Boys' And Girls' Brains Are Different

For the first time -- and in unambiguous findings -- researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Haifa show both that areas of the brain associated with language work harder in girls than in boys during language tasks, and that boys and girls rely on different parts of the brain when performing these tasks.

"Our findings -- which suggest that language processing is more sensory in boys and more abstract in girls -- could have major implications for teaching children and even provide support for advocates of single sex classrooms," said Douglas D. Burman, research associate in Northwestern's Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers measured brain activity in 31 boys and in 31 girls aged 9 to 15 as they performed spelling and writing language tasks.

The tasks were delivered in two sensory modalities -- visual and auditory. When visually presented, the children read certain words without hearing them. Presented in an auditory mode, they heard words aloud but did not see them.

Using a complex statistical model, the researchers accounted for differences associated with age, gender, type of linguistic judgment, performance accuracy and the method -- written or spoken -- in which words were presented.

The researchers found that girls still showed significantly greater activation in language areas of the brain than boys. The information in the tasks got through to girls' language areas of the brain -- areas associated with abstract thinking through language. And their performance accuracy correlated with the degree of activation in some of these language areas.

To their astonishment, however, this was not at all the case for boys. In boys, accurate performance depended -- when reading words -- on how hard visual areas of the brain worked. In hearing words, boys' performance depended on how hard auditory areas of the brain worked.

If that pattern extends to language processing that occurs in the classroom, it could inform teaching and testing methods.

Given boys' sensory approach, boys might be more effectively evaluated on knowledge gained from lectures via oral tests and on knowledge gained by reading via written tests. For girls, whose language processing appears more abstract in approach, these different testing methods would appear unnecessary.

"One possibility is that boys have some kind of bottleneck in their sensory processes that can hold up visual or auditory information and keep it from being fed into the language areas of the brain," Burman said. This could result simply from girls developing faster than boys, in which case the differences between the sexes might disappear by adulthood.

Or, an alternative explanation is that boys create visual and auditory associations such that meanings associated with a word are brought to mind simply from seeing or hearing the word.

While the second explanation puts males at a disadvantage in more abstract language function, those kinds of sensory associations may have provided an evolutionary advantage for primitive men whose survival required them to quickly recognize danger-associated sights and sounds.

If the pattern of females relying on an abstract language network and of males relying on sensory areas of the brain extends into adulthood -- a still unresolved question -- it could explain why women often provide more context and abstract representation than men.

Ask a woman for directions and you may hear something like: "Turn left on Main Street, go one block past the drug store, and then turn right, where there's a flower shop on one corner and a cafe across the street."

Such information-laden directions may be helpful for women because all information is relevant to the abstract concept of where to turn; however, men may require only one cue and be distracted by additional information.

Are You What You Eat?

The study uses a branch of mathematics called dynamical systems theory to demonstrate that a class of model equations has an infinite number of body weight solutions, even if the food intake and energy expenditure rates are identical. However, the work also shows that another class of models directly refutes this, predicting that food intake and energy expenditure rates uniquely determine body weight. Existing data are insufficient to tell which is closer to reality, since both models can make the same predictions for a given alteration of food intake or energy expenditure.

Given the ongoing obesity epidemic, Drs. Chow and Hall are interested in what factors determine human body weight and its stability. Of particular importance is whether a treatment for obesity would have to be administered repeatedly over a lifetime or could be given only until a target body weight is reached. As a particular example, the study considers whether weight lost from a liposuction procedure is permanent. For the class of equations with an infinite number of body weight solutions, fat removal through liposuction could lead to permanent results. However, the opposing models predict that the body would eventually return to its original weight.

Chow and Hall note that neither class of models accounts for the many variables affecting how much a person tends to eat, an important factor determining bodyweight. Nevertheless, for any food intake rate this latest research suggests that an individual may have an infinite number of possible body weights. The study outlines the mathematical conditions underlying this possibility and suggests how future experiments could determine if it is true.

Early Living Together, Marriage, Parenting Benefits Some Young Adults

"In industrial countries, young people age 18 to 25 are expected to explore their identity, work and love by delaying marriage and parenthood," says lead author Alan Booth, distinguished professor of sociology, human development and demography. "It is believed that those individuals who fail to postpone these family transitions miss out on better career opportunities, make poor choices on partners, and may experience problems.

"However, our research has shown that early family choices may be a productive option for many young adults, especially those who are disadvantaged with respect to family income, parental education and structure, mother-child relationship, verbal ability, school attachment and delinquent behavior," he notes.

Booth, Elisa Rustenbach, graduate student in sociology, and Susan McHale, professor of human development and family studies, examined the family and personal characteristics of more than 8,000 young adults who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Half of the sample made an early family transition and half did not over a five-year period.

The researchers compared the depressive symptoms of those who made a transition with those who did not, and found very few differences in depressive symptoms between the two groups.

"The only exception was women who experienced a breakup of their live-in relationship. They were more likely to see an increase in depression compared to women who did not break up with the live-in partner or did not make a transition," Booth notes. Only 14 percent of those who made a transition were in this category.

The researchers selected depressive symptoms as a measure of wellbeing because they are associated with many types of adversity such as poor physical health, unemployment and harsh family relationships, and apply to males and females and people of all ages.

"The findings are even more remarkable when we take into account that young adults who transitioned into early families were more likely to come from low-income families, had parents with lower levels of education and likely lived in a household with one or no biological parents," Booth says.

In low-income families, teens may experience a divisive home environment and parents with poor parenting skills. Leaving to live together, marry or have children may provide an opportunity to escape from an unloving home and create a more positive family, according to the study.

The difference between men and women on early family transitions and protective family factors requires more study, however, he adds.

"Most research on emerging adulthood has been on college students," Booth notes. "Our study highlights the importance of study early family transitions in context, in light of the range of opportunities open to a person. Post-high school experiences of young adults are more diverse than popular belief, and early co-habitation or marriage and parenting may be productive for many young people, at least over the short haul."

The team's findings were published in the February issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family, and the research also will be presented April 17 at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America.

The study received support from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Frenemies .... Friends Or Enemies

This thought crossed my mind while thinking of my friends.As like everyone i do have friends,some are very close and some are just reaching there.Recently i have started sharing a very different kind of relation with them.I m no more convinced by their thoughts and vision about different aspects of life and hence often run into arguments.That offcourse cause a timely bitterness in our relationships but in due time it gets faded away.The good part of it is now I m able to freely express my views and feelings without having to bother if I m hurting anyone.Is it correct !

Now it depends upon how one takes it.Arguments with your close ones,when happen in a controlled fashion can give a better prospect to any subject or matter of discussion.It also mean that we get various angles to view before reaching any decision and confirms that we are not unianimous.On the contrary,egoish and uncontrolled arguments can trully pit holes in a good relation.As friends are aware of our personal and internal fronts,on getting maniac on a heated discussion can bring heartburn.Thats I m really afraid off.Freedom and self dependence is guaranteed on better and non selfish arguments.Its also helps us to grow personally and think in a diverse and flat world.So we can also have friends which may dislike some or all(nah) of our aspects !

Good for us !

Liposuction

Liposuction is a popular operation in cosmetic surgery which removes fat from many site on the human body via a cannula and aspirator.Liposuction, also known as lipoplasty ("fat modeling"), liposculpture or suction lipectomy ("suction-assisted fat removal") is a cosmetic surgery operation that removes fat from many different sites on the human body. Areas affected can range from the abdomen, thighs, buttocks, to the neck, backs of the arms and elsewhere. The fat is usually removed via a cannula (a hollow tube) and aspirator (a suction device).

Liposuction is not a low-effort alternative to exercise and diet. It is a form of body contouring with significant attendant risks[1] and is not a weight loss method. The amount of fat removed varies by doctor, method, and patient, but is typically less than 10 pounds (5 kg).

There are several factors that limit the amount of fat that can be safely removed in one session. Ultimately, the operating physician and the patient make the decision. There are negative aspects to removing too much fat. Unusual "lumpiness" and/or "dents" in the skin can be seen in those patients "over-suctioned". The more fat removed the higher the surgical risk.

While reports of people removing 50 pounds (22.7 kg) of fat are exaggerated, the contouring possible with liposuction may cause the appearance of weight loss to be greater than the actual amount of fat removed. The procedure may be performed under general or local ("tumescent") anesthesia. The safety of the technique relates not only to the amount of tissue removed, but to the choice of anesthetic and the patient's overall health. It is ideal for the patient to be as fit as possible before the procedure and to have given up smoking for several months.

One In Four Teenage Girls Has Sexually Transmitted Disease

A new CDC study estimates that one in four (26 percent) young women between the ages of 14 and 19 is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes simplex virus, and trichomoniasis). The study, presented today at the 2008 National STD Prevention Conference, is the first to examine the combined national prevalence of common STDs
among adolescent women provides the clearest picture to date of the overall STD burden in adolescent women.

the study also finds that African-American teenage girls were most severely affected. Nearly half of the young African-American women (48 percent) were infected with an STD, compared to 20 percent of young white women.

The two most common STDs overall were human papillomavirus, or HPV (18 percent), and chlamydia (4 percent). Data were based on an analysis of the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

“Today’s data demonstrate the significant health risk STDs pose to millions of young women in this country every year,” said Kevin Fenton, M.D., director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. “Given that the health effects of STDs for women – from infertility to cervical cancer – are particularly severe, STD screening, vaccination and other prevention strategies for sexually active women are among our highest public health priorities.”

“High STD infection rates among young women, particularly young African-American women, are clear signs that we must continue developing ways to reach those most at risk,” said John M. Douglas, Jr., M.D., director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention. “STD screening and early treatment can prevent some of the most devastating effects of untreated STDs.”

CDC recommends annual chlamydia screening for sexually active women under the age of 25. CDC also recommends that girls and women between the ages of 11 and 26 who have not been vaccinated or who have not completed the full series of shots be fully vaccinated against HPV.

The study of STDs among teenage girls is one of several presented March 11 at the 2008 National STD Prevention Conference that highlights the significant burden of STDs among girls and women, and identifies creative prevention strategies for reducing the toll of STDs in the United States.

Two other studies featured at the conference point to missed opportunities for STD testing, and underscore that it is critical for STD screening to be included in comprehensive reproductive health services for young women.

A study by CDC’s Sherry L. Farr and colleagues found that while the majority of sexually active 15- to-24 year-old young women (82 percent) receive contraceptive or STD/HIV services, few receive both (39 percent). In addition, only 38 percent of a subset of young women who reported receiving contraceptive services associated with unprotected sex (e.g., pregnancy testing) also received STD/HIV counseling, testing or treatment, which indicates that many women at high risk are not receiving necessary prevention services.

A separate study, by CDC’s Shoshanna Handel and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, examined STD screening rates among young women seeking emergency contraception, which would suggest recent unprotected sex. The study found that just 27 percent were screened for chlamydia or gonorrhea. A significant proportion of those women (12 percent) had a positive test result, highlighting the need for routine chlamydia and gonorrhea screening at emergency contraception visits.

Horoscope 13 March

Aries

Today to business connected to money questions will be solved so easily that it would be possible to find them insignificant. However they are not those and it is not worth to neglect them.


Taurus

Try today to influence on the actions of the people, who are around you, in those ways, for they would be based on real knowledge, instead of hard demonstrable assumptions. It is in the interests of yours.

Gemini

Today somebody may afflict you very much. If you would be all fingers and thumbs because of frustration simply sit quietly and wait for good news.
Cancer

If your watch would become slow, check up, may be you would find a dead cockroach inside. Try to not enter the conflicts to home animals, otherwise you risk to be scratched.

Leo

Today an amusing mistake can happen - you will be taken for someone another. So it is not necessary to be perplexed, if the man, completely unfamiliar to you, would suddenly tap you on the shoulder and inquire about the health of your favorite dachshund.

Virgo

Today you should be more careful dealing with money. There is great probability of large, but stupid expenditure.

Libra

Today the questions of personal character will be priority for you everything else can wait. If someone would tell to you something in this occasion, that would be only the words of approval and support.

Scorpio

Today you will find recently slightly weakened reliance of yourselves again. The situation will begin to vary and, strangely enough, in the best way.

Sagittarius

Today, no less than following some days, it is better to devote to adaptation to circumstances, rather than to attempts to change them.

Capricorn

You, probably, make a mistake trying to constrict the area of your activity. Neither you, nor your imagination are able to enter so narrow frameworks.

Aquarius

The sole islet of calmness in this abnormal world today will be you in person. Somebody, probably, will even accuse you of inadequate perception of the reality.

Pisces

You are inclined to look for the justification to yourself, though nobody accuse you. Be cautious today, for you can take a great interest in this searches.

Arz Hai

Jab kabhi ghutne laga seene meiN dam, pee hai sharaab,
Zabt kii had se barhe jab ranj-o-gham, pee hai sharaab,
Mujh pe ilzaam-e-balanoshi sarasar hai ghalat,
Jis qadar aansoo piye haiN, usse kum pee hai sharaab.

[Author: Indrajit Jha]

Getting To The Roots Of Hair Loss

After six years of research they have succeeded in identifying a gene that is responsible for a rare hereditary form of hair loss known as Hypotrichosis simplex. The scientists are the first to identify a receptor that plays a role in hair growth. They now hope that their research findings will lead to new therapies that will work with various forms of hair loss.

"Although Hypotrichosis simplex is very uncommon, it may prove critical in our search for an understand of the mechanisms of hair growth," says project leader Dr. Regina Betz from Bonn's Institute of Human Genetics, summing up the research results. The disease is inherited and affects both men and women. Sufferers generally begin to go bald during childhood. The process of hair loss (alopecia) then advances with age, especially around the scalp.

The cause of Hypotrichosis simplex in the form examined in this project is a genetic defect. It prevents certain receptor structures on the surface of hair follicle cells from being correctly formed. It has been found that when messengers from outside bind to these receptors they trigger a chain reaction in the cell interior which is apparently needed for the hair follicle to function normally. Such a receptor that plays a specific role in hair growth was previously unknown to scientists.

Key to new drugs to combat hair loss.

As Professor Dr. Markus Nöthen, who holds the Chair of Genetic Medicine at Bonn University's Life & Brain Centre, explains, "The defective receptor structure falls into the category of what are known as G-protein-coupled receptors." This is good news, because, "they are particularly well suited as points of impact for drug treatments." The researchers have also been able to identify an endogenous messenger that binds in the hair follicle to the receptor.

This opens up opportunities for developing new active agents. Looking to the future, Professor Dr. Ivar von Kügelgen from Bonn's Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology says, "We can now search selectively for related substances that may be used in therapies for hair loss." The exciting possibility here is that such medicines will be able to benefit patients suffering from very different types of hair loss.

Another member of the project team has been the dermatologist Dr. Khalid Al Aboud from the King Faisal Hospital in Makkah, who was responsible for the clinical case studies. In 2002, he and his colleagues examined a Saudi-Arabian family with Hypotrichosis simplex. The medical scientists were able to analyse DNA samples from the parents and from nine of their ten children including four sufferers.

The family's genetic material gave the research project team the key to understanding some of the fundamental mechanisms of hair growth and hair loss. The researchers now hope that this individual genetic case will lead to developments that can benefit a far wider circle of patients in the future.

The study is due to appear in the March edition of "Nature Genetics".

Horoscope 4 March

Aries

Today special attention should be paid on fine technical details. Let others accept the global decisions.

Taurus

Try to avoid too expressive statements, especially with a bombastic shade. However it does not mean, that any your conversation should be adjusted with the help of an equalizer.

Gemini

Try today to treat yourself as careful as possible. Nobody but you can take care for your health, while thoughtlessness in this question can be too expensive.

Cancer

You need to improve your mood urgently. Undertake any task that does not require a lot of time and energy. Having ended it you would feel yourself more reliant.

Leo

Today everything around you will be a little foggy. Having no opportunity to make to a clear picture of occurring, it is better not to risk, daring on active actions. This day is better to spend in blissful idleness.

Virgo

Today you will solve questions of the financial kind unexpectedly easily. Look after your tongue - its excessive speed can draw large troubles upon you.

Libra

Today you may be under supervision. Try not to make anything that could compromise you.

Scorpio

Today your opportunities will be rather great, but you won't see them and won't be able to take advantage of them until you will manage to get rid of influence of the nearest environment. The best remedy in similar cases is the distance.

Sagittarius

Today the people having temperament of iceberg will feel themselves in the best way. Don't get excited. Try to pay smaller attention to the words and actions of environmental.

Capricorn

The today's events should be considered very seriously, even if they cause your uncontrollable laughter. You feel their consequences soon.

Aquarius

If you would only wish to you could pass through the walls, the only necessary condition is to see the purpose and to trust yourself. Today nothing can become a barrier between you and the object of your aspirations.

Pisces

You can not achieve support till you will force the people to believe in your abilities. Devote yourself to this purpose, this is rather bothersome work and you will spend all the day on it.