Steel Prices are set to Rise globally: Buy all the Steel counters in Bulk

(i) Spanish import scrap prices increase as merchants raise offers:
February 29, 2012, London: Prices for ferrous scrap imports into Spain rose over the past week as merchants hiked offer prices, following one buyer’s attempt to bid up the market at the end of last week, market participants told Metal Bulletin.
The mill in question was after immediate new arisings tonnages, of which there is a shortage in northern Spain, sources explained. “The price came up [so high] because of the activity of the mill [last week],” a broker told Metal Bulletin on February 29. “The other mills are not reacting on the same levels,” he said. 

(ii) LME steel billet prices pick up, more trades reported:
February 29, 2012, London: London Metal Exchange steel billet prices saw a slight increase on Wednesday February 29, thanks to a slight pick-up in trading activity.
Three-month official prices rose to $535/540 per tonne on Wednesday, from $520/540 on Tuesday. Wednesday’s official cash bid/offer spread was $516/520, up from Tuesday’s $490/510. A total of nine lots were sold on the three-month contract for $540.

(iii) CHINA STEEL WRAP: Spot longs move up on Shagang hint:
February 29, 2012, Shanghai: China’s spot prices for long products rose on Wednesday February 29 ahead of an expected price hike by Shagang Group on Thursday.
Shagang is expected to be adding 80 yuan ($13) per tonne to its rebar prices for the first ten days of March, which will support spot prices in the south of the country, according to market sources. “Many medium- and small-sized steel mills will follow Shagang and hike prices this week, and spot prices will follow,”...

(iv) Spot 63.5% Fe iron ore price widens to $147-149 cfr:
February 29, 2012: China’s iron ore import prices edged higher as firmer steel prices drove restocking.
Mainstream prices of 63.5% Fe content Indian fines stood at $147-149 per tonne cfr China, $1 higher on the top end from Tuesday. 

Courtesy:http://www.metalbulletinresearch.com
 

Scientists Disarm HIV in Step Towards Vaccine

Researchers have found a way to prevent HIV from damaging the immune system, in a new lab-based study published in the journal Blood. The research, led by scientists at Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins University, could have important implications for the development of HIV vaccines.
HIV/AIDS is the third biggest cause of death in low income countries, killing around 1.8 million people a year worldwide. An estimated 2.6 million people became infected with HIV in 2009.
The research shows that HIV is unable to damage the immune system if cholesterol is removed from the virus's membrane. Usually, when a person becomes infected, the body's innate immune response provides an immediate defence. However, some researchers believe that HIV causes the innate immune system to overreact and that this weakens the immune system's next line of defence, known as the adaptive immune response.
In the new study, the researchers removed cholesterol from the membrane surrounding the virus and found that this stopped HIV from triggering the innate immune response. This led to a stronger adaptive response, orchestrated by immune cells called T cells. These results support the idea that HIV overstimulates the innate response and that this weakens the immune system.
Dr Adriano Boasso, first author of the study, from Imperial College London, said: "HIV is very sneaky. It evades the host's defences by triggering overblown responses that damage the immune system. It's like revving your car in first gear for too long. Eventually the engine blows out.
"This may be one reason why developing a vaccine has proven so difficult. Most vaccines prime the adaptive response to recognise the invader, but it's hard for this to work if the virus triggers other mechanisms that weaken the adaptive response."
HIV takes its membrane from the cell that it infects. This membrane contains cholesterol, which helps to keep it fluid. The fluidity of the membrane enables the virus to interact with particular types of cell. Cholesterol in the cell membrane is not connected to cholesterol in the blood, which is a risk factor for heart disease but is not linked to HIV.
Normally, a subset of immune cells called plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) recognise HIV quickly and react by producing signalling molecules called interferons. These signals activate various processes which are initially helpful, but which damage the immune system if switched on for too long.
In collaboration with researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Milan and Innsbruck University, Dr Boasso's group at Imperial have discovered that if cholesterol is removed from HIV's envelope, it can no longer activate pDCs. As a consequence, T cells, which orchestrate the adaptive response, can fight the virus more effectively.
The researchers removed cholesterol using varying concentrations of beta-cyclodextrin (bCD), a derivative of starch that binds cholesterol. Using high levels of bCD they produced a virus with a large hole in its envelope. This permeabilised virus was not infectious and could not activate pDCs, but was still recognised by T cells. Dr Boasso and his colleagues are now looking to investigate whether this inactivated virus could be developed into a vaccine.
"It's like an army that has lost its weapons but still has flags, so another army can recognise it and attack it," he said.
The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health.

Courtesy: Science Daily

Exercise produces crosstalk between bone, fat and Pancreatic Cells

Pancreas

Washington, Sept 20 : Exercise can produce healthy chatter between bones, fat and pancreatic cells in humans, thereby helping them in bringing out the best in each other, researchers say.
A small study of obese children enrolled in after-school exercise programs showed 12 weeks of vigorous exercise resulted in stronger bones, improved insulin sensitivity (reduced diabetes risk) and less of the most-deadly belly, or visceral, fat, Georgia Health Sciences University researchers report.
It also indicated that blood levels of the hormone osteocalcin, made by bone-producing osteoblasts, might be a good indicator of how things are going in all three areas, said Dr. Norman Pollock, bone biologist at GHSU's Georgia Prevention Institute.
Pollock's finding is some of the earliest human evidence of this crosstalk among the divergent cell types.
"The idea is that bones can possibly sense environmental stimuli such as being physically active or sedentary and dictate energy regulation accordingly," he said.
The reality is bones get bigger and stronger with exercise and they appear to be sharing the good news. "When osteocalcin is released in your blood, that hormone is talking back to the adipocytes, the cells that store fat, and the pancreatic cells that release insulin to improve energy metabolism."
Bone researchers like Pollock have previously believed bones were just listening.
The study was presented at the American society's annual September meeting in San Diego.

Courtesy: ANI

Men Also Can be affected by Breast Cancer

Although beast cancer have affected most women, but men also can suffer from the disease. Male breast anatomy is no different with women. But men have more testosterone which can suppress breast development. Therefore, the breast tissue is dominated only by channels that do not develop and a small amount of fat
However, under certain conditions, male breasts can be enlarged due to the consumption of drugs such as antibiotics, marijuana, heroin, antidepressants, amphetamines, and AIDS therapy. Breast enlargement or gynecomastia may also occur when men experience hormonal imbalance and obesity.
Because of their organ are similar with women, breast cancer disease could also threaten a man. The high Estrogen levels are risk for developing breast cancer cells. Female sex hormone or estrogen stimulates breast cells and divide actively in large numbers. Many cells are damaged and this damage to genes that cause cancer. The initial symptoms of this disease usually are in the form of a lump or pain in the chest. “Breasts are harder and nipples become sore,” said plastic surgeon, Enrina Diah.
The man still lay with the disease. They often ignore the symptoms. Many men knew that they suffered from the disease in the elderly. According to the nonprofit Breastcancer.org, this disease attacked men less than one percent of all breast cancer diagnoses in women.
Mammography can be the initial technique for diagnosing breast cancer. If a mass is found in this examination, the doctor will perform a biopsy to take sample of the bump. Surgery or the lump removal is often being the priority choice to stop the spread locally in the nipple or skin.
Male breast cancer is extremely uncommon and just covers 1% of all breast cancers. For men, between the ages of 60 and 70 is the most common age to get this cancer type. It is About 1,990 new cases were detected in the US in 2008, and will lead to 480 deaths, as said by the American Cancer Society. And about 40,000 females die yearly from this dreadful cancer.
It is greatly important to know about the reason why men can grow male breast cancer. According to many researchers, besides inherited or genetic aspects, it also can be environmental problems that are possible to contribute in its development.
Recognized gene in the family or family history contributes about 5-10% of all breast cancer in men. In addition, exposure to radiation continually and high levels of estrogen for a long time in young age could contribute as well.
If it is diagnosed at an early stage, men identified with this cancer have a good opportunity for treatment. However, the symptoms should not be overlooked. The most common symptom of male breast cancer is a breast lump. For the most part of cases are made a diagnosis after the illness has got an advanced condition.
A number of the symptoms are as followed: a lump that is painless in nature; the skin covering the breast feels dimpling, redness, puckering, or scaling; discharge from the nipple; thickening of the breast tissue; and nipple may turn inward.
Male Breast Cancer Treatments:
Actually there are a number of measures that can be used for the treatments, and certain process used may rely on the stage or type of the cancer. Removing the breast with surgical method or mastectomy, then chemotherapy and radiation are methods of breast cancer treatment. However, the male breast cancer treatments must be discussed personally between the patient and doctor.

Courtesy: http://1st-in-breastcancer.com

Association Found Between Stress and Breast Cancer Aggressiveness

We found that after diagnosis, black and Hispanic breast cancer patients reported higher levels of stress than whites, and that stress was associated with tumor aggressiveness," said Garth H. Rauscher, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology in the division of epidemiology and biostatistics at the School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago.
Rauscher and colleagues studied patient-reported perceptions of fear, anxiety and isolation, together referred to as psychosocial stress, and associations with breast cancer aggressiveness. He cautioned that patients' stress levels were examined two to three months post-diagnosis.
The study included 989 breast cancer patients who were recently diagnosed; of those, 411 were non-Hispanic black, 397 were non-Hispanic white, and 181 were Hispanic. Results showed that psychosocial stress scores were higher for both black and Hispanic patients compared to white patients.
"Those who reported higher levels of stress tended to have more aggressive tumors. However, what we don't know is if we had asked them the same question a year or five years before diagnosis, would we have seen the same association between stress and breast cancer aggressiveness?
"It's not clear what's driving this association. It may be that the level of stress in these patients' lives influenced tumor aggressiveness. It may be that being diagnosed with a more aggressive tumor, with a more worrisome diagnosis and more stressful treatments, influenced reports of stress. It may be that both of these are playing a role in the association. We don't know the answer to that question," Rauscher said.

Courtesy: www.sciencedaily.com

Birth Control Pills Affect Memory, Researchers Find

Women who use contraceptives like birth control pills experience memory changes, according to new UC Irvine research. Their ability to remember the gist of an emotional event improves, while women not using the contraceptives better retain details.

"What's most exciting about this study is that it shows the use of hormonal contraception alters memory," UCI graduate researcher Shawn Nielsen said. "There are only a handful of studies examining the cognitive effects of the pill, and more than 100 million women use it worldwide."
She stressed that the medications did not damage memory. "It's a change in the type of information they remember, not a deficit."
The change makes sense, said Nielsen, who works with neurobiologist Larry Cahill, because contraceptives suppress sex hormones such as estrogen and progesterone to prevent pregnancy. Those hormones were previously linked to women's strong "left brain" memory by Cahill's research group.
"This new finding may be surprising to some, but it's a natural outgrowth of the research we've been doing on sex differences for 10 years," Cahill said.
A neurobiologist not involved in the latest work agreed it was a logical and intriguing next step in the examination of memory differences between the sexes. Like any research, she added, it would be important to validate it further.
"Larry Cahill is already well known for his phenomenal research linking sex to memory," said Pauline Maki, professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who specializes in memory and brain functioning. "The fact that women on oral contraceptives remembered different elements of a story tells us that estrogen has an influence on how women remember emotional events."
In the study, groups of women either on the contraceptive or experiencing natural hormonal cycles were shown photographs of a mother, her son, and a car accident. The audio narrative differed; some in each group were told the car had hit a curb, while others were told the car had hit the boy and critically injured him.
One week later, all were given surprise tests about what they recalled. Women using hormonal contraceptives for as little as one month remembered more clearly the main steps in the traumatic event -- that there had been an accident, that the boy had been rushed to the hospital, that doctors worked to save his life and successfully reattached both his feet, for instance.
Women not using them remembered more details, such as a fire hydrant next to the car.
Nielsen and fellow researcher Nicole Ertman agreed the findings could help lead to fuller answers about why women experience post traumatic stress syndrome more frequently than men, and how men remember differently than women. Men typically rely more on right-hemisphere brain activity to encode memory. They retain the gist of things better than details. Women on the pill, who have lower levels of hormones associated with female reproduction, may remember emotional events similarly to men. Nielsen plans to do her doctoral thesis on whether hormones affect the retention of details.
The work, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, appears in the September issue of the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. Additional authors include Cahill and UCI undergraduate research assistant Yasmeen Lakhani.

Courtesy: www.sciencedaily.com

The more sex partners you have, the more fertile your offspring will be

In a new study, scientists at the Centre for Evolutionary Biology, University of Western Australia, have found being polygamous could be more than being monogamous, when it comes to fertilisation.

The team discovered that sperm from polygamous mice are better competitors in the race for fertilisation.

Dr Renee Firman and her team attempted to show that sperm from rival males compete to fertilise females 

and that, over several generations, polygamy can select for mice who produce more sperm, with stronger motility, than monogamous males.

The study found that while 53 percent of the litters had mixed paternity, 33 per cent of litters were fathered by the polygamous males compared to 14 per cent by monogamous males.

And whether they were mated first or second, polygamous males retained this advantage, showing that the increased fitness applies to both offensive and defensive competition.

The study seems to debunk previously held theories about the merits of monogamy versus polygamy.

The study appears in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology.

Twelve things one should avoid doing when it comes to sex

Washington: While much has been written about how to boost action in the bedroom, there are things one should never do when it comes to sex.

In her new book, titled 'Sex with Your Ex & 69 Other Things You Should Never Do Again... Plus a Few That You Should', author Dr. Yvonne K. Fulbright has mentioned things that one should strictly refrain to keep a healthy sex life, reports Fox News. And, according to her, the don'ts of sex are:

1. Never have a 'type' of orgasm - have your orgasm

Instead of trying to have a breast, clitoral, G-spot or blended orgasm, forget the labels and have yours. Don't worry about having a specific type, but focus on pampering your whole body, attending to any of its hot spots. This beckons your orgasm by not being so goal-oriented.

2. Never talk about past sexual relationships

Don't invite distress into your current romance by reminiscing about the good times or bad times you've had with other jerks, hotties, players or loves. Focus on the present and making it the most memorable.

3. Never let sex get routine

While it's wise to get in a routine to make sure sex happens, don't let the sex itself get routine. This only invites monotony and the mundane. To keep things hot, be sure to keep things new and fresh.

4. Never just lie there

A big complaint you'll hear from men and women alike is that their lover didn't do much of anything during sex. Men have grumbled that she doesn't move during lovemaking. Most people like an active lover - one responsive to the action, which shows that they're into the moment.

5. Never move in together (or get married) a second time

Things didn't work out the first time for good reason. Maybe you love each other, but if you're incompatible or fight too much, it's better to cut your losses and move on to a situation that does work.

6. Never drink cheap beer and stay overnight

Don't set yourself up to be someone's gassy guest. Get the walk of shame over with sooner rather than later, lest you stink up someone's bedroom and bathroom. This is not the kind of lasting impression most seducers are after.

7. Never drink more than 1-2 glasses of alcohol

While spirits can do a lot for one's spirits, sexual self-confidence, and libido, keep your booze to a minimum. More than a couple of glasses can cause erectile difficulties in men and vaginal dryness in women. Being buzzed or drunk can also lead to high-risk sexual behaviours.

8. Never compare yourself to Victoria's Secret or Abercrombie models.

It's no good to think that these real-life moving mannequins are the standard by which you should judge your face or form. You've got your own unique look and that can be super sexy, depending on how you wear it. That starts with a smile and indicating to others that you feel quite good about yourself.

9. Never totally trust magazine sex tips

Don't mindlessly copy magazine sex tips. Think about the suggestion first. Is it hot or completely ridiculous? Will it work for your sexual relationship? Or does it have the potential to sabotage your sex life?

10. Never douche before sex

Despite popular belief, douching is not a safe or healthy way to clean the vagina. Doing so upsets the vagina's delicate chemical balance, increasing your chance of developing pelvic inflammatory disease or other health problems. Let the vagina naturally cleanse itself and worry about other much sexier activities pre-sex.

11. Never attempt tricky Kama Sutra positions if you are not flexible.

Stick with pursuing sexual positions that are comfortable for you.

12. Never listen to somebody slamming your sexy self.

Is a guy suggesting that you get breast implants? Is some gal making fun of your penis size? In either case, ignore the criticism, or in the very least, fire back.

Testosterone replacement improves men's liver function

Washington: A new study suggests that testosterone replacement for men with low levels of the hormone greatly improves their fatty liver disease as well as their risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
"Physicians often are reluctant to prescribe testosterone for conditions not related to sexual function. However, our study shows that testosterone has a much wider therapeutic role than just for improving sexual desire and erectile function," said the study's co-author, Dr. Farid Saad, of Berlin-headquartered Bayer Schering Pharma.
During a presentation at The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., it was revealed that the study included 122 testosterone-deficient men, aged 36 to 69 years.
The researchers found that restoring testosterone to normal levels led to major and progressive improvements in many features of the metabolic syndrome over the 2 years of treatment.
They said that, particularly, the men's weight, waist line and body mass index continued to decline over the full study period.
According to them, the other metabolic risk factors also significantly improved during the first year of testosterone treatment.
Of the 47 men who met the criteria for a diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome at the beginning of the study, 36 no longer had the diagnosis after 2 years of treatment, the authors reported.
Furthermore, liver function significantly improved during the first 12 to 18 months of therapy and stabilized for the remainder of the study period.
The researchers said that the treatment also greatly decreased blood levels of C-reactive protein, a measure of inflammation that is linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
"We conclude that testosterone therapy in men with testosterone deficiency can largely improve or even remedy the metabolic syndrome, which will most likely decrease their risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease," Saad said. [From Internet]

'Pullout method' nearly as effective as using condoms: Study

Washington: A new study has indicated that the old 'pullout method', pulling out just before ejaculation, works nearly as well as condoms in preventing pregnancies.
The study, titled "Better than nothing or savvy risk reduction practice? The importance of withdrawal," appears in the June edition of the journal Contraception, reports CBS News.
The authors find:
"If the male partner withdraws before ejaculation every time a couple has vaginal intercourse, about 4 percent of couples will become pregnant over the course of a year.
"However, more realistic estimates of typical use indicate that about 18 percent of couples will become pregnant in a year using withdrawal.
"These rates are only slightly less effective than male condoms, which have perfect- and typical-use failure rates of 2 percent and 17 percent, respectively."

Binge drinking harms teens' brains

Washington: In a study on adolescent binge drinkers, scientists have found that even rare consumption of large doses of alcohol during youth may compromise the coherence of the brain's white matter fibre.
Such incoherence has been known in adult alcoholics, but researchers were unaware as to when during the course of drinking white matter abnormalities become apparent.
"Because the brain is still developing during adolescence, there has been concern that it may be more vulnerable to the effects of neurotoxins, such as high doses of alcohol," said Susan F. Tapert, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.
The study's corresponding author has claimed that animal studies have suggested this to be true.
Duncan Clark, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said that "'white matter'" refers to brain areas that appear light in colour due to being primarily lipids."
He added: "White matter is composed of bundles of myelinated axons connecting grey matter areas of the brain, and has been shown to continue to develop throughout adolescence. These systematic changes in white matter organization reflect not only maturation of interconnections but continued maturation of the brain as a whole."
"White matter, and its integrity, are essential to the efficient relay of information within the brain. Indicators of white matter integrity are linked to performance on a range of cognitive tests, including measures of reading, copying complex figures, and speeded coding of information. Abnormalities in white matter health could relate to compromised ability to consider multiple sources of information when making decisions, and to emotional functioning," said Tapert.
For the study, the researchers enrolled 28 teens and used diffusion tensor imaging - an MRI technique sensitive to the random movement of water in cells of a target tissue - to examine fractional anisotropy, a measure of directional coherence of white matter tracts, in them.
It was found that out of the 28 adoloscents, 14 (12 males, 2 females) had and 14 (12 males, 2 females) did not have histories of binge drinking.
No participants had a history of an alcohol use disorder-drinkers were matched to non-drinkers on age, gender and education.
"This study showed that adolescents with histories of binge drinking episodes have lower coherence of white matter fibers, suggesting poorer white matter health, in a variety of brain regions. Frankly, I was surprised we found this, because the drinkers did not meet criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence," said Tapert.
Clark said: "These findings add to a growing literature indicating that adolescent alcohol involvement is associated with specific brain characteristics. One of the advantages of this study was that the adolescents with binge drinking did not have major mental disorders. Adolescents with alcohol-use disorders often have other problems. This suggests that the observed brain characteristics may be associated with alcohol involvement specifically rather than other complications."
"These findings indicate that adolescents who engage in binge drinking show low levels of brain organization," he said. "This characteristic could be a risk factor for accelerated alcohol use or an effect of alcohol. We need to know more about how alcohol influences adolescent brain development, [given] that alcohol may disrupt brain development."
The results of the study will be published in the July issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View

Diet high in fruits, veggies may protect against cancer

London: A diet rich in fruit and vegetables may protect against cancer and heart disease, claim researchers.
Fruit and vegetables contain high levels of salicylates, which are also the active anti-inflammatory ingredient of aspirin.
According to a review of the possible association of cancer prevention with this substance found in aspirin, published in the medical journal The Lancet, many herbs and spices are also especially rich in salicylates, reports The Independent.
Professor Peter Elwood, of the University of Cardiff's school of medicine, who led the review, said: "I think this is a very exciting area that should be researched in considerable depth.
"Most medical authorities have said for 20 years that it is the antioxidants in fruit and vegetables that account for their protective effects. It leads us to wonder if the beneficial effects of fruit and vegetables are because of the salicylates they contain," he said.
Salicylates were first identified in strawberries at the beginning of the 20th century, and they have been found to occur naturally in a wide range of plants.

Daily Drinking Poses Biggest Threat to Liver

London: Daily drinking, rather than binge drinking, poses the biggest threat to the liver, according to a new study.
University of Southampton researchers attributed increases in liver-related deaths to daily or near daily heavy drinking, not episodic or binge drinking, a pattern discernable at an early age.
In the study of alcohol dependency of 234 people with liver disease - 106 had alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) and 80 of them had evidence of cirrhosis or progressive fibrosis - the team found that 71 percent of ALD patients drank on a daily basis.
Conversely, patients with other forms of liver disease tended to drink sparingly with only 10 people (eight percent) drinking moderately on four or more days each week.
The study also explored lifetime drinking histories of 105 people and found that ALD patients started drinking at a significantly younger age (15 years) than other subjects and had significantly more drinking days and units than non-ALD patients from the age of 20 onwards, said a Southampton release.
Senior lecturer and consultant hepatologist Nick Sheron at Southamption, who led the study, said, "If we are to turn the tide of liver deaths. . . which means tackling cheap booze and unregulated marketing - we need to find a way to identify those people who are most likely to develop alcohol-related illnesses at a much earlier stage."
These findings were published in Addiction.

Surgeons announce world's first successful transvaginal nephrectomy using intra-umbilical Tri-port

Washington: Doctors at Instituto Medico La Floresta in Caracas, Venezuela, have successfully performed the world's first live human transvaginal nephrectomy using the Tri-port multi-channel port supplied by Advanced Surgical Concepts Ltd.
Dr. Rene Sotelo, the leader of the team of surgeons who carried out the operation, has revealed that the majority of the intra-operative endoscopic visualization and tissue mobilization for the natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) nephrectomy was performed transvaginally, with observation and occasional assistance from an intra-umbilical Tri-port.
According to him, no extra-umbilical incisions were needed.
The patient on whom the operation was performed was a 65 year-old woman with a 6 cm left kidney tumour, and a prior history of hysterectomy.
Sotelo revealed that it took 220 minutes for the surgery to complete, and that patient thereafter had to stay in the hospital for two days.
He said that the patient did not experience any complications, and was discharged with no visible abdominal scar.
Sotelo says: "The procedure went well and has great potential for the future."

Sleeping during the day ups mortality risk in older women

Washington: A new study has found that older women who take daily naps are at a greater risk of dying.
Researchers have found that women who reported napping daily were 44 percent more likely to die from any cause while 58 percent more likely to die from cardiovascular causes
Also 59 percent were more likely to die from non-cardiovascular, non-cancer causes.
The study involving 8,101 Caucasian women aged 69 and older that showed that those who reported sleeping between 9-10 hours per 24-hour period also had a greater risk of mortality compared to those who slept between 8-9 hours.
The association was strongest for cardiovascular-related mortality.
However, researchers urge that the results should not be interpreted to mean that napping causes poor health outcomes, and it is not recommended that older adults avoid napping.
Napping and long sleep duration may be caused by sleepiness due to underlying sleep disorders or other medical conditions.
"Since excessive sleep suggests that night time sleep is disrupted, interventions to treat sleep disorders and improve sleep quality in older women may reduce mortality risk," said Katie L. Stone, co-author of the study.
However, further studies are required to explain why napping is linked with increased risk of death.
This study is published in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

HIV beats our immune system by 'innovative mutations'

Washington : The human immunodeficiency virus or HIV adapts so well to the body's immune system that any successful AIDS vaccine must keep pace with its ever mutating profile, researchers say.
A new study, based on a survey of 2,800 HIV patients on five continents, better describes HIV's ability to adapt by spelling out at least 14 different "escape mutations" that keeps the virus alive after it interacts genetically with immunity molecules that attack HIV.
"Key genetic regions of HIV introduced into individuals of different ancestry in different places have been evolving to a greater or lesser degree according to inherited factors controlling immune response," said Richard Kaslow.
Kaslow is a professor at the University Kasof Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health and study co-author. "If HIV adapts differently in genetically distinct hosts, the challenge ahead in vaccine design is formidable," he said.
Researchers looked at different DNA variations of HIV in conjunction with different forms of human leukocyte antigen (HLA), a group of molecules that orchestrate immune response.
Normally HLA molecules present fragments of HIV proteins on the surface of infected cells to the immune system, acting as a signal for HIV destruction.
The Nature study shows just how efficiently the virus evolves escape mutations that help infected cells avoid destruction, Kaslow said, according to an UAB release.
The future of vaccine exploration will need to address the escape mutation capacity and identify new drug targets that work against an ever-changing HIV immunology landscape, said Philip Goulder, professor of immunology at the University of Oxford and the study's senior author.
These findings were published online in Nature......

Violent video games, movies make people insensitive towards other's sufferings

Washington: People who play violent video games become insensitive towards the pain and suffering of others, according to new research.
Detailing the findings of two studies conducted by University of Michigan professor Brad Bushman, and Iowa State University professor Craig Anderson, the research fill an important gap in the literature on the impact of violent media.
Past studies demonstrated that exposure to violent media produces physiological desensitisation-lowering heart rate and skin conductance-when viewing scenes of actual violence a short time later.
However, the current research has shown that violent media also affects a person's willingness to offer help to an injured person, both in a field study as well as in a laboratory experiment.
"These studies clearly show that violent media exposure can reduce helping behavior," said Bushman, professor of psychology and communications and a research professor at the U-M Institute for Social Research.
He added: "People exposed to media violence are less helpful to others in need because they are 'comfortably numb' to the pain and suffering of others, to borrow the title of a Pink Floyd song."
In a study of 320 college students, the participants played either a violent or a non-violent video game for approximately 20 minutes, and then after a few minutes overheard a staged fight that ended with the "victim" sustaining a sprained ankle and groaning in pain.
It was found that those who had played a violent game took significantly longer to help the victim than those who played a non-violent game-73 seconds compared to 16 seconds.
Also, people who had played a violent game were less likely to notice and report the fight. And in case they did report it, they judged it to be less serious than did those who had played a non-violent game.
In the second study, the participants were 162 adult moviegoers. The researchers staged a minor emergency outside the theatre in which a young woman with a bandaged ankle and crutches "accidentally" dropped her crutches and struggled to retrieve them.
Participants who had just watched a violent movie took over 26 percent longer to help than either people going into the theatre or people who had just watched a non-violent movie.
The findings of the study have been published in the journal Psychological Science.

Mending broken hearts with skin stem cells possible

Washington: After turning skin cells back into stem cells successfully, scientists now have proof that they can indeed form specialised cells making up heart muscle.
University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-M) School of Medicine and Public Health professor Tim Kamp and his research team showed that they were able to grow working heart-muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) from induced pluripotent stem cells, known as iPS cells.
The heart cells were originally reprogrammed from human skin cells by James Thomson and Junying Yu, two of Kamp's co-authors on the study.
"It's an encouraging result because it shows that those cells will be useful for research and may someday be useful in therapy," said Kamp, who is also a cardiologist with UW Health.
"If you have a heart failure patient who is in dire straits - and there are never enough donor hearts for transplantation, we may be able to make heart cells from the patient's skin cells, and use them to repair heart muscle. That's pretty exciting."
It's also a few more discoveries away. The researchers used a virus to insert four transcription factors into the genes of the skin cell, reprogramming it back to an embryo-like state.
Because the virus is taken up by the new cell, there is a possibility it eventually could cause cancer, so therapies from reprogrammed skin cells will likely have to wait until new methods are perfected.
Still, the iPS cardiomyocytes should prove immediately useful for research. And Kamp said the speed at which knowledge is progressing is very encouraging.
Jianhua Zhang, study co-author noted that it took 17 years, from when a mouse embryonic stem cells were first created in 1981, to 1998, when Thomson created the first human embryonic stem cells, said a UW-M release.
In contrast, the first mouse iPS stem cells were created in 2006, and Thomson and Yu published their paper in November 2007, announcing the creation of human iPS stem cells that began as a skin cells.
The study was published online Thursday in Circulation Research, a journal of the American Heart Association.

Potential new treatment for prostate cancer developed

Washington: Scientists at Melbourne's Burnet Institute claim to have developed a potential new treatment for prostate cancer patients.
The team led by Associate Professor Pei Xiang Xing, head of the Burnet Institute's Cancer Immunotherapy, has produced a monoclonal antibody to a unique tumour marker for the treatment of prostate cancer.
The monoclonal antibody is directed at cancer-producing cells carrying the specific molecule known as PIM-1, which is responsible for cell survival, proliferation and differentiation.
Over-expression of PIM-1 plays a critical role in the development, progression and metastasis of prostate cancer and other cancers such as leukaemia.
The researchers found that the monoclonal antibody significantly inhibited cancer cell growth when used in laboratory models of prostate cancer.
During the study, the team demonstrated that the monoclonal antibody binds to PIM-1 present in cancer cells and creates a chain of events leading to the death of the cells.
Moreover, the therapeutic effect was improved by combination of the antibody with other drugs currently used to treat prostate cancer.
"This is an exciting step in the development of new treatments for patients with prostate cancer with very promising laboratory-test results," said Professor Crabb.

Three simple steps to treat erectile dysfunction

Washington: Is erectile dysfunction taking the joy out of your sex life? Take heart, for Temple urologist Jack Mydlo has offered three simple steps to get back the pleasure - cut back on fat, control cholesterol, and kick the butt.
Men often rely on the "little blue pill" to score in the bedroom but following these three simple steps can improve their performance without a visit to the doctor or a drugstore.
After diabetes and high blood pressure the next culprit in the line for erectile dysfunction (ED) is cigarette.
"The number one thing we can do to stop erectile dysfunction is to stop smoking. It's the number one environmental cause of ED in our society," said Mydlo.
It restricts the blood flow to the penis. He said it takes 12 to 24 months for better function once you quit the habit.
Men with high cholesterol are at two fold risk of developing ED.
"Men with a cholesterol level of 240 or higher have almost a twofold increase of ED compared to a man who has lower cholesterol numbers," said Mydlo.
High levels of cholesterol lead to plaque buildup in tubes (in the penis and arteries, which can greatly reduce blood flow.
Obesity is to blame not only for men with self-esteem issues involving their appearance, but also their performance.
"Adipose tissue in body fat converts testosterone to estrogen, and lower levels of testosterone can make it difficult for a man to achieve an erection, no matter how many pills they take," said Mydlo.
Losing weight will improve the testosterone to estrogen ratio, which may improve sex drive, or libido, as well as erections. It also decreases cholesterol, which will help improve blood flow.