XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Tuesday 30 July 2013

Dog Eats Paralyzed Man's Testicle -

Dog Eats Paralyzed Man's Testicle - 



A dog is supposed to be man's best friend, but you wouldn't wish this pooch on your worst enemy.

The dog's owner, a paralyzed man in Trumann, Ark., recently adopted the "small white fluffy" stray in hopes of having a loving animal companion, according to KAIT8.com.

Instead, the dog had to be euthanized after it bit off one of the man's testicles while he was asleep on Monday morning.

The man, who told police he has no feeling from the waist down, woke up with a "burning pain" in his mid-section.

He looked down and found that his newly adopted dog between his legs, according to KAIT8.com.

The 39-year-old victim told police he sleeps in the nude and noticed his dog had blood on its feet and muzzle.

That's when he also realized that the dog had eaten one of his testicles, WMC-TV reported.

The man was taken to an area hospital to be treated for his injuries, according to a police report obtained by The Huffington Post.

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Mercedes-Benz integrating Google Glass into its cars -

Mercedes-Benz integrating Google Glass into its cars - 



Google Glass may be the must have accessory for nerds of the moment, but it could play the same role for luxury car owners soon.
The Silicon Valley Business Journal reports that Mercedes-Benz is working to integrate the wearable computer with its in-car infotainment systems.
The primary goal, according to the report, is to create a navigation system that seamlessly moves with the wearer from inside to outside the car.
The idea is that you enter a destination when you leave home which then automatically transfers to the car’s built in system as you drive and back to the Glass when you get out of the car, allowing for walking directions to your final destination.
Glass currently offers navigation when tethered to a smartphone, but using it requires that you wear the device the entire time.
The Mercedes-Benz still a few years away from the real world, as Google Glass itself is still under development and not even generally available to consumers yet, but Mercedes Benz is clearly aiming to be ready if it catches on with its customers.
In the meantime, to prove its agnosticism when it comes to technology, the automaker is also working on a suite of applications that work with Apple’s Siri voice command system, because there’s no telling what those successful nerds of the future will be into.


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American Men Almost 6x More Likely Than Women to Be Killed by Lightning -

American Men Almost 6x More Likely Than Women to Be Killed by Lightning - 

Lightning strikes in the United States are almost six times more likely to kill a man than a woman, according to recently released data from the federal Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC did not explain why males are so much more likely than females to be killed by lightning.

The CDC looked at deaths by lightning in the 43 years from 1968 through 2010. It found that during that period the annual number of Americans killed by lightning was on a downward trend, with the annual number of men being killed declining 78.6 percent and the annual number of women being killed declining 70.6 percent.

However, over the 1968-2010 period, 85 percent of the Americans killed by lightning were male and 15 percent were female. That means American males were 5.66 times more likely to be killed by lightning than American females.

During the period, according to the CDC, a total of 3,389 Americans were killed by lightning, for an average of 79 a year. The greatest number was 131 in 1969; the lowest 29 in 2008 and 2010.

The ratio of 5.66 American males being killed by lightning for each female killed by lightning has been fairly steady over time—despite the overall decrease in the annual number of Americans killed by lightning.

Back in 1998, the CDC published an earlier report, looking at lightning deaths in the United States between 1980 and 1995. In that shorter time frame, 1,318 Americans were killed by lightning for an average of 82 per year. Of those 1,318 lightning victims, 1,125 (or 85 percent) were male.

That 1998 CDC report also said lightning was more likely to kill younger, as opposed to older, males. While 85 percent of all Americans killed by lightning from 1980-1995 were males, 68 percent were males aged 15 to 44.

The CDC also said that in the 1980-1995 period deaths by lightning happened more frequently in certain states. “The greatest number of deaths attributable to lightning occurred in Florida and Texas (145 and 91, respectively), but New Mexico, Arizona, Arkansas, and Mississippi had the highest rates (10.0, 9.0, 9.0, and 9.0, respectively),” said the CDC.

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Detroit home priced at $1 sits on the market for 519 days... - and still for sale -

Detroit home priced at $1 sits on the market for 519 days... - and still for sale - 

Bargain: This 1915 home in Detroit has been on the market for just $1 for 519 days

It may not look particularly attractive, but as just $1 this family home is a complete bargain.
However, despite being on the market for the drop-down price since February last year, the Detroit property is astonishingly still for sale.
It is one of a number of run-down properties lying in the suburbs of Michigan's largest city, which earlier this month filed for bankruptcy, crippled by enormous debts.

Built in 1915, the property on Saint-Clair Street has been listed for sale since May 2011. 
After initially being placed on the market for $900, its price was dramatically reduced to just $1 in February last year.
A description of the property on the Zillow website describes it as a 'Multi Family home featuring 2 units, hardwood floors, basement, and much more!'

The home is symbolic of the entire city, which earlier this month filed for bankruptcy. It is one of a number of homes across Detroit on the market for $1.
After standing empty for so long, the houses are often ransacked by thieves who strip them of everything, including water tanks and pipes.


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Breastfeeding linked to child’s intelligence later in life -

Breastfeeding linked to child’s intelligence later in life - 



Mothers faced with the decision of whether or not to breastfeed now have new evidence to consider: skipping formula in favor of breast milk could affect a child’s intelligence later in life.
In a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics, lead author Dr. Mandy Belfort, of the Boston Children’s Hospital, sought to examine the link between the breastfeeding and a child’s cognitive function as they develop.
Belfort and her colleagues gathered data from 1,312 mothers and children in the United States, tracking everything from the mother’s frequency of breastfeeding to other factors including the mother’s intelligence, the mother and father’s education levels, measures of the home environment, the mother’s employment and the type of childcare the baby received.
While the link between breastfeeding and cognition had been previously explored, many earlier studies did not control for these additional factors.
“Many previous studies have been criticized because any link you might observe between breastfeeding and childhood intelligence could be explained by those other factors,” Belfort told FoxNews.com.
Belfort then performed a series of tests measuring the children’s cognitive development after infancy.  At age 3, the children underwent the higher Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, a measure of receptive language, or how well a child understands language.
“A child’s receptive language is highly correlated with general intelligence as measured by more typical IQ tests,” Belfort said.
After analyzing the data, researchers discovered that for each additional month that a child was breastfed, through a year, their language score was .2 points higher – a statistically significant finding.
Then, at age 7, the same children were assessed using the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, a measure of the child’s IQ. For this test, each additional month that a child was breastfed through a year was correlated with an increase in IQ score by a third of a point – another statistically significant discovery.

However, when children took the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning, which specifically tests memory and learning capabilities, the difference between children who were breastfed and those who weren’t was not significant.  
The study authors were also interested in exploring whether or not there was a link between a mother’s consumption of fish and the intelligence of children who were breastfed – though they did not find any significant effect there either.
“I would say that it is reassuring, it didn’t seem like eating fish is harmful, because of concerns about mercury in fish,” Belfort said. 
Though researchers were able to distinguish a small but clear link between breastfeeding and cognitive development, they remain uncertain as to why breast milk appears to be superior to infant formula.
“Formula is designed to be as close to breast milk as possible…but it is definitely possible that there are nutrients or non-nutrient factors in breast milk not in formula that may benefit baby’s brain,” Belfort said
Overall, Belfort noted that the study’s findings support national recommendations urging women to breastfeed exclusively through age 6 months and to continue at least partial breastfeeding through 1 year of age.
However, many factors go into a woman’s decision to breastfeed including whether or not she produces enough milk, how quickly she needs to return to work and how friendly her workplace is to breastfeeding.
“There are certainly many factors people have to weigh into making that decision,” Belfort said. “The cognitive advantage is relatively small so people need to weigh many, many different factors in making this decision.”
Overall, Belfort emphasizes that women should do what is best for them and their child – and if a woman chooses not to breastfeed, there are many other things she can do to ensure her child develops normally.
“There are so many things people can do to optimize a baby’s development, this is but one,” Belfort said. “Turn off the TV, talk to your baby, read to your baby, play with your baby. Those are really important ways to stimulate baby’s development.”


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Baby girl weighing 13.47 pounds born naturally in Germany -

Baby girl weighing 13.47 pounds born naturally in Germany - 

Heavy German Newborn_AP_July 30, 2013.jpg

A baby weighing 13.47 pounds was born without the aid of a cesarean section in Germany, making her the country’s largest newborn ever.
Baby girl Jasleen was born on July 26 at University Hospital in Leipzig, Germany, the Herald Sun reported.  Jasleen’s mother only arrived at the hospital on the day of the birth, and doctors discovered that she had suffered from an undiagnosed case of gestational diabetes, a condition that can cause excessive birth weight in the newborn child.
Both mom and daughter are doing well after the birth, doctors said, and Jasleen remains in the neonatal care unit.


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Scientists have grown rudimentary teeth out of the most unlikely of sources, human urine -

Scientists have grown rudimentary teeth out of the most unlikely of sources, human urine - 



The results, published in Cell Regeneration Journal, showed that urine could be used as a source of stem cells that in turn could be grown into tiny tooth-like structures.

The team from China hopes the technique could be developed into a way of replacing lost teeth.

Other stem cell researchers caution that that goal faces many challenges.

Teams of researchers around the world are looking for ways of growing new teeth to replace those lost with age and poor dental hygiene.

Stem cells - the master cells which can grow into any type of tissue - are a popular area of research.

The group at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health used urine as the starting point.

Cells which are normally passed from the body, such as those from the lining of the body's waterworks, are harvested in the laboratory. These collected cells are then coaxed into becoming stem cells.

A mix of these cells and other material from a mouse was implanted into the animals.

The researchers said that after three weeks the bundle of cells started to resemble a tooth: "The tooth-like structure contained dental pulp, dentin, enamel space and enamel organ."

However, the "teeth" were not as hard as natural teeth.

This piece of research is not immediately going to lead to new options for the dentist, but the researchers say it could lead to further studies towards "the final dream of total regeneration of human teeth for clinical therapy".

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