Scientists have for the first time created a functional human liver
from stem cells derived from skin and blood and say their success points
to a future where much-needed livers and other transplant organs could
be made in a laboratory.
While it may take another 10 years before lab-grown livers could be
used to treat patients, the Japanese scientists say they now have
important proof of concept that paves the way for more ambitious
organ-growing experiments.
"The promise of an off-the-shelf liver seems much closer than one
could hope even a year ago," said Dusko Illic, a stem cell expert at
King's College London who was not directly involved in the research but
praised its success.
He said however that while the technique looks "very promising" and
represents a huge step forward, "there is much unknown and it will take
years before it could be applied in regenerative medicine."
Researchers around the world have been studying stem cells from
various sources for more than a decade, hoping to capitalize on their
ability to transform into a wide variety of other kinds of cell to treat
a range of health conditions.
There are two main forms of stem cells - embryonic stem cells, which
are harvested from embryos, and reprogrammed "induced pluripotent stem
cells" (iPS cells), often taken from skin or blood.
Countries across the world have a critical shortage of donor organs
for treating patients with liver, kidney, heart and other organ failure.
Scientists are keenly aware of the need to find other ways of obtaining
organs for transplant.
The Japanese team, based at the Yokohama City University Graduate
School of Medicine in Japan, used iPS cells to make three different cell
types that would normally combine in the natural formation of a human
liver in a developing embryo - hepatic endoderm cells, mesenchymal stem
cells and endothelial cells - and mixed them together to see if they
would grow.
They found the cells did grow and began to form three-dimensional
structures called "liver buds" - a collection of liver cells with the
potential to develop into a full organ.
When they transplanted them into mice, the researchers found the
human liver buds matured, the human blood vessels connected to the mouse
host's blood vessels and they began to perform many of the functions of
mature human liver cells.
"To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating the
generation of a functional human organ from pluripotent stem cells," the
researchers wrote in the journal Nature.
Malcolm Allison, a stem cell expert at Queen Mary University of
London, who was not involved in the research, said the study's results
offered "the distinct possibility of being able to create mini livers
from the skin cells of a patient dying of liver failure" and transplant
them to boost the failing organ.
Takanori Takebe, who led the study, told a teleconference he was so
encouraged by the success of this work that he plans similar research on
other organs such as the pancreas and lungs.
A team of American researchers said in April they had created a rat
kidney in a lab that was able to function like a natural one, but their
method used a "scaffold" structure from a kidney to build a new organ.
And in May last year, British researchers said they had turned skin
cells into beating heart tissue that might one day be able to be used to
treat heart failure.
That livers and other organs may one day be made from iPS cells is
an "exciting" prospect, said Matthew Smalley of Cardiff University's
European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute.
"(This) study holds out real promise for a viable alternative approach to human organ transplants," he said.
Chris Mason, a regenerative medicine expert at University College
London said the greatest impact of iPS cell-liver buds might be in their
use in improving drug development.
"Presently to study the metabolism and toxicology of potential new
drugs, human cadaveric liver cells are used, " he said. "Unfortunately
these are only available in very limited quantities".
The suggestion from this new study is that mice transplanted with
human iPS cell-liver buds might be used to test new drugs to see how the
human liver would cope with them and whether they might have
side-effects such as liver toxicity.
Thursday, 4 July 2013
Nigeria to sign off on $3 billion in Chinese loans
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan will travel to China next week
to sign off on $3 billion in Chinese loans to build infrastructure in
Africa's most populous country, the finance minister said on Wednesday.
The agreed loans will come from the Chinese government and will be based on interest rates of less than 3 percent over a 15-20 year period, Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said.
The deal underscores increasing Chinese interest in Africa and its resources - Nigeria is the continent's top oil producer - in competition with Western powers.
Okonjo-Iweala estimates Nigeria needs $10 billion a year of investment to improve infrastructure like roads and electricity to keep up with a rapidly growing population, already some 170 million, and to sustain economic growth at around 6-7 percent.
U.S. President Barack Obama launched a $7 billion initiative on Sunday to help Africa with electricity shortages but this is dwarfed by the $20 million in loans China has promised the continent. Obama did not visit Nigeria.
"We know that China fuelled its growth by really keeping one step ahead in terms of infrastructure ... we need roads, we need power, we need help on aviation, agriculture," Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters at the presidential villa in the capital.
China has made a string of cheap loans in the past few years to countries in Africa, a continent which supplies oil and raw materials like copper and uranium to the world's most populous country and second-largest economy.
The loans to Nigeria include $500 million to build airport terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano; and over $700 million to build a hydroelectric power plant in Niger State.
It also includes $600 million to build a light railway in the capital Abuja, most of which has already been invested on a project due to be completed early next year.
Lending at below market rates to fund infrastructure projects using Chinese firms has enabled Beijing to cement relationships in Africa while subsidising its construction industry.
Nigeria's central bank governor Lamido Sanusi warned African governments in March that China's pursuit of raw materials and markets for its manufactured goods on the continent carried "a whiff of colonialism" similar to that introduced by Europeans in centuries past.
"I'm not of the school that says 'look this is colonialism' ... We should be open to whoever wants to invest and help us finance our needs," Okonjo-Iweala said.
The loans are part of a $7.9 billion external borrowing plan approved by Nigeria's national assembly last year as government seeks to up cheaper external borrowing and limit domestic debt.
Okonjo-Iweala said the delegation travelling to China on July 7 would also be discussing China's interest in oil from Nigeria, an OPEC member and Africa's top producer.
"They want more oil and gas ... we have something they want now and they have something we want, so you have grounds for negotiations," Okonjo-Iweala said.
With the discovery of shale oil and gas in the United States, Nigeria is losing its biggest customer and looking for new buyers. India has been increasing its imports from Nigeria.
The agreed loans will come from the Chinese government and will be based on interest rates of less than 3 percent over a 15-20 year period, Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said.
The deal underscores increasing Chinese interest in Africa and its resources - Nigeria is the continent's top oil producer - in competition with Western powers.
Okonjo-Iweala estimates Nigeria needs $10 billion a year of investment to improve infrastructure like roads and electricity to keep up with a rapidly growing population, already some 170 million, and to sustain economic growth at around 6-7 percent.
U.S. President Barack Obama launched a $7 billion initiative on Sunday to help Africa with electricity shortages but this is dwarfed by the $20 million in loans China has promised the continent. Obama did not visit Nigeria.
"We know that China fuelled its growth by really keeping one step ahead in terms of infrastructure ... we need roads, we need power, we need help on aviation, agriculture," Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters at the presidential villa in the capital.
China has made a string of cheap loans in the past few years to countries in Africa, a continent which supplies oil and raw materials like copper and uranium to the world's most populous country and second-largest economy.
The loans to Nigeria include $500 million to build airport terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano; and over $700 million to build a hydroelectric power plant in Niger State.
It also includes $600 million to build a light railway in the capital Abuja, most of which has already been invested on a project due to be completed early next year.
Lending at below market rates to fund infrastructure projects using Chinese firms has enabled Beijing to cement relationships in Africa while subsidising its construction industry.
Nigeria's central bank governor Lamido Sanusi warned African governments in March that China's pursuit of raw materials and markets for its manufactured goods on the continent carried "a whiff of colonialism" similar to that introduced by Europeans in centuries past.
"I'm not of the school that says 'look this is colonialism' ... We should be open to whoever wants to invest and help us finance our needs," Okonjo-Iweala said.
The loans are part of a $7.9 billion external borrowing plan approved by Nigeria's national assembly last year as government seeks to up cheaper external borrowing and limit domestic debt.
Okonjo-Iweala said the delegation travelling to China on July 7 would also be discussing China's interest in oil from Nigeria, an OPEC member and Africa's top producer.
"They want more oil and gas ... we have something they want now and they have something we want, so you have grounds for negotiations," Okonjo-Iweala said.
With the discovery of shale oil and gas in the United States, Nigeria is losing its biggest customer and looking for new buyers. India has been increasing its imports from Nigeria.
With Egypt's Morsi ousted and Islamists arrested, what next?
In Egypt, top Muslim Brotherhood leaders have been arrested and Islamist television channels raided hours after Egypt's military ousted elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
The head of Egypt's armed forces, Abdel Fattah El Sisi, announced on state television this evening that Egypt's constitution was suspended, a new civilian government would be installed, and early elections would be held. Mr. Morsi had “failed to meet the demands of the people,” said Gen. Sisi. Surrounded by religious and political leaders who agreed to the military's plan for transition, Sisi said the head of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court will act as head of state, and a technocratic government will rule until new presidential and parliamentary elections are held.
The military's ouster of Egypt's first freely elected president came after millions of Egyptians protested around the country and demanded Morsi's resignation. After the military's announcement, masses of people took to the streets of Cairo to celebrate wildly, paralyzing traffic as they waved flags, beat drums, and even danced in the street.
A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood said Saad el Katatni, the leader of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, and Rashad Bayoumi, a deputy head of the Brotherhood, were detained tonight, and that Brotherhood leaders had been place on a list banning them from leaving Egypt. The president is under house arrest, he said.
Hours after the military's announcement, security forces raided the offices of Al Jazeera's Egyptian television channel, which is seen by many Egyptians as pro-Brotherhood. The security forces detained staff from the channel and also detained staff at Islamist television channels.
The military's move sends Egypt back to the beginning of a transition period, erasing the elections that were held and the Constitution that was written in the past two and a half years since a mass uprising toppled former President Hosni Mubarak. It comes just one year after Morsi took office as Egypt's first freely elected president. After his election by a razor thin margin he alienated many Egyptians when he sidelined the opposition and issued a decree immunizing himself from judicial challenge, using that power to bring a quickly-written and controversial constitution to a vote and to appoint a controversial new prosecutor general.
Many Egyptians who came out to protest decried what they said was his authoritarian behavior, and they complained that he seemed to be more concerned with the Brotherhood than with the nation. Many Egyptians were also frustrated that he had failed to solve the many crises he inherited, like rising prices, gas shortages, and electricity cuts.
But Morsi's supporters call the military intervention a coup that has derailed Egypt's democratic transition. In a statement on Morsi's official Facebook page, he rejected what he called a military coup.
Yet many Egyptians joyously celebrated the announcement. Huge crowds gathered in Tahrir Square and around the presidential palace broke into jubilant cheers when they heard the news, and fireworks flashed above the capital's skies for hours. Parents brought their children into the street to witness a historic day. The streets of the capital, which were largely deserted the past few days outside the major protest areas, turned into scenes of raucous parties.
But at the mosque where Morsi's supporters were gathered since Friday, the crowd broke into angry chants against military rule when they heard the military's announcement. The normally loud protest fell to almost complete silence as groups huddled tightly around radios to hear the announcement. As soon as they heard that Morsi was no longer president, they broke into angry chants of “down with military rule!”
Shortly after, the crack of gunfire sounded nearby and protesters dove to the ground in panic. As he crouched behind a car for cover, Morsi supporter Mohamed Amin said he would not give up his fight for Morsi's right to office. "We will return Morsi by force. We will not allow the military to return," he yelled as gunshots echoed in the square.
The head of Egypt's armed forces, Abdel Fattah El Sisi, announced on state television this evening that Egypt's constitution was suspended, a new civilian government would be installed, and early elections would be held. Mr. Morsi had “failed to meet the demands of the people,” said Gen. Sisi. Surrounded by religious and political leaders who agreed to the military's plan for transition, Sisi said the head of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court will act as head of state, and a technocratic government will rule until new presidential and parliamentary elections are held.
The military's ouster of Egypt's first freely elected president came after millions of Egyptians protested around the country and demanded Morsi's resignation. After the military's announcement, masses of people took to the streets of Cairo to celebrate wildly, paralyzing traffic as they waved flags, beat drums, and even danced in the street.
RECOMMENDED:
Egypt Grapples with an Uncertain Future
Despite the widespread support for the military's removal of Morsi,
the arrests and closures of Islamist television stations send a worrying
signal about the military's plans for the previously banned and
repressed Muslim Brotherhood, and for the state of human rights in the
coming period.A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood said Saad el Katatni, the leader of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, and Rashad Bayoumi, a deputy head of the Brotherhood, were detained tonight, and that Brotherhood leaders had been place on a list banning them from leaving Egypt. The president is under house arrest, he said.
Hours after the military's announcement, security forces raided the offices of Al Jazeera's Egyptian television channel, which is seen by many Egyptians as pro-Brotherhood. The security forces detained staff from the channel and also detained staff at Islamist television channels.
The military's move sends Egypt back to the beginning of a transition period, erasing the elections that were held and the Constitution that was written in the past two and a half years since a mass uprising toppled former President Hosni Mubarak. It comes just one year after Morsi took office as Egypt's first freely elected president. After his election by a razor thin margin he alienated many Egyptians when he sidelined the opposition and issued a decree immunizing himself from judicial challenge, using that power to bring a quickly-written and controversial constitution to a vote and to appoint a controversial new prosecutor general.
Many Egyptians who came out to protest decried what they said was his authoritarian behavior, and they complained that he seemed to be more concerned with the Brotherhood than with the nation. Many Egyptians were also frustrated that he had failed to solve the many crises he inherited, like rising prices, gas shortages, and electricity cuts.
But Morsi's supporters call the military intervention a coup that has derailed Egypt's democratic transition. In a statement on Morsi's official Facebook page, he rejected what he called a military coup.
Yet many Egyptians joyously celebrated the announcement. Huge crowds gathered in Tahrir Square and around the presidential palace broke into jubilant cheers when they heard the news, and fireworks flashed above the capital's skies for hours. Parents brought their children into the street to witness a historic day. The streets of the capital, which were largely deserted the past few days outside the major protest areas, turned into scenes of raucous parties.
But at the mosque where Morsi's supporters were gathered since Friday, the crowd broke into angry chants against military rule when they heard the military's announcement. The normally loud protest fell to almost complete silence as groups huddled tightly around radios to hear the announcement. As soon as they heard that Morsi was no longer president, they broke into angry chants of “down with military rule!”
Shortly after, the crack of gunfire sounded nearby and protesters dove to the ground in panic. As he crouched behind a car for cover, Morsi supporter Mohamed Amin said he would not give up his fight for Morsi's right to office. "We will return Morsi by force. We will not allow the military to return," he yelled as gunshots echoed in the square.
Chechen rebel calls for attacks on Sochi Games
A leading Chechen rebel on Wednesday called on Islamist militants in
Russia's North Caucasus to disrupt the upcoming Winter Games in the
Black Sea resort of Sochi, reversing his previous appeal not to target
civilians in the region.
Sochi is hosting the Winter Olympics in February in what has been described as President Vladimir Putin's pet project. The overall bill for the games stands at $51 billion, making them by far the most expensive Olympics in history.
Doku Umarov, a widely known Chechen rebel leader, urged his men to "do their utmost to derail" the games which he described as "satanic dances on the bones of our ancestors."
"We have the obligation to use all means to prevent this," he said in a video published on a rebel website on Wednesday.
Umarov last year urged his men to avoid hitting civilian targets because Russians in Moscow were taking to the streets en masse to protest against Putin.
Analysts have said the Islamic insurgency raging across the North Caucasus mountains that tower over Sochi is a daunting threat to the games — although rebels have not attacked Sochi so far.
Dagestan, which lies about 500 kilometers (300 miles) east of Sochi, has become the center of the insurgency that spread across the North Caucasus region after two separatist wars in the 1990s in neighboring Chechnya. Rebels seeking to carve out a caliphate, or Islamic state, have targeted police and other officials in near-daily shootings and bombings. Umarov is believed to be their most influential leader at the moment.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder of the two ethnic Chechen brothers from Russia who are accused of staging the Boston bombings, spent six months last year in Dagestan.
The Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee said in an emailed comment that ensuring security at the games is "the responsibility of the state" and will be its priority.
"We are confident that the games will be safe and comfortable for all as guaranteed by the Russian state," the committee said.
Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement on Wednesday that they are working to eliminate threats at all international sporting events in the country including the Olympics. Officials said that they aim "to identify and avert various threats, including those of terrorism".
Officials at the International Olympic Committee voiced confidence in the Russian security precautions.
"We have no doubt that the Russians will be up to the task and we continue to have full confidence in them," IOC spokesman Mark Adams told The Associated Press.
Press officers for the Interior Ministry in Russia's Southern District which includes the North Caucasus declined to comment.
An officer of the Interior Ministry's special task force in the North Caucasus, who asked not to be identified because he was not allowed to comment publicly, told The Associated Press that Umarov's statement could prompt Russians to step up their efforts to comb the mountainous areas where Umarov could be hiding.
The United States declared Umarov's group a terrorist organization in 2011 and offered up to $5 million for information leading to his capture.
Umarov's group is blamed for bombing a Moscow airport in January 2011, two subway stations in 2010 and a Russian train in 2009.
___
Sochi is hosting the Winter Olympics in February in what has been described as President Vladimir Putin's pet project. The overall bill for the games stands at $51 billion, making them by far the most expensive Olympics in history.
Doku Umarov, a widely known Chechen rebel leader, urged his men to "do their utmost to derail" the games which he described as "satanic dances on the bones of our ancestors."
"We have the obligation to use all means to prevent this," he said in a video published on a rebel website on Wednesday.
Umarov last year urged his men to avoid hitting civilian targets because Russians in Moscow were taking to the streets en masse to protest against Putin.
Analysts have said the Islamic insurgency raging across the North Caucasus mountains that tower over Sochi is a daunting threat to the games — although rebels have not attacked Sochi so far.
Dagestan, which lies about 500 kilometers (300 miles) east of Sochi, has become the center of the insurgency that spread across the North Caucasus region after two separatist wars in the 1990s in neighboring Chechnya. Rebels seeking to carve out a caliphate, or Islamic state, have targeted police and other officials in near-daily shootings and bombings. Umarov is believed to be their most influential leader at the moment.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder of the two ethnic Chechen brothers from Russia who are accused of staging the Boston bombings, spent six months last year in Dagestan.
The Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee said in an emailed comment that ensuring security at the games is "the responsibility of the state" and will be its priority.
"We are confident that the games will be safe and comfortable for all as guaranteed by the Russian state," the committee said.
Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement on Wednesday that they are working to eliminate threats at all international sporting events in the country including the Olympics. Officials said that they aim "to identify and avert various threats, including those of terrorism".
Officials at the International Olympic Committee voiced confidence in the Russian security precautions.
"We have no doubt that the Russians will be up to the task and we continue to have full confidence in them," IOC spokesman Mark Adams told The Associated Press.
Press officers for the Interior Ministry in Russia's Southern District which includes the North Caucasus declined to comment.
An officer of the Interior Ministry's special task force in the North Caucasus, who asked not to be identified because he was not allowed to comment publicly, told The Associated Press that Umarov's statement could prompt Russians to step up their efforts to comb the mountainous areas where Umarov could be hiding.
The United States declared Umarov's group a terrorist organization in 2011 and offered up to $5 million for information leading to his capture.
Umarov's group is blamed for bombing a Moscow airport in January 2011, two subway stations in 2010 and a Russian train in 2009.
___
Why Iran looks set to lighten up under Rohani
President-elect Hassan Rohani is saying all the right things to the
50.71 percent of Iranians who voted for change in mid-June elections: He
promised again today to ease censorship and social and Internet
restrictions, and to restore “mutual trust” between the people and
clergy.
“A strong government does not mean a government that interferes and intervenes in all affairs [and] that limits the lives of the people,” Mr. Rohani told fellow clerics in Tehran.
Rohani said it was “not possible” to attract Iran’s young society with “harsh views,” nor with state television that broadcasts a panda birth in China but ignores protests by unpaid workers. The speech comes after Rohani also vowed to correct the “imbalanced” application of Iran’s Constitution in an interview with a youth magazine.
“The freedom and rights of people have been ignored but those of the rulers have been emphasized,” Rohani told the weekly, Chelcheragh. “Restricting [people’s right] to criticize will only stifle and lead to inefficiency.”
But even as the centrist politician seeks to reassure moderates in Iran, what of the conservative “principlist” and hardline factions that were defeated by Rohani’s shock first-round win?
Still stunned by the defeat of their own five candidates, they are licking their wounds, and warning that Rohani’s new cabinet should not include “seditious” members of the opposition 2009 Green Movement, which would invite chaos and a violent response.
There has been a swift reaction to these warnings, however, evidence that Iran’s post-election debate is signaling a new moderation from both the left and the right. Indeed, while Rohani speaks of civil liberties and “more transparency” in nuclear talks, he also has clear public support from the most powerful in the regime: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guard.
“Iranian state and society has no place for radicalism now,” says a political analyst in Tehran who asked not to be named. “The atmosphere in Iran today is more than an alliance, it is kind of accepting a coexistence with each other,” she says. “As for radicals, I believe that the leadership is willing to control them, not only [Khamenei] but principlists [conservatives] who support Rohani are not going to allow radicals to do whatever they like.”
(For more insight on Rohani, read Scott Peterson's report on the president-elect and what it means to be a centrist in Iran.)
THE VIGILANTE TOOL
Small but persuasive in their use of violence, hardline vigilante groups such as Ansar-e Hezbollah were deployed frequently in the 1990s and early 2000s to signal their dissent to reformists during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami. Wielding clubs and chains, they broke up political meetings and student protests during the Khatami era. Years later, in 2009 they were sent out again – alongside Basij militia and other security forces – to crush post-election street protests.
In a bid to avoid a renewal of such violence, even as Rohani promises an end to the “securitized atmosphere” and less-tight social strictures, other moderate voices are also making themselves heard.
In one explicit warning to Allah Karam, the leader of Ansar-e Hezbollah, the Alef news website of prominent conservative lawmaker Ahmad Tavakoli wrote: “We should hope that the sword which has come out of its scabbard [will] return back in, so that a country finally seeing some happiness wouldn’t fall into chaos.”
The Alef warning stated: “Surely those friends [Ansar-e Hezbollah] that always displayed loyalty to the Leader … should show loyalty today as well and prevent Iran from becoming a country where politics are determined in the streets.”
Rohani’s victory was greeted with euphoric scenes in the streets, a waving of ribbons and flags of the purple color chosen by his campaign. The symbolism was similar to the “green” campaign of 2009 that saw millions of Iranians take to the streets in protest over election fraud, and two Green Movement presidential candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi, placed under house arrest.
ALL EYES ON THE CABINET PICKS
Rohani has promised to seek their release sometime after he is inaugurated on Aug. 3. But the decisions he makes now about the political breadth of his cabinet are likely to determine the scale of the challenge of reining in the most radical elements on both sides.
Rohani’s victory “was a phenomenon,” says Hamid Reza Jalaiepour, a sociologist at Tehran University and adviser to former president Khatami, in a telephone interview.
“The mainstream of reformists became happy, moderate conservatives became happy, many in the middle class became happy, and even villagers became happy,” says Mr. Jalaiepour, a former US hostage-taker during the 1979 Islamic revolution, and later an editor of reformist newspapers that were shut down.
“The level of rationality of the Iranian people was very high during this election,” says Jalaiepour, noting that “this election was clean” compared with 2009, and that the hardline reaction “is not clear yet.”
“One of the important factors is that Ayatollah Khamenei didn’t tell to any hardliner to ‘do something,’ ” adds Jalaiepour. “This decision of Ayatollah Khamenei was very important, and for this reason hardliners couldn’t manipulate everything. But we should stay, and wait…. It is hopeful for the future, but needs more time.”
WARNING AGAINST 'WELL-KNOWN REFORMIST FIGURES'
The hardline Kayhan newspaper – whose editor is an official representative of Khamenei – this week warned Rohani not to bring into his cabinet “well-known reformist figures,” if they have not publicly denounced what it called the “American-Israeli plotted sedition” of 2009. Kayhan also criticized Rohani for thanking Khatami for his campaign endorsement, saying it “exacerbates concerns that Dr. Rohani might neglect the danger that the leaders and agents of the [2009] sedition could pose for his administration.”
Yet Kayhan has also backed Rohani, and those warnings are likely just part of the post-election debate about Rohani’s win, and the political balance he aims to achieve with a cabinet that is “beyond factions.”
“I think these people want to warn Mr. Rohani not to get close to extreme reformists, but I see no reason for it, because he wouldn’t do such a thing,” says Amir Mohebian, a conservative editor and analyst, in one interview published this week.
“The principlists should avoid self-deception and accept defeat responsibly and realistically and enter a phase of harsh self-criticism … to understand what has stopped them,” said Mr. Mohebian, an editor of Resalat newspaper, in another interview. “If they do not … they will lose the future…. [B]laming others will not solve their problem.”
TIME TO REFLECT?
Tehran University political scientist Sadiq Zibakalam also had a direct message for the leader of Ansar-e Hezbollah, when he examined the election results.
“It is better for Mr. Allah Karam and his like-minded [hardliners] to reach a conclusion about the past and the present and ask why their candidate and his ideas have received 4 million votes while their opponent has won 18 million votes,” Mr. Zibakalam was quoted as saying on the Fararu.com website. “Unfortunately … they have not understood that people voted for moderation, rationality and collective wisdom and denounced Allah Karam’s threats to make chaos.”
For many Iranians, the sense of positive change brought by the election result is palpable, for now.
“The last four years [under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad], we were living in a closed atmosphere,” says Khatami adviser Jalaiepour. “There is a new atmosphere. These days if you go to a shop, or to a university, the atmosphere has been changed, compared to one month ago. This is very important.”
“A strong government does not mean a government that interferes and intervenes in all affairs [and] that limits the lives of the people,” Mr. Rohani told fellow clerics in Tehran.
Rohani said it was “not possible” to attract Iran’s young society with “harsh views,” nor with state television that broadcasts a panda birth in China but ignores protests by unpaid workers. The speech comes after Rohani also vowed to correct the “imbalanced” application of Iran’s Constitution in an interview with a youth magazine.
“The freedom and rights of people have been ignored but those of the rulers have been emphasized,” Rohani told the weekly, Chelcheragh. “Restricting [people’s right] to criticize will only stifle and lead to inefficiency.”
But even as the centrist politician seeks to reassure moderates in Iran, what of the conservative “principlist” and hardline factions that were defeated by Rohani’s shock first-round win?
Still stunned by the defeat of their own five candidates, they are licking their wounds, and warning that Rohani’s new cabinet should not include “seditious” members of the opposition 2009 Green Movement, which would invite chaos and a violent response.
There has been a swift reaction to these warnings, however, evidence that Iran’s post-election debate is signaling a new moderation from both the left and the right. Indeed, while Rohani speaks of civil liberties and “more transparency” in nuclear talks, he also has clear public support from the most powerful in the regime: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guard.
“Iranian state and society has no place for radicalism now,” says a political analyst in Tehran who asked not to be named. “The atmosphere in Iran today is more than an alliance, it is kind of accepting a coexistence with each other,” she says. “As for radicals, I believe that the leadership is willing to control them, not only [Khamenei] but principlists [conservatives] who support Rohani are not going to allow radicals to do whatever they like.”
(For more insight on Rohani, read Scott Peterson's report on the president-elect and what it means to be a centrist in Iran.)
THE VIGILANTE TOOL
Small but persuasive in their use of violence, hardline vigilante groups such as Ansar-e Hezbollah were deployed frequently in the 1990s and early 2000s to signal their dissent to reformists during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami. Wielding clubs and chains, they broke up political meetings and student protests during the Khatami era. Years later, in 2009 they were sent out again – alongside Basij militia and other security forces – to crush post-election street protests.
In a bid to avoid a renewal of such violence, even as Rohani promises an end to the “securitized atmosphere” and less-tight social strictures, other moderate voices are also making themselves heard.
In one explicit warning to Allah Karam, the leader of Ansar-e Hezbollah, the Alef news website of prominent conservative lawmaker Ahmad Tavakoli wrote: “We should hope that the sword which has come out of its scabbard [will] return back in, so that a country finally seeing some happiness wouldn’t fall into chaos.”
The Alef warning stated: “Surely those friends [Ansar-e Hezbollah] that always displayed loyalty to the Leader … should show loyalty today as well and prevent Iran from becoming a country where politics are determined in the streets.”
Rohani’s victory was greeted with euphoric scenes in the streets, a waving of ribbons and flags of the purple color chosen by his campaign. The symbolism was similar to the “green” campaign of 2009 that saw millions of Iranians take to the streets in protest over election fraud, and two Green Movement presidential candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi, placed under house arrest.
ALL EYES ON THE CABINET PICKS
Rohani has promised to seek their release sometime after he is inaugurated on Aug. 3. But the decisions he makes now about the political breadth of his cabinet are likely to determine the scale of the challenge of reining in the most radical elements on both sides.
Rohani’s victory “was a phenomenon,” says Hamid Reza Jalaiepour, a sociologist at Tehran University and adviser to former president Khatami, in a telephone interview.
“The mainstream of reformists became happy, moderate conservatives became happy, many in the middle class became happy, and even villagers became happy,” says Mr. Jalaiepour, a former US hostage-taker during the 1979 Islamic revolution, and later an editor of reformist newspapers that were shut down.
“The level of rationality of the Iranian people was very high during this election,” says Jalaiepour, noting that “this election was clean” compared with 2009, and that the hardline reaction “is not clear yet.”
“One of the important factors is that Ayatollah Khamenei didn’t tell to any hardliner to ‘do something,’ ” adds Jalaiepour. “This decision of Ayatollah Khamenei was very important, and for this reason hardliners couldn’t manipulate everything. But we should stay, and wait…. It is hopeful for the future, but needs more time.”
WARNING AGAINST 'WELL-KNOWN REFORMIST FIGURES'
The hardline Kayhan newspaper – whose editor is an official representative of Khamenei – this week warned Rohani not to bring into his cabinet “well-known reformist figures,” if they have not publicly denounced what it called the “American-Israeli plotted sedition” of 2009. Kayhan also criticized Rohani for thanking Khatami for his campaign endorsement, saying it “exacerbates concerns that Dr. Rohani might neglect the danger that the leaders and agents of the [2009] sedition could pose for his administration.”
Yet Kayhan has also backed Rohani, and those warnings are likely just part of the post-election debate about Rohani’s win, and the political balance he aims to achieve with a cabinet that is “beyond factions.”
“I think these people want to warn Mr. Rohani not to get close to extreme reformists, but I see no reason for it, because he wouldn’t do such a thing,” says Amir Mohebian, a conservative editor and analyst, in one interview published this week.
“The principlists should avoid self-deception and accept defeat responsibly and realistically and enter a phase of harsh self-criticism … to understand what has stopped them,” said Mr. Mohebian, an editor of Resalat newspaper, in another interview. “If they do not … they will lose the future…. [B]laming others will not solve their problem.”
TIME TO REFLECT?
Tehran University political scientist Sadiq Zibakalam also had a direct message for the leader of Ansar-e Hezbollah, when he examined the election results.
“It is better for Mr. Allah Karam and his like-minded [hardliners] to reach a conclusion about the past and the present and ask why their candidate and his ideas have received 4 million votes while their opponent has won 18 million votes,” Mr. Zibakalam was quoted as saying on the Fararu.com website. “Unfortunately … they have not understood that people voted for moderation, rationality and collective wisdom and denounced Allah Karam’s threats to make chaos.”
For many Iranians, the sense of positive change brought by the election result is palpable, for now.
“The last four years [under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad], we were living in a closed atmosphere,” says Khatami adviser Jalaiepour. “There is a new atmosphere. These days if you go to a shop, or to a university, the atmosphere has been changed, compared to one month ago. This is very important.”
Egypt army topples president, announces transition
Egypt's armed forces overthrew Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on
Wednesday, sparking wild rejoicing in the streets at the prospect of new
elections as a range of political leaders backed a new political
transition.
Mursi was sequestered in a Republican Guard barracks after denouncing a "military coup" that stripped him of power after just a year. As tanks and troops secured the area, tens of thousands of supporters of his Muslim Brotherhood rallied nearby to protest against his removal.
Mursi's dramatic removal after a year in office as Egypt's first freely elected president marked another twist in the turmoil that has gripped the Arab world's most populous country in the two years since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.
The liberals' chief negotiator with the army, former U.N. diplomat Mohamed ElBaradei, said the program agreed with the generals during talks on Wednesday would ensure the continuation of the Arab Spring revolution of 2011.
Claiming a mandate from the people, millions of whom have protested against political upheaval and economic stagnation under Brotherhood rule, armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Mursi had failed to meet demands for national unity.
"Those in the meeting have agreed on a roadmap for the future that includes initial steps to achieve the building of a strong Egyptian society that is cohesive and does not exclude anyone and ends the state of tension and division," Sisi said in a solemn address broadcast live on state television.
He said the security forces would keep order. There were scattered clashes between rival factions around the country but so far nothing on the scale of violence in which more than 40 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in recent weeks.
Security sources said at least four died on Wednesday.
Sisi was flanked by his uniformed high command but also by a senior
Muslim cleric, the Pope of Egypt's Coptic Church and political leaders
ranging from liberals to a bearded Islamist representative from the
ultra-Islamic Nour Party. Also present were youth leaders who were given
special mention by Sisi.
References to the popular will, and the presentation of a united political front with a civilian face - which will take fuller shape on Thursday with the swearing in of the head of the constitutional court as interim head of state - clearly aims at scotching concerns abroad that this was a military coup d'etat.
The United States had backed Mursi's assertions to be the legitimate leader but had grown increasingly insistent that he share power with his opponents. Washington funds Sisi's army to the tune of $1.3 billion a year and could face questions on imposing sanctions if Mursi were deemed to be the victim of a coup.
The United States, as well as neighboring Israel, and other powers are all watching anxiously to see whether Egypt, with its population of 84 million, powerful army and control of the Suez Canal, can stabilize itself.
Reflecting the hopes of the "revolutionary youth" who led the charge against Mubarak, only to see the electoral machine of the Brotherhood dominate the new democracy, the young man who proved Mursi's extraordinary nemesis said the new transitional period must not repeat the mistakes of the recent past.
"We want to build Egypt with everyone and for everyone," said Mahmoud Badr, a 28-year-old journalist who first had the idea two months ago for a petition calling on Mursi to resign. By last weekend, the "Tamarud - Rebel!" movement was claiming 22 million backers, many of whom were on the streets on Sunday.
ULTIMATUM
The army had already grown increasingly alarmed about Mursi dragging Egypt into the sectarian conflict in Syria and the turnout on the streets gave Sisi his justification for handing the president a 48-hour deadline to share power or lose it.
Mursi was the first of the mostly Islamist leaders who have taken power since the Arab Spring uprisings against autocratic leaders to be deposed in his turn. It will pose questions for others across the region, most immediately in Tunisia.
The country that gave birth to the demands for democracy two and a half
years ago now has its own "Tamarud" movement, seeking to end the rule
of Tunisia's Islamists in parliament.
On Tahrir Square, cradle of Egypt's January 25 Revolution in 2011, huge crowds in the hundreds of thousands set off fireworks and partied, chanting: "The people and the army are one hand!"
The past four days have seemed to many like a fast-motion rerun of the 18 days that brought down Mubarak, when the army which had long backed him realized his time was up.
Sisi announced the immediate suspension of the Islamist-tinged new constitution and a roadmap for a return to democratic rule under a revised rulebook.
The constitutional court president will replace Mursi. A technocratic government will rule until new presidential and parliamentary elections are held - no time frame was set.
The constitution will be reviewed by a panel representative of all sections of society in the biggest Arab nation. Media freedoms, under threat during Mursi's rule, would be protected.
Sisi mentioned Mursi by name only in a preamble in which he detailed how the armed forces chief - appointed by the president last year - had repeatedly tried to persuade him to end the deep polarization of Egypt's politics. The president, he said, had "failed to meet the demands of the Egyptian people".
TAHRIR ERUPTS
After he spoke, hundreds of thousands of anti-Mursi protesters in central Cairo's Tahrir Square erupted into wild cheering, setting off fireworks and waving flags. Cars drove around the capital honking their horns in celebration.
But a statement published in Mursi's name on his official Facebook page after Sisi's speech said the measures announced amounted to "a full military coup" and were "totally rejected".
A shaky, hand-held video lasting 20 minutes appeared briefly online, showing Mursi speaking at a desk. He had pledged in an overnight broadcast to give up his life rather than relinquish his democratically elected responsibilities. In the new video, he said: "There is no other legitimacy, and it cannot be.
"I do not accept this at all," he said, while also urging his supporters not to take up arms as some have sworn to do.
The president was at a Republican Guard barracks surrounded by barbed wire, barriers and troops, but it was not clear whether he was under arrest. The state newspaper Al-Ahram said the army told him at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT) that his term was over.
The Brotherhood's Egypt25 television station, broadcast live coverage of a rally of tens of thousands of Mursi supporters, even as the army moved tanks to prevent them from marching on the presidential palace or the Republican Guard barracks.
But within an hour of Sisi's announcement it was off air.
ALIENATION
U.S. oil prices rose to a 14-month high above $100 a barrel partly on fears that unrest in Egypt could destabilize the Middle East and lead to supply disruption.
The massive anti-Mursi protests showed that the Brotherhood had not only alienated liberals and secularists by seeking to entrench Islamic rule, notably in a new constitution, but had also angered millions of Egyptians with economic mismanagement.
Tourism and investment have dried up, inflation is rampant and fuel
supplies are running short, with power cuts lengthening in the summer
heat and motorists spending hours fuelling cars.
Earlier, Mursi's spokesman said it was better that he die in defense of democracy than be blamed by history.
"It is better for a president, who would otherwise be returning Egypt to the days of dictatorship, from which God and the will of the people has saved us, to die standing like a tree," spokesman Ayman Ali said, "Rather than be condemned by history and future generations for throwing away the hopes of Egyptians for establishing a democratic life."
Liberal opponents said a rambling late-night television address by Mursi showed he had "lost his mind".
The official spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood said supporters were willing to become martyrs to defend Mursi.
"There is only one thing we can do: we will stand in between the tanks and the president," Gehad El-Haddad told Reuters at the movement's protest encampment in a Cairo suburb that houses many military installations and is near the presidential palace.
But the Brotherhood also has a more than eight-decade history of survival under threat and may take a long view of whether it is better to draw in its horns and watch others try to reform Egypt's sclerotic economy.
The army is deeply concerned about its own vast economic interests, built up over six decades in which it has been the power behind successive thrones. Highly popular among Egyptians, it may retreat behind civilian faces but, as Wednesday's events showed, it will remain crucial in the political transition.
Mursi was sequestered in a Republican Guard barracks after denouncing a "military coup" that stripped him of power after just a year. As tanks and troops secured the area, tens of thousands of supporters of his Muslim Brotherhood rallied nearby to protest against his removal.
Mursi's dramatic removal after a year in office as Egypt's first freely elected president marked another twist in the turmoil that has gripped the Arab world's most populous country in the two years since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.
The liberals' chief negotiator with the army, former U.N. diplomat Mohamed ElBaradei, said the program agreed with the generals during talks on Wednesday would ensure the continuation of the Arab Spring revolution of 2011.
Claiming a mandate from the people, millions of whom have protested against political upheaval and economic stagnation under Brotherhood rule, armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Mursi had failed to meet demands for national unity.
"Those in the meeting have agreed on a roadmap for the future that includes initial steps to achieve the building of a strong Egyptian society that is cohesive and does not exclude anyone and ends the state of tension and division," Sisi said in a solemn address broadcast live on state television.
He said the security forces would keep order. There were scattered clashes between rival factions around the country but so far nothing on the scale of violence in which more than 40 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in recent weeks.
Security sources said at least four died on Wednesday.
References to the popular will, and the presentation of a united political front with a civilian face - which will take fuller shape on Thursday with the swearing in of the head of the constitutional court as interim head of state - clearly aims at scotching concerns abroad that this was a military coup d'etat.
The United States had backed Mursi's assertions to be the legitimate leader but had grown increasingly insistent that he share power with his opponents. Washington funds Sisi's army to the tune of $1.3 billion a year and could face questions on imposing sanctions if Mursi were deemed to be the victim of a coup.
The United States, as well as neighboring Israel, and other powers are all watching anxiously to see whether Egypt, with its population of 84 million, powerful army and control of the Suez Canal, can stabilize itself.
Reflecting the hopes of the "revolutionary youth" who led the charge against Mubarak, only to see the electoral machine of the Brotherhood dominate the new democracy, the young man who proved Mursi's extraordinary nemesis said the new transitional period must not repeat the mistakes of the recent past.
"We want to build Egypt with everyone and for everyone," said Mahmoud Badr, a 28-year-old journalist who first had the idea two months ago for a petition calling on Mursi to resign. By last weekend, the "Tamarud - Rebel!" movement was claiming 22 million backers, many of whom were on the streets on Sunday.
ULTIMATUM
The army had already grown increasingly alarmed about Mursi dragging Egypt into the sectarian conflict in Syria and the turnout on the streets gave Sisi his justification for handing the president a 48-hour deadline to share power or lose it.
Mursi was the first of the mostly Islamist leaders who have taken power since the Arab Spring uprisings against autocratic leaders to be deposed in his turn. It will pose questions for others across the region, most immediately in Tunisia.
On Tahrir Square, cradle of Egypt's January 25 Revolution in 2011, huge crowds in the hundreds of thousands set off fireworks and partied, chanting: "The people and the army are one hand!"
The past four days have seemed to many like a fast-motion rerun of the 18 days that brought down Mubarak, when the army which had long backed him realized his time was up.
Sisi announced the immediate suspension of the Islamist-tinged new constitution and a roadmap for a return to democratic rule under a revised rulebook.
The constitutional court president will replace Mursi. A technocratic government will rule until new presidential and parliamentary elections are held - no time frame was set.
The constitution will be reviewed by a panel representative of all sections of society in the biggest Arab nation. Media freedoms, under threat during Mursi's rule, would be protected.
Sisi mentioned Mursi by name only in a preamble in which he detailed how the armed forces chief - appointed by the president last year - had repeatedly tried to persuade him to end the deep polarization of Egypt's politics. The president, he said, had "failed to meet the demands of the Egyptian people".
TAHRIR ERUPTS
After he spoke, hundreds of thousands of anti-Mursi protesters in central Cairo's Tahrir Square erupted into wild cheering, setting off fireworks and waving flags. Cars drove around the capital honking their horns in celebration.
But a statement published in Mursi's name on his official Facebook page after Sisi's speech said the measures announced amounted to "a full military coup" and were "totally rejected".
A shaky, hand-held video lasting 20 minutes appeared briefly online, showing Mursi speaking at a desk. He had pledged in an overnight broadcast to give up his life rather than relinquish his democratically elected responsibilities. In the new video, he said: "There is no other legitimacy, and it cannot be.
"I do not accept this at all," he said, while also urging his supporters not to take up arms as some have sworn to do.
The president was at a Republican Guard barracks surrounded by barbed wire, barriers and troops, but it was not clear whether he was under arrest. The state newspaper Al-Ahram said the army told him at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT) that his term was over.
The Brotherhood's Egypt25 television station, broadcast live coverage of a rally of tens of thousands of Mursi supporters, even as the army moved tanks to prevent them from marching on the presidential palace or the Republican Guard barracks.
But within an hour of Sisi's announcement it was off air.
ALIENATION
U.S. oil prices rose to a 14-month high above $100 a barrel partly on fears that unrest in Egypt could destabilize the Middle East and lead to supply disruption.
The massive anti-Mursi protests showed that the Brotherhood had not only alienated liberals and secularists by seeking to entrench Islamic rule, notably in a new constitution, but had also angered millions of Egyptians with economic mismanagement.
Earlier, Mursi's spokesman said it was better that he die in defense of democracy than be blamed by history.
"It is better for a president, who would otherwise be returning Egypt to the days of dictatorship, from which God and the will of the people has saved us, to die standing like a tree," spokesman Ayman Ali said, "Rather than be condemned by history and future generations for throwing away the hopes of Egyptians for establishing a democratic life."
Liberal opponents said a rambling late-night television address by Mursi showed he had "lost his mind".
The official spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood said supporters were willing to become martyrs to defend Mursi.
"There is only one thing we can do: we will stand in between the tanks and the president," Gehad El-Haddad told Reuters at the movement's protest encampment in a Cairo suburb that houses many military installations and is near the presidential palace.
But the Brotherhood also has a more than eight-decade history of survival under threat and may take a long view of whether it is better to draw in its horns and watch others try to reform Egypt's sclerotic economy.
The army is deeply concerned about its own vast economic interests, built up over six decades in which it has been the power behind successive thrones. Highly popular among Egyptians, it may retreat behind civilian faces but, as Wednesday's events showed, it will remain crucial in the political transition.
Ancient Native Americans' Living Descendants Revealed
Ancient people who lived in in Northern America about 5,000 years ago have living descendants today, new research suggests.
Researchers reached that conclusion after comparing DNA from both fossil remains found on the northern coast of British Columbia, Canada, and from living people who belong to several First Nations tribes in the area.
The new results, published today (July 3) in the journal PLOS ONE, are consistent with nearby archaeological evidence suggesting a fairly continuous occupation of the region for the last 5,000 years. [History's 10 Most Overlooked Mysteries]
"We're finding links that tie maternal lineages from as far back as the mid-Holocene 5,000 years ago to living descendants living today in Native American communities," said study co-author Ripan Malhi, a molecular anthropologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Ancient genomes
Past research showed that almost all of today's Native Americans trace ancestry to six women who crossed the Bering Strait around 20,000 years ago. But getting a more detailed picture of history prior to colonization has proven difficult.
That's partly because after colonization, European men often mixed with Native American women, meaning DNA from the genome as a whole, and from the Y chromosome (the male sex chromosome), contained a significant fraction of European markers.
To get around this problem, Malhi and his colleagues chose to analyze mitochondrial DNA, which is carried within the egg and is passed on only through the maternal line. The team collected DNA from 60 currently living people from the Tsimshian, Haida and Nisga'a tribes on the northern coast of British Columbia.
They then compared those samples with mitochondrial DNA extracted from the teeth of four ancient individuals: a 6,000-year old and 5,500-year-old skeleton unearthed in a heap of shells (called a midden) near an ancient house from the Lucy Islands in British Columbia, and two ancient skeletons unearthed on Dodge Island, British Columbia that were 5,000 and 2,500-years-old, respectively. [In Photos: Ancient Egyptian Skeletons Unearthed]
The researchers found that three living individuals from the Tsimshian and Nisga'a tribes contained DNA that matched that from the older skeleton found in Dodge Island and that three of the skeletons matched to DNA from at least one living person. The oldest Lucy Island skeleton had DNA that didn't match living relatives, but did match a 10,300-year-old skeleton unearthed in On Your Knees Cave on Prince Wales Island, Alaska.
"What's particularly interesting about this paper is that the authors found two mitochondrial lineages in the Northwest Coast region in both the ancient individuals and modern people living in the area. This suggests that there's a long continuity of occupation of this region," Jennifer Raff, an anthropological genetcist at the Northwestern University in Illinois, who was not involved in the study, wrote in an email.
In addition, the fact that the people were found in a shell midden suggests the culture has been relatively continuous for the last 5,000 years. Up until the 1800s, Northwest coast tribes would build rectangular houses and throw their food waste — mostly seafood shells — in a shell midden next to the house, Malhi told LiveScience.
"The information is new and exciting, and it fits with everything that somebody who knows about Northwest coast history and culture knows," said Susan Marsden, a historian who works with First Nations groups and the curator of the Museum of Northern British Columbia.
Still, the genetic data could create a potentially misleading picture of a completely stable culture, Marsden, who was not involved in the study, told LiveScience.
In fact, these communities keep meticulously handed-down oral histories that serve in part to track matrilineal heritage, and those oral histories suggest further waves of migration into the region in the last 5,000 years, Marsden said.
For their part, Malhi and his colleagues, at the request of the tribes themselves, are doing further research to see how the genetic history of the region lines up with their oral histories.
Researchers reached that conclusion after comparing DNA from both fossil remains found on the northern coast of British Columbia, Canada, and from living people who belong to several First Nations tribes in the area.
The new results, published today (July 3) in the journal PLOS ONE, are consistent with nearby archaeological evidence suggesting a fairly continuous occupation of the region for the last 5,000 years. [History's 10 Most Overlooked Mysteries]
"We're finding links that tie maternal lineages from as far back as the mid-Holocene 5,000 years ago to living descendants living today in Native American communities," said study co-author Ripan Malhi, a molecular anthropologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Ancient genomes
Past research showed that almost all of today's Native Americans trace ancestry to six women who crossed the Bering Strait around 20,000 years ago. But getting a more detailed picture of history prior to colonization has proven difficult.
That's partly because after colonization, European men often mixed with Native American women, meaning DNA from the genome as a whole, and from the Y chromosome (the male sex chromosome), contained a significant fraction of European markers.
To get around this problem, Malhi and his colleagues chose to analyze mitochondrial DNA, which is carried within the egg and is passed on only through the maternal line. The team collected DNA from 60 currently living people from the Tsimshian, Haida and Nisga'a tribes on the northern coast of British Columbia.
They then compared those samples with mitochondrial DNA extracted from the teeth of four ancient individuals: a 6,000-year old and 5,500-year-old skeleton unearthed in a heap of shells (called a midden) near an ancient house from the Lucy Islands in British Columbia, and two ancient skeletons unearthed on Dodge Island, British Columbia that were 5,000 and 2,500-years-old, respectively. [In Photos: Ancient Egyptian Skeletons Unearthed]
The researchers found that three living individuals from the Tsimshian and Nisga'a tribes contained DNA that matched that from the older skeleton found in Dodge Island and that three of the skeletons matched to DNA from at least one living person. The oldest Lucy Island skeleton had DNA that didn't match living relatives, but did match a 10,300-year-old skeleton unearthed in On Your Knees Cave on Prince Wales Island, Alaska.
"What's particularly interesting about this paper is that the authors found two mitochondrial lineages in the Northwest Coast region in both the ancient individuals and modern people living in the area. This suggests that there's a long continuity of occupation of this region," Jennifer Raff, an anthropological genetcist at the Northwestern University in Illinois, who was not involved in the study, wrote in an email.
In addition, the fact that the people were found in a shell midden suggests the culture has been relatively continuous for the last 5,000 years. Up until the 1800s, Northwest coast tribes would build rectangular houses and throw their food waste — mostly seafood shells — in a shell midden next to the house, Malhi told LiveScience.
"The information is new and exciting, and it fits with everything that somebody who knows about Northwest coast history and culture knows," said Susan Marsden, a historian who works with First Nations groups and the curator of the Museum of Northern British Columbia.
Still, the genetic data could create a potentially misleading picture of a completely stable culture, Marsden, who was not involved in the study, told LiveScience.
In fact, these communities keep meticulously handed-down oral histories that serve in part to track matrilineal heritage, and those oral histories suggest further waves of migration into the region in the last 5,000 years, Marsden said.
For their part, Malhi and his colleagues, at the request of the tribes themselves, are doing further research to see how the genetic history of the region lines up with their oral histories.
South Africa looks to sell some of $1 bln rhino horn stockpile
South Africa is seeking permission for a one-off sale of some of its $1 billion stockpile of rhino horn to finance conservation and potentially flood a thriving black market, its environment minister said on Wednesday.
However, conservation groups fear the plan could end up increasing demand in major markets such as Vietnam, where the horn is sought after for use in traditional medicine, as well as enriching black marketeers.
Environment Minister Edna Molewa told reporters that South Africa, home to 73 percent of the world's rhinos, would seek permission for the sale at the next major meeting of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, in 2016.
"South Africa cannot continue to be held hostage by syndicates who are slaughtering our rhinos," she said.
South Africa is home to more than 20,000 rhinos but is set this year to lose nearly 800 of them to poachers.
Poaching is increasing at such a rate that by the time of the meeting, the number of rhinos being killed or dying each year will exceed the number being born.
South Africa plans to enlist other countries in the region in the sales scheme but did not mention who it expects to act as the buyer.
The biggest market for illegal rhino horn in recent years has been Vietnam, where the product is sold in pharmacies and over the Internet at about $65,000 a kg, making it more expensive than gold. At this price, South Africa's stockpile of 16,400 kg would be worth just over $1 billion.
"We don't believe that Vietnam satisfies any of the conditions that would be necessary to participate in legal trade of rhino horn," said Tom Milliken, head of the rhino and elephant project for the wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic.
Rhino horn has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine, where it was ground into powder to treat a range of maladies including rheumatism, gout and even possession by devils.
Up until about 2010, only a handful were poached, but the number shot up when a rumour spread that rhino horn had cured a Vietnamese minister's relative of cancer.
"Recent research on consumer behaviour suggests that there is a latent demand for rhino horn in Vietnam and it is unclear whether a sustainable legal supply would be able to satisfy it," said Alona Rivord of the conservation group WWE International.
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Erectile Dysfunction Health Center
Overview & Facts
What Is Erectile Dysfunction?
How common is it? What can I do about it? Get an overview here.
Erectile dysfunction (ED) occurs when a man has consistent and
repeated problems sustaining an erection. Without treatment, ED can make
sexual intercourse difficult.
Causes
Erectile dysfunction is a physical condition, but it can be
triggered by a man's medical, mental, or emotional issues. WebMD looks
at the causes of ED.
It's not always a case of mind over matter. A side effect of some medications can be erectile dysfunction. Read on, you may need to check your medicine cabinet.
Most of us know by now that smoking is bad for the lungs, being overweight is bad for the heart, and stress can lead to headaches and anxiety. But, did you know that all of these factors can also cause erectile dysfunction?
It's not always a case of mind over matter. A side effect of some medications can be erectile dysfunction. Read on, you may need to check your medicine cabinet.
Most of us know by now that smoking is bad for the lungs, being overweight is bad for the heart, and stress can lead to headaches and anxiety. But, did you know that all of these factors can also cause erectile dysfunction?
Are You at Risk?
Are you aware that diabetes and erectile dysfunction are
linked? In men with diabetes, impotence may occur as an early
complication.
Erections are all about blood flow to the penis. Learn more about conditions that affect blood flow – and cause male impotence.
The link between atherosclerosis and erectile dysfunction is well known to doctors. If you have ED, understanding the connection might just save your life.
To treat erectile dysfunction (ED), you have to lower high blood pressure. Some people are able to do that through lifestyle changes alone. Others need help from prescription high blood pressure medication.
Prostate cancer is not a cause of erectile dysfunction (or ED). However, treatments for the disease can cause it.
Erections are all about blood flow to the penis. Learn more about conditions that affect blood flow – and cause male impotence.
The link between atherosclerosis and erectile dysfunction is well known to doctors. If you have ED, understanding the connection might just save your life.
To treat erectile dysfunction (ED), you have to lower high blood pressure. Some people are able to do that through lifestyle changes alone. Others need help from prescription high blood pressure medication.
Prostate cancer is not a cause of erectile dysfunction (or ED). However, treatments for the disease can cause it.
Prevention
A healthy lifestyle can mean a healthy love life.
"The Duty Of Youth Is To Challenge The System."
Africa needs is a mechanism to respond to peace missions in Africa to stabilize this continent politically for rapid economic development.Not NATO not Africom.
The struggle of Africans is the struggle of all citizens who are pathologically oppressed by the imperialist capitalist interests.
"The phenomenon of cultural imperialism is strikes the 'death blow' at a people's ability to resist aggression.
Africans must organize in a way that builds social consensus around the revolutionary cause;not in a way that marginalizes the struggle...
Liberation is the total destruction of the colonial system..." Frantz Fanon Toward theAfrican evolution.
Since Africa was invaded, the only visible development of her people is poverty which is meant to eliminate them.
Africans must set up commissions to investigate the relationships between politicians and multinationals...corporations.
Africa must nationalize of all resources to serve the people, so that children do not have to starve as foreign corporations thrive.
Imperialist is the enemy of the Africa Nations: robbing it, exploiting it,and oppressing it.impossed corrupt leaders on it.
"No nation has the right to make decisions for another nation; no people for another people" -- Julius Nyerere
Change your mind,your consciousness and you change your circustances.Dr Amos Wilson.... “We cannot suffer with the poor when we are unwilling to confront those persons and systems that cause poverty.We cannot set the captives free when we do not want to confront those who carry the keys.
Africa must end the imperialist cultural domination by fighting against the corporate colonialization of the human mind.
Natural resources of Africa must not be squandered on the mindless of opulence of local rulers.
The natural resources of African must remain in the hands of Africa masses, instead of having it robbed by multinational corporations.
Africans must more determined than they have ever been,the mighty forces of the world operating against the non-organized groups of people
African resources and labour were used to develop Europe and its satellites #Africarevolt
The struggle of Africans is the struggle of all citizens who are pathologically oppressed by the imperialist capitalist interests.
"The phenomenon of cultural imperialism is strikes the 'death blow' at a people's ability to resist aggression.
Africans must organize in a way that builds social consensus around the revolutionary cause;not in a way that marginalizes the struggle...
Liberation is the total destruction of the colonial system..." Frantz Fanon Toward theAfrican evolution.
Since Africa was invaded, the only visible development of her people is poverty which is meant to eliminate them.
Africans must set up commissions to investigate the relationships between politicians and multinationals...corporations.
Africa must nationalize of all resources to serve the people, so that children do not have to starve as foreign corporations thrive.
Imperialist is the enemy of the Africa Nations: robbing it, exploiting it,and oppressing it.impossed corrupt leaders on it.
"No nation has the right to make decisions for another nation; no people for another people" -- Julius Nyerere
Change your mind,your consciousness and you change your circustances.Dr Amos Wilson.... “We cannot suffer with the poor when we are unwilling to confront those persons and systems that cause poverty.We cannot set the captives free when we do not want to confront those who carry the keys.
Africa must end the imperialist cultural domination by fighting against the corporate colonialization of the human mind.
Natural resources of Africa must not be squandered on the mindless of opulence of local rulers.
The natural resources of African must remain in the hands of Africa masses, instead of having it robbed by multinational corporations.
Africans must more determined than they have ever been,the mighty forces of the world operating against the non-organized groups of people
African resources and labour were used to develop Europe and its satellites #Africarevolt
Walnuts May Improve Sperm Quality in Healthy Men
If you aspire to fatherhood, it might not hurt to go a little nuts. Walnuts, that is.
Eating 2.5 ounces of walnuts a day -- a little more than half a cup -- for 12 weeks improved sperm quality in healthy young men, researchers report. Their study is part of a growing body of evidence that men’s dietary and lifestyle choices might affect their fertility.
The new study, funded in part by the California Walnut Commission, enrolled 117 men aged 21 to 35 who ate a typical Western diet.
Half the men were randomly assigned to eat 2.5 ounces of walnuts a day, along with their usual diet. The other men were told to continue their regular diet but not to eat any tree nuts.
Walnuts are the only nuts with appreciable levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which some studies of male infertility have linked to better sperm quality, says researcher Wendie Robbins, PhD, of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Animal and human studies have shown that omega-3 fats and other polyunsaturated fatty acids “play critical roles in sperm maturation and membrane function,” Robbins’ team writes.
Previous research has shown that men with poor sperm counts saw improvement after taking fish oil supplements high in omega-3 fats, Robbins says. And a study of men attending a fertility clinic, published in May by the journal Human Reproduction, found that high intake of omega-3 fats was linked to more normal sperm size and shape, while high intake of saturated fats was related to lower sperm concentration.
In the new study, most of the walnut eaters snacked on the shelled whole nuts straight out of the package, Robbins says. Others mixed them with applesauce and cinnamon in a blender or chopped them up and added them to meatloaf, hamburger, and spaghetti sauce.
Before and after the experiment, the men’s semen quality was analyzed by a researcher who did not know which ones had eaten walnuts. The researcher looked at sperm concentration, vitality, ability to move, shape and size, and chromosome abnormalities, all thought to be related to fertility.
In up to half of couples having difficulty getting pregnant, at least part of the problem is related to male reproductive issues, according to the American Urological Association.
Whether adding walnuts to the diet will improve men’s chances of fathering children remains to be seen, but it couldn’t hurt, says Robbins, who next plans to study walnuts’ effect on the sperm of men with reproductive issues.
“I would say that it’s time that we pay more attention to what the male eats around the time of conception,” Robbins says.
Robbins’ study appears online in the journal Biology of Reproduction.
"I think this highlights how important dietary factors are in promoting fertility health," says John Petrozza, MD, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center. He was not involved with the study.
What has yet to be determined is the optimal amount of walnuts for improving sperm quality, he says. "This will come out with future papers. For now, the idea is to eat healthy with a varied diet."
Eating 2.5 ounces of walnuts a day -- a little more than half a cup -- for 12 weeks improved sperm quality in healthy young men, researchers report. Their study is part of a growing body of evidence that men’s dietary and lifestyle choices might affect their fertility.
The new study, funded in part by the California Walnut Commission, enrolled 117 men aged 21 to 35 who ate a typical Western diet.
Half the men were randomly assigned to eat 2.5 ounces of walnuts a day, along with their usual diet. The other men were told to continue their regular diet but not to eat any tree nuts.
Walnuts are the only nuts with appreciable levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which some studies of male infertility have linked to better sperm quality, says researcher Wendie Robbins, PhD, of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Animal and human studies have shown that omega-3 fats and other polyunsaturated fatty acids “play critical roles in sperm maturation and membrane function,” Robbins’ team writes.
Previous research has shown that men with poor sperm counts saw improvement after taking fish oil supplements high in omega-3 fats, Robbins says. And a study of men attending a fertility clinic, published in May by the journal Human Reproduction, found that high intake of omega-3 fats was linked to more normal sperm size and shape, while high intake of saturated fats was related to lower sperm concentration.
In the new study, most of the walnut eaters snacked on the shelled whole nuts straight out of the package, Robbins says. Others mixed them with applesauce and cinnamon in a blender or chopped them up and added them to meatloaf, hamburger, and spaghetti sauce.
Before and after the experiment, the men’s semen quality was analyzed by a researcher who did not know which ones had eaten walnuts. The researcher looked at sperm concentration, vitality, ability to move, shape and size, and chromosome abnormalities, all thought to be related to fertility.
Walnuts and Sperm Quality
At the end of the 12-week study, sperm quality improved only in the men in the walnut group. And the walnut eaters whose sperm were the worst swimmers at the beginning of the study saw the biggest improvement at the end, Robbins says.In up to half of couples having difficulty getting pregnant, at least part of the problem is related to male reproductive issues, according to the American Urological Association.
Whether adding walnuts to the diet will improve men’s chances of fathering children remains to be seen, but it couldn’t hurt, says Robbins, who next plans to study walnuts’ effect on the sperm of men with reproductive issues.
“I would say that it’s time that we pay more attention to what the male eats around the time of conception,” Robbins says.
Robbins’ study appears online in the journal Biology of Reproduction.
"I think this highlights how important dietary factors are in promoting fertility health," says John Petrozza, MD, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center. He was not involved with the study.
What has yet to be determined is the optimal amount of walnuts for improving sperm quality, he says. "This will come out with future papers. For now, the idea is to eat healthy with a varied diet."
Infertility & Reproduction Health
Overview & Facts
What is Infertility/Reproduction?
Infertility doesn’t mean you can never have a child.
How much do you know about fertility, infertility, and conception? Take this WebMD quiz and find out.
How much do you know about fertility, infertility, and conception? Take this WebMD quiz and find out.
Causes
Learn the causes of female infertility.
Get answers to common questions about sperm, including how long sperm live
Uterine fibroids can make getting pregnant difficult for some women. Learn more in WebMD's Uterine Fibroids Health Center.
This STD-related problem can lead to infertility.
Up to half of all cases of infertility involve men.
Disorders of the penis and testes can affect a man's sexual functioning and fertility.
Radiation and chemotherapy treatment for cancer can cause infertility in both men and women.
Get answers to common questions about sperm, including how long sperm live
Uterine fibroids can make getting pregnant difficult for some women. Learn more in WebMD's Uterine Fibroids Health Center.
This STD-related problem can lead to infertility.
Up to half of all cases of infertility involve men.
Disorders of the penis and testes can affect a man's sexual functioning and fertility.
Radiation and chemotherapy treatment for cancer can cause infertility in both men and women.
Are You at Risk?
A luteal phase defect is a disruption in a woman's monthly menstrual cycle.
Family history is just one factor.
Loss of ovarian function can occur before age 40 and as early as age the teen years.
All three can affect fertility. Find out how.
Infertility can be a complication for some STDs. Read more on STD’s and infertility in women
In case you needed more reasons to keep these in check, here they are. We know more about the links between tobacco and infertility, yet other substances can also affect fertility.
Some drugs used to treat breast cancer can cause fertility problems. Learn more about breast cancer drugs and infertility.
Family history is just one factor.
Loss of ovarian function can occur before age 40 and as early as age the teen years.
All three can affect fertility. Find out how.
Infertility can be a complication for some STDs. Read more on STD’s and infertility in women
In case you needed more reasons to keep these in check, here they are. We know more about the links between tobacco and infertility, yet other substances can also affect fertility.
Some drugs used to treat breast cancer can cause fertility problems. Learn more about breast cancer drugs and infertility.
Prevention
Tobacco, alcohol and other substances can cause problems. Learn what else to avoid.
10 Surprising Health Benefits of Sex
The perks of sex extend well beyond the bedroom.
That finding comes from a Scottish study of 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their sexual activity. The researchers put them in stressful situations -- such as speaking in public and doing math out loud -- and checked their blood pressure.
People who had had intercourse responded better to stress than those who engaged in other sexual behaviors or abstained.
Another study found that diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number of your blood pressure) tends to be lower in people who live together and have sex often.
A Wilkes University study had 112 college students keep records of how often they had sex and also provide saliva samples for the study. Those who had sex once or twice a week had higher levels of IgA, an antibody that could help you avoid a cold or other infection, than other students.
"Sex is a great mode of exercise," Los Angeles sexologist Patti Britton, says. It takes both physical and psychological work, though, to do it well, she says.
And although some older folks may worry that sex could cause a stroke, the study found no link between how often men had sex and how likely they were to have a stroke.
That finding makes sense to sex, marriage, and family therapist Gina Ogden. She also says that those who already have self-esteem say they sometimes have sex to feel even better.
"One of the reasons people say they have sex is to feel good about themselves," she says. "Great sex begins with self-esteem. If the sex is loving, connected, and what you want, it raises it."
Of course, you don't have to have lots of sex to feel good about yourself. Your self-esteem is all about you -- not someone else. But if you're already feeling good about yourself, a great sex life may help you feel even better.
In a study of 59 women, researchers checked their oxytocin levels before and after the women hugged their partners. The women had higher oxytocin levels if they had more of that physical contact with their partner.
Higher oxytocin levels have also been linked with a feeling of generosity. So snuggle up -- it might help you feel more generous toward your partner.
In one study, 48 people inhaled oxytocin vapor and then had their fingers pricked. The oxytocin cut their pain threshold by more than half.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that men who had 21 or more ejaculations a month were less likely to get prostate cancer than those who had four to seven ejaculations per month.
The study doesn't prove that ejaculations were the only factor that mattered. Many things affect a person's odds of developing cancer. But when the researchers took that into consideration, the findings still held.
To do a basic Kegel exercise, tighten the muscles of your pelvic floor as if you're trying to stop the flow of urine. Count to three, then release.
Getting enough sleep has also been linked with a host of other health benefits, such as a healthy weight and better blood pressure. That's something to think about, especially if you've been wondering why your guy can be active one minute and snoring the next.
1. Less Stress, Better Blood Pressure
Having sex could lower your stress and your blood pressure.That finding comes from a Scottish study of 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their sexual activity. The researchers put them in stressful situations -- such as speaking in public and doing math out loud -- and checked their blood pressure.
People who had had intercourse responded better to stress than those who engaged in other sexual behaviors or abstained.
Another study found that diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number of your blood pressure) tends to be lower in people who live together and have sex often.
2. Sex Boosts Immunity
Having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A, or IgA, which can protect you from getting colds and other infections.A Wilkes University study had 112 college students keep records of how often they had sex and also provide saliva samples for the study. Those who had sex once or twice a week had higher levels of IgA, an antibody that could help you avoid a cold or other infection, than other students.
3. Sex Burns Calories
Thirty minutes of sex burns 85 calories or more. It may not sound like much, but it adds up: 42 half-hour sessions will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound. Doubling up, you could drop that pound in 21 hour-long sessions."Sex is a great mode of exercise," Los Angeles sexologist Patti Britton, says. It takes both physical and psychological work, though, to do it well, she says.
4. Sex Improves Heart Health
A 20-year-long British study shows that men who had sex two or more times a week were half as likely to have a fatal heart attack than men who had sex less than once a month.And although some older folks may worry that sex could cause a stroke, the study found no link between how often men had sex and how likely they were to have a stroke.
5. Better Self-Esteem
University of Texas researchers found that boosting self-esteem was one of 237 reasons people have sex.That finding makes sense to sex, marriage, and family therapist Gina Ogden. She also says that those who already have self-esteem say they sometimes have sex to feel even better.
"One of the reasons people say they have sex is to feel good about themselves," she says. "Great sex begins with self-esteem. If the sex is loving, connected, and what you want, it raises it."
Of course, you don't have to have lots of sex to feel good about yourself. Your self-esteem is all about you -- not someone else. But if you're already feeling good about yourself, a great sex life may help you feel even better.
6. Deeper Intimacy
Having sex and orgasms boosts levels of the hormone oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, which helps people bond and build trust.In a study of 59 women, researchers checked their oxytocin levels before and after the women hugged their partners. The women had higher oxytocin levels if they had more of that physical contact with their partner.
Higher oxytocin levels have also been linked with a feeling of generosity. So snuggle up -- it might help you feel more generous toward your partner.
7. Sex May Turn Down Pain
Oxytocin also boosts your body's painkillers, called endorphins. Headache, arthritis pain, or PMS symptoms may improve after sex.In one study, 48 people inhaled oxytocin vapor and then had their fingers pricked. The oxytocin cut their pain threshold by more than half.
8. More Ejaculations May Make Prostate Cancer Less Likely
Research shows that frequent ejaculations, especially in 20-something men, may lower the risk of getting prostate cancer later in life.A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that men who had 21 or more ejaculations a month were less likely to get prostate cancer than those who had four to seven ejaculations per month.
The study doesn't prove that ejaculations were the only factor that mattered. Many things affect a person's odds of developing cancer. But when the researchers took that into consideration, the findings still held.
9. Stronger Pelvic Floor Muscles
For women, doing pelvic floor muscle exercises called Kegels may mean more pleasure -- and, as a perk, less chance of incontinence later in life.To do a basic Kegel exercise, tighten the muscles of your pelvic floor as if you're trying to stop the flow of urine. Count to three, then release.
10. Better Sleep
The oxytocin released during orgasm also promotes sleep, research shows.Getting enough sleep has also been linked with a host of other health benefits, such as a healthy weight and better blood pressure. That's something to think about, especially if you've been wondering why your guy can be active one minute and snoring the next.
HAIR LOSS IN WOMEN
Hair Is Tied to Self-Image
Long, short, bouncy, sleek -- for most women, hair is far more than a bundle of fiber. It's an expression of style and personality. Research also suggests hair and self-image are closely intertwined. If an occasional "bad hair day" can make a woman feel bad, hair loss can be a distressing sight to face every morning in the mirror.Hair Loss Common in Women, Too
The idea that thinning hair is a guy problem is simply wrong. Forty percent of people who experience temporary or long term hair loss are women. Some have hair that is thinning all over, while others see the center part gradually widen. Still others develop distinct baldness at the crown of the head. Unlike men, women rarely develop a receding front hairline.How Hair Grows
The average scalp has 100,000 hairs. Each follicle produces a single hair that grows at a rate of half an inch per month. After growing for two to six years, hair rests awhile before falling out. It's soon replaced with a new hair, and the cycle begins again. At any given time, 85% of hair is growing, and the remainder is resting.How Much Hair Loss Is Normal?
Because resting hairs regularly fall out, most people shed about 50-100 strands every day. You'll typically find a few in your hairbrush or on your clothes. Abnormal hair loss can happen in several ways. You may notice dramatic clumps falling out when you shampoo or style. Or your hair may thin slowly over time. If you're concerned about changes in your hair, check with your doctor.Finding the Roots of Hair Loss
Hair loss in women can be triggered by about 30 different medical conditions, as well as several lifestyle factors. Sometimes no specific cause can be found. As a starting point, hair loss experts recommend testing for thyroid problems and hormone imbalances. In many cases, hair will grow back once the cause is addressed.Measuring Women's Hair Loss
The Savin scale is a common measure that ranges from normal hair density to a bald crown (very rare). It's helpful in documenting female pattern baldness, which affects about 30 million American women. Experts think genetics and aging play a role in androgenic alopecia, along with the hormonal changes of menopause. Hair may become thin all over, with the greatest loss along the center of the scalp. A receding hairline is very rare in women
Hair Loss Trigger: Thyroid Problems
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland at the front of the neck. It produces hormones that regulate many processes throughout the body. If the gland makes too much or too little thyroid hormone, the hair growth cycle may falter. But hair loss is rarely the only sign of a thyroid problem. Other symptoms include weight gain or loss, sensitivity to cold or heat, and changes in heart rate.Hair Loss Trigger: PCOS
Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have a chronic hormonal imbalance. The body makes higher levels of androgens than expected. This often causes extra hair to sprout on the face and body, while hair on the scalp grows thinner. PCOS can also lead to ovulation problems, acne, and weight gain. But sometimes thinning hair is the only obvious sign.Hair Loss Trigger: Alopecia Areata
Alopecia areata causes hair to fall out in startling patches. The culprit is the body's own immune system, which mistakenly attacks healthy hair follicles. In most cases, the damage is not permanent. The missing patches usually grow back in six months to a year. In rare cases, people may lose all of the hair on their scalp and body.Hair Loss Trigger: Ringworm
When ringworm affects the scalp, the fungus triggers a distinct pattern of hair loss -- itchy, round bald patches. Bald areas can appear scaly and red. Ringworm of the scalp is treated with antifungal medication. The fungus is easily spread by direct contact, so family members should be checked for symptoms, too.Hair Loss Trigger: Childbirth
Some women may notice their hair seems fuller during pregnancy. That's thanks to high levels of hormones that keep resting hairs from falling out as they normally would. But it doesn't last forever. After childbirth, when hormone levels return to normal, those strands fall out quickly. This can mean a surprising amount of hair loss at one time. It may take up to two years for hair to return to normal.Hair Loss Trigger: The Pill
A little known side effect of birth control pills is the potential for hair loss. The hormones that suppress ovulation can cause hair to thin in some women, particularly those with a family history of hair loss. Sometimes hair loss begins when you stop taking the pill. Other drugs linked to hair loss include blood thinners and medicines that treat high blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis, and depression.Hair Loss Trigger: Crash Diets
You may lose more than weight with a crash diet. People may notice hair loss 3-6 months after losing more than 15 pounds, but hair should regrow on its own with a healthy diet. Be prepared to shed some locks if your diet is very low in protein or too high in vitamin A.Hair Loss Trigger: Tight Hairstyles
It's no myth: Wearing
cornrows or tight ponytails can irritate the scalp and cause hair to
fall out. The same is true of using tight rollers. Let your hair down,
and it should grow back normally. Be aware that long-term use of these
styles can cause scarring of the scalp and permanent hair loss.Hair Loss Trigger: Cancer Treatment
Hair loss is an infamous side effect of two cancer treatments: chemo and radiation therapy. In their quest to kill cancer cells, both treatments can harm hair follicles, triggering dramatic hair loss. But the damage is almost always short-lived. Once the therapy is finished, hair usually grows back.Hair Loss Trigger: Extreme Stress
Extreme physical or emotional stress can cause a sudden shedding of one-half to three-quarters of the hair on your head. Examples include:- Serious illness or major surgery
- Trauma involving blood loss
- Severe emotional trauma
Treating Hair Loss: Medicine
Minoxidil (Rogaine) is approved by the FDA for female pattern hair loss. It can slow or stop hair loss in most women and may help hair grow back in up to a quarter of those who use it. The benefits are lost when you stop using it. For women with alopecia areata, corticosteroids can help regrow hair. And if you have an underlying medical problem or a nutritional deficiency, hair usually grows back on its own once that condition is under control.Treating Hair Loss: Laser Devices
Devices that emit low-energy laser light may stimulate hair growth to help fight thinning hair. They're available in some clinics and as hand-held devices to use at home. At least one device has gained FDA approval for both men and women, based on a small study that showed effectiveness in at least some of those who tested it. It took 2-4 months to see the results. The FDA does not require the same rigorous testing for devices as for medicines. The long-term safety and effectiveness are unknown.Hair Transplants in Women
This procedure involves moving hair to thinning scalp areas from donor sites. The trouble is, female pattern baldness causes thin hair all over, so good donor sites may be limited. The exceptions are women with male pattern baldness or hair loss caused by scarring.Hair-Loss Products and Devices
A quick Internet search will turn up dozens of products intended to stop hair loss or regrow hair. Unfortunately, there's no way to know whether before and after pictures have been doctored. To evaluate a hair-loss treatment, you can check with:- A dermatologist
- The FDA medical devices division
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Coping With Thinning Hair
Ask your stylist for tips -- a short cut, a different part, maybe a gentle body wave. A styling product for thin hair may help hide hair loss. You apply it to the root area and gently blow dry to build volume. (Let hair air dry partially before using a blow dryer.) Special cosmetics can camouflage visible areas of scalp. And keratin fiber hair cosmetics may be worth a try. They're sprinkled over the thinning patch, where their static charge makes hair appear thicker.
Coping With Significant Hair Loss
Adjusting to permanent hair loss is challenging for most women. If thin areas are very obvious, consider a weave, a hairpiece, a scarf, or a hat to cover bald spots. Good quality wigs are more comfortable than ever -- and they rarely have bad hair days. If hair loss interferes with your job or social life or makes you reluctant to leave the house, think about talking with a counselor.
Top 10 Foods for Healthy Hair
"Just like every other part of your body, the cells and processes that support strong, vibrant hair depend on a balanced diet," says New York nutritionist Lisa Drayer, MA, RD, author of The Beauty Diet.
It can take longer to notice changes (both good or bad!) in your hair than in your skin. For example, "just one week with a poor diet can yield acne flare-ups or dry, sallow skin within days," says New York City dermatologist Cybele Fishman, MD, "but with hair, it can take a few months for a nutritional deficiency or the effects of a crash diet to show up."
The nutrients you eat today help fortify the hair follicle -- from which each strand is born -- and the scalp that surrounds it. "Healthier follicles? Healthier hair. Healthier scalp? Healthier hair!" Drayer says.
Of course, there's more to your hair than what you eat. Smoking, hormonal imbalances, and not enough sleep can also affect how your hair looks and feels. No magic nutrient can make up for those concerns.
Still, you have a lot more leverage than you might think. If you eat a balanced, varied, protein-rich diet that focuses on the following 10 foods, you'll be giving your hair the TLC it needs and deserves.
1. Salmon
Besides being rich in protein and vitamin D (both are key to strong hair) the omega-3 fatty acids found in this tasty cold-water fish are the true superstar. Your body can't make those fatty acids, which your body needs to grow hair. About 3% of the hair shaft is make up of these fatty acids, Drayer says. Omega-3s are also found in cell membranes in the skin of your scalp, and in the natural oils that keep your scalp and hair hydrated.Other options: If salmon doesn't thrill you, you can also get essential fatty acids from fish like herring, sardines, trout, and mackerel, as well as avocado, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts (see below for more wonderful things about walnuts.)
2. Walnuts
These are the only type of nut that have a significant amount of omega-3 fatty acids. They're also rich in biotin and vitamin E, which helps protect your cells from DNA damage. Since your hair rarely gets much shielding from the sun, this is especially great, Drayer says. Too little biotin can lead to hair loss. Walnuts also have copper, a mineral that helps keep your natural hair color rich and lustrous, Fishman says.Other options: Try using walnut oil in your salad dressing or stir-fry instead of canola or safflower, Fishman says.
3. Oysters
Oysters are rich in zinc, a lack of which can lead to hair loss (even in your eyelashes), as well as a dry, flaky scalp. Three ounces has a whopping 493% of your daily value. You can get some zinc through fortified cereals and whole grain breads, but oysters can boast a good level of protein too. "Remember, hair is about 97% protein," Drayer says. Without enough protein, your body can't replace the hairs that you naturally shed every day and what you do make can be dry, brittle, or weak.Other options: Get your fill of zinc with nuts, beef, and eggs.
4. Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a great source of the antioxidant beta carotene, which your body turns into vitamin A. "Basically, every cell of the body cannot function without enough A," Fishman says. It also helps protect and produce the oils that sustain your scalp, and being low on vitamin A can even leave you with itchy, irksome dandruff.Other options: Carrots, cantaloupe, mangoes, pumpkin, and apricots are all good sources of beta carotene.
5. Eggs
A great source of protein, eggs are loaded with four key minerals: zinc, selenium, sulfur, and iron. Iron is especially important, because it helps cells carry oxygen to the hair follicles, and too little iron (anemia) is a major cause of hair loss, particularly in women, Drayer says.Other options: You can also boost your iron stores with animal sources, including chicken, fish, pork, and beef.
6. Spinach
The iron, beta carotene, folate, and vitamin C in spinach help keep hair follicles healthy and scalp oils circulating.Other options: Try similarly nutrient-rich dark, leafy vegetables such as broccoli, kale, and Swiss chard.
7. Lentils
Tiny but mighty, these legumes are teeming with protein, iron, zinc, and biotin, says Fishman, making it a great staple for vegetarian, vegans, and meat eaters.Other options: Toss other beans such as soybeans (the young ones are called edamame) and kidney beans into your soup or salad.
8. Greek yogurt
Cruise the dairy aisle for low-fat options such as Greek yogurt, which is high in hair-friendly protein, vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid -- an ingredient you'll often see on hair care product labels), and vitamin D. Emerging research links vitamin D and hair follicle health, but exactly how that works isn't clear, Fishman says.Other options: Cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, and skim milk also fit the bill.
9. Blueberries
Exotic super fruits may come and go but when it comes to vitamin C, "It's hard to top this nutrient superhero," Drayer says. C is critical for circulation to the scalp and supports the tiny blood vessels that feed the follicles. Too little C in your diet can lead to hair breakage.Other options: Kiwis, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and strawberries.
10. Poultry
This everyday entree is extraordinary when it comes to protein, as well as hair-healthy zinc, iron, and B vitamins to keep strands strong and plentiful. Because hair is nearly all protein, "foods rich in protein are literally giving you the building blocks for hair," Drayer says.Other options: Lean cuts of beef are another good source of lean protein.
Defiant Egyptian president says he won't step down
- His fate hanging in the balance, embattled President Mohammed Morsi
vowed not to resign Tuesday, hours before a deadline to yield to the
demands of millions of protesters or see the military suspend the
constitution, disband parliament and install a new leadership.The
Islamist leader demanded that the powerful armed forces withdraw their
ultimatum, saying he rejected all "dictates" — from home or abroad.
Outside on the streets, the sense that both sides are ready to fight to
the end sharpened, with clashes between his supporters and opponents
that left at least 23 dead, most of them in a single incident of
fighting outside Cairo University.
In an emotional speech aired live to the nation, Morsi, who a year ago was inaugurated as Egypt's first freely elected president, pledged to protect his "constitutional legitimacy" with his life. He accused loyalists of his ousted autocratic predecessor Hosni Mubarak of exploiting the wave of protests to topple his regime and thwart democracy.
"There is no substitute for legitimacy," said Morsi, who at times angrily raised his voice, thrust his fist in the air and pounded the podium. He warned that electoral and constitutional legitimacy "is the only guarantee against violence."
Morsi's defiant statement showed that he and his Muslim Brotherhood are prepared to run the risk of challenging the army. It also entrenches the lines of confrontation between his Islamist supporters and Egyptians angry over what they see as his efforts to impose control by his Muslim Brotherhood and his failures to deal with the country's multiple problems.
The crisis has become a struggle over whether a popular uprising can overturn the verdict of the ballot box. Morsi's opponents say he has lost his legitimacy through mistakes and power grabs and that their turnout on the streets over the past three days shows the nation has turned against him.
For a third day Tuesday, millions of jubilant, chanting Morsi opponents filled Cairo's historic Tahrir Square, as well as avenues adjacent to two presidential palaces in the capital, and main squares in cities nationwide. After Morsi's speech, they erupted in indignation, banging metal fences to raise a din, some raising their shoes in the air in a show of contempt. "Leave, leave," they chanted.
Morsi "doesn't understand. He will take us toward bloodshed and civil war," said Islam Musbah, a 28-year-old protester sitting on the sidewalk outside the Ittihadiya palace, dejectedly resting his head on his hand.
The president's supporters also moved out in increased marches in Cairo and other cities. Morsi's supporters have stepped up warnings that it will take bloodshed to dislodge him. While Morsi has stuck to a stance that he is defending democracy in Egypt, many of his Islamist backers have presented the fight as one to protect Islam.
"Seeking martyrdom to prevent the ongoing coup is what we can offer as a sign of gratitude to previous martyrs who died in the revolution," Brotherhood stalwart Mohammed el-Beltagy wrote Tuesday in his official Facebook page.
Political violence was more widespread on Tuesday, with multiple clashes between the two camps in Cairo as well as in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and other cities. A march by Morsi supporters outside Cairo University came under fire from gunmen on nearby rooftops.
At least 23 people were killed in Cairo and more than 200 injured, according to hospital and security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Most of the killings took place outside Cairo University located at Cairo's twin city of Giza. The official Al-Ahram website reported that the armed forces deployed armored vehicles to the area.
The latest deaths take to at least 39 the people who have died since the first day of protests, Sunday, many of them in shootings of anti-Morsi gatherings.
Morsi went on TV hours after meeting with the head of the military, Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, with the prime minister also present, in their second such meeting in as many days.
On Monday, the military gave Morsi an ultimatum to meet the protesters' demands within 48 hours. If not, the generals' plan would suspend the Islamist-backed constitution, dissolve the Islamist-dominated legislature and set up an interim administration headed by the country's chief justice, the state news agency reported.
The leaking of the military's so-called political "road map" appeared aimed at adding pressure on Morsi by showing the public and the international community that the military has a plan that does not involve a coup.
On his official Twitter account, Morsi urged the armed forces "to withdraw their ultimatum" and said he rejects any domestic or foreign dictates."In his 46-minute speech Tuesday, he implicitly warned the military against removing him, saying such action will "backfire on its perpetrators."
Fearing that Washington's most important Arab ally would descend into chaos, U.S. officials said they are urging Morsi to take immediate steps to address opposition grievances, telling the protesters to remain peaceful and reminding the army that a coup could have consequences for the massive American military aid package it receives. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Morsi adviser Ayman Ali denied that the U.S. asked Egypt to call early presidential elections and said consultations were continuing to reach national conciliation and resolve the crisis. He did not elaborate.
The army has insisted it has no intention to take power. But the reported road map showed it was ready to replace Morsi and make a sweeping change in the ramshackle political structure that has evolved since Mubarak's fall in February 2011.
The constitution and domination of the legislature after elections held in late 2011-early 2012 are two of the Islamists' and Brotherhood's most valued victories — along with Morsi's election last year.
A retired army general with close ties to the military confirmed the news agency report's version of the road map.
Hossam Sweilam said a panel of experts would draft a new constitution and the interim administration would be a presidential council led by the Supreme Constitutional Court's chief justice and including the defense minister, representatives of political parties, youth groups, Al-Azhar Mosque and the Coptic Church.
He said the military envisioned a one-year transitional period before presidential elections are held.
The military spokesman, Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali, declined to confirm the details. "It is too early and we don't want to jump into conclusions," he said.
At least one anti-Morsi TV station put up a clock counting down to the end of the military's ultimatum, putting it at 4 p.m. Wednesday (1400 GMT, 10 a.m. EDT), though a countdown clock posted online by Morsi opponents put the deadline at 5 p.m. (1500 GMT, 11 a.m. EDT). The military did not give a precise hour.
Morsi also faced new fissures within his leadership.
Three government spokesmen — two for Morsi and one for the prime minister — were the latest to quit as part of high-level defections that underscored his increasing isolation and fallout from the military's ultimatum. Five Cabinet ministers, including the foreign minister, resigned Monday, and a sixth, Sports Minister El-Amry Farouq, quit Tuesday.
One ultraconservative Salafi party, al-Nour, also announced its backing for early elections. The party was once an ally of Morsi but in recent months has broken with him.
Among the opposition crowds outside the Qasr el-Qobba presidential palace, one protester said he believes Morsi will not go easily. "He will only leave after a catastrophe. Lots of blood. And the military is the only party that can force him out then," said Haitham Farouk, an oil company employee joining a protest for the first time.
He said the "epic" crowds showed how Egypt's public has turned against Morsi and his Brotherhood, which opponents claim is the real power behind the president. "This is everybody, not just the educated or the political," Farouk said of the protesters. "They came down because only the Brotherhood gained in the past two years.
Morsi may try half-measures to satisfy the army, he said, "but the people are not going back until he leaves. After what we have seen in the past year, we will not settle for less."
In a significant move, opposition parties and the youth movement behind the demonstrations agreed that reform leader and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei would represent them in any negotiations on the country's political future. The move appeared aimed at presenting a unified voice in a post-Morsi system, given the widespread criticism that the opposition has been too fragmented to present an alternative to the Islamists.
Brotherhood spokesman Gehad el-Haddad said the opposition is to blame for its own woes, failing to perform well in the elections, and has now decided to "brush up to military power."
"We can't keep running elections until (the Brotherhood) loses," he wrote in a Tweet. He said the opposition should "man up" to its responsibilities and come up with a better strategy "or accept democratic outcomes."
Despite heated rhetoric among many Islamists about standing up to the military, one cleric from the Salafi movement warned against repeating the scenario of Algeria, when the military negated elections that Islamists won in the 1990s, and the Islamists responded with a yearslong, bloody insurgency.
The result, Adel Nasr wrote on a Salafi website, was that "more than a hundred thousand were killed and ... their popularity went down," costing Islamists both political power and the power of their religious message.
Wladimir Klitschko to fight Povetkin in October
Wladmir Klitschko will defend his multiple heavyweight
titles against mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin in a highly
anticipated showdown on Oct. 5 in Moscow.
Klitschko's management says the fight, long in the making, will take place in the Olympic Arena.
''This is the best fight that the heavyweight division has to offer at the moment,'' Klitschko said in a statement Tuesday.
Klitschko holds the IBF and IBO belts and is also the WBO and WBA ''super champion.'' Povetkin, 33, is WBA's ''regular champion.''
Klitschko's older brother Vitali is the WBC champion. The Ukraine-born brothers have dominated the heavy division for a decade.
Russia's Povetkin is like Wladimir Klitschko a former Olympic champion and has a 26-0 record, with 18 KOs.
Klitschko is 60-3. His last fight was a sixth-round TKO over Francesco Pianeta in May.
The Klitschkos rarely fight outside Germany, their base.
''I've never boxed in Moscow and I'm looking forward to many Ukrainians and Russians who will come to the arena and create a special atmosphere,'' Klitschko said.
Povetkin, who beat Ruslan Chagaev on points in August 2011 for the then-vacant title, also last fought in May and stopped Polish challenger Andrzej Wawrzyk in the third round for his fourth successful title defense.
Klitschko, 37, will be in his 24th title fight.
Klitschko's management says the fight, long in the making, will take place in the Olympic Arena.
''This is the best fight that the heavyweight division has to offer at the moment,'' Klitschko said in a statement Tuesday.
Klitschko holds the IBF and IBO belts and is also the WBO and WBA ''super champion.'' Povetkin, 33, is WBA's ''regular champion.''
Klitschko's older brother Vitali is the WBC champion. The Ukraine-born brothers have dominated the heavy division for a decade.
Russia's Povetkin is like Wladimir Klitschko a former Olympic champion and has a 26-0 record, with 18 KOs.
Klitschko is 60-3. His last fight was a sixth-round TKO over Francesco Pianeta in May.
The Klitschkos rarely fight outside Germany, their base.
''I've never boxed in Moscow and I'm looking forward to many Ukrainians and Russians who will come to the arena and create a special atmosphere,'' Klitschko said.
Povetkin, who beat Ruslan Chagaev on points in August 2011 for the then-vacant title, also last fought in May and stopped Polish challenger Andrzej Wawrzyk in the third round for his fourth successful title defense.
Klitschko, 37, will be in his 24th title fight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)