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Like it or not, there is an unrelenting debate about whether vaccines have poisoned the minds of some children. That vaccines may do so is acknowledged (by, among others, autism expert Professor Sir Michael Rutter ) and is not actually the debate at hand; the real questions are, which children and how many? The base of the tsunami that is the autism epidemic - one sustained hitherto, by competing arguments for the rising number of diagnoses and those invested in non-environmental causes - is no longer able to support its top. In accordance with simple wave mechanics, the tsunami's slope is too great and breaking is inevitable. Breaking, for the purpose of this metaphor, extends to the shoreline's horizon, from the child to the family, to schools, to the state budget, to public confidence in healthcare infrastructure, and beyond.
Is it better to maintain a tense and troublesome marriage to help your teenage children develop a decent adolescence? A new study says no.
The study published as a report from the California Center for Population Research at the University of California-Los Angeles reveals that teenagers living with both biological parents tend to do better from their peers living with one parent only if they enjoy a stable and conflict-free environment.
According to the study parental conflicts have some serious side effects on teenagers and may drive them to the brink of dropping out of school, having poor grades, smoking, and binge drinking, using marijuana, having a child at early adolescence or breaking up a relationship very quickly.
The study published as a report from the California Center for Population Research at the University of California-Los Angeles reveals that teenagers living with both biological parents tend to do better from their peers living with one parent only if they enjoy a stable and conflict-free environment.
According to the study parental conflicts have some serious side effects on teenagers and may drive them to the brink of dropping out of school, having poor grades, smoking, and binge drinking, using marijuana, having a child at early adolescence or breaking up a relationship very quickly.
A meeting on genetic modification (GM) being held at the Vatican later this week[1] has been condemned as "a total farce" by Spinwatch, an independent non-profit making organisation which monitors the role of PR, propaganda and lobbying.
Starting 15 May, the "study week" has been organised on behalf of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences by the GM scientist, Ingo Potrykus, the co-inventor of Golden Rice. Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, the Academy's chancellor, told the Catholic News Service that the aim was to gather "an objective group of experts" in a search for "scientific clarity" on the subject.[2]
But the 40 or so participants listed on the academy's website[3] are all GM supporters, with many well known for their extreme pro-GM views or having vested interests in GMO adoption.
Starting 15 May, the "study week" has been organised on behalf of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences by the GM scientist, Ingo Potrykus, the co-inventor of Golden Rice. Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, the Academy's chancellor, told the Catholic News Service that the aim was to gather "an objective group of experts" in a search for "scientific clarity" on the subject.[2]
But the 40 or so participants listed on the academy's website[3] are all GM supporters, with many well known for their extreme pro-GM views or having vested interests in GMO adoption.
© Action Press/Rex Features
GM crops were heartily endorsed at a week-long seminar held by the academy in mid-May. Participants agreed that the crops offer food safety and security, better health and environmental sustainability. That verdict is not shared by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, a global UN-backed think tank that last year rejected GM as a solution to hunger.
Some say the seminar excluded dissenters within the church who fear that GM technology allows multinationals to control agriculture at the expense of the poor. But participants deny bias: they also concluded that regulations are too strict, so only big companies can afford to get GM crops approved, whereas non-profit organisations that want to help the poor cannot.
A study in the American Journal of Medicine finds that in 2007 more than 62 percent of all bankruptcies were driving by medical costs, a number that has likely gone up since the recession began. And most of the bankrupted had health insurance. Steve Mirsky reports [in a podcast]:
© redOrbit
USA Today reported that, Darrel Regler, research director for the American Psychiatric Association, says that the 160 experts appointed by the group that update the manual that is due out in 2012 are the tops in their field, and the industry pays for two-thirds of their research. He also said that many of them consult for drug companies or do corporate-funded studies.
London - AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) MedImmune biotechnology unit has won an initial $90 million order from the U.S. government to make a live attentuated vaccine against the new H1N1 flu strain, it said on Monday.
The potential exists for further additional orders from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), it said.
MedImmune's vaccine technology, currently only available in the United States, is different from traditional injectable flu shots in that it is a mist sprayed into the nose, where the flu virus usually enters the body.
It contains live, weakened virus that does not cause the flu but still prompts the body to mount an immune response.
The potential exists for further additional orders from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), it said.
MedImmune's vaccine technology, currently only available in the United States, is different from traditional injectable flu shots in that it is a mist sprayed into the nose, where the flu virus usually enters the body.
It contains live, weakened virus that does not cause the flu but still prompts the body to mount an immune response.
Los Angeles - Starbucks Corp, which has tried for years to jump-start a much-criticized food division, plans to revamp its menu at the end of this month to
lure health- and cost-conscious consumers.
On June 30, the world's top coffee chain will begin selling baked goods without high-fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors and dyes, and will introduce salads and other items.
"Food has been the Achilles' heel of the company ... That statement will be long buried after we launch this program," Michelle Gass, Starbucks' executive vice president of marketing, told Reuters on Tuesday.
lure health- and cost-conscious consumers.
On June 30, the world's top coffee chain will begin selling baked goods without high-fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors and dyes, and will introduce salads and other items.
"Food has been the Achilles' heel of the company ... That statement will be long buried after we launch this program," Michelle Gass, Starbucks' executive vice president of marketing, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Using cells from pig ears and bone marrow, researchers in China generated a type of stem cell capable of developing into any type of cell in the body.
This is the first time researchers have created pluripotent stem cells using cells from a hooved animal that weren't derived from sperm or eggs. Like embryonic stem cells, pluripotent stem cells can differentiate into other types of cells.
The researchers hope their discovery will move scientists closer to genetically engineering pigs for organ transplants for humans and developing pigs that are resistant to diseases such as swine flu.
The study findings were published online June 3 in the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology.
This is the first time researchers have created pluripotent stem cells using cells from a hooved animal that weren't derived from sperm or eggs. Like embryonic stem cells, pluripotent stem cells can differentiate into other types of cells.
The researchers hope their discovery will move scientists closer to genetically engineering pigs for organ transplants for humans and developing pigs that are resistant to diseases such as swine flu.
The study findings were published online June 3 in the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology.
The more often a family moves, the higher the likelihood that a child relocating to a new home will attempt or commit suicide, a new study of Danish children suggests.
Combing through a Danish national database of children who have attempted or committed suicide, researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark found that a majority -- 55 percent -- of these children had changed residences more than three times in their childhoods.
Among the comparison group of children who never had attempted or committed suicide, fewer than 1 in 3 had made more than three household moves.
Combing through a Danish national database of children who have attempted or committed suicide, researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark found that a majority -- 55 percent -- of these children had changed residences more than three times in their childhoods.
Among the comparison group of children who never had attempted or committed suicide, fewer than 1 in 3 had made more than three household moves.
