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To Counter Kremlin's Line, Baltics Mull Joint TV Channel

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With a view to counter the deluge of propaganda aimed at their ethnic Russian populations, the Baltic states are in talks to set up their own Russian language TV channel. Numerous Russian-language media outlets already exist in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania but most emanate from Russia and toe its line on politics and history -- sensitive issues in a region that endured half a century of Soviet occupation. This month, Latvia and Lithuania each suspended ...

Driving Safer Made by Driverless Cars

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With a view to make driving safer and avoid crashes, a new advances in safety technology to be introduced in driverless capability for our cars. For starters, consider new technology to help drivers avoid crashes. Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing at Consumer Reports, who was interviewed and the New York International Auto Show, said that new crash mitigation technology will warn you if you are about to have an accident and will actually hit ...

New Fitness App That Encourages Users to Walk

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Breeze the new fitness app tracks users' movements and activities. Unlike other similar apps such as 'Human' or 'move' that provides users with information on activities carried out in a single day at once, Breeze gives users data of past seven days. According to Tech Crunch, the app includes different features such as 'always on', background working, reminders on completion of goals and more. Presently, Breeze is available only for ...

Scientists Show Spoken Language Helps Direct Children's Eyes

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Indiana University cognitive scientists Catarina Vales and Linda Smith demonstrate that children spot objects more quickly when prompted by words than if they are only prompted by images. Language, the study suggests, is transformative: More so than images, spoken language taps into children's cognitive system, enhancing their ability to learn and to navigate cluttered environments. As such the study, published last week in the journal iDevelopmental Science/i, ...

Radiation Therapy for Cervical Cancer in Young Women Increases Risk for Colorectal Cancer

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At the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, researchers are the first to recommend that young women treated with radiation for cervical cancer should begin colorectal cancer screening earlier than traditionally recommended. The UTMB researchers, finding a high incidence of secondary colorectal cancers among cervical cancer survivors treated with radiation, offer new recommendations that the younger women in this group begin colorectal cancer screening ...

Changing Where a Baby is Held Immediately After Birth Could Lead to Decreased Risk of Iron Deficiency

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Changing where a newborn baby is held before its umbilical cord is clamped could lead to improved uptake in hospitals of delayed cord clamping, leading to a decreased risk of iron deficiency in infancy. This is according to new results published in iThe Lancet/i. Delaying clamping of the umbilical cord until around two minutes after birth allows for blood to pass from the mother's placenta to the baby, and has previously been shown to reduce the risk of iron ...

Free Medication Samples may Change Prescribing Habits of Dermatologists

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In dermatology offices, the availability of free medication samples appears to change prescribing practices for acne, a common condition for which free samples are often available. Free drug samples provided by pharmaceutical companies are widely available in dermatology practices. The authors investigated prescribing practices for acne vulgaris and rosacea. Data for the study were obtained from a nationally representative sample of dermatologists ...

Typical Brain Connectivity Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adolescents appears to be associated with a typical connectivity in the brain. It involves the systems that help people infer what others are thinking and understand the meaning of others' actions and emotions. The ability to navigate and thrive in complex social systems is commonly impaired in ASD, a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting as many as 1 in 88 children. The authors used functional magnetic resonance imaging ...

At Least 1 in 20 Adults Misdiagnosed in Outpatient Clinics in US Every Year

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Research found that at least 1 in 20 adults is misdiagnosed in outpatient clinics in the US every year, amounting to 12 million people nationwide, and posing a "substantial patient safety risk." The research is published online in iBMJ Quality (and) Safety/i. Half of these errors could be potentially harmful, say the authors, who add that their findings should prompt renewed efforts to monitor and curb the numbers of misdiagnoses. To date, patient safety ...

Lack of Emotion and Interest In Old Age May Shrink Your Brain

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Older people who have apathy but not depression may have smaller brain volumes than those without apathy. This is according to a new study published in the April 16, 2014, online issue of iNeurology/iA (Regd) , the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Apathy is a lack of interest or emotion. "Just as signs of memory loss may signal brain changes related to brain disease, apathy may indicate underlying changes," said Lenore J. Launer, ...

Researchers Discover How Intestinal Cells Build Nutrient-Absorbing Surface

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A densely packed array of finger-like projections called microvilli or the "brush border" - covers the surfaces of the cells that line our intestines. Vanderbilt University researchers have now discovered how intestinal cells build this specialized structure, which is critical for absorbing nutrients and defending against pathogens. The findings, published April 10 in the journal iCell/i, reveal a role for adhesion molecules in brush border assembly and increase ...

South Africa's Iconic Township Flaunts BMW's on Sunday Afternoons

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Sunday afternoon is the time when everyone in South Africa's iconic township is out on the street strutting their stuff. An armada of sleek German sedans -- the must-have ride for South Africa's black nouveau riche -- slithers along the well-paved roads, lapping slow-moving buses packed with camera-wielding tourists. "Nothing beats the experience of being among the people here," said Sandile Mashiyane, an accountant who moved out of the township five ...

Algeria Aims to Stem Youth Brain Drain With Better Economic Prospects

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They fled Algeria to escape the violence ravaging the country in the 1990s, but now lured by better economic prospects linked to government financial enticements, more young exiled Algerians are returning. With unemployment in the oil-rich North African nation hovering at 21.5 percent among under-35s, according to the International Monetary Fund, the government has broken open the piggybank to tackle the problem. But critics of the scheme have accused ...

Pork, Threatening Letter Found in Paris Mosque's Mailbox

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After slices of pork and a threatening letter were stuffed in the letterbox of a mosque in Paris suburbs, the authorities have filed a complaint with the police. Authorities at the mosque in Mantes-la-Ville, a town of 19,000 in the western suburbs of Paris, said the incidents reflected a "worrying climate" after the town last month elected a mayor from the far-right National Front. The head of the association that runs the mosque, Abdelaziz El Jaouhari, ...

New Fukushima Shoe Line Introduced by Jimmy Choo

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A new shoe line has been introduced by designer Jimmy Choo using materials native to the disaster-hit Fukushima area, as an attempt to boost the morale of the artisans there. Choo was inspired to come up with the creations after visiting workshops in the area, which is struggling to overcome the tsunami-sparked nuclear catastrophe that hit in 2011. There he found traditional materials that have been made in the area for hundreds of years, such as Aizu ...

New Discovery Turns Neuroanatomy on Its Head

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A new discovery by Harvard scientists may turn 160 years of neuroanatomy on its head. Myelin, the electrical insulating material long known to be essential for the fast transmission of impulses along the axons of nerve cells, is not as ubiquitous as thought, according to a new work lead by Professor Paola Arlotta of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) and the University's Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, in collaboration with Professor Jeff Lichtman, ...

Londoners Re-live Dancing Days With Kids

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The dance floor is heaving, the lights are dim and the bass is pumping. It's the weekend and the young man is enjoying himself -- until someone steals his balloon. Dressed in a Spiderman outfit, the four-year-old boy runs to his dad by the bar to complain, before receiving a glow-stick in consolation. Such are the highs and lows of family raving, a new craze fuelled by London's ex-clubbers who still want to go dancing but now have kids in tow. "What ...

Prince William Admits That He Disliked School

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Watching Out-of-context Pornographic Content Makes Women Feel Sick

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When exposed to graphic pornographic images without any context, women tend to experience nausea and physical revulsion, a new study has found. A study conducted at Groningen University in the Netherlands has found that women's physiological response to explicit images of sexual penetration was similar to what they feel when confronted with revolting food, the Independent reported. According to the research, there is a strong overlap in the areas of ...

Ebola Has Killed 61 in Guinea Since January: Report

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The government said the Ebola virus has claimed 61 lives in Guinea out of 109 laboratory-confirmed cases since January. They were among 197 suspect cases recorded in the impoverished west African country. "From now on, biological analysis can be done more quickly, and the toll will no longer include any non-confirmed cases," government spokesman Damantang Albert Camara said in a statement. Gueckedou, a town in the south of the country ...

South Africa's Problems Meet in Diepsloot

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It is a Friday afternoon as the tavern in Diepsloot township on the outskirts of Johannesburg starts filling up. There are several hours left in the workday but the patrons have no work to go to and little diversion among the dusty streets and iron shacks. "I came to Joburg thinking I'll get a job. There's no job!" says unemployed 29-year-old Elias, summarising the dashed hopes of many tens of thousands who flock to South Africa's economic hub from surrounding ...

Germany: Rape Convictions Fall Sharply

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A national study has revealed that rape victims in Germany are finding it increasingly difficult to see their assailants convicted. Twenty years ago, the percentage of reported sexual violence cases leading to a guilty verdict and sentencing was at about one in five. But by 2012, the ratio had tumbled to one in 12, according to the study conducted by the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (KFN). "These findings are problematic ...

Offbeat News: Nigerian Museum 'X-Rays' Anatsui at 70

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A Lagos museum chose to focus on pretty much anything but El Anatsui's globally renowned work to mark the 70th birthday of the legendary artist. Instead, three decades of payslips from the University of Nigeria, where Anatsui has taught since 1975, are collected in a binder that hangs by a string in the centre of the room. Handwritten letters dealing with minutiae such as train tickets are stuck to the wall. "The objective was to X-ray the ...

Here is How Mothers Help Children Differentiate Between Right and Wrong

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Many mothers talk to their children in ways that helps them understand moral missteps, say researchers. The study - co-written by Cecilia Wainryb, Stacia Bourne and Monisha Pasupathi from the University of Utah - observed 100 pairs of mothers and children were aged seven, 11 or 16. Each child was asked to describe one incident where they had helped a friend, and one incident where they had hurt a friend, and subsequently spoke to their mums about the experience. ...

Research Provides New Insights on Tissue Scarring in Scleroderma

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Potential new treatments for breaking the cycle of tissue scarring in people with scleroderma could come about thanks to a discovery by Northwestern Medicine scientists. Fibrosis, or scarring, is a hallmark of the disease, and progressive tightening of the skin and lungs can lead to serious organ damage and, in some cases, death. The concept for new therapeutic options centers on findings made by Swati Bhattacharyya, PhD, research assistant professor ...

Potential Romantic Rejection Changes Our Relationship With God

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It is widely accepted that Easter is a time when many people in the world think about their relationships with God. New research explores a little-understood role of God in people's lives: helping them cope with the threat of romantic rejection. In this way, God stands in for other relationships in our lives when times are tough. Most psychological research to date has looked at people's relationship with God as similar to a parent-child bond, says ...

Wikipedia can Help Track Flu Levels

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A method of estimating levels of influenza-like illness in the American population has been developed by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital, USA. This has been done by analyzing Internet traffic on specific flu-related Wikipedia articles. David McIver and John Brownstein's model, publishing in iPLOS Computational Biology/i on April 17th, estimates flu levels in the American population up to two weeks sooner than data from the Centers for Disease Control ...

Gene Variant That Increases the Risk of Colorectal Cancer from Eating Processed Meat Identified

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A study published in iPLOS Genetics/i reveals that a common genetic variant that affects one in three people appears to significantly increase the risk of colorectal cancer from the consumption of processed meat. The study of over 18,000 people from the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe represents the first large-scale genome-wide analysis of genetic variants and dietary patterns that may help explain more of the risk factors for colorectal cancer. Dr Jane ...

Boosting Depression-Causing Mechanisms in the Brain Increases Resilience, Says Study

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A conceptually novel therapeutic strategy for treating depression has been highlighted in a new study. Instead of dampening neuron firing found with stress-induced depression, researchers demonstrated for the first time that further activating these neurons opens a new avenue to mimic and promote natural resilience. The findings were so surprising that the research team thinks it may lead to novel targets for naturally acting antidepressants. Results from the study ...

Researchers Discover First Genetic Link to Difficult-to-Diagnose Breast Cancer Sub-Type

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The first genetic variant specifically associated with the risk of a difficult-to-diagnose cancer sub-type has been discovered by scientists. This sub-type accounts for around 10-15 per cent of all breast cancer cases. The largest ever study of the breast cancer sub-type, called invasive lobular carcinoma, gives researchers important clues to the genetic causes of this particular kind of breast cancer, which can be missed through screening. The research, ...

Higher Exam Pass Marks Needed to Close Performance Gap Between International and UK Medical Graduates, Say Experts

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Researchers have suggested on bmj.com that the pass mark for a two-part test that international medical graduates must pass to work as a doctor in the UK should be raised to reduce differences in performance between international and UK medical graduates. But they warn that this could create "severe workforce planning challenges" for the NHS, which has traditionally relied on international medical graduates, especially in the less popular specialties such as psychiatry. ...

Fertility Treatments Do Not Necessarily Result in Multiple Births

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Fertility treatments sometimes result in multiple births, increasing the risk of prematurity, and leading to lifelong complications. But this doesn't have to be the case, according to Yale School of Medicine researchers and their colleagues, who recommend sweeping changes to policy and clinical practice in a study published in the April issue of iFertility (and) Sterility/i. Pasquale Patrizio, M.D., professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology ...

Scientists Report Progress in Understanding Immune Response in Severe Schistosomiasis

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A mechanism that may help explain the severe forms of schistosomiasis has been uncovered by researchers at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts and Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM). The latter, also called snail fever, is caused by schistosome worms and is one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases in the world. The study in mice, published online in iThe Journal of Immunology/i, may also offer targets for intervention and amelioration ...

New Perspective on Sepsis Published by Feinstein Institute Researcher

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Kevin J. Tracey, MD, president of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, says it is time to take a fresh look at the medical community's approach to treating sepsis. The latter kills millions worldwide every year, including more than 200,000 Americans. Tracey's review is published in the April issue of iImmunity/i. Sepsis occurs when molecules released into the bloodstream to fight an injury or infection trigger inflammation throughout the body. Inflammation ...

How the Immune System Protects Children from Malaria Decoded

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Children who live in areas where malaria is common can mount an immune response to the infection that may enable them to avoid repeated bouts of high fever and illness, according to a study published today in iPLOS Pathogens/i. The findings may help researchers develop future interventions that prevent or mitigate the disease caused by the malaria parasite. Each year, approximately 200 million cases of malaria occur worldwide, resulting in roughly ...

Shale Gas Extraction in UK may Pose a Risk to Public Health?

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A personal view published on bmj.com suggests that more needs to be done to investigate the risks to human health that extracting shale gas poses. Dr. Seth Shonkoff, Executive Director for Physicians Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy, and his colleagues say that operations to produce natural gas from formations such as shale sometimes occur "close to human populations", but efforts to understand the potential impacts have fallen short, focusing on regulations ...

Ant Colonies Help Evacuees in Disaster Zones

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New research suggests that an escape route mapping system modeled on the behavior of ant colonies could give evacuees a better chance of reaching safe harbor after a natural disaster. This is done by building a map of showing the shortest routes to shelters and providing regular updates of current situations such as fires, blocked roads or other damage via the smart phones of emergency workers and those caught up in the disaster. Koichi Asakura of Daido ...

New Crystallization Process Visualized by Global Scientific Team

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Through the years, the public has been apprised on incidents where engineers invent something before they fully comprehend why it works. To understand the "why," they must often create new tools and techniques in a virtuous cycle that improves the original invention while also advancing basic scientific knowledge. Such was the case about two years ago, when Stanford engineers discovered how to make a more efficient type of thin, crystalline organic semiconductors. ...

Research Suggests Masculine Boys, Feminine Girls More Likely to Engage in Cancer Risk Behaviors

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A new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers reveals that young people who conform most strongly to norms of masculinity and femininity are significantly more likely than their peers to engage in behaviors that pose cancer risks. The most feminine teenage girls use tanning beds more frequently and are more likely to be physically inactive, while the most masculine teenage boys are more likely to use chewing tobacco and to smoke cigars, compared ...