Jessica Alba gets trendy new bob haircut

Jessica Alba shows off her new look to photographers outside the salon.

It's amazing what a good night's sleep and a chic new haircut has done for Hollywood star Jessica Alba. The Sin City actress sported a stunning new 'fringe' trim in Los Angeles a couple of days ago this week, Mail Online reported.

The new image was made even more striking when compared to a picture of her shopping for baby clothes two days ago looking rather dowdy.

The 27-year-old was spotted by photographers as she left the hairdresser in Beverley Hills.

Surrounded by an army of paparazzi she looked relaxed with her new bob - wearing big sunglasses, a yellow scarf, a grey top, jeans and slip-on gold shoes.

Jessica Alba went from dowdy to fresh

Jessica Alba went from dowdy to fresh

The contrast with her appearance two days ago could not have been more stark when she was pictured buying a smoothie, shopping at baby store Bel Bambino looking worn out with her hair in a side-parting.

The new do certainly appeared to impress her husband Cash Warren who was pictured running with an approving smile on his face.

Model Kate Moss opted for fringes in 2007

Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole opted for fringes in 2007

Kate Moss set the trend for the fringe look after bringing it back into fashion last year.

Many celebrities including Katie Holmes and Fergie appeared to follow suit.


Taken From : China Daily

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Familiar face? 'Love' hormone may help

LONDON -- The "love" hormone linked to feelings of sexual pleasure, bonding and maternal care also appears to help us recognize familiar faces, Swiss researchers said on Tuesday.

Men given oxytocin -- involved in nursing and childbirth -- more accurately recalled images of familiar faces but the hormone did not help them recognize inanimate objects, Peter Klaver of the University of Zurich and colleagues said.

Their findings published in The Journal of Neuroscience suggest the hormone somehow strengthens the brain's neural networks involved in social memory and may have implications for conditions such as autism, researchers said.

"The study highlights the parallels in social information processing in mice and man, and adds further support to the notion oxytocin plays a critical role," Larry Young, an expert on oxytocin at Emory University in Atlanta, who was not involved in the study, said in a statement.

"This has important implications for disorders such as autism, where social information processing is clearly impaired."

Oxytocin was known for years to be involved in labor and it is the hormone that stimulates the production of milk for breastfeeding. Animal studies suggest it can help in bonding between mother and child and between mates.

Only in recent decades has it been found to have a function in men -- in sexual arousal and function.

Klaver and colleagues showed 44 men pictures of faces and inanimate objects that included sculptures, houses and other images. Half the volunteers received an oxytocin nasal spray and the rest got a placebo.

The researchers found that men who used the oxytocin spray more accurately recognized the faces they had seen before than did those in the placebo group. The hormone made no difference for the other pictures, Klaver said.

Further analysis also showed the hormone made it less likely for people to mistakenly characterize unfamiliar faces as familiar, the researchers said.

"It is important to understand that social recognition can be improved by such hormones," Klaver said in a telephone interview.

Taken From : China Daily



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Mosquitoes match wing beats before mating

WASHINGTON – Researchers at Cornell University have discovered that Aedes aegypti mosquitoes — the ones that spread diseases like yellow and dengue fever — alter their wing vibrations in a mating signal.

This undated handout file photo provided by the Agriculture Department shows an aedes aegypti mosquito on human skin. Old mosquitoes usually spread disease, so Australian researchers figured out a way to make the pests die younger - naturally, not poisoned. Scientists have been racing to genetically engineer mosquitoes to become resistant to diseases like malaria and dengue fever that plague millions around the world, as an alternative to mass spraying of insecticides. [Agencies]

The good news is that the finding could lead to better ways to control mosquitoes, according to Ronald R. Hoy, an author of the report published Thursday in the online edition of the journal Science.

Releasing sterile male mosquitoes is one way to control reproduction of the insects. Observing their mating signals could provide a way to determine if the sterile males can carry out courtship with females, he explained in a telephone interview.

"We don't want to be releasing duds out there, we want to release sterile studs," Hoy said.

That is because the female mosquitoes, once mated, are less responsive to other males and unlikely to mate again. So, if the initial mating is with a sterile male, there are no offspring.

"By studying these flight tone signals, we may be able to determine what kind of information males and females consider important when choosing a mate," added co-author Lauren Cator, a Cornell graduate student.

Hoy, who studies hearing in insects, said scientists knew the buzzing helped males home in on female mosquitoes, but he and his colleagues wondered just what they could hear.

Some mosquitoes match their wing beats when courting, he said, so the researchers decided to see if that was also the case with Aedes aegypti by exposing tethered males and females to one another.

It turned out that the insects did alter their wing beats, but not to match each other.

The females typically have a frequency of about 400 beats per second and the males approximately 600, he explained.

When they encountered one another they adjusted the beats until there was a harmonic of about 1200 vibrations per second — or hertz — an overtone of both the 400 and 600 beats.

The researchers were surprised that the insects could even sense that overtone.

"Who knew they could sense 1200 hertz," said Hoy. They can interact at frequencies they were not supposed to hear. Indeed, it had been widely thought that female mosquitoes were deaf.

To be certain, the researchers implanted electrodes in mosquitoes' Johnston organ, which the insects use for hearing. The insects could sense frequencies up to 2000 hertz.

So, can people hear the mosquito's love song?

Yes, says Hoy, it sounds like the worst ever case of ringing in the ears.

The study was funded through the US Department of Agriculture and a grant from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.

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Jolie, Diaz and other celebs at 66th annual Golden Globe awards

Actress Angelina Jolie arrives at the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2009. [Agencies]


Actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie arrive at the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2009. [Agencies]

Actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie arrive at the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Cameron Diaz arrives at the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Cameron Diaz arrives at the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Cameron Diaz arrives at the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Penelope Cruz arrives at the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Eva Longoria arrives at the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Drew Barrymore arrives at the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2009.[Agencies]


Kate Winslet holds her award for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture'' for her part in "The Reader'' while backstage at the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Kate Beckinsale arrives at the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2009. [Agencies]

Taken From : China Daily


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Pitt,Jolie and other celebs at 14th annual Critics' Choice awards

Actors Angelina Jolie (L) and Brad Pitt arrive together at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arrive together at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]

Actors Angelina Jolie (L) and Brad Pitt arrive together at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actors Angelina Jolie (L) and Brad Pitt arrive together at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]



Actress Kate Beckinsale arrives at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Kate Beckinsale arrives at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Anne Hathaway arrives at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Anne Hathaway arrives at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Spanish actress Penelope Cruz arrives at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California, January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actor Ben Stiller poses after winning the award for best comedy film "Tropic Thunder" at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actor Ben Stiller accepts the award for best comedy film "Tropic Thunder" at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009.[Agencies]


Actors Ben Stiller (L) and Christine Taylor arrive at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Dakota Fanning arrives at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


"The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan accepts the award for Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger, whose photo is shown on the screen behind Nolan, at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California, January 8, 2009. Ledger died on January 22, 2008. [Agencies]


Heath Ledger is seen on screen from the movie "The Dark Knight" at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California, January 8, 2009. Ledger, who died on January 22, 2008, won Best Supporting Actor for the role. [Agencies]



Actress Evan Rachel Wood arrives at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actor Emile Hirsch arrives at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California, January 8, 2009. [Agencies]

Taken From : China Daily


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Hathaway awarded for best actress at 14th annual Critics' Choice awards

Actress Anne Hathaway poses with her award for Best Actress, which she tied for with Meryl Streep, for the movie "Rachel Getting Married" at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Anne Hathaway accepts the award for Best Actress, which she tied for with Meryl Streep, for the movie "Rachel Getting Married" at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]

Producer Harvey Weinstein and actress Anne Hathaway watch the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Singer Katy Perry arrives at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Singer Katy Perry arrives at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actor Sean Penn accepts the Best Actor award for "Milk" at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actors (L-R) Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch and Sean Penn pose together after winning the award for Best Acting Ensemble for "Milk" at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Actress Viola Davis accepts the award for Best Actress on behalf of Meryl Streep at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. Streep, who tied for the award with Anne Hathaway, won for her performance in "Doubt". [Agencies]


Indian composer A.R. Rahman accepts his award for Best Composer for "Slumdog Millionaire" at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


British director Tom Hooper accepts the award for Best Picture made for Television for "John Adams" at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Simon Beaufoy of Britain poses with his award for Best Writer for the film "Slumdog Millionaire" at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Simon Beaufoy of Britain poses with his award for Best Writer for the film "Slumdog Millionaire" at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]


Israeli director Ari Folman poses with his award for Best Foreign Language Film for "Waltz with Bashir" at the 14th annual Critics' Choice awards in Santa Monica, California January 8, 2009. [Agencies]

Taken From : China Daily

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Kate Moss' holiday cash splash

Kate Moss spent ￡100,000 on a holiday in Thailand.

The 34-year-old supermodel paid for her partner Jamie Hince, her daughter Lila Grace, and three friends to join her on the lavish eight-day New Year break.

Chinawhite owner David Tang, former 'Hollyoaks' star Davinia Taylor and her husband Dave Gardner partied with Kate aboard a luxury yacht for five days.

Each guest - including Davinia's son and two nannies - had their own luxury cabin for the cruise around the Andaman Sea.

The party then moved ashore, spending three days in a private villa attached to the glamorous Amanpuri hotel.

A source said: "Nobody has ever witnessed generosity like this. She was throwing away obscene amounts of money."

One dinner at exclusive eatery The Thainaan Restaurant came to ￡30,000.

The source said: "They enjoyed a non-stop flow of champagne and shots and a vast Thai banquet. When the bill came, she didn't flinch."

Kate seemed relaxed and happy when she arrived back in London, telling airport staff: "I'm so burnt".
Taken From : China Daily

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Major lab discloses problem with vitamin D testing

WASHINGTON – The nation's largest medical lab company says it recently discovered and fixed a problem that led to inaccuracies in a small number of tests for vitamin D deficiency.

Quest Diagnostics of Madison, N.J., notified thousands of doctors in the fall who had ordered tests for their patients that it had found the problem and then offered free tests for patients whose results were deemed questionable, said Gary Samuels, the company's vice president for communications.

Blood tests to check levels of vitamin D are on the rise because of research showing a possible link between too little of the "sunshine vitamin" and a higher risk of cancer or heart disease.

People normally get vitamin D from exposure to the sun or from fortified milk, orange juice and cereals. It helps build strong bones. But recent research, which still is being debated, suggests it also may play a broader role in protecting against a number of diseases.

"Last year, we did have an issue in a few of our labs that affected a small minority of tests in those labs," Samuels said in an interview this week. "We identified the problem ourselves. We corrected the problem. We notified doctors and other customers and offered free retesting."

Quest, which reported more than $6 billion in sales last year, is the largest provider of medical laboratory tests in the U.S. The company has reported double-digit sales growth for its vitamin D tests in recent quarters. Quest collects medical samples from hospitals, doctors' offices and clinics for tests to diagnose medical conditions. It employs more than 43,000 people worldwide.

Dr. Wael Salameh, a senior medical official with Quest, said internal monitoring picked up hints of a problem during the summer — an "upward trend" in the vitamin D levels being registered by some of its tests.

"That tipped us off," Salameh said.

Eventually, the company flagged about 7 percent of vitamin D testing results from 2007-2008 as questionable, although it believes the problem was much smaller. Generally, the readings obtained on the questionable tests were higher than they should have been, Salameh said. In some cases, though, it was hard to discern a pattern.

Salameh said he doubted that patients would have suffered any harm from the problem. People with serious vitamin D deficiency have physical symptoms such as fractures that their doctors would have noticed. "A good doctor would question the test," Salameh said. "For the few vulnerable patients, other indicators would have flagged the situation to their physician."

Quest officials said the cause of the problem turned out to be the way some of the company's labs were mixing chemicals used in the tests. But the company also is using a new testing technology, which is the subject of sharp debate within the industry. Critics say the method tends to produce vitamin D readings that are higher than warranted.

Aetna, the insurer, said it was notified by Quest about the problem on Oct. 8.

"We did not, however, see any immediate health issues ... that would have required additional action or intervention on our part," spokeswoman Wendy Morphew said in a statement. "We have not received any significant member inquiries on this matter."
Taken From : China Daily

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Familiar face? 'Love' hormone may help - study

(China Daily) LONDON -- The "love" hormone linked to feelings of sexual pleasure, bonding and maternal care also appears to help us recognize familiar faces, Swiss researchers said on Tuesday.

Men given oxytocin -- involved in nursing and childbirth -- more accurately recalled images of familiar faces but the hormone did not help them recognize inanimate objects, Peter Klaver of the University of Zurich and colleagues said.

Their findings published in The Journal of Neuroscience suggest the hormone somehow strengthens the brain's neural networks involved in social memory and may have implications for conditions such as autism, researchers said.

"The study highlights the parallels in social information processing in mice and man, and adds further support to the notion oxytocin plays a critical role," Larry Young, an expert on oxytocin at Emory University in Atlanta, who was not involved in the study, said in a statement.

"This has important implications for disorders such as autism, where social information processing is clearly impaired."

Oxytocin was known for years to be involved in labor and it is the hormone that stimulates the production of milk for breastfeeding. Animal studies suggest it can help in bonding between mother and child and between mates.

Only in recent decades has it been found to have a function in men -- in sexual arousal and function.

Klaver and colleagues showed 44 men pictures of faces and inanimate objects that included sculptures, houses and other images. Half the volunteers received an oxytocin nasal spray and the rest got a placebo.

The researchers found that men who used the oxytocin spray more accurately recognized the faces they had seen before than did those in the placebo group. The hormone made no difference for the other pictures, Klaver said.

Further analysis also showed the hormone made it less likely for people to mistakenly characterize unfamiliar faces as familiar, the researchers said.

"It is important to understand that social recognition can be improved by such hormones," Klaver said in a telephone interview.

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Salmonella outbreak sickens 388 across U.S.

Eggs are stacked up at an egg farm in San Diego County, July 29, 2008.[Agencies]

WASHINGTON – An outbreak of salmonella food poisoning has made 388 people sick across 42 states, sending 18 percent of them to the hospital, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is trying to trace the source of the outbreak, which began in September. The Department of Agriculture, state health officials and the Food and Drug Administration are also involved.

The CDC said poultry, cheese and eggs are the most common source of this particular strain, known as Salmonella typhimurium.

"It is often difficult to identify sources of foodborne outbreaks. People may not remember the foods they recently ate and may not be aware of all of the ingredients in food. That's what makes these types of investigations very difficult," said CDC spokesman David Daigle.

Daigle did not specify how many people were hospitalized, but the percentage he gave puts that figure at about 70.

"Because foods of animal origin may be contaminated with Salmonella, people should not eat raw or undercooked eggs, poultry, or meat. Persons also should not consume raw or unpasteurized milk or other dairy products. Produce should be thoroughly washed," he said.

Only Ohio state health officials have agreed to have their state named as one of those affected, with an estimated 50 cases.

Every year, approximately 40,000 people are reported ill with salmonella in the United States, the CDC says, but it said many more cases are never reported.

There have been several recent high-profile outbreaks of foodborne illness in the United States, including a strain of Salmonella carried by peppers from Mexico and that sickened 1,400 people from April to August of 2007 and an E. coli epidemic in 2006, traced to California spinach, that killed three.

Salmonella-contaminated dry pet food sickened at least 79 people, including many young children, in October and November.

Taken From : China Daily


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Study shows grapeseed extract kills cancer cells

NaturalNews.com

recently reported on some amazing new research published in the Clinical Cancer Research journal. Researchers found that leukemia cancer cells could be killed off when exposed to grapeseed extract. The cells quickly died from apoptosis, or cell suicide. Scientists at the University of Kentucky conducted these lab studies where they were able to cause 76% of leukemia cells to “commit suicide” after the grapeseed extract was introduced.

Grapeseed extract seems to speed up the apoptosis process in leukemia cells, “helping them more rapidly assess their own flawed state so they can engage in apoptosis (cell suicide), thus protecting the larger organism (the body).” If researchers can eventually replicate these lab tests in people, “it could potentially position grapeseed extract as one of the most powerful natural chemotherapeutic agents yet discovered.”

If you want to try taking grapeseed extract for cancer prevention, it is available as a supplement. Or you can eat organic grapes with the seeds inside. As you know, most grocery stores don’t even carry seeded grapes anymore, but you need the seeds if you want the good benefits. Look for seeded grapes at a health food store and chew up the seeds before you swallow them. Check out the Natural News article for further information.

Taken From : China Daily

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