Not too sweet: Louisiana sugarcane farmers are hoping to break even as the season winds to a close. Greg Nolan, general manager of Lafourche Sugars Corp. in Thibodaux, tells The Comet that last year was a complete loss and he hopes this year will be better. “Hopefully, we can break even,” he says, estimating this year’s crop is 10% to 15% off for area farmers. A shorter-than-usual season and planting delays caused by excessive rain have made this a “break-even year” for the state’s sugarcane farmers, says Jim Simon, general manager of the American Sugar Cane League in Thibodaux. Read the full story.
In the lab: Could the key to type 2 diabetes prevention be as simple as taking walks in the sun and eating more foods with a specific micronutrient? Obviously, that’s a greatly simplified premise. But as The Shreveport Times reports, it’s at the core of research being conducted at LSU Health Science Center Shreveport. Dr. Sushil K. Jain, professor of pediatrics, physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology, was recently awarded an $800,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study whether deficiency of vitamin D and the amino acid L-cysteine plays a part in insulin resistance. Read the full story.
Naming names: Americans continue to name Hillary Clinton as the woman living anywhere in the world whom they admire most, and name Barack Obama as the man they admire most. As Gallup reports, Clinton has held the top woman’s spot in each of the last 13 years and 17 of the last 18, with that streak interrupted only by first lady Laura Bush in 2001 after the 9/11 terror attacks. Obama has been named the most admired man in each of the last seven years, beginning with 2008, the year he was elected president. Obama edged out Pope Francis as the most admired man this year. Second to Clinton for most admired woman is Oprah Winfrey. Read the full story.
