Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Farm Exposure In Utero Protects Against Asthma
allergies, hay pyrexia, asthma and eczema in farmers' children and
adolescents. Until latterly it was believed that these protective
effects primarily arise from exposures during the beginning years of life.
Jeroen Douwes (Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand) and
colleagues examined the effects of current, early and antepartum
farming exposures in children from farms, and in a rural non-farming
reference population. For this use they surveyed 1,333 farmers'
children and 566 reference children aged 5-17 years.
The authors confirm that symptoms and eczema are less common in
farmers' children. More importantly, they show that maternal exposure
during pregnancy to animals and/or grain and hay powerfully reduces the
risk of asthma symptoms, hay fever and eczema.
This risk of exposure is even further decreased when children are also currently
exposed. In fact, when children are exposed both in utero and later
in life, asthma, hay pyrexia and eczema are decreased by more than than 50%.
Thus, prenatal exposure contributes to the low prevalence of asthma,
hay fever and eczema in farmers' children, but continued exposure is
required to maintain optimum protection.
These findings suggest that to prevent allergic diseases, such as
asthma, hay fever and eczema, measures should be taken ahead birth
and may bear to be continued passim life.
Title Of The Original Article
Farm exposure in utero may protect against asthma, hay fever and eczema
The European Respiratory Journal is the peer-reviewed scientific publication of the European Respiratory Society (more than 8,000 specialists in lung diseases and respiratory medicine in Europe, the
United States and Australia).
European Respiratory Journal
The European Respiratory Society (ERS)
More info
Saturday, 23 August 2008
National Pharmacy Association Concerned At Wider Release Of Prescribing Data, UK
Margaret Peycke, NPA External Relations Manager aforementioned: "If prescribing data is released at an identifiable Practice grade then not only mightiness some surgeries be identified but in the instances where a single pharmaceutics is close to a surgery; case-by-case pharmacies could be identified. If, as often is the sheath, the pharmaceutics dispenses the majority of prescriptions written by that surgery the business turnover of that single apothecary's shop could be calculated."
Margaret added: "This information could be used by other companies wish to; purchase the line of work; open a new pharmacy business with the Control of Entry regulations for deciding if a pharmacy is necessary or expedient; Open a pharmacy under the Control of Entry exemption clauses e.g. a C hour pharmaceutics."
National Pharmacy Association
More information
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Billie Piper - Piper Fears Nudity Will Ruin Hollywood Career
British actress BILLIE PIPER fears her recent role as a high-class prostitute will damage her career prospects in Hollywood - because A-list stars never commit to on-screen nudity.
The former Dr. Who star plays the lead role in recent TV drama The Secret Diary of a Call Girl, which follows the exploits of an upmarket hooker living in London.
And now Piper fears the show - which aired in the U.S. earlier this month (Jun08) - may affect her chance of carving out a movie career because of the rife nude scenes.
She says, "Someone said to me the other day, 'What A-list stars get their tits out?' And then I started thinking, 'Oh my God, what have I done? I've ruined my future career!'
"You know, you get photographed on the beach topless. After all, they're only breasts."
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Monday, 30 June 2008
Kasabian promise "road movie" album
The Leicester band said the studio sessions for their follow-up to 2006's Empire had influences ranging from "techno" to music from the 1960s.
"The music we're making is rooted in techno and dance music but it's also influenced by the '60s," guitarist Serge Pizzorno told Metro.
"The new stuff is sounding really hypnotic. The tunes we've done so far remind me of a really good road movie."
Singer Tom Meighan added: "This is the best record we've made so far - of course, I'm always gonna say that.
"We've got to compete with a title like Empire so we're not making it easy for ourselves."
See Also
Brannan Lane and Tom Larson
Artist: Brannan Lane and Tom Larson
Genre(s):
Ambient
Discography:
Tribal Spirit
Year: 2000
Tracks: 10
 
Sunday, 29 June 2008
Saturday, 28 June 2008
Fremont Street Experience Hosts a Patriotic 'American Pie 4th of July' Weekend
McLean's American Pie' Viva Vision, July 3-5
LAS VEGAS, June 26 -- Fremont Street Experience premieres
"Don McLean's American Pie" Viva Vision light and sound show with a
weekend-long 4th of July celebration free to the public, 4 p.m.-midnight
July 3-5 in downtown Las Vegas.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071109/LAF028LOGO-c)
The world premiere showing of "Don McLean's American Pie" Viva Vision
show will open to the public on Thursday, July 3 at 9 p.m., including an
opening ceremony hosted by Nellis Air Force Base's Honor Guard and a live
performance of the National Anthem.
The rock ballad "American Pie", released by Don McLean in 1971, became
the anthem for a generation and is still one of the most well-known songs
in American musical history. McLean's most famous composition, "American
Pie" is a sprawling, impressionistic ballad inspired partly by the deaths
of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) in a
plane crash in 1959. The song would popularize the expression "The Day the
Music Died" in reference to this event. McLean has stated that the lyrics
are also somewhat autobiographical and present an abstract story of his
life from the mid-1950s until the time he wrote the song in the late 1960s.
"American Pie" reached number one on the US Billboard magazine charts
for four weeks in 1971, and remains McLean's most successful single
release. It is also the longest song to reach #1 with a running time of
8:36. McLean worked with Fremont Street Experience, providing footage and
images for the Viva Vision show.
The Viva Vision schedule for all three nights include shows "American
Freedom" at 8:30 and 12 midnight, "Don McLean's American Pie" at 9:00 and
11:00 p.m. and "A Tribute to Queen" at 10:00 p.m. "A Tribute to Queen" is
also a new Viva Vision light and sound show that premiered in April.
Additionally, visual fireworks and patriotic images -- set to some of
America's favorite songs -- will be shown overhead on Viva Vision
throughout the evening, Thursday-Saturday.
Live bands will also be a part of the three-day entertainment line-up
performing on both the 1st and 3rd Street stages, July 3-5:
1st Street Stage
-- 5-8 p.m. - Tony Marques Band, featuring country jams
-- 9-12 p.m. - NiteKings, featuring 50's, 60's and 70's favorites
3rd Street Stage
-- 4-7 p.m. - Keel 2, featuring classic rock
-- 8-11 p.m. - Wonderboogie, featuring 70's disco fever
Downtown Las Vegas hotel-casinos Binion's, Fitzgeralds, Four Queens,
Fremont, Golden Gate, Golden Nugget and Vegas Club will be selling 4th of
July barbeque favorites from hamburgers and hotdogs to potato salad from 4
p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday at several outdoor food cafes on Fremont
Street Experience. Each food station will also be accompanied by a bar
offering a variety of sodas, beers, cocktails and specialty drinks.
"Don McLean's American Pie" and three nights of entertainment and food
on Fremont Street Experience will be the perfect place for everyone to come
celebrate our nation's birthday.
The Fremont Street Experience is a five-block entertainment complex
located in historical downtown Las Vegas. In 1995, Fremont Street was
closed to vehicular traffic and a giant screen was suspended 90-feet over
the street to display spectacular light and sound shows on its 1,500 foot
surface. The 12.5 million lights of the Viva Vision screen dazzle 365
nights a year and make the Fremont Street Experience a one-of-a-kind venue.
With direct pedestrian access to 10 casinos, more than 60 restaurants,
specialty retail and free nightly entertainment, the Fremont Street
Experience attracts millions of annual visitors. The Fremont Street
Experience can be found online at http://www.vegasexperience.com.
See Also
Punk knitting: Has youth culture gone mad?
I'm talking about World Wide Knit in Public Day. Which, by its very name, suggests that knitting is a sordid and disgusting practice best done behind locked doors and drawn curtains. Which it is.
On at least four continents muscular youths possessed of the sort of surly disposition and fashionable facial disfigurements that persuade old folks to cross the street, muttering under their mint-humbugged breath about the return of national service, will be sat in parks and on street corners, cheerfully nattering to one another and churning out skull-festooned jumpers that proclaim the need for anarchy. The sickening truth is that knitting is hip - and Western youth culture is knitting its own death shroud.
This decade's mods and rockers don't cluster at Brighton and Hastings for fisticuffs. Instead they mail each other patterns for socks. Which in some ways is obviously an improvement, granted. But, blow me, nobody's going to be making a movie about it in 20 years time. They even have their own knitting Woodstock, called (oh God oh God oh God) Woolfest.
In every bookshop in Christendom there are sections dedicated to the nauseating premise that arts and crafts are edgy and alternative. They are ram-packed with punk-chick adorned books with edgy titles like Stitch'n'Bitch and Anticraft (subtitled "Knitting, beading and stitching for the slightly sinister.")
We've gone from screaming for anarchy, rocking against racism, storming the US Embassy and picketing recruiting offices, tuning in and dropping out and rutting like pigs on Viagra to taking up the favourite hobby of senile old grannies everywhere and declaring it radical. Which was hilarious for about five seconds about five years ago.
The knitting craze is the death of both alternative culture and feminism. But it's even worse that that. Scratch a knitter - discover a Knit Nazi. Like the Nazis, alternative knitters have no sense of humour.
The last time I claimed in print that the concept of radical knitting is as absurd as radical dusting or radical toilet cleaning, I received hysterical and barely literate death threats from the ferocious, fanatical, froth-gobbed and swivel-eyed knit Nazi massive. This time I suspect I might not survive.
Nonetheless, the truth must be stated. Germaine Greer didn't articulate her disgust with women's oppression by knitting a lavender and yellow toilet-roll holder. Dr Martin Luther King Jr didn't say: "I have a dream ... set of place mats that I crocheted using a pattern I got from a magazine." Jimi Hendrix didn't take to the stage at Woodstock wearing a nice orange and puce cardigan (with a reindeer on it) that he made using a job-lot of wool he got at a jumble sale. And Sid Vicious didn't crotchet his own stupid mock-Tibetan hippy-dippy ear-flapped bobble hats. And neither should you. If you need a hobby, take up spitting.
See Also
Celine Dion's Taking Chances Tour 'On A Roll' Across Europe!
shows in London and Paris, Celine Dion's Taking Chances tour continues to
play to sold-out stadium audiences across Europe.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080609/NYM065-a )
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080609/NYM065-b )
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080609/NYM065-c )
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080609/NYM065-d ) This past week the tour stopped in Dublin, playing to 64,000 people
(the show sold out in one day!), as well as Amsterdam (50,000) and
Copenhagen (42,000).
The tour continues throughout Europe until mid-July, then takes a
summer hiatus before starting up again in North America, on August 12th in
Boston.
http://www.celinedion.com
See Also
Eric Entrena Vs David Amo and Julio_Navas
Artist: Eric Entrena Vs David Amo and Julio_Navas
Genre(s):
House
Discography:
Feel the Force CDS
Year: 2005
Tracks: 2
Live: George Michael
Chris Martin - Gervais Steals Limelight From Coldplay
Rocker CHRIS MARTIN was recently upstaged by RICKY GERVAIS at his own concert - after the comedian attracted more attention than COLDPLAY themselves.
The Yellow hitmakers were recording a live show for the BBC when fans suddenly spotted The Office star was in their midst, turning their focus toward the funnyman - and away from the main stage.
But Martin refused to lose his calm, joking to the crowd: "Ricky performs (hit song) Fix You better than I do."
See Also
Chrysler LLC Launches Umbrella 'uconnect' Name for Connectivity Technologies
passionate about staying in touch and want to be connected no matter where
they are -- home, work, school or vehicle. To focus on the experience and
connect customers to the things that matter the most, Chrysler LLC will now
bundle innovative consumer technologies under one umbrella name -
"uconnect." The function of the feature is directly in the name - uconnect
phone, uconnect tunes, uconnect gps, uconnect studios and uconnect web.
"We set out to connect customers to the things that matter most to
them," said Deborah Meyer, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer -
Chrysler LLC. "The role for 'uconnect' in the 2009 model year places the
focus on the customer experience and how the features will make their life
easier."
Following are the definitions of the uconnect features.
uconnect phone
What it does: Uses Bluetooth(R) technology to provide voice-controlled
wireless communication between the occupants' compatible mobile phones and
the vehicle's onboard receiver. New for 2009, the hands-free system
automatically downloads up to 1,000 phone book entries from supported
phones. The system also recognizes three languages, and is capable of
learning. Voice commands can manage onboard phone book entries, select
radio stations and access voice mail. Voice memos can be recorded using the
microphone that's integrated within the rearview mirror. Three memos of up
to thirty seconds each can be stored in the system. The hands-free option
promotes safety, freedom, value and flexibility.
Availability: Chrysler 300, Aspen, PT Cruiser, Sebring and Town &
Country; Dodge Avenger, Grand Caravan, Caliber, Challenger, Charger,
Dakota, Durango, Journey, Nitro, and Ram; Jeep(R) Grand Cherokee,
Commander, Compass, Liberty and Patriot
Part of uconnect phone on select Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles is
an iPod interface, which allows an iPod to be plugged into the vehicle's
sound system to play music through the vehicle's speakers, charge/recharge
the iPod when the ignition is on, display artists and music choices on the
radio and pause play when uconnect phone receives a phone call. The iPod
can be controlled through the radio controls and the remote steering wheel
switches (if equipped). The system uses a Universal Customer Interface
(UCI) connector located either in the glove box or in the center console,
depending on vehicle model.
uconnect tunes
What it does: uconnect tunes includes the following features for music,
movie and personalized picture display:
-- A 30-gigabyte hard drive for ripping up to 6,700 songs from CD or
USB memory devices in compressed format (either MP3, AAC or WMA file
formats)
-- Photos can be loaded onto the hard drive, allowing the customer to
personalize the home screen
-- Movies can be displayed on the screen for entertaining passengers
when the vehicle is in Park (as permitted by the state regulations)
Availability: Chrysler 300, Aspen, Sebring and Town & Country; Dodge
Avenger, Caliber, Grand Caravan, Challenger, Charger, Journey, Nitro and
Ram 1500; Jeep Commander, Compass, Grand Cherokee, Liberty and Patriot
uconnect gps
What it does: uconnect gps combines the features of uconnect phone and
uconnect tunes with navigation and real-time traffic. The system includes
an integrated voice recognition system and touch screen for easy operation.
The voice recognition system also recognizes more than 100,000 words and
can input addresses, which allows the customer to enter destinations while
the vehicle is in motion.
Availability: Chrysler 300, Aspen, Sebring and Town & Country; Dodge
Avenger, Caliber, Grand Caravan, Challenger, Charger, Journey, Nitro and
Ram; Jeep Commander, Compass, Grand Cherokee, Liberty and Patriot
uconnect studios
What it does: uconnect studios offer optional SIRIUS Backseat TV(TM),
featuring three channels of family TV programming, and optional SIRIUS
Satellite Radio, with more than 130 channels of the best music,
entertainment and information coast to coast. The systems can be bundled or
opted for independently depending upon model availability, and either can
be operated from the rear-seat entertainment unit or from the radio head
unit.
-- Chrysler's uconnect studios offer optional SIRIUS Satellite Radio
which provides more than 130 channels, including 69 channels of 100 percent
commercial-free music, plus sports, news, talk and entertainment. Station
selection with the radio is easy, using the same familiar method as
choosing an AM or FM station. Consumers are able to scan channels or have
preset buttons for their favorite channels. They can also search both by
music category and channel, which is displayed on the radio screen.
Availability: SIRIUS Satellite Radio is available on all Chrysler, Jeep
and Dodge vehicles
-- Chrysler's uconnect studios offer optional SIRIUS Backseat TV which
features three channels of family TV programming: Nickelodeon, Disney
Channel and Cartoon Network. SIRIUS Backseat TV operates via an in-vehicle
satellite video receiver and two small roof-mounted antennas. Programming
is displayed on the vehicle's second- and/or third-row video screens, and
channel name, program title and rating is broadcasted and displayed on the
screen. In addition, when the vehicle is in Park, programming can be
displayed on the uconnect tunes or uconnect gps screen for front-seat
viewing (as permitted by state regulations). New for 2009 in the Chrysler
Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan are larger nine-inch rear-seat video
screens that swivel.
Availability: Chrysler 300, Aspen and Town & Country; Dodge Grand
Caravan, Charger, Durango, Journey and Ram 1500; Jeep Commander and Grand
Cherokee
uconnect web
What it does: The system will provide high-speed data transfer and
flexibility, combining WiFi and cellular connectivity for a new level of
wireless technology. The system transforms the vehicle into a "hot spot" to
deliver the Internet directly to the vehicle, for instant access to Web
sites, e-mail, personalized music, online gaming, photo albums, and more.
Availability: Chrysler plans to offer aftermarket in-vehicle "hot-spot"
wireless Internet capability through Mopar(R) for Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep
vehicles.
See Also