8,000 ‘Stability Maintenance’ Officers to Be Recruited in China’s Xinjiang

2 February, 2012 at 08:58 | Posted in China, human rights, persecution | Leave a comment
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By John An & Matthew Robertson
Epoch Times Staff

The Chinese regime is recruiting 8,000 security officers to strengthen its grassroots “stability maintenance” police force in the northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. According to a report in the state mouthpiece Xinhua on Jan. 30, a policy of “one village, one policeman” or sometimes more than one will be carried out in rural areas.

According to the state media, the police, along with village police, adjunct police, militia forces, and “defense team members” will investigate “illegal religious activities” and mainly perform “people-control” stability maintenance work.

Since clashes two years ago caused over 200 deaths, ethnic tensions in Xinjiang have been high; a shootout in Hotan in July 2011 resulted in 18 deaths.  Chinese state media said the incident was a case of violence and terrorism, but overseas Uyghur groups said that a protest was brutally suppressed, resulting in tragic violence.

In an interview with the Radio Free Asia, Dilshat Reshit, spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, based in Munich, said that the move to hire 8,000 village cops was meant to ramp up repression and its surveillance.

He added: “Due to the relentless crackdown bylocal authorities, local Uyghur people dare not receive interviews from overseas media.”

via 8,000 ‘Stability Maintenance’ Officers to Be Recruited in China’s Xinjiang | Regime | China | Epoch Times

Related Articles: Chinese Regime’s ‘Anti-Terror’ Unit Enters Xinjiang

‘Morning people’ and ‘night owls’ show different brain function

2 February, 2012 at 08:00 | Posted in Body & Mind, Science | Leave a comment
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By Quinn Phillips

Edmonton – Are you an “early bird” or a “night owl?”Scientists at the University of Alberta have found there are significant differences in the way our brains function depending on whether we’re early risers or night owls.

Neuroscientists in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation looked at two groups of people: “morning people,” those who wake up early and feel most productive in the morning, and those who were identified as “evening people,” who typically felt livelier at night.

Eighteen study participants were placed in two groups (nine morning people and nine evening people) after completing a standardized questionnaire about their habits. The participants were tested four times throughout the day: at 9 a.m., then in the afternoon at 1, 5 and 9 p.m., using three different techniques.

“We measured how much muscle force the two different participant groups could each generate during maximum contractions [and] we applied electrical stimulation to a nerve in the back of the knee to assess pathways through the spinal cord,” said graduate student Olle Lagerquist, who came up with the original idea for the experiments.

“We also used trans-cranial magnetic stimulation-a magnet that we hold over the cortex-to stimulate brain cells to send a signal to different muscles.”

The research team, made up of Lagerquist and fellow student Alex Tamm, technician Alejandro Ley and neuroscientist Dave Collins, made three major discoveries, the biggest of which was the difference in brain activity between the two groups.

“In morning people their cortical excitability actually decreased throughout the day. It was highest in the morning and lowest in the evening,” said Tamm. “It was the opposite for evening people; their brain activity was highest at 9 p.m.”

Read more: ‘Morning people’ and ‘night owls’ show different brain function – ExpressNews – University of Alberta

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