century’s end there would have been more than 2,000 billion fewer tonnes of CO2 stored in forests and soils — equivalent to 50 years’ worth emissions at current levels.

That alone would have added nearly a full degree Celsius to global temperatures by 2100.

“This analysis reveals a remarkable linkage — via the carbon cycle — between two global environmental concerns: damage to the ozone layer and global warming,” said co-author Chris Huntingford, a researcher at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

Following the Montreal Protocol’s entry into force, global concentrations of CFCs declined steadily until about 2012. 

But in 2018 startled scientists discovered that the pace of that slowdown had dropped by half during the preceding five years. 

Because the chemical does not occur in nature, the change in pace could only have been produced by new emissions. 

Evidence pointed to factories in eastern China. Once CFC production in that region stopped, the ozone layer’s healing process appeared to be back on track.

A recent study, however, found that the ozone layer — which varies in altitude from 10 to 40 kilometres — is unexpectedly declining in the lower stratosphere over the planet’s populated tropical and mid-latitude regions.

Up to now, CFCs and other molecules have mainly eroded ozone in the upper stratosphere, and over the poles.

Scientists are investigating two possible culprits: industrial chemicals not covered by the Montreal Protocol called “very short-lived substances” and climate change.

Introduced for the 2019 model year, the second generation incarnation of Infiniti’s compact premium crossover is evolutionary in that it is a larger, more luxurious and noticeably more assertively styled vehicle filling the same niche. Noted for being the first production vehicle with a radically innovative variable compression engine, the new QX50 is, however, a more conformist and conventional vehicle in terms of architecture and layout, and is also a radical departure from its predecessor’s more exotic and sporting front-mid engine and rear-drive oriented layout.

Sportier style

A more practical car with improved packaging, more advanced equipment and technology, and significantly enhanced fuel efficiency, the new QX50 is also an arguably better looking car in terms of styling detail and body surfacing, next to its predecessor’s perhaps quirkier headlight and rear bumper design details. By comparison, the previous QX50 was blessed with elegantly sporty classic long bonnet proportions, derived from the front-mid engine architecture it shared with other Infiniti SUVs and saloons, and in truncated form, even with Nissan’s 370Z sports car.

Built on a front-drive based Nissan-Renault all-wheel-drive platform shared with the Nissan X-Trail, the new QX50 might not have the same graceful proportions and chassis balance as its predecessor, but is better at being a practical crossover SUV. Its design features a higher waistline and more complex yet evocatively wavy lines and sculpted surfacing. With a taller bonnet with muscular twin ridges, the chiselled new QX50 is decidedly more assertive, with a dramatic fascia incorporating slim moody headlights, deep lower side intakes and a large, hungry grille design.

Eager innovation

Significantly downsized from its predecessor’s smooth and rewardingly eager revving but thirsty naturally-aspirated in-line 3.7-litre V6, the new QX50 2.0T’s sole engine is instead a highly innovative and efficient turbocharged 2-litre transverse 4-cylinder engine with dual direct and port fuel injection. The new QX50’s pièce de résistance is its world’s first variable engine compression system. Using a complex multi-link connecting rod set-up, which seamlessly varies the engine’s compression ratio (and capacity and stroke length) to 14:1 by allowing the piston to travel higher and attain higher combustion efficiency.

To avoid the premature combustion or ‘knocking’ that high compression engines are susceptible to in certain conditions, the QX50’s engine alternatively lowers compression to 8:1, at which point it produces more turbocharged power and torque output. Delivering comparable output as its larger displacement predecessor, it produces 268BHP at 5,600rpm and a brawny 280lb/ft torque throughout a broad and ever-accessible 1,600-4,800rpm range. Quick to spool and with negligible turbo lag the hefty 1,792kg new QX50 is estimated to provide similarly brisk 6.5-second 0-100km/h acceleration.

Smooth sensibility

Responsive from standstill and smooth running, the QX50 engine’s muscularly versatile mid-range torque sweet spot is complemented by eager-revving top-end delivery. Peakier than many turbo engines, the QX50’s variable compression engine feels exciting, engaging and ever-willing, despite revving lower than its predecessor. Channelling power to the front wheels and to the rear as needed, the QX50’s silky smooth continually variable transmission (CVT) system fine tunes ratios for best efficiency. If not as driver engaging as a traditional gearbox, the QX50’s CVT is among the best of such systems.

Seamlessly smooth changing ratios, the QX50’s CVT also seems to better match revs to ratios for a more natural driving feel, and is more willing to let the engine rev higher than most CVTs, with less of less of the ‘slingshot’ feel typical to many such transmissions, where the car seems to play catch up with engine revs. The QX50’s CVT also features a manual mode, where it simulates a traditional automatic gearbox with well-maintained pre-set ratios. Similarly smooth is the QX50’s comfortably forgiving and reassuringly stable highway ride quality. 

Refined ride

Finding a good balance between forgiving and firm in its damper and spring rates, the new QX50 may not have the same sporting architectural DNA of the old model, but is nevertheless a dynamically capable and reassuring drive with light, direct and quick steering, tidy turn-in and good cornering body control for its class. More agile than expected through winding roads, the QX50 feels composed and confident, especially when accelerating out of a corner to send power to the rear and enhance grip, rather than relying on electronic stability controls.

Well-absorbing lumps, bumps and potholes, the QX50 is comfortable and smooth with excellent cabin refinement. Well-appointed with soft textured surfaces, and leathers, its cabin has a well-assembled and premium quality. A practical crossover with easy cabin access, generous passenger and luggage room, the QX50’s rear seats better accommodate larger occupants than expected. Fresh and user-friendly in design and layouts, its cabin is well-equipped with convenience, safety and infotainment features, and usefully includes a front parking sensor and rear camera to better manoeuvre its now wider, higher and more voluptuously curvy body.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 2-litre, transverse turbocharged 4-cylinders

Bore x stroke, low/high compression: 84 x 90.1/88.9mm

Compression: Variable, 8:1 — 14:1

Valve-train: 16-valve, DOHC, variable valve timing

Gearbox: Continuously variable transmission (CVT) auto, four-wheel-drive

Final drive ratio: 5.846:1

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 268 (272) [200] @5,600rpm

Specific power: 134BHP/litre (approximately)

Power-to-weight: 149.5BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 280 (380) @1,600-4,800rpm

Specific torque: 190Nm/litre (approximately)

Torque-to-weight: 212Nm/tonne

Maximum engine speed: 6,000rpm

0-100km/h: approximately 6.5-seconds (estimate)

Fuel economy, combined: 9-litres/100km*

Fuel capacity: 61-litres

Length: 4,691mm

Width: 1,902mm

Height: 1,676mm

Wheelbase: 2,799mm

Track, F/R: 1,635/1,630mm

Aerodynamic drag co-efficiency: 0.32

Approach/break-over/departure angles: 17.2°/19°/23.9°

Ground clearance: 218mm

Head room, F/R: 1,041/993mm

Legroom, F/R: 1,005/983mm

Shoulder room, F/R: 1,470/1,450mm

Hip room, F/R: 1,412/1,366mm

Loading height: 703mm

Kerb weight: 1,792kg

Weight distribution, F/R: 59 per cent/41 per cent

Steering: Electric-assisted, speed sensitive variable rack & pinion

Turning circle (kerb-to-kerb): 11.1-metres

Lock-to-lock: 2.73-turns

Suspension, F/R: MacPherson struts/multi-link

Anti-roll bars, F/R: 27mm/22.5mm

Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs, 330mm/discs, 308mm

Tyres: 235/55R19

*US Environmental Protection Agency Estimate

By Dr Feras Hamati
Senior Fellow in Cardiac Intensive Care and Anaesthesia at University Hospital Southampton NHS FT

There is much to prepare for when planning for your baby’s arrival. You’re probably focused on equipping the nursery, attending Lamaze classes and maintaining your health. But are you also preparing to make important decisions regarding your pain management options during labour?

Work with your healthcare providers, including your physician anaesthesiologist, to decide which pain management methods are best for you.

You may prefer to use little or no pain medication, or you may feel that pain medication will better control and make labour and delivery a more enjoyable experience. It’s also acceptable to change methods or use a combination during your labour and delivery. Ultimately, the choice is yours.

Here, I discuss commonly asked questions about epidurals, a popular choice for many women.

An epidural is an anaesthetic technique that uses a small tube placed in the lower back to deliver local anaesthetic or other pain medication near the nerves that cause pain during labour — you do not get sleepy from this type of anaesthesia.

Will an epidural hurt?

Compared with the pain of contractions, placement of an epidural results in minimal discomfort. As the epidural is placed, you will feel a brief sting on your skin. After this, you should feel some pressure in your back during the procedure. The needle is then removed entirely. Once the epidural placement is completed, you will feel only the tape that keeps the tubing in place in your back.

Will an epidural hurt my baby?

If you have an epidural anaesthetic, your baby will be safe. The epidural will not impact your breathing or put your baby to sleep.

What can I expect on the day?

The anaesthesiologist will ask you to sit up or lie on your side, keeping the lower part of your back curved. You will be asked not to move at all during some stages of the procedure. Your nurse will help you get into the correct position. After the anaesthesiologist numbs your skin with a local anaesthetic, a needle is inserted between the bones of your spine into the epidural space and then a tiny tube (catheter) is put in place while the needle is removed.

The tube is secured in place with an adhesive and a bandage and the tube stays in place for the duration of labour and delivery. You should be comfortable and it is okay to move around in bed, but do not drag or slide on your lower back because this could accidentally pull the catheter out.

How long does it take to administer an epidural?

Placing the epidural takes about 10 minutes, with adequate pain relief starting in another 10 to 15 minutes. Placing the epidural in patients who are obese or have scoliosis may require more time. Once the epidural is in place, medicine will flow through the tubing continuously to maintain pain relief throughout the rest of your labour and the delivery of your baby. 

Does all the pain go away?

Epidurals make the contractions feel less intense and easier to manage. Some pressure may be felt in the rectum and the vagina later in labour. Being numb during labour is undesirable because you need to know when and where to push towards the end of your labour. If you start to develop a lot of pain after the epidural is in place, more medicine will be injected through your catheter. If you are too numb, your anaesthesiologist will decrease the amount of medication you are receiving. Ask your nurse to call the anaesthesiologist with any questions you have about your pain relief.

Does epidural anaesthesia always work?

The majority of patients experience significant pain relief with an epidural. Occasionally, pain relief is one sided or patchy, but the anaesthesiologist can usually do something about this, often without repeating the insertion procedure. Very rarely, there are technical problems that prevent the anaesthesiologist from getting the needle into the epidural space. These patients may not get adequate pain relief.

Does an epidural affect the progress of labour?

The first stage of labour (until the cervix is fully dilated): The effect of an epidural at this stage is impossible to predict. Labour may not be affected at all or it may slow down and a drug (oxytocin) will be needed to speed it up again; or, labour might go faster, especially in patients who develop poor labour patterns and are progressing slowly.

The second stage (the pushing stage, after full dilatation and until delivery): This stage may be slightly longer with an epidural, but there is no evidence that this harms either the mother or the baby; also, if the patient is too numb, she might not push effectively. Balance is important here so that the patient is comfortable but still feels some pressure in the rectum as well as vagina during contractions.

Misconceptions about epidurals

•Epidurals slow down the labour process

•Epidurals cause C-sections

•You can’t get an epidural until a certain level of dilatation has occurred

•Epidurals increase the risk of paralysis

Can I walk with my epidural?

The anaesthetic solution used to manage labour pain can sometimes make it difficult to walk without assistance. Be sure to check with your labour nurse before attempting to get out of bed.

What are the possible side effects of this form of anaesthesia?

•Your legs might tingle or feel numb and heavy. This is normal and will disappear soon after delivery in the majority of cases

•Your blood pressure might fall slightly, but this is easily and rapidly treated

•Some back pain might occur at the insertion site and it might last for a few days. However, no evidence exists that epidurals cause chronic back pain

•Headaches may occur after delivery in two to three per cent of patients due to the accidental puncture of the lining containing the spinal fluid. This headache can be moderate to severe, but is not permanent or life threatening. Specific treatment is available for severe headaches

•Itching, very mild sedation and difficulty urinating are also occasionally noted

•You might have temporary temperature elevations that are not significant

•Some people may have an allergic reaction which could cause long-term effects

After delivery, some women may develop minor neurologic problems (a small patch of numbness on one leg and limping). Such issues are rare and go away eventually. The exact cause might be impossible to determine and these problems might occur both with and without epidural anaesthesia. The baby’s delivery can itself cause pressure on the nerves, as can some of the pushing positions used.

Are there any patients who cannot have an epidural catheter?

Epidural catheters are not recommended for patients who: 

•Have blood clotting problems or take blood thinning medications

•Have a urinary tract infection

•Have neurologic disorders

•Have had certain types of lower back surgery

What is spinal anaesthesia?

A spinal block, like an epidural block, is an injection in the lower back. While you sit or lie on your side in bed, a small amount of medication is injected into the spinal fluid to numb the lower half of the body. It brings pain relief and starts working quickly, but it lasts only an hour or two.

A spinal block can be given using a much thinner needle in the same place on the back where an epidural block is placed. The spinal block uses a much smaller dose of the drug and is injected into the sac of spinal fluid below the level of the spinal cord. Once this drug is injected, pain relief occurs right away.

A spinal block is usually given only once during labour, so it is best suited for pain relief during delivery. A spinal block with much stronger medication (anaesthetic, not analgesic) is often used for a caesarean delivery. It can be used in a vaginal birth if the baby needs to be helped out of the birth canal with forceps or by vacuum extraction. Spinal block can cause the same side effects as an epidural block and these side effects are treated in the same way.

Combined spinal-epidural (CSE) is sometimes used when a faster onset of pain control is needed. CSE uses the same types of drugs and has similar side effects to epidural pain control.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

HONG KONG — With their heads in the clouds and their hands in the soil, a group of office workers are busy harvesting the fruits of their labour on the roof of a Hong Kong skyscraper.

Invisible to those below, a sprawling garden of radishes, carrots and rhubarb is flourishing at the top of the 150 metre tall Bank of America tower, a stark and colourful contrast to the monotone shades of concrete, steel and glass of the city’s financial district.

The farm is among more than 60 that have sprouted across the space-starved city since 2015 — on decommissioned helipads, shopping mall rooftops and public terraces — thanks to initiatives like Rooftop Republic, a local social enterprise which promotes urban farming.

Cofounder Andrew Tsui sees the rooftop farms as a way for people to reconnect with how sustainable food can be produced in what he calls the current “instant-noodle city lifestyle” that sees so much waste.

“What we are looking at is really how to identify underutilised spaces among the city and mobilise the citizens, the people, to learn about food,” the 43-year-old told AFP during a blustery site inspection of the skyscraper’s garden. 

Tsui believes Hong Kongers need to reestablish a relationship with what they eat that has been broken “since we started outsourcing our food and relying so much on industrialised production”.

Piles of food waste

According to government statistics, Hong Kong throws out some 3,500 tonnes of food waste a day — the equivalent weight of 250 double-decker buses. Less than a quarter is recycled.

And around 90 per cent of the food eaten by the city’s 7.5 million inhabitants is imported, mostly from mainland China.

But while Hong Kong is one of the most densely packed places on earth, there is still considerable space to grow food locally.

Tsui said some seven million square metres of farmable area is currently cultivated. But more than 6 million square metres on the city’s rooftops remain unused. 

“So we could have the potential of doubling the supply of land for growing food,” he said.

“The challenge for us is to design urban farming as a lifestyle to integrate into our daily life,” he added. “And the first step for that, of course, is to be accessible.”

To incorporate urban farms into the blueprints for office buildings, Rooftop Republic closely collaborates with architects, developers and property managers.

Major companies are signing up. 

As well as the Bank of America garden, financed by property consultancy giant JLL, Singaporean banking giant DBS has partnered with Rooftop Republic to set up an academy that runs workshops for beginners as well as professional courses. 

“In Hong Kong, most of the people focus on the commercial value of the properties. But we want to promote the concept of sustainability,” said Eric Lau, the group’s senior director of property management.

New skills

Urban farmers say the projects also help build community spirit among those who cultivate the crops. 

After retiring from the public service, Lai Yee-man said she turned to farming to connect with nature and her neighbours. 

The 60-year-old initially learned techniques and tricks from professionals to develop her farming plot in the New Territories region of Hong Kong — a rural area close to the border with mainland China.

But now she is passing on her knowledge to fellow residents working the Sky Garden, a 1,200 square-metre facility on top of a mall.

There residents cultivate edible flowers and fruit trees and can attend lifestyle classes like mindful gardening.

“People attach greater importance to their health now, they will buy organic food,” said Lai. 

“Here, we teach them not to waste... and to cherish their food,” she explained, adding that the majority of what the mall farm grows goes to local food banks.

Tsui recognises that few young Hong Kongers currently have an interest in learning how to grow food.

But younger people are often concerned about the environment and climate change, so the opportunity to generate enthusiasm is there for the taking.

“If coding is the skill set to learn for the 21st century, growing your own food is a necessary new skill that we all need to learn to ensure a regenerative and green planet,” he said.

HONG KONG — Hong Kong's decision to grant Hollywood star Nicole Kidman a quarantine exemption as she films an Amazon-funded series about the lives of wealthy expats has sparked public anger.

The Chinese financial hub maintains some of the strictest quarantine measures in the world, an approach that has kept virus cases low but left most residents cut off from overseas loved ones for the last 18 months.

Arrivals from high-risk countries have to stay in hotel quarantine for 21 days, while lower-risk countries have seven days hotel quarantine followed by a further seven days of self-monitoring.

But Kidman, 54, has been allowed to circumvent those rules.

Hong Kong's Commerce and Economic Development Bureau confirmed the Australian actress and other film crew had been granted an exemption "to carry out designated professional work".

Those exempted must take three coronavirus tests over two weeks following their arrival.

The city's tabloids have closely followed Kidman's appearances in Hong Kong since touching down last Thursday in a private jet from Australia, including shopping two days after her arrival and later filming in the city's Sai Wan district.

Kidman has been announced as an executive producer on "Expats", a show based on a 2016 book by Janice YK Lee about the gilded lives of three American women in the city.

Social media has since filled with comments by expats and local Hong Kongers over Kidman's quarantine exemption — and the decision to film a series about the city's wealthy foreign elite at a time when China is purging dissent in the financial hub.

"Right then, that's it. My Mum is changing her name to 'Nicole Kidman' and I've just sent my Gulfstream G650 to pick her up," @webbhk, an account popular with expats, wrote on Twitter. 

"I'm going to make a movie about her visit to HK. It's called, imaginatively, 'My Mum Visits Hong Kong'," the account added.

A popular support group on Facebook for people quarantining in Hong Kong also filled with angry comments about how many local and foreign residents have been unable to see relatives overseas for nearly two years because of the rules.

Elizabeth Quat, a pro-Beijing lawmaker, said she had "concerns over the quarantine exemption granted by the government to actress Nicole Kidman" and that she had "received quite a number of complaints from Hong Kong residents".

Quat added that she had asked health officials to address a legislature committee on the issue on Friday.

While quarantine exemptions can be made for some senior executives, they are rare.

HSBC's chairman Mark Tucker just completed the full three weeks of quarantine for arrivals from Britain.

Kidman's exemption came just days after Hong Kong tightened its quarantine rules for multiple countries, throwing the travel plans of many into disarray towards the end of the summer holidays and sparking a shortage of hotel rooms.