TASK DEFINITION: Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.
PROBLEM: Since 2000, 34 of Iowa’s 118 community hospitals have closed their birthing units, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. There have been two so far this year, down from eight closures last year — the most in a single year. Most of those closures have happened at smaller facilities than the 49-bed Marshalltown hospital. Iowa’s aging population is a key reason for these closures, Dr. Stephen Hunter, vice chairman of obstetrics at the University of Iowa Hospital & Clinics in Iowa City, told Iowa Public Radio . “Some rural counties have lost as many as 40 percent of their population in the last three decades,” Hunter said. “That’s a lot of people gone, unfortunately. That leaves a system that’s not adequate for those that remain in those counties.” Hunter said the state is also facing a severe shortage of OB/GYNs and family practice doctors who practice obstetrics. And, he said, Medicaid reimbursements are so low for obstetrics that hospitals can’t support the service. According to figures from the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, Medicaid reimbursed it about one-third of what commercial insurance plans did for services such as ultrasounds and deliveries last year. Competition from bigger hospitals in bigger cities presents a business challenge, too. “There simply aren’t enough women choosing to deliver locally,” UnityPoint Health President Jenni Friedly said. “This is a problem that has been going on for a long time. . There are enough women becoming pregnant, but they are going elsewhere to deliver. It’s clear OB/GYN patients are already selecting Ames and Des Moines for their care.” Stephanie Trusty, a nurse who tracks birthing trends for the state, told the Marshalltown Times-Republican that “some of these birthing units are beautiful. They’re like a four-star hotel.” But does the loss of birthing units at the smaller hospitals and consolidation of birthing services affect health outcomes? A 2017 University of Minnesota study said the loss of labor and delivery units in smaller, more remote counties is linked with a decrease in prenatal care and increase in out-of-hospital and preterm births. The Iowa Public Health Department and the University of Iowa are keeping watch for any such problems, but so far have not seen any sizable incidence, Trusty said. Hansen Family Hospital CEO Doug Morse in Iowa Falls told Iowa Public Radio that hospital officials decided labor and delivery care were too expensive to continue in the aging, rural community with a declining birth rate. After three months of public meetings, Morse said, hospital officials opted to use half the money they would save to turn the unit into a mental health program for seniors. “It really did become fairly clear that people recognize that this wasn’t necessarily ... delivering babies isn’t necessarily a service that matches an elderly population,” he said. The closing of the birth unit at the Iowa Falls hospital forced Jessica Sheridan to change her plans to have her baby born there, just five minutes from her home. She established relationships with doctors in Ames, an hour away, where her daughter was delivered in mid-December. “We were lucky. It was nice weather,” Sheridan said.

SOLUTION: Costs forcing some hospitals to stop delivering babies.

PROBLEM: Attractions such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum and the Ferrari World theme park will be closed from March 15-31, the Abu Dhabi Government Media Office said, while the country’s civil aviation authority indefinitely suspended flights to and from Lebanon, Turkey, Syria and Iraq from March 17. The UAE, which has reported 85 coronavirus infections but no deaths, and other Gulf Arab states are intensifying measures to halt the virus as the number of cases rises. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have taken the most drastic steps, cancelling all international flights. Dubai, the UAE’s regional business and transit hub, said it was cancelling all events planned in March and asked hotels to stop hosting wedding celebrations. Some shops have voluntarily closed to boost containment efforts. In the capital, Abu Dhabi, cinemas, arcades and entertainment venues have been shuttered, state news agency WAM reported. Seeking to soften the impact of the shutdowns on key sectors such as tourism and transportation, the central bank said its program would help banks and companies weather the crisis. Saudi Arabia also announced $13 billion to support small and medium enterprises. Saudi Arabia, which reported 17 new cases on Saturday bringing its total to 103, said two-week flight suspensions would start on Sunday, while Kuwait did not specify a length for its grounding which began on Saturday. Saudi Arabia has already suspended the Umrah pilgrimage and locked down its eastern Qatif region where many infections are located. On Saturday, it also closed popular family entertainment zones located inside many shopping malls. Health ministry spokesman Mohammed Abdelali urged the population of 30 million to avoid gathering in public, minimize movements and stay at home as much as possible. “(Such) measures slow the growth of cases so that we can control it, while the countries that take delayed measures experience fast growth which the health systems cannot deal with,” he told reporters. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a group of six oil-rich Arab monarchies which also includes Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, has reported nearly 900 coronavirus cases, mostly in people who had traveled to Iran or who been infected by visitors to Iran. No deaths have been reported in the GCC, unlike Iran where the toll rose by nearly 100 on Saturday to 611, out of 12,729 total infections. Oman, with the lowest number of infections in the region at 20, said on Saturday all schools and educational institutions would close for a month, a precaution also taken by other GCC states and Yemen. Saudi Arabia and Oman canceled all sporting events until further notice, state media said. The UAE will stop issuing visas, except for foreign diplomats, from March 17, WAM reported, citing immigration authorities. Qatar will halt the issuance of visas upon arrival to a number of European nationalities from Sunday, the government communication office said, while the Qatar Olympic Committee suspended all local sports activities until March 29. Qatar confirmed 17 new infections on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases to 337, the highest in the GCC, followed by Bahrain with 211 and Kuwait with 104. Gulf health authorities have stepped up pleas to avoid gatherings and are sanitizing public places. Police in Kuwait used drones fitted with loudspeakers to urge people on the streets to avoid gathering. Health Minister Basel Al-Sabah said on state television: “I urge you by God to stay at home.”  The competing sides in Yemen’s civil war announced airport closures including in the capital Sana’a, a measure that will affect flights operated by United Nations organizations taking part in humanitarian relief efforts.

SOLUTION: UAE cancels events, flights as central bank announces coronavirus fiscal plan.

PROBLEM: Researchers said on Friday long-term exposure to these rays that permeate space may cause dementia-like cognitive impairments in astronauts during any future round-trip Mars journey, expected to take at least 2-1/2 years. In a NASA-funded study, mice exposed to highly energetic charged particles like those in galactic cosmic rays experienced declines in cognition and changes in the structure and integrity of brain nerve cells and the synapses where nerve impulses are sent and received. The irradiated particles in galactic cosmic rays, remnants of star explosions called supernovas, can penetrate spacecraft and astronauts’ bodies. Earth itself is protected by its magnetosphere. University of California, Irvine radiation oncology professor Charles Limoli said “without a doubt” people would face the same issues as the mice. “Astronauts may incur cognitive impairments that lead to performance decrements, confusion, increased anxiety and longer-term problems with cognitive health,” said Limoli, whose study appears in the journal Science Advances. This could compromise mission critical activities, especially if unanticipated situations arise during deep spaceflight, Limoli said. The mice, genetically altered to have green fluorescent neurons to help structural analysis, were exposed to the rays at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York and then analyzed six weeks later. In addition to the brain neuron and synapse changes, the mice exhibited decreased performance on learning and memory tests. They also lacked curiosity and were sluggish in experiments involving objects placed in a box with them. “Previous studies show synaptic impairment or loss of synapses is an early and invariant feature of Alzheimer’s disease, and there is a strong correlation between the extent of synapse loss and the severity of dementia,” said University of California, Irvine neuroscientist Vipan Kumar Parihar. NASA says it is developing the capabilities needed to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s. NASA spokeswoman Stephanie Schierholz said a Mars mission would take at least 2-1/2 years: a six-month journey there, a stay on Mars of at least 18 months, and a six-month flight back. Limoli said while Mars-bound astronauts cannot fully escape the rays, it may be possible to design spacecraft with areas of increased protective shielding.

SOLUTION:
A space odyssey: cosmic rays may damage the brains of astronauts.