Latest news about arts and humanities and books and more

I am going to treat myself to some new glasses soon. I have had my pair for a very long time and I think it is about time that I got something on trend. I have been looking around and have seen some Kawasaki glasses that I thought looked rather cool but I was not sure that they suited me really. It woudl be nice to have them but I do not want something that changes the way that I look too dramatically. I was thinking that the Silhouette glasses might be better because they are more like the style that I have already, but they are more modern looking.

I also want to get some designer sunglasses with my prescription in the lenses. I will need a new pair as my prescription has changed and it only seems right to change both especially as I sometimes change them when I am driving and do not have time for my eyes to adjust to the different strength of lens and so it is very dangerous. It will be nice to have a new cool pair as well, I love wearing sunglasses but obviously cannot see out of normal ones and so cannot keep changing the style of the ones that I wear which is a bit annoying,

Digestion and excretion are important cycles of human body. Without these two procedures human body stinks and becomes a hidden waste material. These two procedures should run one after the other, otherwise health of people deteriorates. No doctor can solve problems related to abdomen, only Gastroenterologist can clearly understand problems related to abdomen and intestine. Utah is well known, small populous state of USA. This western state has many hospitals and shopping malls. Gastroenterologists in Utah are proficient in solving digestive problems.

Utah Gastroenterologist can clearly understand digestive health of a patient. Utah gastroenterologist gives proper treatment to patient. Gastroenterologists develop mental strength in patient. Gastroenterology is a typical and most difficult task. Without special equipment, understanding the intestinal and abdomen status becomes difficult. It is in this situation doctors prefer Endoscopy. Even though Endoscopy is a traditional method, it is still existent at this place.

Endoscopy is actually defined as a diagnostic procedure in which doctors access the interiors of internal organs of body. Endoscope is used in Endoscopy: This instrument has a small tube, which acts on total internal reflection of light phenomenon. This tube is sent through mouth into abdomen to study internal organs. Utah Endoscopy is a simple procedure. Utah gastroenterologists can perform this procedure efficiently.

Hair loss is the potential problem to which men and women fall prey at some point of time or the other. There can be numerous possible causes for the loss of hair. Dieticians and hair experts accrue reasons such as protein deficiency, calcium deficiency, hereditary diseases, lethal diseases such as tumors or cancers can also result in substantial hair loss. Still many of the people also complain of thinning hair.

This is another kind of hair problem, which has left millions grappling with the situation. Hair thinning primarily occurs as the result of weakened hair follicles, and as the result of which hair filaments become week and began to fall one after the other. The cause of thinning hair has also been attributed to hereditary linked problems. With the research and development in medical science, the problem of hair fall, male and female pattern baldness has been seriously dealt. Today, there are available hair loss treatment techniques that can change your personality by giving you back your lost hair. Many of these hair loss treatment methods are natural and have no side effects on human tissues. The best thing is that you can even try them out along with your regular regimen.

Most of the human beings have an innate desire to look beautiful and spruced up all the time. They try every method possible to give them shape, have beautiful and shining hair and all the more have sharp and dynamic features to attract the attention of opposite sex. They make use of synthetic and natural products available in the market to realize their dreams. Some are successful, while others are not. Natural hair loss treatment is an amazingly new way to keep you chick and smart all the time and add a tint of dynamic personality to your mien. What’s more, natural hair loss treatment procedures are pretty safe and easy to use; and therefore, the user has no hassles to try them out, even without going in for any health expert.

However, for those who are still grappling with pot belly or a hanging tummy, you have those over the counter quick weight loss remedies available for you. These smart remedies can really bring you in shape and have your confidence raised to higher levels. However, a word of caution here! Quick weight loss is mostly done by incorporating synthetically prepared constituents. Check it out that you are having a natural supplement for losing your weight.

A potential new avenue for altering lung development in the embryo which may help to improve the outcome for very premature babies has been identified by scientists at Cardiff University.

In collaboration with scientists at the Saban Research Institute at Los Angeles Children’’s Hospital, the researchers discovered that a molecule called CaR (calcium receptor) is a crucial factor in the control of lung development in the womb.

CaR co-ordinates messages from within the growing foetus that instruct the lungs to develop thousands of channels and tiny air pockets.

This complicated structure is what will ultimately allow oxygen to move from the air into the baby’s blood stream.

The study was carried out in the laboratories of Dr Daniela Riccardi and Professor Paul Kemp (School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, UK) in collaboration with Professor David Warburton (Saban Research Institute, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, USA).

“Within minutes of birth, a baby relies solely on its lungs to get the oxygen it needs. One of the reasons that the lives of very premature babies are in such dire jeopardy is that the final stages of lung development happen very late in pregnancy and so premature babies are born with immature lungs that struggle to take in enough oxygen. Under-developed lungs don’t absorb enough oxygen and premature babies with respiratory problems often develop chronic lung disease that may extend into adulthood.

He added: “Through our research we have gained a better understanding of how lungs develop normally and so we can now begin to work out what happens when things go wrong, such as when a baby is born much too early. From the work we have published today, we now have a real possibility for fast-tracking new drugs for helping these very premature babies.” said Riccardi.

Kemp said: “The really exciting thing about CaR is that there are already drugs available that can alter its function and, therefore, could modulate lung development. We know that CaR works by sensing calcium and we also know that there are already drugs available that are designed to regulate how calcium is used in the body. If we can show that one of these drugs can modulate the action of CaR in the lung, it could be used to mature the lungs of a very premature baby as it grows. Better still, an existing drug could potentially be approved much more quickly than a new one.”

Professor Janet Allen, BBSRC Director of Research said: “It is exciting to see that BBSRC-funded research has the potential to improve the lives of thousands of very premature babies. These scientists have shown that by first asking questions about a fundamental biological process, the possibilities for understanding and treating devastating human disease can then be thrown wide open. This demonstrates the value of basic research in biology for delivering real life impact.”

The Ministry of Agriculture in the Chinese government has announced a new testing method to determine the actual protein in milk products, and help determine if the milk is toxic or not.

The method will eliminate the protein content of added products and thus help find if toxic chemicals such as melamine have been mixed with the milk products.

The method, recommended for food producers and regulators across the country, will separate melamine and other crude compounds that contain nitrogen from the real protein before analyzing the content, according to Hou Caiyun, a food testing expert who led the research team.

“The ratio of melamine, if it has been mixed with milk, can be calculated indirectly in the process,” said Hou.

Food producers and quality supervisors have been determining the protein content in food products by also testing the nitrogen content, a method developed by Danish chemist Johan Kjeldahl in 1883.

But recently, scientists found that the Kjeldahl method does not distinguish melamine and other false nitrogen compounds from real protein.

The white, talc-like chemical melamine can be mixed with animal feed, and milk and other food products to falsely raise the protein content.

Using this to their advantage and ignoring the health threat it could cause, some manufacturers mixed melamine with milk products causing 54,000 infants to fall ill.

Four of these infants died, prompting the government to swing into action and crack down on milk sellers, as well as officials.

According to Hou, the new method announced by the ministry uses a chemical to distinguish real protein from other nitrogen-containing compounds and can be conducted through common laboratory equipment.

Moreover, the test costs far less than the exorbitant high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method, used till now to detect melamine in milk, Hou added.

“Though it (the method) is not compulsory, it will enhance the standard of food additives, too. I hope it can raise the bar and stop some manufacturers from cutting corners to raise their profit,” she said.

Hou said that the HPLC method, used specifically to detect melamine in fresh milk, should be resorted to in emergency cases.

Eating a high-fat diet during pregnancy causes permanent changes in the fetal brain that can result in overeating and obesity early in life, according to a study with rats.

The researchers from Rockefeller University in New York City said their finding is an important advance in understanding mechanisms of fetal programming. It also sheds light on the production of new brain cells, helping to explain the dramatic rise of childhood obesity in the United States over the past three decades.

“We’ve shown that short-term exposure to a high-fat diet in utero produces permanent neurons in the fetal brain that later increase the appetite for fat,” study senior author Sarah F. Leibowitz, director of the Laboratory of Behavioral Neurobiology at Rockefeller, said in a university news release. “This work provides the first evidence for a fetal program that links high levels of fat circulating in the mother’s blood during pregnancy to the overeating and increased weight gain of offspring after weaning.”

For the study, pregnant rats were fed either a high-fat or a balanced diet for two weeks. Pups born to mothers that ate the high-fat diet ate more, weighed more throughout life, and began puberty earlier than pups born to mothers that ate a balanced diet. The pups born to the mothers that at the high-fat diet also had higher levels of triglycerides in the blood at birth and as adults, and also had greater production of brain peptides that stimulate eating and weight gain.

The study was published in the Nov. 12 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

The creation of neurons that increase the appetite for fat may also occur in human babies born to mothers who eat a high-fat diet during pregnancy, Leibowitz said.

“We’re programming our children to be fat,” she believes. “I think it’s very clear that there’s vulnerability in the developing brain, and we’ve identified the site of this action where new neurons are being born. We now need to understand how the lipids affect these precursor cells that form these fat-sensitive neurons that live with us throughout life.”

Cell phone text messaging could be used to reduce kids’ chances of becoming fat later in life, by helping them monitor and modify their own behaviors now, a new study has suggested.The study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests that self-monitoring of calorie intake is important for the long-term success of weight loss and weight control.

“Self-monitoring of calorie intake and expenditure and of body weight is extremely important for the long-term success of weight loss and weight control,” said Jennifer R. Shapiro, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry in the UNC School of Medicine and principal investigator of the new study, which is published in the November/December 2008 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

“Unfortunately, both children and adults who are trying to lose weight often do not adhere to self-monitoring. They tend to be good about self-monitoring at the start of a weight-loss effort, but then their adherence drops off over time,” the expert added. Traditionally, paper diaries are the tool most often used for self-monitoring. People trying to lose weight write down how many calories they consume, how many calories they burn in exercise and how much they weigh.While a paper diary can be very effective, Shapiro and her colleagues had a hunch that the same concept might work better in children if they could report their self-monitoring via cell phone text messaging - and receive feedback messages in return.

“Cell phone text messaging is something that’s very familiar to most children now, since they’ve grown up with it,” Shapiro said.

“By using this technology, we were hoping to make self-monitoring seem more like fun to them and less like work,” the expert added.

Fifty-eight children aged 5 to 13 and their parents participated in Shapiro’s study, which was conducted at UNC Hospitals, and 31 families completed the study. The families took part in three group education sessions (one session weekly for three weeks) which aimed to encourage them to increase physical activity, decrease “screen time” (time spent watching television) and reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.

All of the children were given pedometers to track the number of steps they took each day, as well as goals to meet for the number of steps taken, minutes of screen time and number of sugar-sweetened beverages consumed per day.

The participating families were randomized into three groups: one that reported self-monitoring…via cell phone text messaging, another group that reported self-monitoring in a paper diary, and a no-monitoring control group.The text messaging and paper diary groups answered three questions each day: (1) what was the number on your pedometer today?; (2) how many sugar-sweetened beverages did you drink today?; and (3) how many minutes of screen time did you have today?

Each family in the text messaging group was given a cell phone to be used only for study-related messages. They were instructed to send two messages per day (one from the parent and one from the child) reporting their answers to the three questions. Each time a message was sent, the sender received an immediate, automated feedback message based on what the sender reported.

The researchers generated hundreds of feedback messages for the study. One example was, “Wow, you met your step and screen time goals - congratulations! What happened to beverages?”

The odds of having a premature baby are lowest in Vermont and highest in Mississippi. The March of Dimes mapped the stark state-by-state disparities in what it called a “report card” on prematurity Wednesday — to track progress toward meeting a federal goal of lowering preterm births.

There’s not much chance of meeting that goal by the original 2010 deadline, if the “D” grade the charity bestowed on the nation is any indication.

More than half a million U.S. babies — one in every eight — are born premature each year, a toll that’s risen steadily for two decades. The government’s goal: No more than 7.6 percent of babies born before completion of the 37th week of pregnancy.

Preterm birth can affect any mother-to-be, stressed a recent U.S. Surgeon General’s meeting on the problem. Scientists don’t understand all the complex causes.

But Wednesday’s report highlights big geographic differences that March of Dimes president Dr. Jennifer Howse called “a dash of cold water.”

In Vermont, 9 percent of babies were preemies in 2005, the latest available data. In Oregon and Connecticut, just under 10.5 percent of babies were premature.

Travel south, and prematurity steadily worsens: In West Virginia, 14.4 percent of babies were preemies; more than 15 percent in Kentucky and South Carolina; more than 16 percent in Alabama and Louisiana; and a high of 18.8 percent in Mississippi.

The report urges states to address three factors that play a role:

_Lack of insurance, which translates into missed or late prenatal care. In states with the highest prematurity rates, at least one in five women of childbearing age are uninsured. Early prenatal care can identify risks for preterm labor and sometimes lower them.

_Smoking increases the risks of prematurity, low birthweight and birth defects. Government figures suggest 17 percent of women smoke during pregnancy. The new report urged targeting smoking by all women of childbearing age. About a third of those women smoke in Louisiana and West Virginia, the report says, compared with 9.3 percent and 11 percent in Utah and California, respectively.

_Then there’s the trickier issue of so-called late preemies, babies born between 34 and 37 weeks. They’re fueling the nation’s prematurity rise. While not as devastating as a baby born months early, being even a few weeks early can cause learning or behavioral delays and other problems. And recent research suggests at least some near-term babies are due to Caesarean sections scheduled before full-term, either deliberately or because of confusion about the fetus’s exact age.

Howse urged hospitals to double-check that women given an early C-section truly need one for a medical problem, as current health guidelines recommend.

A new study has revealed that leprosy, also known as Hansen’’s disease, is still prevalent in the United States.

“Approximately 150 cases are diagnosed each year with 3,000 people in the U.S. currently being treated for leprosy,” says Dr. James Krahenbuhl, director of the Health Resources Service Administration’’s National Hansen’’s Disease Program (NHDP) in Baton Rouge, LA.

“We believe there are more cases of leprosy not identified due to the lack of awareness about the disease among physicians in the U.S., which is leading to misdiagnosis and wrong treatments for patients who are left to suffer with the debilitating damage caused by this disease,” he adds.

While the root cause of the transmission of leprosy has yet to be determined, it is known to be a chronic disease that slowly attacks the peripheral nervous system and motor skills, often leading to disability and disfigurement.

Since the onset of infection and symptoms can take three to 10 years, according to experts, it is very difficult to find the origin of where or how people acquire the disease.

Leprosy can be fully treated with medicine when diagnosed in early stages, but nerve damage cannot be reversed once the disease has advanced.

The NHDP says that many doctors are not familiar with the disease because most people affected by leprosy in the U.S. are immigrants in poor communities who primarily seek treatment in free clinics or emergency rooms, and thus doctors mistake the skin lesions of leprosy for a fungus or ringworm and treat it with a topical cream.

Given the slow progression of leprosy, it may take months before the doctor or the patient realizes that the treatment is not working, giving the disease enough time to start destroying the nervous system.

The NHDP says that the relocation of immigrants from the tropics and third world countries, where leprosy is most prevalent, is one of the reason why the disease is being diagnosed throughout the U.S.

“As we see leprosy move toward internal regions of the States, it becomes more urgent to reach those physicians to let them know about the symptoms of this disease,” says Dr. Krahenbuhl.

Dr. James Krahenbuhl will lead a symposium at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene meeting to raise awareness among physicians that leprosy is in the U.S. and assistance and treatments are available.