Mike Bouse of Henderson, Nev., shades himself with an umbrella as he floats in the waters along Boulder Beach at Lake Mead, Saturday, June 29, 2013 near Boulder City, Nev. Bouse and his wife planned to spend most of the day in and out of the water to escape the heat in the Las Vegas area where Saturday's daytime high was expected to reach 117 degrees, the city's all-time high. It was 108 at noon Saturday in Sin City. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Mike Bouse of Henderson, Nev., shades himself with an umbrella as he floats in the waters along Boulder Beach at Lake Mead, Saturday, June 29, 2013 near Boulder City, Nev. Bouse and his wife planned to spend most of the day in and out of the water to escape the heat in the Las Vegas area where Saturday's daytime high was expected to reach 117 degrees, the city's all-time high. It was 108 at noon Saturday in Sin City. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Tubers float down the Salt River on Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Phoenix. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. Temperature's are expected to get as high as 118 degrees. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Families line the Salt River on Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Phoenix. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. Temperature's are expected to get as high as 118 degrees. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
From left, Subrina Madrid, Jennifer, Shackelford and Sarah Hudak, , all of North Las Vegas, Nev., sit in the shallow waters along Boulder Beach at Lake Mead, Saturday, June 29, 2013 near Boulder City, Nev. The three planned to spend the day at the lake to escape the heat in Las Vegas where Saturday's daytime high was expected to reach 117 degrees, which is the city's all-time high. It was 108 at noon Saturday in Sin City. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Graphic shows forecast heat wave temperatures for June 29 and compares to previous record highs.;
LAS VEGAS (AP) ? A man died and another was hospitalized in serious condition Saturday afternoon in heat-aggravated incidents as a heat wave blistered this sunbaked city and elsewhere in the Southwest.
Forecasters said temperatures in Las Vegas shot up to 115 degrees on Saturday afternoon, two degrees short of the city's all-time record.
Phoenix hit 119 degrees by mid-afternoon, breaking the record for June 29 that was set in 1994. And large swaths of California sweltered under extreme heat warnings, which are expected to last into Tuesday night ? and maybe even longer.
The forecast for Death Valley in California called for 128 degrees Saturday, but it was 3 degrees shy of that, according to unofficial reports from the National Weather Service. Death Valley's record high of 134 degrees, set a century ago, stands as the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.
Las Vegas fire and rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said paramedics responded to a home without air conditioning and found an elderly man dead. He said while the man had medical issues, paramedics thought the heat worsened his condition.
Paramedics said another elderly man suffered a heat stroke when the air conditioner in his car went out for several hours while he was on a long road trip. He stopped in Las Vegas, called 911 and was taken to the hospital in serious condition.
The heat wave has sent more than 40 other people to hospitals in Las Vegas since it arrived Friday, but no life-threatening injuries were reported.
"We will probably start to see a rise in calls Sunday and Monday as the event prolongs," Szymanski said in a statement. "People's bodies will be more agitated the longer the event lasts and people may require medical assistance."
The forecast for Death Valley called for 128 degrees, but temperatures topped at 125, according to unofficial reports from the National Weather Service. Death Valley's record high of 134 degrees, set a century ago, stands as the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.
About 100 miles south in Baker, the temperature peaked at an unofficial 117 degrees in the road tripper's oasis in the Mojave Desert on Interstate 15. The strip of gas stations and restaurants between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is known by travelers for the giant thermometer that often notes temperatures in the triple digits.
Elsewhere in Southern California, Palm Springs peaked at 122 degrees while the mercury in Lancaster hit 111 ? a record.
To make matters worse, National Weather Service meteorologists John Dumas said cooling ocean breezes haven't been traveling far enough inland overnight to fan the region's overheated valleys and deserts.
In Northern California, record-breaking temperatures were recorded in Sacramento, where the high was 107 degrees; Marysville, which sweltered in 109 degrees; and Stockton, which saw 106.
Cooling stations were set up to shelter the homeless and elderly people who can't afford to run their air conditioners. In Phoenix, Joe Arpaio, the famously hard-nosed sheriff who runs a tent jail, planned to distribute ice cream and cold towels to inmates this weekend.
Officials said personnel were added to the Border Patrol's search-and-rescue unit because of the danger to people trying to slip across the Mexican border. At least seven people have been found dead in the last week in Arizona after falling victim to the brutal desert heat.
Temperatures are also expected to soar across Utah and into Wyoming and Idaho, with triple-digit heat forecast for the Boise area. Cities in Washington state that are better known for cool, rainy weather should break the 90s next week.
The heat was so punishing that rangers took up positions at trailheads at Lake Mead in Nevada to persuade people not to hike. Zookeepers in Phoenix hosed down the elephants and fed tigers frozen fish snacks. Dogs were at risk of burning their paws on scorched pavement, and airlines kept close watch on the heat for fear that it could cause flights to be delayed.
June 30, 2013 ? Chemists have discovered that an 'impossible' reaction at cold temperatures actually occurs with vigour, which could change our understanding of how alcohols are formed and destroyed in space.
To explain the impossible, the researchers propose that a quantum mechanical phenomenon, known as 'quantum tunnelling', is revving up the chemical reaction. They found that the rate at which the reaction occurs is 50 times greater at minus 210 degrees Celsius than at room temperature.
It's the harsh environment that makes space-based chemistry so difficult to understand; the extremely cold conditions should put a stop to chemical reactions, as there isn't sufficient energy to rearrange chemical bonds. It has previously been suggested that dust grains -- found in interstellar clouds, for example -- could lend a hand in bringing chemical reactions about.
The idea is that the dust grains act as a staging post for the reactions to occur, with the ingredients of complex molecules clinging to the solid surface. However, last year, a highly reactive molecule called the 'methoxy radical' was detected in space and its formation couldn't be explained in this way.
Laboratory experiments showed that when an icy mixture containing methanol was blasted with radiation -- like would occur in space, with intense radiation from nearby stars, for example -methoxy radicals weren't released in the emitted gases. The findings suggested that methanol gas was involved in the production of the methoxy radicals found in space, rather than any process on the surface of dust grains. But this brings us back to the problem of how the gases can react under extremely cold conditions.
"The answer lies in quantum mechanics," says Professor Dwayne Heard, Head of the School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds, who led the research.
"Chemical reactions get slower as temperatures decrease, as there is less energy to get over the 'reaction barrier'. But quantum mechanics tells us that it is possible to cheat and dig through this barrier instead of going over it. This is called 'quantum tunnelling'."
To succeed in digging through the reaction barrier, incredibly cold temperatures -- like those that exist in interstellar space and in the atmosphere of some planetary bodies, such as Titan -- are needed. "We suggest that an 'intermediary product' forms in the first stage of the reaction, which can only survive long enough for quantum tunnelling to occur at extremely cold temperatures," says Heard.
The researchers were able to recreate the cold environment of space in the laboratory and observe a reaction of the alcohol methanol and an oxidising chemical called the 'hydroxyl radical' at minus 210 degrees Celsius. They found that not only do these gases react to create methoxy radicals at this incredibly cold temperature, but that the rate of reaction is 50 times faster than at room temperature.
To achieve this, the researchers had to create a new experimental setup. "The problem is that the gases condense as soon as they hit a cold surface," says Robin Shannon from the University of Leeds, who performed the experiments. "So we took inspiration from the boosters used for the Apollo Saturn V rockets to create collimated jets of gas that could react without ever touching a surface."
The researchers are now investigating the reactions of other alcohols at very cold temperatures. "If our results continue to show a similar increase in the reaction rate at very cold temperatures, then scientists have been severely underestimating the rates of formation and destruction of complex molecules, such as alcohols, in space," concludes Heard.
Over the past 6 months, I have seriously cleaned out my closet. I have taken pieces to the tailor, given clothes to Goodwill, sent really cute items to my similarly-sized BFFs when I decided they just weren't for me anymore. Which means that now, I have a very specific list of what I am missing, what I need to replace, what I need to shop for.
Credit: The Shirt.
Item #1 on this list -- one (maybe three?) button down shirts. Believe it or not, there is not a single button down shirt in my closet right now. Granted I don't work in corporate Washington, so this is not part of my daily uniform, still, that doesn't seem right. I started day dreaming about the perfect, classic, somewhat sexy white shirt. Then I started thinking about all the questions that come with purchasing a new button-down... and turned to my fellow Washingtonian Rochelle Behrens, from The Shirt, for some answers.
Rochelle set out in 2011 to fix a common problem for women in the corporate world: gaping shirts; a problem she herself faced. "I would always need to safety-pin my shirt at the button," she says. "If the shirt fit across my bust, it was too large everywhere else, and vice versa. I got so fed up, I could think of nothing else but how to solve that problem." And so she did. In 2011, Oprah called her shirt the "must have fashion item of the year." Her company, The Shirt by Rochelle Behrens, was thus born. Today, her shirts, having since been featured in People, In Style, Glamour Magazine, Marie-Claire and more, are available online and at select Bloomingdales locations.
Credit: The Shirt
Credit: The Shirt
Here are her answers to my most pressing questions about button-down shirts.
Ada Polla: Of course, I had to start by asking what to do if shirts "gape" at the bust?
Rochelle Behrens: That's an easy answer, try The Shirt. It will solve your problem and save you the frustration of pinning or taping your shirt so that it fits. Before I launched my shirt, the typical response was to size up, or to wear a tank top under your shirt and open up the top buttons.
AP: How do you keep a white shirt white?
RB: I love talking about the classic white shirt... and I have to admit that the reality is that it is really hard to keep a white shirt white. They need to be replaced often. I would say a white shirt has a lifespan of a year to 18 months, no longer.
Even though dry cleaning is expensive, I do recommend dry cleaning white shirts. This will make the shirt retain its color and shape and crispness as long as possible. Also, I do not believe you need to clean your shirt after every wear; you should be able to get at least two wears before you need to wash or dry clean it.
Remember to avoid spraying perfume on a white shirt. Don't rub your makeup on it. Be careful with deodorant application, as that is what causes yellowing in the armpits. Bleach is a wonderful thing... if it's a sturdy cotton shirt, you can use bleach as maintenance. Otherwise, with synthetics and stretch and higher-end cotton, be careful with bleach.
AP: How can I make sure my shirt stays tucked in my pants or skirts?
RB: This is tough, and really depends on your body type: if you are long-waisted, this will be a more significant concern than if you are short-waisted. Look for shirts with a long tail, which helps them stay tucked in. Specifically, by long tail, I mean the tail should cover your bottom, and hit right around the bottom of your bottom. But don't size up, don't buy a shirt that has too much extra fabric, otherwise you won't be able to fit all of that fabric in to your pants or skirt. Also, while there should always be a scoop on the side, make sure that the scooped area is also on the side. If it scoops up too high it will pull out of your pants of skirt.
AP: Do you recommend different cuts of shirts for different body types and shapes?
RB: It is less about cuts than about how you wear it. If you are really trim or athletic, a very tightly tucked in shirt will be very chic. If you are more voluptuous, a slightly blousy look will be more flattering. Just remember that the natural inclination of the shirt during the day will be to come out a bit, so don't start too blousy. If you are short-waisted, tying the shirt in a knot is very current and summery, and if done in a sophisticated way, without showing midriff, can be very office appropriate. Finally, long-waisted people can wear shirts (in particular slim-fits) untucked, for a breezy look.
AP: What are your words of wisdom about sleeve length?
RB: I usually recommend that if you are going to wear a shirt with the cuffs buttoned all the way down, the cuffs should hit right below the wrist. However, there are a lot of modifications possible.
To give you a really trim, slender look, hitting just at the wrist can also be perfect. My personal favorite way of wearing shirts (which I wear every day!) is to rather have the sleeves buttoned and pushed up, or unbuttoned and rolled up. The sexiest length is to mid-forearm, you don't want to push the sleeve up much more, because otherwise it looks too casual.
In terms of short sleeves, what is important is to make sure the sleeve comes down to the mid upper arm, meaning closer to the elbow than to the shoulder. This creates a nice casing for the upper arm, which is often not a favorite body part... And make sure the fit is perfect, because too tight is uncomfortable.
If you want to go sleeveless, which is kind of retro, but having a resurgence, make sure the arm holes are cut quite close to the armpit, so that your bra is not exposed. Also make sure that the shoulder part is not too wide so as to hide your shoulders, but wide enough so that, again, your bra strap is not showing.
In general, regardless of sleeve length, the fit in shoulders is the key. Pay attention to where the shoulder seams hit -- they should be squarely on your shoulders, not above or below. And just say no to shoulder pads.
AP: Is there ever an occasion when a button-down shirt is not appropriate?
RB: The wonderful thing about shirts is how versatile they are. Shirts are inherently appropriate, as long as they fit. You can wear a long one as a tunic to the beach. You can wear a tailored one tucked into pants to the office. You can wear them with jeans. You can ever wear one to a black tie event! Think of Carolina Herrera, with her princely white shirts, pearls, and a long ball skirt! Maybe if you are the mother of the bride, a button-down shirt is not the best look...
AP: How would you accessorize a shirt?
RB: I love necklaces with shirts! There are really two ways of wearing necklaces with button down shirts. For fall and winter, I love to button up my shirt all the way to the collar and to wear a very editorial, big statement necklace under the collar. The length should be right at the clavicle. I call this "making the collar the statement."
Alternately, unbutton your shirt low and to wear long necklaces, which dangle over the open neckline, and should hit at the top of your bust. If the necklace is too long, they dangle off your bust and then become awkward looking.
AP: What are 3 shirts every woman should have?
RB: With these three items you could build an entire wardrobe: 1. A white cotton long sleeve 2. A black cotton long sleeve 3. A cream colored silk long sleeve.
'The Heat' milks the odd-couple film premise for all it's worth.
By Peter Rainer,?Film critic / June 28, 2013
Melissa McCarthy (r.) and Sandra Bullock (l.) star in 'The Heat.'
Gemma La Mana/20th Century Fox/AP
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Sandra Bullock plays a very straitlaced FBI special agent and Melissa McCarthy is the slobbo Boston cop she reluctantly teams up with to bring down a drug lord in ?The Heat,? a buddy-buddy action comedy that milks the odd-couple pairing until the cow runs dry. A little of McCarthy?s bullishness goes a long way ? ditto Bullock?s pinched uncomfortability.
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It?s not really such a great achievement to have women cops in the movies acting as boorish and rowdy as their male counterparts, especially since the movie seems designed for a sequel. But then again, what movie these days ? or at least this summer ? isn?t? Grade: C+ (Rated R for pervasive language, strong crude content and some violence.)
Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine plays a return to Jurgen Melzer of Austria during their Men's second round singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Friday, June 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine plays a return to Jurgen Melzer of Austria during their Men's second round singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Friday, June 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Kaia Kanepi of Estonia reacts as she defeats Angelique Kerber of Germany in a Women's second round singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Friday, June 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Angelique Kerber of Germany fails to play a return to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in their Women's second round singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Friday, June 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
David Ferrer of Spain Roberto reacts after winning the 3rd set against Bautista Agut of Spain in a Men's second round singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Friday, June 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
David Ferrer of Spain plays a return to Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in their Men's second round singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Friday, June 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
LONDON (AP) ? The player who stunned Roger Federer in one of Wimbledon's greatest upsets didn't stick around much longer.
Two days after eliminating the seven-time champion on Centre Court, Sergiy Stakovsky fell to Jurgen Melzer in four sets Friday in the third round at the All England Club.
The 116th-ranked Ukrainian couldn't reproduce the serve-and-volley magic that stifled Federer, losing 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 to the left-handed Austrian.
Advancing to the third round were fourth-seeded David Ferrer and No. 13 Tommy Haas. No. 15 Nicolas Almagro was knocked out by Poland's Jerzy Janowicz.
Among the women, No. 7 Angelique Kerber became the sixth player among the top-10 seeds to go out.
All Critics (56) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (52) | Rotten (3)
The Brothers Grimm would have been surprised, possibly amused.
A sensual and sophisticated retelling of a beloved fairytale re-imagined as a homage to European silent cinema, Spanish writer-director Pablo Berger's black-and-white Blancanieves will leave you transfixed.
Most films are experiences to be ignored or at best forgotten. "Blancanieves" is a little classic to be treasured.
It is a full-bodied silent film of the sort that might have been made by the greatest directors of the 1920s, if such details as the kinky sadomasochism of this film's evil stepmother could have been slipped past the censors.
Blancanieves, which won 10 Goyas (Spain's equivalent of the Oscars) and was a smash hit in its native Spain, has traces of a kinky undertone and an uncommon willingness to embrace the darkness inherent in this fairy tale.
As if bewitched, the legend of Snow White is transferred to Seville in the early twentieth century and transformed into high melodrama.
Berger's stunning, if slightly overlong, film captures just how effective silent-era storytelling can still be.
Blancanieves is painstakingly crafted, emotionally gripping at times, and more authentically Grimm than most interpretations, and it puts a slightly unsettling new spin on Prince Charming and the proverbial happily-ever-after ending.
The film is -- to understate the matter -- overconceptualized.
Like The Artist, Blancanieves is delightfully novel, but it also feels trapped by its innovative gimmickry.
A boldly conceived fairy tale from Spain
Succeeds in all its cinematic experiments
The story might be familiar, but Berger's film is so beautifully shot and so wonderfully scored - and so distinctively Spanish - that it stands as its own film.
Blancanieves holds to the structure, but not strictures, of the source fairy tale.
A new, purely silent movie from Spain that never once speaks and doesn't need to speak. What's more, it seems to get the infinite possibilities of silence, and how much passion can come from it.
Berger's film doesn't show loyalty to any traditional version of Snow White. Berger's Blancanieves takes a darker approach, which seems appropriate.
A completely enchanting fairy tale about the vicissitudes of fate, in live action and glorious black and white.
The fun in the Spanish "Blancanieves" is the way it plays with our expectations.
May not have much depth to its characters or particular surprise, but its lovely depiction of family's ability to harm and mend has the flair of flamenco and the sorrow of opera.
No, "Blancanieves" isn't subtle, but it's an unforgettable time at the movies.
Inspired filmmaking steeped in the imagery of silent film history, a dark Iberian strain of Roman Catholicism and the magic of fairy tales.
... lusty and heartfelt, fiery flamenco and spirited country jig. Don't go expecting a Disney-fied fable. Berger seasons with S&M and the kind of macabre touches you'd expect in vintage Browning or Bunuel.
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AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas Governor Rick Perry on Wednesday called a second special session of the legislature on July 1 in a bid to overcome Democratic efforts to thwart proposed new restrictions on abortion.
A Democratic state senator spoke for 10 hours on Tuesday to block a vote in the Republican majority chamber on a proposal that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The filibuster ran to the end of the first 30-day special session, which expired at midnight.
(Reporting by Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Daniel Trotta)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? South Africans were torn on Wednesday between the desire not to lose a critically ill Nelson Mandela, who defined the aspirations of so many of his compatriots, and resignation that the beloved former prisoner and president is approaching the end of his life.
The sense of anticipation and foreboding about 94-year-old Mandela's fate has grown since late Sunday, when the South African government declared that the condition of the statesman, who was rushed to a hospital in Pretoria on June 8, had deteriorated.
A tide of emotional tributes has built on social media and in hand-written messages and flowers laid outside the hospital and Mandela's home. On Wednesday, about 20 children from a day care center posted a hand-made card outside the hospital and recited a poem.
"Hold on, old man," was one of the lines in the Zulu poem, according to the South African Press Association.
In recent days, international leaders, celebrities, athletes and others have praised Mandela, not just as the man who steered South Africa through its tense transition from white racist rule to democracy two decades ago, but as a universal symbol of sacrifice and reconciliation.
In South Africa's Eastern Cape province, where Mandela grew up, a traditional leader said the time was near for Mandela, who is also known by his clan name, Madiba.
"I am of the view that if Madiba is no longer enjoying life, and is on life support systems, and is not appreciating what is happening around him, I think the good Lord should take the decision to put him out of his suffering," said the tribal chief, Phathekile Holomisa.
"I did speak to two of his family members, and of course, they are in a lot of pain, and wish that a miracle might happen, that he recovers again, and he becomes his old self again," he said. "But at the same time they are aware there is a limit what miracles you can have."
For many South Africans, Mandela's decline is a far more personal matter, echoing the protracted and emotionally draining process of losing one of their own elderly relatives.
One nugget of wisdom about the arc of life and death came from Matthew Rusznyah, a 9-year-old boy who stopped outside Mandela's home in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Houghton to show his appreciation.
"We came because we care about Mandela being sick, and we wish we could put a stop to it, like snap our fingers," he said. "But we can't. It's how life works."
His mother, Lee Rusznyah, said Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison under apartheid before becoming South Africa's first black president in all-race elections in 1994, had made the world a better place.
"All of us will end," Thabo Makgoba, the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday. "We just want him to be peacefully released, whatever he's feeling at this moment, and to be reunited with his Maker at the perfect time, when God so wills."
The archbishop said: "Ultimately, we are all mortal. At some stage or another, we all have to die, and we have to move on, we have to be recalled by our Maker and Redeemer. We have to create that space for Madiba, to come to terms within himself, with that journey."
On Tuesday, Makgoba visited Mandela and offered a prayer in which he wished for a "peaceful, perfect, end" for the anti-apartheid leader, who was taken to the Pretoria hospital to be treated for what the government said was a recurring lung infection.
In the prayer, he asked for courage to be granted to Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, and others who love him "at this hard time of watching and waiting," and he appealed for divine help for the medical team treating Mandela.
Visitors to the hospital on Wednesday included Mandela's former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. The couple divorced in 1996.
"As he remains in a critical condition in hospital, we must keep him and the family in our thoughts and prayers every minute," President Jacob Zuma said Wednesday.
Mandela, whose 95th birthday is on July 18, served a single five-year term as president and afterward focused on charitable causes, but he withdrew from public life years ago and became increasingly frail in recent years. He last made a public appearance in 2010 at the World Cup soccer tournament, which was hosted by South Africa. At that time, he did not speak to the crowd and was bundled against the cold in a stadium full of fans.
On April 29, state television broadcast footage of a visit by Zuma and other leaders of the ruling party, the African National Congress, to Mandela's home. Zuma said at the time that Mandela was in good shape, but the footage ? the first public images of Mandela in nearly a year ? showed him silent and unresponsive, even when Zuma tried to hold his hand.
"Let's accept instead of crying," said Lucas Aedwaba, a security officer in Pretoria who described Mandela as a hero. "Let's celebrate that the old man lived and left his legacy."
Dan Lehman, an American academic, chose a jogging route on Wednesday morning that passed by the hospital where Mandela is being treated.
"I was just going out for my morning run down here and come to pay my respects to the greatest man in the world," Lehman said. Then he began to cry.
June 26, 2013 ? Ingestion of commonly encountered nanoparticles at typical environmental levels is unlikely to cause overt toxicity, according to US researchers. Nevertheless there is insufficient evidence to determine whether chronic exposures could lead to subtle alterations in intestinal immune function, protein profiles, or microbial balance.
Writing in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Biomedical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, researchers have compared existing laboratory and experimental animal studies pertaining to the toxicity of nanoparticles most likely to be intentionally or accidentally ingested. Based on their review, the researchers determined ingestion of nanoparticles at likely exposure levels is unlikely to cause health problems, at least with respect to acute toxicity. Furthermore, in vitro laboratory testing, which often shows toxicity at a cellular level, does not correspond well with in vivo testing, which tends to show less adverse effects.
Ingrid Bergin in the Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Frank Witzmann in the Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, at Indiana University School of Medicine, in Indianapolis, explain that the use of particles that are in the nano size range (from 1 billionth to 100 billionths of a meter in diameter, 1-100 nm, other thereabouts) are finding applications in consumer products and medicine. These include particles such as nano-silver, which is increasingly used in consumer products and dietary supplements for its purported antimicrobial properties. Nanoparticles can have some intriguing and useful properties because they do not necessarily behave in the same chemical and physical ways as non-nanoparticle versions of the same material.
Nanoparticles are now used as natural flavor enhancers in the form of liposomes and related materials, food pigments and in some so-called "health supplements." They are also used in antibacterial toothbrushes coated with silver nanoparticles, for instance in food and drink containers and in hygienic infant feeding equipment. They are also used to carry pharmaceuticals to specific disease sites in the body to reduce side effects. Nanoparticles actually encompass a very wide range of materials from pure metals and alloys, to metal oxide nanoparticles, and carbon-based and plastic nanoparticles. Because of their increasing utilization in consumer products, there has been concern over whether these small scale materials could have unique toxicity effects when compared to more traditional versions of the same materials.
Difficulties in assessing the health risks of nanoparticles include the fact that particles of differing materials and shapes can have different properties. Furthermore, the route of exposure (e.g. ingestion vs. inhalation) affects the likelihood of toxicity. The U.S. researchers evaluated the current literature specifically with respect to toxicity of ingested nanoparticles. They point out that, in addition to intentional ingestion as with dietary supplements, unintentional ingestion can occur due to nanoparticle presence in water or as a breakdown product from coated consumer goods. Inhaled nanoparticles also represent an ingestion hazard since they are coughed up, swallowed, and eliminated through the intestinal tract.
Based on their review, the team concludes that, "Ingested nanoparticles appear unlikely to have acute or severe toxic effects at typical levels of exposure." Nevertheless, they add that the current literature is inadequate to assess whether nanoparticles can accumulate in tissues and have long-term effects or whether they might cause subtle alterations in gut microbial populations. The researchers stress that better methods are needed for correlating particle concentrations used for cell-based assessment of toxicity with the actual likely exposure levels to body cells. Such methods may lead to better predictive value for laboratory in vitro testing, which currently over-predicts toxicity of ingested nanoparticles as compared to in vivo testing.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? Amid the deafening roar of abortion-rights supporters, Texas Republicans huddled around the Senate lectern to pass sweeping new abortion restrictions, but the move immediately was cast into doubt as Democrats claimed the vote wasn't taken before the session's midnight deadline and the timing on official records changed within minutes.
Hundreds of protesters cheered, clapped and shouted for the last 15 minutes of the special legislative session in an attempt to run out the clock before senators could vote on the bill, which is expected to close almost every abortion clinic in the nation's second most populous state.
While Democrats as well as assembled reporters watched clocks on their mobile phones tick past midnight, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said the voting began just before.
Shortly after the vote, Dewhurst, the chamber's presiding officer, retreated to his office and issued no statements.
According to Republicans and the official legislative website, the bill beat the deadline and now goes to Gov. Rick Perry, who directed that the legislation be taken up in the special session and is expected to sign it into law.
Democrats immediately predicted a legal challenge and insisted the bill didn't pass before midnight. They noted that the legislative website changed: first showing the vote happening Wednesday, then show it was done on Tuesday. Democratic Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa showed reporters two printouts of the vote totals he said he made from an internal Senate system that showed the same change.
"It's questionable to vote when no one can hear to even know if a vote is taken," said Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin.
One of the state's most conservative lawmakers, Houston Republican Sen. Dan Patrick, insisted the vote taken amid thunderous cheers, jeers, chants and applause was valid.
"Had that not happened," Patrick said of the outburst, "everyone would have known what was happening."
He was immediately interrupted by Hinojosa.
"This is Democracy! They have a right to speak!" Hinojosa said.
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, spent most of the day staging an old-fashioned filibuster, attracting wide support, including a mention from President Barack Obama's campaign Twitter account. Her Twitter following went from 1,200 in the morning to more than 20,000 by Tuesday night.
"My back hurts. I don't have a lot of words left," Davis said when it was over and she was showered with cheers by activist who stayed at the Capitol to see her. "It shows the determination and spirit of Texas women."
Davis' mission, however, was cut short.
Rules stipulated she remain standing, not lean on her desk or take any breaks ? even for meals or to use the bathroom. But she also was required to stay on topic, and Republicans pointed out a mistake and later protested again when another lawmaker helped her with a back brace.
Republican Sen. Donna Campbell called the third point of order because of her remarks about a previous law concerning sonograms. Under the rules, lawmakers can vote to end a filibuster after three sustained points of order.
After much back and forth, the GOP voted to end the filibuster minutes before midnight, sparking the raucous response from protesters. As the demonstrators thundered, Campbell urged Senate security to "Get them out! Time is running out. I want them out of here!"
If signed into law, the measures would close almost every abortion clinic in Texas, a state 773 miles wide and 790 miles long with 26 million people. A woman living along the Mexico border or in West Texas would have to drive hundreds of miles to obtain an abortion if the law passes. The law's provision that abortions be performed at surgical centers means only five of Texas' 42 abortion clinics are currently designated to remain in operation.
In her opening remarks, Davis said she was "rising on the floor today to humbly give voice to thousands of Texans" and called Republican efforts to pass the bill a "raw abuse of power."
Democrats chose Davis, of Fort Worth, to lead the effort because of her background as a woman who had her first child as a teenager and went on to graduate from Harvard Law School.
In the hallway outside the Senate chamber, hundreds of women stood in line, waiting for someone to relinquish a gallery seat. Women's rights supporters wore orange T-shirts to show their support for Davis.
The filibuster took down other measures. A proposal to fund major transportation projects as well as a bill to have Texas more closely conform with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision banning mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole for offenders younger than 18 did not get votes. Current state law only allows a life sentence without parole for 17-year-olds convicted of capital murder.
The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. Also, doctors would be required to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles ? a tall order in rural communities.
"If this passes, abortion would be virtually banned in the state of Texas, and many women could be forced to resort to dangerous and unsafe measures," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund and daughter of the late former Texas governor Ann Richards.
___
Senate Bill 5: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/history.aspx?LegSess=831&Bill=SB5
___
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/cltomlinson
The Bills will put individual game tickets on sale on July 9.
Can Dolphins WR Mike Wallace top 1,100 receiving yards in 2013?
Losing many of Tom Brady?s favorite receivers could make the Patriots vulnerable in the AFC East.
Said Jets G.M. John Idzik of training camp at SUNY Cortland, ?The facilities and fields are top notch and the people are very warm and hospitable. The environment provides an excellent setting for training camp as we continue our preparations for the upcoming season.?
Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil may be the Ravens? best pass-rushing duo ever.
Bengals CB Adam Jones has made an impression on Jets QB Geno Smith.
Said Browns OLB Barkevious Mingo of training camp, ?I am ready. I?m just looking forward to it, being able to come out here, put the pads on for the first time and actually, I guess, measure up to the older guys and see where I am and see what I have to do to get better.?
Steelers RB Isaac Redman is hosting a youth football camp in his hometown.
The Texans plan to play their two rookie linebackers on opposite sides.
Colts QB Andrew Luck called Peyton Manning ?arguably the best ever.?
Three Jaguars rookies ? Denard Robinson (fifth round), Josh Evans (sixth round) and Ace Sanders (fourth round) ? remain unsigned, but the team has no doubt that they?ll all get their deals done before training camp.
Titans DT Zach Clayton faces a tough fight to make the 53-man roster.
Tickets are always tough to get in Denver ? the Broncos have sold out every game since 1970 ? but a few single seats will become available on July 8.
The Chiefs are among the teams giving every season ticket holder a bag that meets league security requirements.
Of the Raiders? 22 starters in Week One, it?s likely that 14 of them will be new to the team.
Here?s a look at why the Chargers? secondary should be better this season.
Although contract talks have ended, Cowboys DE Anthony Spencer?s relationship with team management is still described as ?friendly.?
Giants rookie OT Justin Pugh says the much thicker playbook has been the biggest transition from college to the NFL.
Said Eagles WR Jeremy Maclin of hosting a youth football camp, ?My main thing is to have these kids learn from people who have been in their shoes before.?
There are high expectations in Washington, D.C. for the Redskins.
Former Bears running backs coach Tim Spencer believes he missed out on some job opportunities in January because the team didn?t release him from his contract right away.
Just about everyone agrees that Lions WR Calvin Johnson is one of the 10 best players in the NFL.
Packers DT Gilbert Pe?a has had a tough road to the NFL.
Vikings fans see this year?s team as underrated.
The Falcons expect a strong training camp competition among their rookie safeties.
Panthers QB Cam Newton?s foundation will host a seven-on-seven tournament fundraiser.
The Saints aren?t the only ones who have had a bounty scandal ? in youth sports, kids are sometimes offered candy to injure opponents.
Said Buccaneers WR Vincent Jackson of working with young people, ?We know the NFL does so much with NFL Play 60, getting kids outside, trying to do the whole health movement, so we?re talking to these kids about not only being good people, being good citizens, but making sure they?re eating right, listening to mom and dad, doing their homework, and of course getting outside, exercising and being healthy.?
A career high in passing yards seems doable for Cardinals QB Carson Palmer, thanks to the presence of WR Larry Fitzgerald.
Rams scout Brian Heimerdinger will attend this weekend?s golf tournament in memory of his father.
49ers OT Anthony Davis gave away his dog on Twitter.
The Seahawks think a more experienced Russell Wilson will be a better Russell Wilson.
June 25, 2013 ? The next time someone snubs you at a party and you think hiding is the solution to escape your feelings of rejection, think again. Scientists have shown that reaching out to other people during a stressful event is an effective way to improve your mood, and researchers at Concordia University suggest that the hormone oxytocin may help you accomplish just that.
Mark Ellenbogen and Christopher Cardoso, researchers in Concordia's Centre for Research in Human Development are taking a closer look at oxytocin, a hormone traditionally studied for its role in childbirth and breastfeeding, and more recently for its effect on social behaviour. Their latest study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, shows that oxytocin can increase a person's trust in others following social rejection.
Explains Ellenbogen, "that means that instead of the traditional 'fight or flight' response to social conflict where people get revved up to respond to a challenge or run away from it, oxytocin may promote the 'tend and befriend' response where people reach out to others for support after a stressful event. That can, in turn, strengthen social bonds and may be a healthier way to cope."
In a double-blind experiment, 100 students were administered either oxytocin or a placebo via a nasal spray, then subjected to social rejection. In a conversation that was staged to simulate real life, researchers posing as students disagreed with, interrupted and ignored the unsuspecting participants. Using mood and personality questionnaires, the data showed that participants who were particularly distressed after being snubbed by the researchers reported greater trust in other people if they sniffed oxytocin prior to the event, but not if they sniffed the placebo. In contrast, oxytocin had no effect on trust in those who were not emotionally affected by social rejection.
Cardoso, who is a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology, says that studying oxytocin may provide future options for those who suffer from mental health conditions characterized by high levels of stress and low levels of social support, like depression. "If someone is feeling very distressed, oxytocin could promote social support seeking, and that may be especially helpful to those individuals," he says, noting that people with depression tend to naturally withdraw even though reaching out to social support systems can alleviate depression and facilitate recovery.
For Ellenbogen, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Developmental Psychopathology, the contribution of stress the development of mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder has long been a research focus. "I'm concerned with the biological underpinnings of stress, particularly interpersonal stress, which is thought to be a strong predictor of these mental disorders. So, oxytocin is a natural fit with my interests," says Ellenbogen. "The next phase of research will begin to study oxytocin's effects in those who are at high risk for developing clinical depression."
Cardoso says reactions to oxytocin seem to be more variable depending on individual differences and contextual factors than most pharmaceuticals, so learning more about how the hormone operates can help scientists to figure out how it might be used in future treatments.
"Previous studies have shown that natural oxytocin is higher in distressed people, but before this study nobody could say with certainty why that was the case," Cardoso says, "In distressed people, oxytocin may improve one's motivation to reach out to others for support. That idea is cause for a certain degree of excitement, both in the research community and for those who suffer from mood disorders."
'Active surveillance' may miss aggressive prostate cancers in black menPublic release date: 25-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Lazarou jlazaro1@jhmi.edu 410-502-8902 Johns Hopkins Medicine
A Johns Hopkins study of more than 1,800 men ages 52 to 62 suggests that African-Americans diagnosed with very-low-risk prostate cancers are much more likely than white men to actually have aggressive disease that goes unrecognized with current diagnostic approaches. Although prior studies have found it safe to delay treatment and monitor some presumably slow-growing or low-risk prostate cancers, such "active surveillance" (AS) does not appear to be a good idea for black men, the study concludes.
"This study offers the most conclusive evidence to date that broad application of active surveillance recommendations may not be suitable for African-Americans," says urologist Edward M. Schaeffer, M.D., Ph.D., a co-author of the study. "This is critical information because if African-American men do have more aggressive cancers, as statistics would suggest, then simply monitoring even small cancers that are very low risk would not be a good idea because aggressive cancers are less likely to be cured," he says. "We think we are following a small, nonaggressive cancer, but in reality, this study highlights that in black men, these tumors are sometimes more aggressive than previously thought. It turns out that black men have a much higher chance of having a more aggressive tumor developing in a location that is not easily sampled by a standard prostate biopsy."
A report of the study, posted online and ahead of the print version in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, describes it as the largest analysis of potential race-based health disparities among men diagnosed with a slow-growing, very nonaggressive form of prostate cancer.
The Johns Hopkins study also showed that the rate of increased pathologic risk, as measured by the Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment (CAPRA), was also significantly higher in African-Americans (14.8 percent vs. 6.9 percent). The 12-point CAPRA score is an accepted predictor of biochemical disease recurrence based on blood levels of prostate specific antigen, Gleason score, lymph node involvement, extracapsular extension, seminal vesicle invasion, and positive surgical margins. Schaeffer and his team say their data suggest that "very-low-risk" African-Americans have different regional distributions of their cancers and appear to also develop more high-grade cancers. Researchers added that these tumors hide in the anterior prostate a region that is quite difficult to assess using current biopsy techniques.
All study participants, of whom 1,473 were white and 256 black, met current National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) criteria for very-low-risk prostate cancer, and were thus good candidates for AS. The study showed that preoperative characteristics were similar for very-low-risk whites and blacks, although black men had slightly worse Charlson comorbidity index scores, a commonly used scale for assessing life expectancy. Detailed analysis showed that black men had a lower rate of organ-confined cancers (87.9 percent vs. 91.0 percent), a higher rate of Gleason score upgrading (27.3 percent vs. 14.4 percent) and a significantly higher hazard of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) defined biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer. The latter measure is widely used for reporting the outcome of surgical prostate removal.
According to Schaeffer, the median age of men in his study was 58, younger than the median ages (62 to 70) of most men in AS groups. And he cautioned that the age difference is a potential "confounder" of his results, highlighting the need for more studies to gauge the safety of AS.
Schaeffer, associate professor of urology, oncology and pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of global urologic services for Johns Hopkins Medicine International and co-director of the Prostate Cancer Multi-Disciplinary Clinic at The Johns Hopkins Hospital's James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, emphasizes that "the criteria physicians use to define very-low-risk prostate cancer works well in whites this makes sense, since the studies used to validate the commonly used risk classification systems are largely based on white men." But, he adds, "Among the vast majority of African-American males with very-low-risk cancer who underwent surgical removal of the prostate, we discovered that they face an entirely different set of risks."
"Alternate race-specific surveillance entry criteria should be developed and utilized for African-American men to ensure oncologic parity with their white counterparts. Our research team, in collaboration with the internationally recognized Hopkins pathologist Dr. Jonathan Epstein, is currently developing new race-based risk tables that begin to solve this key issue," adds Schaeffer.
All of the men whose records were analyzed for the current study were selected from a group of 19,142 who had surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital between 1992 and 2012 to remove the prostate gland and some of the tissue around it.
Previous published research, Schaeffer says, revealed significant racial disparities in prostate cancer, with African-Americans having a much higher incidence of death from the disease than Caucasian men. According to the National Cancer Institute, black men have considerably higher incidence rates (236 cases per 100,000 from 2005 to 2009) than white men (146.9 cases per 100,000 per 2005 to 2009). The reasons for this are unclear.
"In the laboratory, we are developing new strategies to more accurately risk-classify African-Americans with newly diagnosed prostate cancer, in order to determine whether a patient should undergo active surveillance or have immediate treatment," says Schaeffer. "And we are beginning to work out the science behind why prostate cancers have a tendency to hide out in the anterior prostate, specifically in African-Americans."
Schaeffer says the main limitation to their study is that it is a retrospective analysis of the experience of a single academic medical center. "The results of our study do not support the universal rejection of AS in black men, but, rather, should promote future studies to address whether alternate race-specific surveillance entry criteria should be used for African-American men to ensure oncologic parity with their white counterparts," adds Schaeffer.
###
The study was financially supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases training Grant No. T32DK007552, the American Urological Association Foundation's Astellas Rising Star Award, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Physician-Scientist Early Career Award.
Besides Schaeffer, other Johns Hopkins investigators involved in this study were lead investigator Debasish Sundi, M.D.; Ashley E. Ross , M.D., Ph.D.; Elizabeth B. Humphreys, M.D.; Misop Han, M.D.; Alan W. Partin, M.D., Ph.D.; and H. Ballantine Carter, M.D.
For additional information, go to:
http://urology.jhu.edu/about/faculty.php?id=53
http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/early/2013/06/17/JCO.2012.47.0302.full.pdf+html
JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE
Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM), headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is a $6.7 billion integrated global health enterprise and one of the leading health care systems in the United States. JHM unites physicians and scientists of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with the organizations, health professionals and facilities of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System. JHM's mission is to improve the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care. Diverse and inclusive, JHM educates medical students, scientists, health care professionals and the public; conducts biomedical research; and provides patient-centered medicine to prevent, diagnose and treat human illness. JHM operates six academic and community hospitals, four suburban health care and surgery centers, more than 38 primary health care outpatient sites and other businesses that care for national and international patients and activities. The Johns Hopkins Hospital, opened in 1889, was ranked number one in the nation for 21 years by U.S. News & World Report.
Media Contacts:
John Lazarou
410-502-8902
jlazaro1@jhmi.edu
Helen Jones
410-502-9422
Hjones49@jhmi.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
'Active surveillance' may miss aggressive prostate cancers in black menPublic release date: 25-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Lazarou jlazaro1@jhmi.edu 410-502-8902 Johns Hopkins Medicine
A Johns Hopkins study of more than 1,800 men ages 52 to 62 suggests that African-Americans diagnosed with very-low-risk prostate cancers are much more likely than white men to actually have aggressive disease that goes unrecognized with current diagnostic approaches. Although prior studies have found it safe to delay treatment and monitor some presumably slow-growing or low-risk prostate cancers, such "active surveillance" (AS) does not appear to be a good idea for black men, the study concludes.
"This study offers the most conclusive evidence to date that broad application of active surveillance recommendations may not be suitable for African-Americans," says urologist Edward M. Schaeffer, M.D., Ph.D., a co-author of the study. "This is critical information because if African-American men do have more aggressive cancers, as statistics would suggest, then simply monitoring even small cancers that are very low risk would not be a good idea because aggressive cancers are less likely to be cured," he says. "We think we are following a small, nonaggressive cancer, but in reality, this study highlights that in black men, these tumors are sometimes more aggressive than previously thought. It turns out that black men have a much higher chance of having a more aggressive tumor developing in a location that is not easily sampled by a standard prostate biopsy."
A report of the study, posted online and ahead of the print version in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, describes it as the largest analysis of potential race-based health disparities among men diagnosed with a slow-growing, very nonaggressive form of prostate cancer.
The Johns Hopkins study also showed that the rate of increased pathologic risk, as measured by the Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment (CAPRA), was also significantly higher in African-Americans (14.8 percent vs. 6.9 percent). The 12-point CAPRA score is an accepted predictor of biochemical disease recurrence based on blood levels of prostate specific antigen, Gleason score, lymph node involvement, extracapsular extension, seminal vesicle invasion, and positive surgical margins. Schaeffer and his team say their data suggest that "very-low-risk" African-Americans have different regional distributions of their cancers and appear to also develop more high-grade cancers. Researchers added that these tumors hide in the anterior prostate a region that is quite difficult to assess using current biopsy techniques.
All study participants, of whom 1,473 were white and 256 black, met current National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) criteria for very-low-risk prostate cancer, and were thus good candidates for AS. The study showed that preoperative characteristics were similar for very-low-risk whites and blacks, although black men had slightly worse Charlson comorbidity index scores, a commonly used scale for assessing life expectancy. Detailed analysis showed that black men had a lower rate of organ-confined cancers (87.9 percent vs. 91.0 percent), a higher rate of Gleason score upgrading (27.3 percent vs. 14.4 percent) and a significantly higher hazard of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) defined biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer. The latter measure is widely used for reporting the outcome of surgical prostate removal.
According to Schaeffer, the median age of men in his study was 58, younger than the median ages (62 to 70) of most men in AS groups. And he cautioned that the age difference is a potential "confounder" of his results, highlighting the need for more studies to gauge the safety of AS.
Schaeffer, associate professor of urology, oncology and pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of global urologic services for Johns Hopkins Medicine International and co-director of the Prostate Cancer Multi-Disciplinary Clinic at The Johns Hopkins Hospital's James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, emphasizes that "the criteria physicians use to define very-low-risk prostate cancer works well in whites this makes sense, since the studies used to validate the commonly used risk classification systems are largely based on white men." But, he adds, "Among the vast majority of African-American males with very-low-risk cancer who underwent surgical removal of the prostate, we discovered that they face an entirely different set of risks."
"Alternate race-specific surveillance entry criteria should be developed and utilized for African-American men to ensure oncologic parity with their white counterparts. Our research team, in collaboration with the internationally recognized Hopkins pathologist Dr. Jonathan Epstein, is currently developing new race-based risk tables that begin to solve this key issue," adds Schaeffer.
All of the men whose records were analyzed for the current study were selected from a group of 19,142 who had surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital between 1992 and 2012 to remove the prostate gland and some of the tissue around it.
Previous published research, Schaeffer says, revealed significant racial disparities in prostate cancer, with African-Americans having a much higher incidence of death from the disease than Caucasian men. According to the National Cancer Institute, black men have considerably higher incidence rates (236 cases per 100,000 from 2005 to 2009) than white men (146.9 cases per 100,000 per 2005 to 2009). The reasons for this are unclear.
"In the laboratory, we are developing new strategies to more accurately risk-classify African-Americans with newly diagnosed prostate cancer, in order to determine whether a patient should undergo active surveillance or have immediate treatment," says Schaeffer. "And we are beginning to work out the science behind why prostate cancers have a tendency to hide out in the anterior prostate, specifically in African-Americans."
Schaeffer says the main limitation to their study is that it is a retrospective analysis of the experience of a single academic medical center. "The results of our study do not support the universal rejection of AS in black men, but, rather, should promote future studies to address whether alternate race-specific surveillance entry criteria should be used for African-American men to ensure oncologic parity with their white counterparts," adds Schaeffer.
###
The study was financially supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases training Grant No. T32DK007552, the American Urological Association Foundation's Astellas Rising Star Award, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Physician-Scientist Early Career Award.
Besides Schaeffer, other Johns Hopkins investigators involved in this study were lead investigator Debasish Sundi, M.D.; Ashley E. Ross , M.D., Ph.D.; Elizabeth B. Humphreys, M.D.; Misop Han, M.D.; Alan W. Partin, M.D., Ph.D.; and H. Ballantine Carter, M.D.
For additional information, go to:
http://urology.jhu.edu/about/faculty.php?id=53
http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/early/2013/06/17/JCO.2012.47.0302.full.pdf+html
JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE
Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM), headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is a $6.7 billion integrated global health enterprise and one of the leading health care systems in the United States. JHM unites physicians and scientists of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with the organizations, health professionals and facilities of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System. JHM's mission is to improve the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care. Diverse and inclusive, JHM educates medical students, scientists, health care professionals and the public; conducts biomedical research; and provides patient-centered medicine to prevent, diagnose and treat human illness. JHM operates six academic and community hospitals, four suburban health care and surgery centers, more than 38 primary health care outpatient sites and other businesses that care for national and international patients and activities. The Johns Hopkins Hospital, opened in 1889, was ranked number one in the nation for 21 years by U.S. News & World Report.
Media Contacts:
John Lazarou
410-502-8902
jlazaro1@jhmi.edu
Helen Jones
410-502-9422
Hjones49@jhmi.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Welcome to Hyphen?s The H-spot column, where Hyphen drops mad knowledge on readers? questions about the nasty and other prurient delights. Our experts consist of sex goddess Nadia Cho, intrepid medical doctors Monica Hahn and Dharushana Muthulingam, and diva extraordinaire Barbie. Each week, we?ll feature questions that cover health, LGBTQ, and various other burning topics that our prudish parents would disown us from asking.
Feel free to send over more sex questions to Abigail Licad, our fledgling editor-assassin of all things repressed and taboo, at abigail.licad[at]hyphenmagazine.com.
Ready to straighten out the kinks in our thoughts on sex and sexuality?? Let?s do it!
I know a few people who are in an open relationship. For example, while my aunt's girlfriend does not want my aunt to sleep with other women, she doesn't mind my aunt sleeping?with men. I also have a few straight friends who sleep with several partners. My question is, how do open sexual relationships work? How can couples be ok with dating other people?
--Legs Wide Shut
Dear Wide Shut,
The central idea behind making open relationships work is that a partner?s sexual or emotional intimacy with another person? doesn?t always mean that your partner cares any less about you. Oftentimes, it?s possible to be attracted to more than one person. The fact that your partner is attracted to another person doesn?t make you any less attractive or lovable.
Monogamy makes love seem like a finite resource and we?re conditioned by media representations of love to feel jealous when a partner is remotely attracted to someone else. But just as you?re capable of loving many friends and family members, it?s possible to love multiple people in the romantic sense as well.??
That being said, non-monogamous partners acknowledge that they have desires to date or have sex with other people, and understand that their partners? extra desires don?t reflect any personal inadequacies. Commitment does not always equal sexual exclusivity. Honest communication is crucial, especially with regard to boundaries that draw what each partner is not comfortable with. Monogamy works for some people, but it doesn?t for many others. Both people have to believe it?s possible to love more than one person and if you believe it really is, it will be.
--Nadia
??????????????? Sex goddess Nadia Cho
Nadia Cho is an undergrad at UC Berkeley majoring in psychology, with strong interests in sociology, Asian American Studies and gender and women?s studies. She was a Sex on Tuesday columnist at UC Berkeley?s student paper The Daily Californian. She continues teach sex positive thinking and living at her blog nadiacho.com. Her hobbies include drinking coffee, playing with cats and being sassy. She secretly loves Tumblr and kale.?
Can sex be a form of exercise? I heard you can burn calories through sex. If so, how do I do that and what's the average amount of calories I can burn?
--Let's Get Physical
Dear Let's Get Physical
Great to hear you are working on both your cardiovascular and sexual well being!
The number of calories burned during physical activity varies from person to person, depending on factors such as body weight, duration of activity and strenuousness.
In the past, these numbers have been overestimated. Recently, a New England Journal of Medicine review estimates that an ?average? 150-lb man in his thirties burns only 3.5 calories per minute, and that an ?average? sexual encounter lasts only 6 minutes. Therefore, the ?average? sexual encounter burns only 20 calories. Another study in the American Journal of Cardiology compared heart rates during sex versus treadmill workouts. They found that people do not reach the same heart rate level via sex that they would have achieved through treadmill exercise (men reach only 72% and women 64%).
So although sex fans the fire of your loins, it only modestly lights the fires of your metabolism?(For variations in sexual positions, the Sex Calories Calculator App provides more precise estimates).
The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise for preventing cardiovascular disease. If this is attempted through sex, you would need to have aerobic, heart-rate raising sex for at least 30 minutes per day for 5 days a week. If this is your usual regimen -- GOOD JOB! However, many find a zumba class more convenient.
Bottomline: "Sexercise" doesn?t burn as many calories as we?d like to hope, so don?t swap out your gym membership for other pleasurable undertakings just yet. We encourage working up a sweat both at the gym and between the sheets -- evidence shows that getting to the gym can improve sexual enjoyment, as better blood circulation means better-functioning sex organs. Good luck! ?
--Monica and Dharushana
DoctorsMonica Hahn and Dharushana Muthulingam
Monica Hahn (L) is a resident physician at the UCSF Family and Community Medicine Residency at San Francisco General Hospital. ?She received her MD from UCSF School of Medicine and her MPH from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. ?She has been involved in community-based youth empowerment advocacy, as well as HIV prevention projects.? She is currently interested in adolescent health, HIV prevention and sexual health. She enjoys capoeira, Afro-Latin dance, and Brazilian percussion.
Dharushana Muthulingam (R) is a resident physician in the department of Internal Medicine of the Kaiser Medical Center in Oakland. She studied medicine at UCSF and public health at UC Berkeley. ?She is interested in infectious disease, healthy aging, health justice and working with patients to live the good and flourishing life. In her spare time, she has been attempting to read David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. After two years, she is happy to report she is almost half way done.?
I am a lesbian who lives in Portland and I am having trouble in the dating scene.?I am attracted to femme lesbians, but it seems that everyone I encounter strives to be more masculine. What's so wrong with being feminine and putting on some lipstick once in a while? Do you agree that there?s something inherently sexist in these folks? desire to be more masculine? Or am I being totally transphobic?
--Lipstick Lesbian Lover
Dear Lipstick Lesbian Lover,
Portland has got to be the queerest place on earth, right? It?s one of the lesbian sweet spots -- a place where women of endlessly varied persuasions converge.
Nothing is wrong with preferring ?feminine? women to more ?masculine? types, but keep in mind that conceptualizing sexuality in such a feminine-masculine binary conforms to narrow, oppressive gender norms currently dictated by dominant society. ??
There might not be a lot of lipstick around but have you tried chapstick?
In other words, have you considered diversifying? Go explore the queer rainbow. If you haven?t tried dating more ?masculine? lesbians, perhaps you should give it a try and see what happens. You may be surprised. ?
On the other hand, don?t force yourself to date other types if this really isn't your thing. At the end of the day, the bottom line is that your preferences are your choice and your business, so do what makes you happy. Don?t fret too much about the meanings and implications of what you prefer. Remember, how you choose to experience and enjoy your existence is subject to nothing else except your own power and self-opinion. So long as you take pride in doing your own thing, you are a big TURN ON.
To increase your chances of meeting someone you are into, DO explore non-competitive group activities from community organizing, working-out, hiking to crafting. Come off-line from PDX femme web portals and go out clubbing, karaoke or join a community-supported agriculture (CSA) group. Attend art walks, burlesque shows, cocktails and sleepovers with galpals on the go. Believe me, there are lots of feminine-presenting lipstick lesbians I?ve known who have found their more ?femme? dates this way. Love comes your way, because you live your life your way.
--Barbie
Barbie is your sister and pal in all things love and taboo. NYC-based, she loves long walks on city streets, watching sunsets over the river, farming and looking for the next big thing. She's your wellness connector, media maker, and fellow troublemaker. She loves her food homestyle, hands down. If you're ever in NYC, look her up to chat and chew.
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Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
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