Agatha Ruiz De La Prada F/W 2009/10 women's collection in Milan Fashion Week

A model presents a creation as part of the Agatha Ruiz De La Prada Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model presents a creation as part of the Agatha Ruiz De La Prada Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model presents a creation as part of the Agatha Ruiz De La Prada Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model presents a creation as part of the Agatha Ruiz De La Prada Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model presents a creation as part of the Agatha Ruiz De La Prada Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model presents a creation as part of the Agatha Ruiz De La Prada Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model presents a creation as part of the Agatha Ruiz De La Prada Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model presents a creation as part of the Agatha Ruiz De La Prada Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model presents a creation as part of the Agatha Ruiz De La Prada Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model presents a creation as part of the Agatha Ruiz De La Prada Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

Taken From : China Daily


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A model presents a hairdo during "Splash International 2009" in Tokyo

A model presents a hairdo during "Splash International 2009" in Tokyo.[Agencies]

A model presents a hairdo during "Splash International 2009" in Tokyo.[Agencies]

A model presents a hairdo during "Splash International 2009" in Tokyo.[Agencies]

A model presents a hairdo during "Splash International 2009" in Tokyo.[Agencies]

A model presents a hairdo during "Splash International 2009" in Tokyo.[Agencies]

A model presents a hairdo during "Splash International 2009" in Tokyo.[Agencies]

Taken From : China Daily


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Tina Turner performs in London

U.S. singer Tina Turner performs at the O2 Arena in London March 3, 2009. [Agencies]

U.S. singer Tina Turner performs at the O2 Arena in London March 3, 2009. [Agencies]

U.S. singer Tina Turner performs at the O2 Arena in London March 3, 2009. [Agencies]

U.S. singer Tina Turner performs at the O2 Arena in London March 3, 2009. [Agencies]

Taken From : China Daily

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"Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience" in Westchester

Musician Nick Jonas speaks at a news conference announcing their new movie "Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience" in Westchester, New York February 28, 2009. [Agencies]

Musician Kevin Jonas speaks at a news conference announcing his new movie "Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience" in Westchester, New York February 28, 2009. [Agencies]

Musician Joe Jonas speaks at a news conference announcing his new movie "Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience" in Westchester, New York February 28, 2009. [Agencies]

Fans of the Jonas Brothers wear 3-D glasses before the Jonas Brothers appear at a theatre showing their new movie "Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience" in Westchester, New York February 28, 2009. [Agencies]

Musicians Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas (L-R) speak at a news conference announcing their new movie "Jonas Brothers: 3D Concert Experience" in Westchester, New York February 28, 2009. [Agencies]

Cast member Demi Lovato poses at the premiere of "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" at El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, California February 24, 2009. [Agencies]

Cast members (from L-R) Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas and Kevin Jonas attend the premiere of "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" at El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, California February 24, 2009. [Agencies]

Cast members (from L-R) Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas and Kevin Jonas attend the premiere of "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" at El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, California February 24, 2009. [Agencies]

Cast members (from L-R) Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas and Kevin Jonas attend the premiere of "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" at El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, California February 24, 2009. [Agencies]

Cast members (L-R) Joe Jonas, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas and Kevin Jonas pose at the premiere of "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" at El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, California February 24, 2009. [Agencies]

Taken From : China Daily



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Doodling can help memory recall: research

LONDON – Far from being a waste of time, doodling can make a boring presentation or speech easier to memorise, according to research published in Britain on Friday.

Scribbling is normally taken to signify boredom and a short attention span, but a new study at Plymouth University in southwest England has shown that doodling while listening actually helps memory recall.

Volunteers given a doodling task while listening to a dull telephone message were 29 percent better at remembering details than non-doodlers, the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology reported.

Forty participants were asked to listen to a two-and-a-half minute tape and note down the names of eight people discussing a party, as well as place names.

Half the volunteers were told to shade in shapes on a piece of paper at the same time, paying no attention to neatness.

Later all the participants were asked to recall the names of the eight party-goers and place names included in the test.

Doodlers remembered an average of 7.5 names of people and places while non-doodlers could only recall 5.8.

Professor Jackie Andrade, from the university, said: "If someone is doing a boring task, like listening to a dull telephone conversation, they may start to daydream."

"Daydreaming distracts them from the task, resulting in poorer performance. A simple task, like doodling, may be sufficient to stop daydreaming without affecting performance on the main task," he said.

"This study suggests that in everyday life doodling may be something we do because it helps to keep us on track with a boring task, rather than being an unnecessary distraction that we should try to resist doing."

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D&G F/W women's collection at Milan Fashion Week.

A model displays a creation as part of D&G Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model displays a creation as part of D&G Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model displays a creation as part of D&G Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model displays a creation as part of D&G Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model displays a creation as part of D&G Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model displays a creation as part of D&G Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model displays a creation as part of D&G Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model displays a creation as part of D&G Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

A model displays a creation as part of D&G Fall/Winter 2009/10 women's collection during Milan Fashion Week.[Agencies]

Taken From : China Daily

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Study of spit offers insight into human health

British singer Amy Winehouse spits as she performs at Glastonbury Festival in Somerset in south west England June 28, 2008. [Agencies]

LONDON - Bacteria found in people's spit does not vary much around the world, a surprising finding that could provide insights into how diet and cultural factors affect human health, researchers said Thursday.

Because the human body harbors 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells, scientists are trying to understand more about the bacteria we carry.

The human mouth is a major gateway for bacteria into the body and it contains a diverse array of microbial species. Yet scientists know little about this diversity and how it relates to diet, environment, health and disease, they added.

"We are interested in this because by studying the bacteria we can get more insights into human populations than we would get from just studying the human DNA," Mark Stoneking of the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.

In their study published in Genome Research, the team sequenced bacteria found in saliva samples taken from 120 healthy volunteers from North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.

Not surprisingly, they observed considerable diversity of bacterial life in the overall saliva microbiome, both within and between individuals.

But when comparing samples from different geographic areas they found not much variation, suggesting that bacteria within the mouth of a person's neighbor is likely to be just as different as someone on the other side of the world.

The findings could help better understand human migrations and populations as well as providing background for future studies looking at the influence of diet, cultural factors and disease on differences in saliva bacteria.

"The saliva microbiome does not vary substantially around the world," Stoneking said in a statement. "Which seems surprising given the large diversity in diet and other cultural factors that could influence the human salivary microbiome."

Taken From : China Daily

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Shoes for the new season

With the promise of spring in the air, it's about time to wave goodbye to knee-high boots, ankle skimming shoe boots and those ever-reliable Uggs.

Vowing to conquer Chinese consumers, the National Association of Italian Footwear Manufacturers chose Beijing last week to release their 2009 footwear trend report.

Square toes, crocodile skin, triple-buckles, and bohemian fringing are just some of the things you might see back in fashion this year. Shoes brought in by Italian manufactures are not going to have a plain look, with contrasting straps or heels and two-toned or multiple colors, very likely to make a splash.

Four main styles will dominate women's footwear this year - urban jungle, bio design, sport chic, and hyper deco. Urban jungle styles will come in platform and wedge heels-- in spite of stilettos returning, thick heels are always kinder to feet. Bio designs feature floral, bark, stone and fruit prints, besides embroidery and embellishments of every kind imaginable. Sport chic focuses on a luxury touch for shoes of leisure, combining leather, suede and metal. Hyper deco, as the name indicates, is all about exaggeration, with heavy embellishment, such as handmade embroidery, manmade diamond and crystal, and silver and golden patterns.

While there aren't too many changes in the designs for men, the look is definitely getting more elegant, with more Rococo patterns making an appearance. Elongated Shoes will continue to dominate the market. Oxford shoes, slip-ons and even summer boots can all be found in elongated styles.

Taken From : China Daily

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34th French film Cesar Awards ceremony held in Paris

Italian actress Monica Bellucci and her husband French actor Vincent Cassel arrive at the 34th French film Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris February 27, 2009. [Agencies]

Italian actress Monica Bellucci and her husband French actor Vincent Cassel arrive at the 34th French film Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris February 27, 2009. [Agencies]

Actor Dustin Hoffman and British actress Emma Thompson arrive to attend the 34th French film Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris February 27, 2009. [Agencies]

Actor Dustin Hoffman and British actress Emma Thompson arrive to attend the 34th French film Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris February 27, 2009. [Agencies]

U.S. actor Sean Penn (L), Belgian actress Yolande Moreau (C), winner of the best actress award for her role in "Seraphine", and French actor Vincent Cassel (R), who won the award for best actor for his role in "Mesrine" (Public Enemy Number One), attend the 34th French film Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris, February 27, 2009. [Agencies]

Belgian actress Deborah Francois poses with her Best Newcomer award for "Le premier jour du reste de ta vie" (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life) during the 34th French film Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris February 27, 2009. [Agencies]

Best actor winner Vincent Cassel (L) and best director winner Jean-Francois Richet pose with their award for "Mesrine" (Public Enemy Number One) during the 34th French film Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris February 27, 2009. [Agencies]

French comedian Julie Ferrier (R) presents the award for best short film to French director Pierre Pinaud for "Les Miettes" at the Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris, February 27, 2009. [Agencies]

Belgian actress Yolande Moreau poses with her award for best actress for "Seraphine" during the 34th French film Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris February 27, 2009. [Agencies]

Belgian actress Deborah Francois receives the award for best female newcomer for her role in "Le premier jour du reste de ta vie" (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life) at the 34th French film Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris, February 27, 2009. [Agencies]

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