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| Protection-shy players run risk of developing skin cancer Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 08:13 PM PST By Simon Cambers MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Slapping on the sun cream may be second nature to Australians but it seems some of the world's leading players are taking unnecessary risks by not wearing any protection against skin cancer at the opening grand slam of the year. Australian Open officials have been handing out sun cream and advising fans to cover up while play was suspended at Melbourne Park on Thursday due to the excessive heat, as temperatures passed 40 degrees Celsius for a third straight day. Defending men's champion Novak Djokovic took to Twitter to spread the message, saying "protect yourself people" but others, including world number one Rafael Nadal, have said they preferred not to use it at all. "Players (don't like) that it doesn't feel great on your skin and also when you're sweating it drips in your eyes," said Paul Annacone, the former coach of Roger Federer and Pete Sampras and now in charge of Sloane Stephens. Full Story | Top |
| Tennis-Protection-shy players run risk of developing skin cancer Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 08:08 PM PST By Simon Cambers MELBOURNE, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Slapping on the sun cream may be second nature to Australians but it seems some of the world's leading players are taking unnecessary risks by not wearing any protection against skin cancer at the opening grand slam of the year. Australian Open officials have been handing out sun cream and advising fans to cover up while play was suspended at Melbourne Park on Thursday due to the excessive heat, as temperatures passed 40 degrees Celsius for a third straight day. Defending men's champion Novak Djokovic took to Twitter to spread the message, saying "protect yourself people" but others, including world number one Rafael Nadal, have said they preferred not to use it at all. "Players (don't like) that it doesn't feel great on your skin and also when you're sweating it drips in your eyes," said Paul Annacone, the former coach of Roger Federer and Pete Sampras and now in charge of Sloane Stephens. Full Story | Top |
| Obama seeks to build unity with Senate Democrats in election year Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 07:24 PM PST  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought to build a united front with Democratic senators on Wednesday, inviting them to the White House to chat about "shared goals" heading into midterm elections in which Republicans will try to exploit Obama's woes to pick up seats. Obama urged senators to hold off on a proposed Iran sanctions bill that many support - and which he has vowed to veto. The White House has said the legislation would derail an international deal to curb Iran's nuclear program. Obama, not known for his tendency to schmooze, sat on a stool with a microphone in the ornate East Room of the White House, giving brief remarks before taking questions from senators for about 90 minutes. Full Story | Top |
| Experimental gene therapy improves sight in patients going blind Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 04:29 PM PST By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - Toby Stroh was in his 20s when his doctor told him he would go blind in his 50s, and his years of playing tennis and being able to drive or work could be gone long before that. Now aged 56, two years after his retina was deliberately infected with a virus carrying a gene to correct a protein deficiency that was destroying its cells, he is a regular on the tennis court and has a successful career in law. "For the last 30 years I've been living under the insidious inevitability of going blind," Stroh told reporters at a briefing about his experimental treatment. "Now there is a very real prospect I will continue to be able to see." Stroh is one of a handful of patients with an inherited cause of progressive blindness called choroideremia who took part in an early stage trial of a potential gene therapy treatment designed to correct a genetic defect that means retina cells gradually die. Full Story | Top |
| Comedians have psychotic personality traits, study finds Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 04:23 PM PST By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Having an unusual personality structure could be the secret to making other people laugh, scientists said on Thursday after research showed that comedians have high levels of psychotic personality traits. "The creative elements needed to produce humor are strikingly similar to those characterizing the cognitive style of people with psychosis - both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder," said Gordon Claridge of the University of Oxford's department of experimental psychology, who led the study. "Equally, manic thinking - which is common in people with bipolar disorder - may help people combine ideas to form new, original and humorous connections." The researchers recruited 523 comedians - 404 men and 119 women - and asked them to complete an online questionnaire designed to measure psychotic traits in healthy people. The same questionnaire was also completed by 364 actors - who are also used to performing in front of an audience - as a control group, and the comedians' and actors' results were compared to each other as well as a general group of 831 people who had non-creative jobs. Full Story | Top |
| Asiana crash aftermath video shows firefighters warned about teen Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 03:30 PM PST  By Laila Kearney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Firefighters responding to an Asiana Airlines plane that crash-landed in San Francisco in July were warned about the presence of a teenage passenger who was later fatally struck by an emergency vehicle, new video footage of the aftermath shows. Ye Mengyuan, a 16-year-old passenger from China, survived the initial impact of the July 6 crash only to be struck and killed by an emergency vehicle as she lay near the wreckage of the first fatal commercial airplane crash in the United States since February 2009. One video, first released by CBS News late on Tuesday, shows a firefighter pointing to Ye, who appeared motionless in a patch of dry grass without no foam nearby. Another video shows a firefighter flagging down a fire truck headed toward the plane. Full Story | Top |
| Amarin says FDA delays decision on Vascepa trial design Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:55 PM PST (Reuters) - Amarin Corp Plc said U.S. health regulators delayed their decision to reconsider a rescinded agreement that could support a marketing application for an expanded use of the company's blood fat-lowering drug. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had in October revoked a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement covering a large late-stage trial of the drug, Vascepa. Following an appeal from Amarin, the regulator said it would determine by January 15 whether it would reconsider that decision. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obamacare 'surge' persists into 2014 in some states Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:53 PM PST  By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - The late-December surge that pushed enrollment in private health insurance plans under Obamacare past 2.1 million people continued into 2014, officials of several state-run insurance marketplaces said on Wednesday. It was encouraging news for White House hopes of signing up 7 million Americans by March 31, the deadline for 2014 coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare law. That goal has appeared elusive due to the disastrous performance of HealthCare.gov, the federal enrollment portal through which Americans in 36 states sign up to buy health insurance, in October and November, even as the websites of many of the 15 state-run exchanges fared better. The Washington Health Benefit Exchange has had about 8,000 enrollments in private health plans since late December, bringing the total to just over 73,000. Full Story | Top |
| FDA advisory panel backs Merck's blood clot-preventing drug Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:31 PM PST Merck & Co Inc's experimental blood clot-preventing drug vorapaxar should be approved to reduce the risk of further heart problems in people who have suffered a recent heart attack, an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded on Wednesday. The FDA is not bound to follow the advice of its advisory panels but typically does so. Results from a trial known as TRA 2P were "robust," panelists said, and justified approval for patients who had suffered a heart attack. "I think this drug addresses a real unmet medical need," said Dr. Philip Sager, consulting professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. judge upholds subsidies pivotal to Obamacare Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:25 PM PST  By David Ingram WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A judge on Wednesday upheld subsidies at the heart of President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul, rejecting one of the main legal challenges to the policy by conservatives opposed to an expansion of the federal government. A ruling in favor of a lawsuit brought by individuals and businesses in Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia would have crippled the implementation of the law by making health insurance unaffordable for many people. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington D.C. wrote that Congress clearly intended to make the subsidies available nationwide under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a requirement of the law, commonly called Obamacare, that most Americans buy health insurance or pay a tax penalty. Full Story | Top |
| Spielberg tops Oprah Winfrey as most influential celeb: Forbes Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:25 PM PST  (Reuters) - Director Steven Spielberg on Wednesday dethroned media mogul Oprah Winfrey as the most influential celebrity in the United States, according to an annual study by Forbes magazine that was dominated by film directors. Spielberg's influence was boosted by his most recent film, "Lincoln," which earned 12 Oscar nominations last year including best picture and best direction, and grossed $275 million at the global box office. "A celebrity's 'Influential' score represents how that person is perceived as influencing the public, their peers, or both," Gerry Philpott, president of E-Poll Market Research, which conducted the study for Forbes, told the magazine. Film director and "Star Wars" creator George Lucas placed third despite working little in the public eye in recent years. Full Story | Top |
| No evidence of "obesity paradox" for diabetes: study Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:12 PM PST By Gene Emery NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Contrary to a popular theory, adults who are overweight when they are diagnosed with diabetes are not protected against dying early, a large new study shows. The findings call into question what's known as the "obesity paradox," the belief that people with a normal weight are more likely to die from type 2 diabetes than those who are overweight or obese. "There's been a pretty polarized debate over whether this is real or not," lead author Deirdre Tobias, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, told Reuters Health. The new report included more than 11,000 people in those studies who were diagnosed with diabetes. Full Story | Top |
| House approves $1.1 trillion measure to fund government through Sept 30 Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:09 PM PST  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a $1.1 trillion spending bill on Wednesday that quashes the threat of a government shutdown through September 30 and offers lawmakers a chance to end four years of chaotic, crisis-driven budgeting. The 359-67 vote, reflecting strong bipartisan support in the Republican-controlled chamber, sends the measure to the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate for approval by Saturday. The Senate gave itself three more days to consider the measure by approving an extension of current funding that was due to expire at midnight on Wednesday. The massive "omnibus" spending bill, which funds programs from missile systems to Amtrak rail services, passed with strong majorities of both House Republicans and Democrats. Full Story | Top |
| Signs encouraging employees to take the stairs may work Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 01:35 PM PST That sort of access has already been shown to increase physical activity in places like subway stations and shopping malls. The health department's Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control conducted the study, which only included city employees. "Adults spend a large portion of their life in their workplace, and having access to and incorporating physical activity into one's day can have a positive impact on health," the department's statement read. Ryan Richard Ruff, director of the Research & Evaluation Unit at the health department, led the study. Full Story | Top |
| S&P 500 closes at record on bank earnings, data Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 01:33 PM PST  By Ryan Vlastelica NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 climbing to an all-time closing high after strong earnings from Bank of America and data signaled that the economy was improving. Bank of America Corp climbed 2.3 percent to $17.15 and gave one of the biggest boosts to the S&P 500 after the second-largest U.S. bank said its quarterly profit surged by nearly $3 billion on an increase in revenue. The report came a day after both JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co also posted better-than-expected earnings, though Wells Fargo's mortgage lending slowed to the lowest level in five years. "So far so good with bank earnings this season, and it is very positive that we're seeing significant declines in foreclosures, which is very positive for the economy," said David Kelly, chief global strategist for JPMorgan Funds in New York. Full Story | Top |
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