First-Ever Evidence of 16th Century Festive Pysanka Eggshell Discovered in Western Ukraine

Blogpost by Ihor Cap

A 500-year old Pysanka was discovered by Ukrainian archeologists in Western Ukraine. The decorative goose egg is not only the oldest find in the city of Lviv but also the oldest in all of Europe. Ninety percent of the intricate designs remain intact on this festive egg. It was found about 5.5 metres below one of the 15^th-16^th centuries water collectors out in front of a downtown building where archeological excavation work was being performed.  No one has ever found any “written” designs on an eggshell before. The find is significant because, until now, the earliest pysanky found in ancient Ukraine date back to the 12^th-13^th centuries, and these existed only in ceramic form.
Based on the Following Source: Junior archeological scientific worker, Ostap Lazurko, reporting on a YouTube post http://youtu.be/gh3u75rPqPk  Published on Aug 9, 2013.

Print Screen Image Taken from YouTube Video

Additional Reading About the History of Pysanky, see

Pysanka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Top 100 countries experiencing a decline in cancer-related deaths (1990-2015)

by Ihor Cap

The World Health Organization Update for February 2017 tells us that cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide and was responsible for almost 14 million new deaths in 2012. That's every sixth person globally. The economic impact of cancer is huge as well. It was estimated to cost some US$ 1.16 trillion in 2010 alone.
The most common cancers in 2012 reported by CDC - Global Cancer Statistics for both sexes worldwide were: 

1. Lung cancer (19% of all cancer deaths)
2. Liver cancer (9% of all cancer deaths)
3. Stomach cancer (9% of all cancer deaths)
4. Colorectal cancer (9% of all cancer deaths)
5. Breast cancer (6% of all cancer deaths)
6. Cancer of the esophagus (5% of all cancers diagnosed)
7. Cancer of the pancreas (5% of all cancers diagnosed), and
8. Other (39%).

Data Source: GLOBOCAN 2012: Estimated Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide in 2012.

The total cancer burden is highest in the affluent societies of the western world and is mostly due to tumors related to smoking and an unhealthy lifestyle, says the June 2003 World Cancer Report. However, certain types of cancer like breast cancer for women have been decreasing in some Western countries since 1989 due to advances in treatment, earlier detection, and increased awareness. Paralleling this development is a decline in prostate cancer in men, also due to better detection methods, and other medical advances. 

General cancer death rates may be declining around the world but other specific incidence and death rates like melanoma skin cancer are on the rise. Countries like Saint Lucia (+5.02%), Rwanda (+5.86%), Burundi (+7.08 %), and South Africa (+9.92) were unable to sustain their momentum to decrease cancer deaths in the last 5-year study period in spite of their overall 25-year positive performance. Cancer deaths have resumed their climb upwards for these countries between 2010 and 2015, but most countries on the top 100 list continue to experience a decrease in cancer death rates.

HealthGrove by Graphiq publishes some of the deepest insights into these trends worldwide and they have noticed an all-encompassing decline in age-standardized cancer deaths throughout the whole world. They ranked 100 countries from 1 (highest percentage change) to 100 (lowest percentage change), adjusting for the age and both sexes combined, to determine which countries are experiencing a greater decline in cancer deaths in the year 2015 compared to the year 1990, as well as from 2010 to 2015. Consult the table below to see which countries on the list are faring better than others. The countries with the highest declines in cancer deaths are ranked higher up in the table with the most favorable one listed as #1, and countries experiencing lower declines in cancer deaths are ranked further down the table with the lowest declines ending in #100. See where your country is on this list.

Table of Rankings of Top 100 Countries Experiencing a Decline in Cancer Deaths

RANK #	COUNTRY	1990-2015 25-year Percent Change in Cancer Death Rate	2010-2015 5-year Percent Change in Cancer Death Rate
1	Maldives	-42.33 percent	-0.29 percent
2	Turkey	-36.21 percent	-1.27 percent
3	Bahrain	-34.27 percent	-1.89 percent
4	Luxembourg	-32.23 percent	-6.62 percent
5	Turkmenistan	-30.94 percent	-6.23 percent
6	Ethiopia	-30.51 percent	+1.08 percent
7	Uzbekistan	-29.34 percent	-3.54 percent
8	Tajikistan	-29.25 percent	-7.93 percent
9	Singapore	-28.71 percent	-2.32 percent
10	Burundi	-28.11 percent	+7.08 percent
11	Czech Republic	-27.05 percent	-7.81 percent
12	Zimbabwe	-26.86 percent	-15.6 percent
13	Iceland	-24.75 percent	-4.14 percent
14	Belgium	-23.74 percent	-2.36 percent
15	China	-23.71 percent	-11.12 percent
16	Kyrgyzstan	-22.66 percent	-5.35 percent
17	Azerbaijan	-22.42 percent	-10.52 percent
18	Slovenia	-21.36 percent	-11.63 percent
19	Austria	-21.24 percent	-1.65 percent
20	Moldova	-21.19 percent	-15.1 percent
21	Germany	-20.83 percent	-2.12 percent
22	Italy	-20.1 percent	-1.45 percent
23	Switzerland	-19.53 percent	-4.55 percent
24	Ukraine	-19.33 percent	-2.58 percent
25	Peru	-19.25 percent	-3.08 percent
26	New Zealand	-19.1 percent	-3.66 percent
27	United Kingdom	-19.08 percent	-3.48 percent
28	South Korea	-18.97 percent	-2.53 percent
29	Rwanda	-18.93 percent	+5.86 percent
30	Equatorial Guinea	-18.9 percent	-1.38 percent
31	Netherlands	-18.61 percent	-6.01 percent
32	Colombia	-18.59 percent	-6.78 percent
33	Algeria	-18.59 percent	-0.52 percent
34	United States	-18.35 percent	-0.25 percent
35	Finland	-17.86 percent	-3.92 percent
36	The Bahamas	-17.81 percent	+1.09 percent
37	Kazakhstan	-17.77 percent	-3.49 percent
38	Chile	-17.43 percent	-2.54 percent
39	Jordan	-17.3 percent	-3.82 percent
40	Bolivia	-17.27 percent	-0.55 percent
41	Slovakia	-16.94 percent	-8.66 percent
42	Hungary	-16.49 percent	-13.11 percent
43	Mauritania	-16.42 percent	+3.86 percent
44	Bhutan	-16.33 percent	+2.78 percent
45	Malta	-16.17 percent	-2.22 percent
46	Namibia	-16.14 percent	-5.11 percent
47	Estonia	-16.12 percent	-6.44 percent
48	Russia	-15.88 percent	-7.09 percent
49	Australia	-15.73 percent	-0.99 percent
50	Congo	-15.58 percent	+2.59 percent
51	Denmark	-15.31 percent	-4.03 percent
52	Cyprus	-15.24 percent	-10.2 percent
53	Portugal	-15.22 percent	-5.77 percent
54	Nigeria	-15.18 percent	+1.09 percent
55	Israel	-14.91 percent	-0.03 percent
56	Canada	-14.9 percent	-1.57 percent
57	Laos	-14.76 percent	-3.05 percent
58	Japan	-14.7 percent	-2.46 percent
59	Panama	-13.64 percent	-1.06 percent
60	Costa Rica	-13.58 percent	-0.01 percent
61	France	-13.55 percent	-1.75 percent
62	Gabon	-13.51 percent	+4.25 percent
63	Comoros	-13.16 percent	+5.02 percent
64	Mali	-13.09 percent	+3.94 percent
65	Sweden	-12.94 percent	-2.36 percent
66	Spain	-12.75 percent	-5.28 percent
67	The Gambia	-12.38 percent	-1.89 percent
68	Ghana	-12.3 percent	+4.03 percent
69	Timor-Leste	-12.12 percent	0.59 percent
70	Lebanon	-11.67 percent	-3.93 percent
71	Haiti	-11.56 percent	-0.59 percent
72	United Arab Emirates	-11.35 percent	-1.06 percent
73	Poland	-11.28 percent	-6.82 percent
74	Samoa	-10.61 percent	-1.45 percent
75	Myanmar	-10.54 percent	-2.53 percent
76	Ireland	-10.45 percent	-3.98 percent
77	Andorra	-10.34 percent	+1.58 percent
78	Lithuania	-10.26 percent	-6.81 percent
79	Norway	-10.23 percent	-5.33 percent
80	Croatia	-10.09 percent	-4.73 percent
81	South Africa	-9.89 percent	+9.92 percent
82	Tunisia	-9.53 percent	+1.69 percent
83	India	-9.52 percent	-1.01 percent
84	Argentina	-9.4 percent	-0.38 percent
85	Trinidad and Tobago	-9.31 percent	-0.52 percent
86	Nepal	-9.24 percent	+1.7 percent
87	Bangladesh	-9.13 percent	+1.56 percent
88	Qatar	-8.99 percent	+1.05 percent
89	Sudan	-8.75 percent	-0.48 percent
90	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-8.49 percent	-3.47 percent
91	Uruguay	-8.01 percent	-0.09 percent
92	Sri Lanka	-7.98 percent	-8.54 percent
93	Montenegro	-7.47 percent	-1.76 percent
94	Greece	-7.31 percent	-2.78 percent
95	Saint Lucia	-6.95 percent	+5.02 percent
96	Mauritius	-6.79 percent	-1.9 percent
97	Iran	-6.61 percent	-1.73 percent
98	Morocco	-6.57 percent	+ 0.77 percent
99	Brazil	-6.46 percent	+0.67 percent
100	Brunei	-6.3 percent	+1.77 percent

Dr. Ihor Cap is an Education Research Specialist and a Web Author.