It?s a supplement that millions of Americans take each day, hoping to reduce their risk of heart disease. But a new review of research suggests that fish oil might protect against another killer: breast cancer.
Chinese researchers looked at 21 studies and found that a higher intake of fish oil, but not necessarily fish itself, appears to be linked to a lower risk of breast cancer later in life.?Specifically, they found that a high intake of fatty acids found in fish oil was associated with a 14 percent reduced risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women.
?Angelina Jolie?s Double Mastectomy Fueling National Debate
If it?s real, the link could have big implications for women and their health. Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in U.S. women other than non-melanoma skin cancers, and the second deadliest cancer in women, following only lung cancer, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
?These findings could have public health implications with regard to prevention of breast cancer through dietary and lifestyle implications,? the authors wrote in their study, published Thursday in the journal BMJ.
But while it is known that a healthy diet and lifestyle decrease the risk of breast cancer, past studies have reached different conclusions when it comes to the consumption of fish oil and breast cancer risk.
Science Still Slippery on Fish Oil Health Connection?
One thing we do know is that including oily fish in your diet is good for you, a reason that it is recommended by many nutritionists. The benefits of fish oil supplements are less clear, although this has not stopped fish oil from becoming big business.
Americans spent $739 million on fish oil supplements in 2008, according to the trade publication Nutrition Business Journal. Proponents have primarily touted them as heart-healthy, and past research has also pointed to the effects of fish and fish oil on breast cancer risk.
Mediterranean Diet Fights Heart Disease, Study Finds
But?this research has been less than conclusive. On one hand, two large prospective studies and several case-control studies have suggested a protective effect on breast cancer risk. On the other, a number of studies have found no such association.
Dr. Kathy Helzlsouer, breast cancer expert and director of the Center for Prevention and Research at Mercy Health Services in Baltimore, Md., said the reasons behind the finding that fish oil supplements were linked to a lower risk of breast cancer, but that fish consumption was not, are unclear.
She also called the link between fish oil consumption and breast cancer prevention ?modest,? and noted that it is still hard to say that these supplements deserve all the credit.
?Whether this is cause and effect is not certain,? Helzlsouer said, adding that the authors themselves admit in the paper that more research is needed to better understand the reasons for their findings.
What Women Should Do
The good news is that there is little out there to suggest increasing your intake of fish oil is harmful, and you might even be doing yourself some good.
But Helzlsouer says she believes the best, and perhaps tastiest, option to achieve the benefits of fatty acids found in fish is to eat more oily fish.
?I usually recommend consumption of fish rather than supplements,? she said. ?I believe fish consumption is a healthy part of the diet and I have recommended it.?
Here are a few tips women should consider to reap the possible benefits of fish oil:
Nutritionists suggest one to two servings per week of oily fish like salmon, sardines or tuna;
If you?re not a fan of fish, taking a daily fish oil supplement might not be a bad idea;
The two important omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish are: docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Try to look for these if you decide to go with a fish oil supplement.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? With the crowd in the Texas Senate gallery chanting at deafening levels, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst stood at the podium with his hands in his pockets as his fellow Republicans pleaded and shouted for order.
The protesters refused to settle down as Dewhurst scrambled to the Senate floor and desperately tried to beat a midnight deadline to save one of his top priorities: legislation limiting abortions. He failed, amid one of the wildest scenes in the Texas Legislature in recent memory.
The bill will get another chance next week now that the governor has called another special legislative session, but Dewhurst's political future may not be so easily saved.
Damage left by the raucous scene of an out-of-control Senate ? broadcast live on the Internet ? has made Dewhurst a target for blame among rivals within his own party who wonder why the presiding officer of the chamber let it happen.
Texas' lieutenant governor is one of the most powerful politicians in the state. Elected statewide and independent of the governor's office, the lieutenant governor controls the flow of legislation in the Senate. Dewhurst has held the post since 2002, when he rode a conservative wave that has allowed Republicans to dominate state politics for more than a decade. But he suffered a crushing defeat by a fellow Republican in last year's U.S. Senate race.
The protesters were in the gallery Tuesday to support Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis as she filibustered the abortion bill for nearly 12 hours ? without breaks ? during a special legislative session. Official records hold that enough the bill passed just before midnight but that Dewhurst didn't have time to sign it and send it to Gov. Rick Perry.
Still, Dewhurst faced almost immediate criticism from rivals within his own party, and the finger pointing likely won't go away as he tries for re-election to a fourth term. Along with the abortion bill ? which opponents say would essentially shut down most abortion clinics in Texas ? the chaos also blocked the passage of major transportation and juvenile justice measures.
"Clearly his opponents pounced on this. The meltdown in the Senate amplified the problems Dewhurst already had with his base among GOP primary voters," said Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.
"It wasn't his best moment," added Republican political consultant Bill Miller. "It was a national show. It was being viewed by people around the country and around the world. It was bad TV. (But) I think it's survivable. He already had people wanting his job, so there's nothing to new to that."
Dewhurst, who is scheduled to speak Saturday at the National Right to Life conference in suburban Dallas, said at the time that he didn't lose control of the chamber. He later released a statement saying he was "furious" about how the session ended.
"(An) unruly, screaming mob using Occupy Wall Street tactics derailed legislation intended to protect the health of Texas women and their babies," Dewhurst said. "I pledge to Texas one thing: This fight is far from over.
The veteran politician had already been trying to patch up a political career staggered by a crushing loss in last year's U.S. Senate race to political newcomer and tea party darling Ted Cruz, who labeled Dewhurst a moderate. That loss during the GOP primary stunned the Republican establishment, and it drove Dewhurst to do whatever he could to restore his conservative credentials in 2013 on volatile issues.
After the regular legislative session ended, Dewhurst pushed Perry to call the special session and put abortion on the agenda. When that effort fizzled, his enemies pounced.
"In the end, the responsibility for the Texas Senate falls on one man," said Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, one of three Republicans challenging Dewhurst in the 2014 election. "I strongly believe he has lost his grip on the reins of the Senate and his horse has run wild."
Perry has now called a second 30-day special session to start Monday. Given a new start and large majorities in the House and Senate, Republicans are all but assured of passing the bill.
But opponents and Democrats have turned the incident into a rallying call, and Davis's filibuster turned her into galvanizing figure in the national debate over abortion rights.
The activists who crowded the Senate gallery had maintained decorum for most of the day. They didn't erupt until Democrats complained Dewhurst tried to unilaterally move to end Davis' filibuster without a full Senate vote ? a vote Republicans would have won and still given them time to pass the abortion bill.
Sen. Dan Patrick, whom Dewhurst appointed to chair the Senate's powerful education committee, announced Thursday he would run against Dewhurst in 2014. He said the chamber needs new leadership.
"We elevated a rallying point for the other party," Patrick said. "It should never have happened."
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? The four plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned California's same-sex marriage ban tied the knot Friday, just hours after a federal appeals court freed gay couples to obtain marriage licenses in the state for the first time in 4 1/2 years.
Attorney General Kamala Harris presided at the San Francisco City Hall wedding of Kris Perry and Sandy Stier as hundreds of supporters looked on and cheered. The couple sued to overturn the state's voter-approved gay marriage ban along with Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, who married at Los Angeles City Hall 90 minutes later with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa presiding.
"By joining the case against Proposition 8, they represented thousands of couples like themselves in their fight for marriage equality," Harris said during Stier and Perry's brief ceremony. "Through the ups and downs, the struggles and the triumphs, they came out victorious."
Harris declared Perry, 48, and Stier, 50, "spouses for life," but during their vows, the Berkeley couple took each other as "lawfully wedded wife." One of their twin sons served as ring-bearer.
Although the couples fought for the right to wed for years, their nuptials came together in a flurry when a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief order Friday afternoon dissolving a stay it had imposed on gay marriages while the lawsuit challenging the ban advanced through the courts.
Sponsors of California's same-sex marriage ban, known as Proposition 8, also were caught off-guard and complained that the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit's swift action made it more difficult for them to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision.
Under Supreme Court rules, the losing side has 25 days to ask the high court to rehear the case, and Proposition 8's backers had not yet announced whether they would do so.
"The resumption of same-sex marriage this day has been obtained by illegitimate means. If our opponents rejoice in achieving their goal in a dishonorable fashion, they should be ashamed," said Andy Pugno, general counsel for a coalition of religious conservative groups that sponsored the 2008 ballot measure.
"It remains to be seen whether the fight can go on, but either way, it is a disgraceful day for California," he said.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that Proposition 8's sponsors lacked standing in the case after Harris and Gov. Jerry Brown, both Democrats, refused to defend the ban in court.
The decision lets stand a trial judge's declaration that the ban violates the civil rights of gay Californians and cannot be enforced.
The Supreme Court said earlier this week that it would not finalize its ruling in the Proposition 8 case "at least" until after the 25-day period, which ends July 21.
The appeals court was widely expected to wait until the Supreme Court's judgment was official. Ninth Circuit spokesman David Madden said Friday that the panel's decision to act sooner was "unusual, but not unprecedented," although he could not recall another time the appeals court acted before receiving an official judgment from the high court.
The panel ? Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who was named to the 9th Circuit by President Jimmy Carter and has a reputation as the court's liberal lion; Judge Michael Daly Hawkins, an early appointee of President Bill Clinton; and Judge Randy Smith, the last 9th Circuit judge nominated by President George W. Bush ? decided on its own to lift the stay, Madden said.
Its order read simply, "The stay in the above matter is dissolved effective immediately."
Vikram Amar, a constitutional law professor at the University of California, Davis, said the Supreme Court's 25-day waiting period to make its decisions final isn't binding on lower courts.
"Some people may think it was in poor form, But it's not illegal," Amar said. "The appeals court may have felt that this case has dragged on long enough."
The same panel of judges ruled 2-1 last year that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional, but it kept same-sex marriages on hold while the case was appealed. But when the Supreme Court decided Proposition 8's backers couldn't defend the ban, it also wiped out the 9th Circuit's opinion.
Proposition 8 passed with 52 percent of the vote in November 2008, 4 1/2 months after same-sex marriages commenced in California the first time. The Williams Institute, a think tank at the University of California, Los Angeles, estimates 18,000 couples from around the country got married in the state during that window.
Shortly after the appeals court issued its order Friday, the governor directed California counties to resume performing same-sex marriages. A memo from the Department of Public Health said "same-sex marriage is again legal in California" and ordered county clerks to comply by making marriage licenses available to gay couples.
Given that word did not come down from the appeals court until mid-afternoon, most counties were not prepared to stay open late to accommodate potential crowds. The clerks in a few counties announced that they would stay open a few hours late Friday before reopening Monday.
A jubilant San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced that same-sex couples would be able to marry all weekend in his city, which is hosting its annual gay pride celebration.
___
Associated Press writers Jason Dearen, Paul Elias and Mihir Zaveri contributed to this story.
The day he was sworn in as Egypt?s first civilian president in June 2012, Mohamed Morsi told a cheering crowd in Cairo?s Tahrir Square he would be a ?president for all Egyptians?.
But one year later, the country is deeply divided.
In a speech marking his turbulent first year in power, Morsi warned that the ?polarisation has reached a stage that could threaten our democratic experience and paralyse the nation and cause chaos?.
A retiring individual, bearded and bespectacled, Morsi?s informal manner and casual language endeared him to some during his first months as head of state.
But today, walls in Cairo streets are covered with graffiti depicting him variously as a sheep, a pharaoh or a vampire.
He is the subject of much criticism and ridicule and is a favourite target of hugely popular satirist Bassem Youssef on his weekly television show.
A former senior leader of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, the 62-year-old Morsi had vowed to uphold the goals of the 2011 revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak, and also to share power with other parties.
His supporters say he derives his legitimacy from the first free presidential election in Egypt?s history, and that the challenges he faces ? corrupt and inefficient institutions, economic troubles and religious tensions ? were inherited from the previous regime.
But his critics see him as a cunning Muslim Brotherhood apparatchik, methodically placing Islamists in key positions, seeking to extend sharia (Islamic law) and return to an authoritarian regime rather than put the country on the path to democracy and economic progress.
Some say he is a new pharaoh, others accuse him of being a frontman for the Muslim Brotherhood, subservient to the movement?s supreme guide, Mohammed Badie.
In his frequent visits abroad, Morsi seeks to integrate Egypt with leading emerging nations such as China and Brazil, while maintaining ties with the West and specifically the United States, reassuring them he would uphold a 1979 peace agreement with Israel.
Morsi became the Brotherhood?s presidential candidate only after its first choice, Khairat El-Shater, was disqualified from standing.
Many had written off Morsi as an uncharismatic substitute, saying he would be unable to muster widespread support.
But the powerful Islamist movement mobilised its formidable resources and supporters behind Morsi to beat former airforce chief Ahmed Shafiq, who was also Mubarak?s last prime minister.
In August 2012, Morsi ousted Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, former head of Egypt?s army, who ruled the country as head of state after Mubarak?s fall in February, 2011.
But the army, which has remained on the sidelines of politics since Morsi came to power, broke its silence this week to warn that it would intervene if violence broke out.
Born in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya, Morsi graduated with an engineering degree from Cairo University in 1975.
He received a PhD from the University of Southern California, where he was an assistant professor, in 1982.
He served as an MP from 2000 to 2005. He was detained for seven months in 2006 for taking part in a demonstration in support of reformist judges.
In 2010, Morsi become a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood and a member of its politburo. He made several anti-semitic comments which recently resurfaced in the press.
Washington slammed the remarks, which Morsi said had been taken out of context.
He was jailed again on the morning of January 28, 2011, a day after the Brotherhood announced it would join the protests that would topple president Mubarak almost two weeks later.
Morsi and other Brotherhood leaders arrested at the time served only a few days before being sprung from jail in massive prison breaks across the country.
The Brotherhood believes in establishing an Islamic state gradually and through peaceful means, but Morsi?s focus has been mostly on issues affecting the majority of Egyptians since the revolt, such as the deteriorating economy.
Morsi is married, with five children and three grandchildren.
In this artist rendering released by NASA, the Voyager 1 spacecraft explores a new region of space at the edge of the solar system. New research published Thursday, June 27, 2013 in the journal Science confirms the NASA spacecraft has not yet crossed into interstellar space, or the space between stars. (AP Photo/NASA)
In this artist rendering released by NASA, the Voyager 1 spacecraft explores a new region of space at the edge of the solar system. New research published Thursday, June 27, 2013 in the journal Science confirms the NASA spacecraft has not yet crossed into interstellar space, or the space between stars. (AP Photo/NASA)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? New research pinpoints the current location of NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft: It's still in our solar system.
Since last summer, the long-running spacecraft has been exploring uncharted territory where the effects of interstellar space, or the space between stars, can be felt. Scientists don't know how thick this newfound region in the solar system is or how much farther Voyager 1 has to travel to break to the other side.
"It could actually be anytime or it could be several more years," said chief scientist Ed Stone of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the mission.
Stone first described this unexpected zone at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union last year. A trio of papers published online Thursday in the journal Science confirmed just how strange this new layer is.
Soon after Voyager 1 crossed into this region last August, low-energy charged particles that had been plentiful suddenly zipped outside while high-energy cosmic rays from interstellar space streamed inward. Readings by one of Voyager 1's instruments showed an abrupt increase in the magnetic field strength, but there was no change in the direction of the magnetic field lines ? a sign that Voyager 1 has not yet exited the solar system.
Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, were launched in 1977 to visit the giant gas planets, beaming back dazzling postcards of Jupiter, Saturn and their moons. Voyager 2 went on to tour Uranus and Neptune. After planet-hopping, they were sent on a trajectory toward interstellar space.
Voyager 1 is about 11 ? billion miles from the sun. Voyager 2 is about 9? billion miles from the sun. The nuclear-powered spacecraft have enough fuel to operate their instruments until around 2020.
In the meantime, scientists are looking for any clues of a departure. Given the time it takes to process the data, mission scientist Leonard Burlaga said there will be a lag between when Voyager 1 finally sails into interstellar space and when the team can confirm the act. Then there's always the possibility of surprises beyond the solar system.
"Crossing may not be an instantaneous thing," Burlaga said. "It may be complicated."
___
Follow Alicia Chang at http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia
Outside of the fear of flying, the most anxious part of traveling around the world is hoping your bags get to the same destination as you do. The paper tags in use today work, but if they get accidentally torn off your luggage, who knows where it might end up. So starting next month, British Airways will begin testing a brilliant re-usable luggage tag featuring an e-ink display that can be reprogrammed again and again using your smartphone.
Created by a British design shop called Designworks, once you've checked in for a flight the tags will be easily updatable to reflect your current destination, presumably using a low-power wireless NFC connection to your phone. The barcodes on the new e-ink tags can be scanned by existing luggage sorting equipment too, and if they're a success, the reusable tags could be further enhanced with more wireless options making it even easier for airports, and you, to keep track of where your bags are. [Designworks via Engadget]
All Critics (146) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (143) | Rotten (3)
Hawke and Delpy remain as charming as ever, and their combined goofiness is more endearing than annoying.
Love is messy here, life cannot be controlled, satisfaction is far from guaranteed. Romance is rocky at best. But romance still is.
Though "Before Midnight" is often uncomfortable to watch, it's never less than mesmerizing - and ultimately, a joy to walk with this prickly but fascinating couple again.
"Before Midnight" is heartbreaking, but not because of Jesse and Celine. It's the filmmakers' passions that seem to have cooled.
Before Midnight is fascinating to watch, and so long as Celine and Jesse are communicating, there's still hope.
How (Jesse and Celine) try to rekindle that flame is what drives Midnight, a film that feels so authentic it's like overhearing a conversation you're not sure you should be hearing.
Loving words mix with personal attacks, the magic moments with the unintended slights, as we witness the occasional desperation of imperfect people doing the best they can when life moves beyond meet-cute and courtship. That's authentic.
Linklater and his players bring an end to the fantasy and welcome the thrilling ups and bitter downs of reality to this love story.
Like the first two films, it reflects the real world in a way that seems almost preternatural. It's just that, here, the real world is a harsher, more disappointing place.
The duo, clearly so comfortable in their characters' skin, indulge in intelligent banter, sharp humour and emotional truths.
So much better written than contemporary novels, this film is a literary as well as cinematic achievement to cherish. For grown-ups.
As before, it's often very funny, with Jesse and Celine swapping Woody Allen-esque one-liners - nicely snarky, appealingly abrasive.
The acting, the dialogue and direction are superb.
None of the films is faultless in itself, but, tinted with complementary tones, the complete cycle comes as close to perfection as any trilogy in cinema history.
Marvelous. It's impossible to shake the feeling that we are merely eavesdropping on reality. Witty, wise, and -- most important of all -- truly romantic in ways that movies usually aren't.
It's been 18 years since Hawke, Delpy and Linklater introduced us to Jesse and Celine, and their story just gets richer, funnier and more punchy each time we see them. In 1995's Before Sunrise, they were idealistic 23-year-olds.
Hawke and Delpy are as believably real as any screen couple can ever be.
This is one of the few sequels for which the cliche 'eagerly awaited' is truly applicable.
Predictably, it's just as great as the first two.
By the end, Before Midnight inches towards a dawn of charm. But it's a troubled trip.
As an organic experiment in collaboration between actors and director, it is a triumph, co-created and co-owned by Delpy, Linklater and Hawke.
Hawke and Delpy, who are both credited on the script too, have never found co-stars to bounce off more nimbly or bring out richer nuances in their acting.
The performances and dialogue are wonderfully naturalistic; a reminder that the best special effects are often the cheapest.
Before Midnight is about the nature of long-term relationships, and the way love deepens and grows but also finds itself subject to the complications of maturity. Smart, insightful, and poignant.
For those who witnessed Jesse and Celine's tentative getting together as inter railing students almost twenty years ago, it's reassuring to see them still in love.
Brilliantly directed, superbly written and impeccably acted, this is a thoroughly enjoyable, thought-provoking and emotionally engaging drama that perfectly complements the previous two films.
Many studies have shown that any kind of distracted driving is a bad thing, but Intel wanted to take a closer look at our driving behavior to determine if we could avoid it in the first place. Paul Crawford, a senior research scientist in Intel's Interaction and Experience Research Lab, sought to do just that in a comprehensive investigation that seeks to understand not just where drivers are looking, but how they're thinking. By doing this, Intel hopes to alert the driver of any mental warning signs before he or she even gets behind the wheel.
At a recent Research @ Intel event in San Francisco, Crawford used a racing car gaming set-up to demonstrate both visual and mental diversions with eye-tracking software and a functional near-infrared spectrometer headband. The latter is used to gauge the metabolic activity and cognitive workload of the brain under different driving conditions, which in this case fluctuated between a peaceful drive and a high-speed chase. Crawford also threw in a few questions and mathematical problems at the test subject to complicate matters. As you might expect, the brain was highly active during the more challenging scenarios and less so in the other. Crawford told us he hopes that the findings will point to ways we can optimize our environmental conditions and taskloads so that we can perform better, not just when driving but in everyday tasks as well. To see the demo in action and hear Crawford's words for yourself, check out the video after the break.
NEW YORK, United States ? By and large, the entrepreneurs behind the first wave of fashion e-commerce companies started off with a simple goal: prove the industry wrong by showing that consumers would actually buy clothing and accessories online. Out of their contrarian beliefs and dogged tenacity emerged companies like Net-a-Porter and Yoox, both of which now rank amongst the world?s most successful fashion retail businesses, online or off. But if this first wave of fashion e-commerce was largely about bringing offline shopping online and leveraging the web?s phenomenal distribution opportunities, the next wave is all about the rise of ?net native? models.
?Taking the offline model for something and porting it to the web is not often the best way to build a business online,? explains Fred Wilson, managing partner of Union Square Ventures. ?What we have seen over and over again is that taking a model that was optimised for the analogue world and porting it to the Internet is almost always suboptimal. And that the person or team that finds the optimal model for the Internet is almost always the one who ends up with the big win.?
In search of web-optimal models, a growing number of companies are rethinking e-commerce from the ground up in ways that were physically impossible in the offline world. For these companies, the Internet is no longer just a channel, it?s a fully fledged medium. And indeed, they understand that today?s fashion consumers, who have seen net native models transform industries like travel and music, are hungry for better ways to shop.
Farfetch, for example, is an online marketplace that offers consumers access to many of the world?s top fashion boutiques, all under one roof, something that is inconceivable in the physical world. My own company Lyst does a similar thing for brands and department stores.
Another emerging net native model is personalisation, which is something that Lyst offers as well. Much like Twitter allows users to create a personalised newsfeed, Lyst allows consumers to create their own shopping feed by following their favourite fashion brands, stores and people. Just imagine every single customer in the world being able to walk into their very own personalised brick-and-mortar store. Again, impossible. As is the idea of magazines that contain shops. Yet the commerce-meets-content model first pioneered by Net-a-Porter and picked up by the likes of Refinery29 and Harper?s Bazaar does just that.
If the first phase of fashion e-commerce was to change the mindset of a generation and bring online shopping to the mass market, today, the challenge is how to harness the web to rethink the shopping experience around the most effective and engaging ways to discover and buy, free from the constraints of the offline world.
Jeff Bezos, the far-seeing founder of Amazon, is fond of constantly reminding shareholders that it?s still ?day one? for both his company and e-commerce at large. If that?s true for Amazon and ?commodity e-commerce,? then it?s certainly true for the kind of ?emotional commerce? that?s finally taking root in the far less mature online fashion space.
Net native concepts can emerge in-house at established fashion companies with innovation in their DNA, like Net-a-Porter, for example. Many fashion retailers may find it hard to develop net native models themselves, however, in which case, acquisitions and partnerships can be an effective route.
What?s abundantly clear is that, as e-commerce becomes untethered from the legacy of the physical store, the inevitable shift to net native models will fundamentally change the way people shop. And, as is often the case with major disruptions, those slow to adopt new models are not going to make it. However, those who make it a priority to develop new net native models, will, as Wilson says, end up with the big win.
Chris Morton is the founder and CEO of Lyst.
The views expressed in Op-Ed pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Business of Fashion.
How to submit an Op-Ed:?The Business of Fashion accepts opinion articles on a wide range of topics. The suggested length is 800 words, but submissions of any length will be considered. Submissions may be sent to?contributors@businessoffashion.com. Please include ?Op-Ed? in the subject line. Given the volume of submissions we receive, we regret that we are unable to respond in the event that an article is not selected for publication.
Huge falls in diabetes mortality in UK and Canada since mid-1990sPublic release date: 26-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Marcus Lind lind.marcus@telia.com 46-073-831-1742 University of Gothenburg
Both the UK and Canada have experienced huge falls in diabetes-related mortality since the mid-1990s, with the result that the gap in mortality risk between those with and without diabetes has narrowed substantially. The findings are in new research published in Diabetologia, the Journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), and written by Dr Marcus Lind, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden and colleagues.
A previous review of studied investigated diabetes mortality suggested that having diabetes increased a person's mortality risk by 80% compared with the general population.
However, many studies in the review were from before 2000, and some recent studies have suggested diabetes might increase mortality by less than this.
Thus in this new study, the authors estimated the current mortality rate ratio in patients with versus without diabetes and whether it has changed over time.
The UK and Canada were selected for analysis because the authors in both nations and Sweden are part of an ongoing collaboration, and this is a study objective that cannot be examined in many countries, since there are limited numbers of databases with long follow-up which are also population-based with mortality data on individuals both with and without diabetes. Both Canada and the UK hold such data.
The population-based databases from the province of Ontario, Canada, and The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database from the UK, from years 1996 to 2009 were used to calculate mortality rates in persons with and without diabetes.
The excess risk of mortality estimated during 2009 was 51% in Ontario and 65% in THIN for diabetic patients on a group level, compared to 90% and 114%, respectively, in the year 1996. The excess risk of mortality for diabetic patients declined to a similar extent for men and women over the study period, and no significant differences between sexes were observed in 2009.
"It is noteworthy that the prevalence of diabetes in Ontario (adults 20 years or older) increased from 5.4% to 11.4% over the study period, and in the THIN cohort there was an increase in prevalence from 3.2% to 5.9% over the corresponding time period," says Lipscombe.
The excess risk of mortality for diabetic patients decreased in all age groups over timeapproximately 25%-40% lower in age groups below 64 years and 50%-65% lower in those aged 64 years and older during the study period. In 2009 the excess risk of mortality for individuals with diabetes 20-44 years of age was 70%-80% in both cohorts. In those 45-64 years old, mortality was approximately doubled and was 15-25% greater in individuals 65 years of age and over.
The authors say that more aggressive treatment during recent decades may explain these results, including more intensive control of blood sugar in people with diabetes, and blood pressure control and statins to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in people both with and without diabetes.
A shift towards more diabetes screening and earlier diagnosis in recent years may also have contributed to lower mortality rates within more contemporary diabetes populations.
Although not a primary focus of this study, the authors say it should be noted that the prevalence of diabetes was considerably higher in the Ontario cohort than in THIN during the study period. The reasons for this discrepancy are unclear, but may be related to differences in factors known to influence the incidence of diabetes such as screening programmes, ethnicity, eating habits or physical activity patterns between the two cohorts. Further research would be needed to explore these possibilities.
The authors conclude: "The excess risk of age-standardized mortality in patients with versus without diabetes has decreased over time in both Canada and the UK, having fallen to an increased risk of 50-65% in 2009. The excess risk related to diabetes however varies by age:70%-80% in individuals 20-44 years of age, approximately double in those aged 45-64 years, and 15%-25% greater in individuals above age 65 years and over."
###
For more information please contact:
Dr Marcus Lind Sahlgrenska Academy University of Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden T) +46 (0)738 31 17 42 / +46-(0)10-4350000 E) lind.marcus@telia.com / sofia.i.dahlqvist@vgregion.se
Dr Lorraine Lipscombe Women's College Hospital Women's College Research Institute Toronto, ON, Canada please contact Julie Saccone in Communications Department T) +1 416-323-6400, ext.4054
E) julie.saccone@wchospital.ca / Lorraine.Lipscombe@wchospital.ca
Alternative contact:
Tony Kirby at Tony Kirby PR Ltd T) +44 7834 385827
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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.
Huge falls in diabetes mortality in UK and Canada since mid-1990sPublic release date: 26-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Marcus Lind lind.marcus@telia.com 46-073-831-1742 University of Gothenburg
Both the UK and Canada have experienced huge falls in diabetes-related mortality since the mid-1990s, with the result that the gap in mortality risk between those with and without diabetes has narrowed substantially. The findings are in new research published in Diabetologia, the Journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), and written by Dr Marcus Lind, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden and colleagues.
A previous review of studied investigated diabetes mortality suggested that having diabetes increased a person's mortality risk by 80% compared with the general population.
However, many studies in the review were from before 2000, and some recent studies have suggested diabetes might increase mortality by less than this.
Thus in this new study, the authors estimated the current mortality rate ratio in patients with versus without diabetes and whether it has changed over time.
The UK and Canada were selected for analysis because the authors in both nations and Sweden are part of an ongoing collaboration, and this is a study objective that cannot be examined in many countries, since there are limited numbers of databases with long follow-up which are also population-based with mortality data on individuals both with and without diabetes. Both Canada and the UK hold such data.
The population-based databases from the province of Ontario, Canada, and The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database from the UK, from years 1996 to 2009 were used to calculate mortality rates in persons with and without diabetes.
The excess risk of mortality estimated during 2009 was 51% in Ontario and 65% in THIN for diabetic patients on a group level, compared to 90% and 114%, respectively, in the year 1996. The excess risk of mortality for diabetic patients declined to a similar extent for men and women over the study period, and no significant differences between sexes were observed in 2009.
"It is noteworthy that the prevalence of diabetes in Ontario (adults 20 years or older) increased from 5.4% to 11.4% over the study period, and in the THIN cohort there was an increase in prevalence from 3.2% to 5.9% over the corresponding time period," says Lipscombe.
The excess risk of mortality for diabetic patients decreased in all age groups over timeapproximately 25%-40% lower in age groups below 64 years and 50%-65% lower in those aged 64 years and older during the study period. In 2009 the excess risk of mortality for individuals with diabetes 20-44 years of age was 70%-80% in both cohorts. In those 45-64 years old, mortality was approximately doubled and was 15-25% greater in individuals 65 years of age and over.
The authors say that more aggressive treatment during recent decades may explain these results, including more intensive control of blood sugar in people with diabetes, and blood pressure control and statins to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in people both with and without diabetes.
A shift towards more diabetes screening and earlier diagnosis in recent years may also have contributed to lower mortality rates within more contemporary diabetes populations.
Although not a primary focus of this study, the authors say it should be noted that the prevalence of diabetes was considerably higher in the Ontario cohort than in THIN during the study period. The reasons for this discrepancy are unclear, but may be related to differences in factors known to influence the incidence of diabetes such as screening programmes, ethnicity, eating habits or physical activity patterns between the two cohorts. Further research would be needed to explore these possibilities.
The authors conclude: "The excess risk of age-standardized mortality in patients with versus without diabetes has decreased over time in both Canada and the UK, having fallen to an increased risk of 50-65% in 2009. The excess risk related to diabetes however varies by age:70%-80% in individuals 20-44 years of age, approximately double in those aged 45-64 years, and 15%-25% greater in individuals above age 65 years and over."
###
For more information please contact:
Dr Marcus Lind Sahlgrenska Academy University of Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden T) +46 (0)738 31 17 42 / +46-(0)10-4350000 E) lind.marcus@telia.com / sofia.i.dahlqvist@vgregion.se
Dr Lorraine Lipscombe Women's College Hospital Women's College Research Institute Toronto, ON, Canada please contact Julie Saccone in Communications Department T) +1 416-323-6400, ext.4054
E) julie.saccone@wchospital.ca / Lorraine.Lipscombe@wchospital.ca
Alternative contact:
Tony Kirby at Tony Kirby PR Ltd T) +44 7834 385827
[ | 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.
The pets at the Edmonton Humane Society (EHS) are about to get a lot more friends visiting them.
EHS has launched a virtual tour of its main building with Google Tours to give the general public a better idea about the organization?s behind-the-scenes action.
?We?re hoping more and more people will be drawn to come into the building directly,? EHS spokesperson Shawna Randolph said Monday. ?It helps connect us with the rest of the world.?
The facility?s digital tour is the largest Edmonton building featured in Google Tours at 47,000 square feet.
?I thought it would be a really good tool for them,? said Jim Whitesell, the photographer that approached EHS about the project.
Whitesell hopes his photographs enlighten the public, much like the experience enlightened him.
?I have a much better understanding about what goes on at the Edmonton Humane Society now. It?s important for everybody to be able to see that,? he said.
The tour also features signs filled with EHS information.
?It?s not just looking at pictures, you?re learning about us as you take the tour,? said Randolph.
June 25, 2013 ? In women who have type 2 diabetes and show signs of depression, vitamin D supplements significantly lowered blood pressure and improved their moods, according to a pilot study at Loyola University Chicago Niehoff School of Nursing.
Vitamin D even helped the women lose a few pounds.
The study was presented at the American Diabetes Association 73rd Scientific Sessions in Chicago.
"Vitamin D supplementation potentially is an easy and cost-effective therapy, with minimal side effects," said Sue M. Penckofer, PhD, RN, lead author of the study and a professor in the Niehoff School of Nursing. "Larger, randomized controlled trials are needed to determine the impact of vitamin D supplementation on depression and major cardiovascular risk factors among women with Type 2 diabetes."
Penckofer recently received a four-year, $1.49 million grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health to do such a study. Penckofer and her Loyola co-investigators plan to enroll 180 women who have type 2 diabetes, symptoms of depression and insufficient levels of vitamin D. Women will be randomly assigned to receive either a weekly vitamin D supplementation (50,000 International Units) or a matching weekly placebo for six months. The study is titled "Can the Sunshine Vitamin Improve Mood and Self Management in Women with Diabetes?
About 1 in 10 people in the United States has diabetes, and the incidence is projected to increase to 1 in 4 persons by 2050. Women with type 2 diabetes have worse outcomes than men. The reason may be due to depression, which affects more than 25 percent of women with diabetes. Depression impairs a patient's ability to manage her disease by eating right, exercising, taking medications, etc.
Many Americans do not get enough vitamin D, and people with diabetes are at especially high risk for vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. Reasons include limited intake of foods high in vitamin D, obesity, lack of sun exposure and genetic variations.
The pilot study included 46 women who were an average age of 55 years, had diabetes an average of 8 years and insufficient blood levels of vitamin D (18 ng/ml). They took a weekly dose (50,000 International Units) of vitamin D. (By comparison, the recommended dietary allowance for women 51 to 70 years is 600 IU per day.)
After six months, their vitamin D blood levels reached sufficient levels (average 38 ng/ml) and their moods improved significantly. For example, in a 20-question depression symptom survey, scores decreased from 26.8 at the beginning of the study (indicating moderate depression) to 12.2 at six months (indicating no depression. (The depression scale ranges from 0 to 60, with higher numbers indicating more symptoms of depression.)
Blood pressure also improved, with the upper number decreasing from 140.4 mm Hg to 132.5 mm Hg. And their weight dropped from an average of 226.1 pounds to 223.6 pounds.
Penckofer is internationally known for her research on vitamin D, diabetes and depression. In October, she will be inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing for her scientific contributions in improving the health and quality of life of women with chronic disease. And she recently was appointed as the first nurse researcher to the Chicago Diabetes Center for Translational Research.
Co-authors of the study are Todd Doyle, PhD, Patricia Mumby, PhD, Mary Byrn, Mary Ann Emanuele, MD and Diane Wallis, MD.
Light shines through a cabin window on seat 17A, the empty seat that an Aeroflot official said was booked in the name of former CIA technician Edward Snowden, shortly before Aeroflot flight SU150 takes off from Moscow to Havana, Cuba, Monday, June 24, 2013. Snowden, who has admitted to leaking National Security Agency secrets, was expected to fly from Russia to Cuba and Venezuela en route to possible asylum in Ecuador, but AP reporters on the flight never saw him get on board. (AP Photo/Max Seddon)
Light shines through a cabin window on seat 17A, the empty seat that an Aeroflot official said was booked in the name of former CIA technician Edward Snowden, shortly before Aeroflot flight SU150 takes off from Moscow to Havana, Cuba, Monday, June 24, 2013. Snowden, who has admitted to leaking National Security Agency secrets, was expected to fly from Russia to Cuba and Venezuela en route to possible asylum in Ecuador, but AP reporters on the flight never saw him get on board. (AP Photo/Max Seddon)
White House press secretary Jay Carney gestures during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, June 24, 2013. Carney said the U.S. assumes that Edward Snowden is now in Russia and that the White House now expects Russian authorities to look at all the options available to them to expel Snowden to face charges in the U.S. for releasing secret surveillance information . (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A TV screen shows a news report of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, at a shopping mall in Hong Kong Sunday, June 23, 2013. The former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a "third country" because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory's government said Sunday. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Graphic shows key locations in the life and career of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden; 3c x 5 inches; 146 mm x 127 mm;
Journalists show passengers arriving from Hong Kong a tablet with a photo of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, at Sheremetyevo airport, just outside Moscow, Russia, Sunday, June 23, 2013. The former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a "third country" because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory's government said Sunday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama says the United States is following legal channels on how to bring National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden back to the U.S. He says the administration is working with other countries to make sure "the rule of law is observed."
Obama made his remark at the White House.
He was asked by a reporter if he had discussed Snowden's situation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Obama did not respond directly to that question.
Earlier, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States assumes Snowden is in Russia, where he fled after leaving Hong Kong. Carney said Snowden's departure from Hong Kong after the United States requested his extradition damaged U.S.-China relations.
We got to see quite a bit of iOS 7 back at WWDC 2013, but we only saw it working on an iPhone. Well, we've got some good news for big screen Apple devs, as a new iOS 7 beta's been released OTA and it now works on the iPad. Of course, the new beta also brings the usual nebulous "bug fixes and improvements" for all devices, and among those improvements is the addition of the Voice Memos app and Siri's new voices in English as well. It's available now, so if you're in the beta, you best get to downloading!
PITTSBURGH (AP) ? New research in Pennsylvania demonstrates that it's hard to nail down how often natural gas drilling is contaminating drinking water: One study found high levels of methane in some water wells within a half-mile of gas wells, while another found some serious methane pollution occurring naturally, far away from drilling.
The findings represent a middle ground between critics of the drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing who claim it causes widespread contamination, and an industry that suggests they are rare or nonexistent.
The contamination from drilling is "not an epidemic. It's a minority of cases," said Rob Jackson, a Duke University researcher and co-author of the study released Monday. But he added the team found that serious contamination from bubbly methane is "much more" prevalent in some water wells within 1 kilometer of gas drilling sites.
Methane is an odorless gas that is not known to be toxic, but in high concentrations it can be explosive and deadly.
The Duke paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is an expansion of a 2011 study that attracted widespread attention for its finding that drilling was polluting some water wells with methane. The new study includes results from 141 northeastern Pennsylvania water wells. It found methane levels were an average of six times higher in the water wells closer to drilling sites, compared with those farther away. Ethane, another component of natural gas, was 23 times higher in the homes closer to drilling.
Some of the methane was at dangerous levels. The study found 12 homes with levels above the recommended federal limit of 28 milligrams per liter, and 11 of those water wells were closer to gas drilling sites. Jackson said the researchers believe that faulty drilling can cause methane pollution, but that natural causes can, too. Eighty percent of all the water wells they tested contained some level of methane, including many with no nearby drilling.
In 2011, Pennsylvania strengthened rules for the steel casing and cement around the top of a gas well that are meant to protect water supplies from contamination, but some older wells weren't drilled to those standards.
There was some good news, Jackson said: The Duke researchers haven't found any evidence that chemicals from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have contaminated water wells.
"We're not seeing the things that people are most afraid of," Jackson said, referring to the chemicals used in fracking.
The research is important because gas drilling has recently boomed in large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia and is being closely studied by officials in New York, where there's a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for gas.
To get at the natural gas trapped deep underground, drillers crack open rock with a high-pressure mix of water, fine sand and chemicals pumped into wells. The industry has brought a windfall of royalties and jobs to some communities, but also concerns about air and water contamination.
The situation is complicated because Pennsylvania has many layers of oil, gas, and coal-bearing rock as well as natural faults. All those can enable gas to seep naturally into water wells, even in areas without drilling.
One researcher who now consults for oil and gas companies and other clients questioned some of the Duke findings.
Fred Baldassare, who worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for 25 years, said the study doesn't present an accurate picture of the whole state because the Duke team went to areas where residents had complained about drilling contamination, rather than doing a random sample. Baldassare runs a research company called Eschelon Applied Geosciences.
Baldassare said that overall the Duke researchers "make a case for stray gas migration caused by gas well drilling activity."
The second water study was published online last week by the U.S. Geological Survey. It found that some Pennsylvania water wells in areas with no nearby drilling are naturally contaminated with high levels of methane. It also found that 85 percent of the samples had radon levels higher than federal safe limits.
One well sample, taken at a hunting club, had such high natural methane levels, it could have been flammable, said hydrologist Ronald Sloto.
"They knew they had a major water quality problem, they didn't know what it was," Sloto said.
The USGS took samples from 20 wells in Sullivan County, in northeastern Pennsylvania, in order to establish a pre-drilling baseline for water quality.
Sloto said his study and the Duke paper confirm that pre-drilling water testing is an absolute necessity for homeowners.
"Once you have drilling you can't get a baseline, it's too late" to determine if drilling caused water problems or if they were already there naturally, Sloto said.
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, had no direct comment on the Duke findings.
"Private water well quality and construction, as well as methane migration, is a longstanding public health issue in Pennsylvania, dating back decades," CEO Kathryn Klaber said in an email.
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Public release date: 26-Jun-2013
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