Washington, Mar 16 : The layer of fat around the heart can provide extra information compared with standard diagnostic techniques such as coronary artery calcium scoring, say scientists.

The size of the layer of fat around the heart, or imaging epicardial adipose tissue, can be measured by X-ray imaging techniques such as CT or MRI, according to research by cardiologists at Emory University School of Medicine.

Washington, March 16 : A new research has shown that obesity limits the body's ability to develop immunity to influenza viruses, particularly secondary infections, by inhibiting the immune system's ability to "remember" how it fought off previous similar bouts of illness.

Washington, March 16 : Scientists have discovered a new procedure for augmenting the lips using grafts of muscle and connective tissue from the neck.

As women age, the groove on the upper lip flattens and the amount of pink tissue showing decreases. Such changes have led a growing number of women to seek lip augmentation procedures.

Washington, Mar 16 : Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have offered new insights into why sexually experienced girls resume sexual activity after periods of abstinence.

This information may help tailor effective counselling to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pregnancy in high school girls and beyond.

Characteristics associated with the risk of a teen girl having sex after a period of abstinence differed according to how long she had been abstinent.

Washington, March 16 : A new study by researchers at the University of York has suggested that drugs increasingly used to treat cancer could have a major impact on a wide range of infectious diseases.

Anti-angiogenic drugs are used to try and prevent cancers from stimulating the growth of the blood vessels they need to survive and grow.

London, Mar 16 : A survey has found that parents with twins are more likely to end up divorced, broke and out of work, even though they are better off, older and more likely to be married than those who have their babies one at a time.

The research on the chaos caused by multiple births, tracked 18,500 families, and found that married couples were 17 percent more likely to divorce if they had twins or triplets rather than several children with gaps in between.

Washington, March 16 : In a new study, an experimental oral drug successfully lowered blood sugar levels and inflammation in mice with Type 2 diabetes.

The finding raises hopes that someday the drug could be added to the arsenal of drugs used by millions of people with this disease, according to new research.

The drug consists of a synthetic molecule that stops the biological activity of a protein called macrophage migration inhibitory factor, or MIF.

This protein is implicated in a number of diseases because it is associated with the production of inflammation in the body.

Washington, Mar 16 : Examining the neural pathways involved in ''status quo bias'' in the human brain, researchers at University College London (UCL) have found that the more difficult the decision we face, the more likely we are not to act.

The study looked at the decision-making of participants taking part in a tennis ''line judgement'' game while their brains were scanned using functional MRI (fMRI).

Washington, Mar 16 : A researcher at Tel Aviv University has found a new approach to help kids with paralysis and motor dysfunction improve their physical skills and inner confidence - magic.

Dr. Dido Green developed an innovative yet remarkably simple series of therapeutic exercises for children and young adults based on sleight-of-hand tricks used by professional magicians.

Green and her magicians used sponge balls, elastics and paper clips to teach the children how to perform the challenging, fun and engaging exercises.

Washington, Mar 16 : For better romantic relationships, be true to yourself, that's the suggestion of a new study.

The study examined how dating relationships were affected by the ability of people to see themselves clearly and objectively, act in ways consistent with their beliefs, and interact honestly and truthfully with others.

In other words, the ability to follow the words of William Shakespeare: "to thine own self be true," said Amy Brunell, lead author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University's Newark campus.

Washington, Mar 16 : University of Michigan scientists have identified a chemical in bananas as a potent inhibitor of HIV infection.

Accordion to University of Michigan Medical School scientists, the potent new inhibitor of HIV, derived from bananas, may open the door to new treatments to prevent sexual transmission of HIV.

Scientists have an emerging interest in lectins, naturally occurring chemicals in plants, because of their ability to halt the chain of reaction that leads to a variety of infections.

Washington, Mar 16 : The risk of developing asthma increases if a person lives through the trauma of war, claims a study.

Published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the study found that those who are most traumatised are twice as likely to develop the condition as those who are least traumatised by their experiences of war.

The authors base their findings on a random sample of just over 2000 Kuwaiti civilians who endured the Iraqi invasion and seven month occupation of their country in 1990, and were aged between 50 and 69 at the time.

Washington, Mar 16 : Men with cardiovascular disease and erectile dysfunction (ED) are at an increased risk of death, according to a new study.

Reporting in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, German researchers stated that erectile dysfunction (ED) is a strong predictor of death from all causes and of heart attack, stroke and heart failure in men with cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Washington, Mar 16 : According to Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) scientists, something in female sex chromosomes appears to trigger a rise in blood pressure after the onset of menopause.

The finding challenges the current belief that sex hormones are largely responsible for regulating blood pressure.

Published in Hypertension, the research is the first of its kind and involves male mice engineered to have female (XX) sex chromosomes, and female mice with male (XY) chromosomes.

Washington, Mar 16 : Meditation can help enhance the ability to moderate reactions to pain, according to new study.

In the study, published in The Journal of Pain, boffins from the University of North Carolina measured pain ratings in students interested in learning meditation who recruited for the study. Subjects were trained in meditation for three consecutive days and were given experimental pain stimuli.

Washington, March 16 : A new study claims that a person can reach a high level of spiritual development without being emotionally and psychologically mature.

Prof. Mayseless, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Haifa and conference co-organizer, explains psychological maturity is defined as the capacity to control impulses and acceptance of responsibility for the consequences of one''s action.

London, Mar 16 : Scientists have discovered a gene which they claim could help make regrowing amputated limbs, broken backs and even damaged brains a reality.

The gene p21, researchers claim, appears to block the healing power enjoyed by some creatures including amphibians but lost through evolution to all other animals.

By turning off p21, the process can be miraculously switched back on, the academics from The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia said.

In their study, they found that mice lacking the p21 gene gain the ability to regenerate lost or damaged tissue.

Sydney, March 16 : An underarm lotion that boosts testosterone in men may soon hit stores.

Melbourne-based Acrux has signed a deal worth 367 million dollars, permitting US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly the right to sell the underarm sex-drive testosterone lotion.

Eli Lilly will get worldwide rights to market the Axiron treatment, as per the agreement.

The Axiron treatment is used in the treatment of testosterone deficiency in men over 45 years old.

A clinical trial found Axiron bring testosterone levels to normal in 84 per cent of men after four months, Bloomberg reported.

London, March 15 : Three-year-old Daisy Uranjek-Hollick has been diagnosed with a rare medical condition, which does not allow her to swallow food.

Daisy is suffering from Pompe Disease, a genetic problem that affects her throat muscles, which means she has to be fed through a tube in her stomach four or five times daily.

However, mum Jennifer puts out a plate for her whenever the family is having meals.

“Even though Daisy’s never shown any interest in food we like to make her part of meal times as much as possible,” the Daily Star quoted Jennifer, 28, as saying.

London, Mar 15 : Taking a step ahead of traditional screening tests for potential anti-cancer drugs, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have developed a laboratory technique that more closely mirrors the real-world conditions in which tumour cells mingle with the body''s normal cells

As the neighbouring cells - key components of what is known as the "tumour microenvironment" - can alter the effectiveness of anti-cancer drugs, the new technique may help researchers narrow the field of possible therapies more quickly and identify the most promising candidates more readily.

Mumbai, March 15 : Pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories Friday said it will launch anti-diabetic drug Actos in the US by 2012.

Ranbaxy, majority owned by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, said it has settled litigation with the country's Takeda Pharmaceutical over a generic equivalent version of the medicine and received a non-exclusive royalty free licence for its US patents covering Actos.

Washington, Mar 15 : Researchers have developed a new measurement tool to determine cardiac risks.

Experts at the Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, have come up with the Intermountain Risk Score, which deciphers an individual''''s risk for problems, such as heart attack and heart failure.

Washington, Mar 15 : A new study claims that the presence of plaque on an abdominal CT scan is a strong predictor of coronary artery disease and mortality.

Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital observed 367 patients who underwent an abdominal CT and cardiac catheterization between January 2004 and May 2009.

They found that patients had a 58 percent risk of having coronary artery disease with an AAC (abdominal aortic calcium, commonly known as plaque) score over 1,000 compared to patients who had an 11 percent risk with an AAC score of zero.

London, Mar 15 : People really do have the ability of selective hearing - the power to filter out unwanted noise and conversation, a new study has found.

And scientists hope the finding could help combat deafness.

The study suggests it is the brain and not the ear that "zooms in" on sound, acting like a radio by tuning into certain noises while ignoring everything else.

London, Mar 15 : A host of young Japanese are drawn to the allure of "therapeutic ringtones" - a genre of melodies that promises to ease a range of day-to-day gripes, from chronic insomnia to a rotten hangover.

Developed by Matsumi Suzuki, the head of the Japan Ringing Tone Laboratory, an eight-year-old subsidiary of the Japan Acoustic Laboratory, the tones are a hit with housewives as well as teenagers.