Guoman and Thistle Hotels have launched a dual incentive scheme which includes great offers for meetings and events booked looking to secure event space between now and 31st March 2011. Guoman Hotels, the exclusive collection of deluxe, inspirational hotels across central London, and Thistle Hotels, the chain of quality full-service hotels in the UK's major cities, are offering meetings and events bookers the chance of winning a whole array of exciting rewards, such as free Apple goodies, a double booking bonus reward, 3% commission boost, free day delegates (this occurs ...

Thistle Hotels has announced that the popular Jamie's Scottish Evenings are coming to an end for another year at the King James Hotel in Edinburgh. The event runs from April to October, 7 nights a week, and will be coming to an end on the 31 October. Hosted by renowned Scottish entertainer Bill Torrance, diners can enjoy an array of traditional Scottish entertainment and three course meal in Lothian Suite in one of the grandest Edinburgh hotels. At GBP55 per head inclusive of wine, guests can sample fresh, locally sourced produce, such as Shetland salmon, Highland ...

On October 1, 2010, numerous news articles were released regarding the recently-discovered Syphilis experiment or "study" in Guatemala on unknowing mental health "participants." Apparently, according to the numerous news articles, the doctor involved in the infamous Tuskegee experiment on African-American males in Alabama in the 1970s, Dr. John C. Cutler, and the National Institutes of Health, among other United States governmental organizations and the Guatemalan government, itself, knowingly participated and/or approved of the experiment on unknowing victims. The United ...

University of Alberta researcher Lori Friesen's classroom assistants are very attentive, love to listen to children read and can keep their composure in a classroom full of energetic Grade 2 students. However, her assistants are more likely to lick the students' faces than give them a gold star. Friesen's says her work with her "literacy dogs," Tango and Sparky, in one city-area classroom yielded some highly positive successes for the children and her research. In Friesen's research, children signed up for weekly reading or writing sessions with her and one of the dogs. ...

NEW YORK, October 1, 2010--A multi-institutional team led by investigators from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has published a study that provides new insight into genetic changes that make some forms of glioblastoma, the most common type of primary brain cancer, more aggressive than others and explains why they may not respond to certain therapies. The research was led by senior author Eric C. Holland, MD, PhD,--an MSKCC surgeon, researcher and the Director of the Brain Tumor Center--and was published in the October 1 issue of the journal Genes & Development. Glioblastoma ...

Surgeons at UW Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have determined that transorbital neuroendoscopic surgery (TONES) is a safe, effective option for treating a variety of advanced brain diseases and traumatic injuries. This groundbreaking, minimally invasive surgery is performed through the eye socket, thus eliminating the removal of the top of the skull to reach the brain. The findings were published in the September issue of Neurosurgery. "By performing surgery through the eye socket, ...

An unparalleled heat wave in eastern Europe, coupled with intense droughts and fires around Moscow, put Earth's temperatures in the headlines this summer. Likewise, a string of exceptionally warm days in July in the eastern United States strained power grids, forced nursing home evacuations, and slowed transit systems. Both high-profile events reinvigorated questions about humanity's role in climate change. But, from a global perspective, how warm was the summer exactly? How did the summer's temperatures compare with previous years? And was global warming the "cause" ...

### Authors on The American Journal of Managed Care study included: Adrianne Feldstein, MD, MS, Nancy A. Perrin, PhD, A. Gabriela Rosales, MS, Gregory A. Nichols, PhD, David H. Smith, RPh, MHA, PhD, and Jennifer Schneider, MPH of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research; Robert Unitan, MD. Of Northwest Permanente, Carrie M. Davino, MD, and Nancy Louie Lee, RPh of Kaiser Permanente Northwest, ,Yvonne Zhou, PhD of Kaiser Permanente. Authors on the Population Health study included: Yvonne Zhou, Jian J. Wang, MS, and Marianne Turley, PhD from Analytics & Evaluation, ...

Exacerbations in cystic fibrosis (CF) may be linked to chronic infection with a bacterium called Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, which was previously thought to simply colonize the CF lung. The finding that chronic infection with S. maltophilia is independently linked with an increased risk of exacerbations gives clinicians and researchers a new potential measure of the health status of CF patients, as well as a new potential target in fighting their disease. The findings were published online ahead of the print edition of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal ...

Growth hormone is used to treat children's growth disorders and has been used by some sports men and women to promote muscle growth and regeneration. This is because it coordinates skeletal muscle development, nutrient uptake, and nutrient utilization. It is not clear, however, which of these effects are direct and which are indirectly mediated via growth hormone induction of the protein IGF-1. Now, however, a team of researchers, led by Thomas Clemens, at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, has used mice engineered to lack in their skeletal muscle either ...

EDITOR'S PICK: Going from strength to strength: effects of growth hormone on muscle Growth hormone is used to treat children's growth disorders and has been used by some sports men and women to promote muscle growth and regeneration. This is because it coordinates skeletal muscle development, nutrient uptake, and nutrient utilization. It is not clear, however, which of these effects are direct and which are indirectly mediated via growth hormone induction of the protein IGF-1. Now, however, a team of researchers, led by Thomas Clemens, at Johns Hopkins University School ...

MIAMI — African-American women had lower vitamin D levels than white women, and vitamin D deficiency was associated with a greater likelihood for aggressive breast cancer, according to data presented at the Third AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities. "We know that darker skin pigmentation acts somewhat as a block to producing vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, which is the primary source of vitamin D in most people," said Susan Steck, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Carolina. Steck and colleagues ...

MIAMI — A group-based, holistic, mind-body intervention was equally effective in treating persistent fatigue and improving quality of life for breast cancer survivors, regardless of their race. "All women, black and white alike, reported significant improvement in fatigue post program completion, and improvement was maintained without further intervention," said researcher Susan E. Appling, M.S., C.R.N.P., nurse practitioner with the Prevention and Research Center at Mercy Medical Center. These results were presented here, at the Third AACR Conference on the Science ...

MIAMI — DNA repair capacity (DRC) measurements effectively identified individuals who were at high risk for non-melanoma skin cancer, and may be a useful method to evaluate the efficacy of preventive therapies, according to study results presented at the Third AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities. "Our study showed that persons with low DRC have three times greater likelihood of having non-melanoma skin cancer as compared to those with high DRC," said Manuel Bayona, M.D., Ph.D., professor of the Public Health Program at the Ponce School of Medicine, ...

MIAMI — Cancer disparities persist across racial, ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic lines. Several factors contribute to the disparity in health care, including differences in culture, education and financial resources. Other factors include language barriers, limited access to health care and lack of health literacy. As part of the Third AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, Olveen Carrasquillo, M.D., M.P.H., chief of the division of general medicine at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine in Florida, will host a press conference ...

MIAMI — People living in economically deprived neighborhoods were more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage, non-localized colorectal cancer, even after researchers controlled for known colorectal cancer risk factors, according to data presented at the Third American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, being held Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2010. "Community clinical practitioners should be encouraged to understand the neighborhood characteristics of their patients and use that information to guide their encounters with patients, ...

MIAMI — People with a history of cancer have a 40 percent greater likelihood of experiencing memory problems that interfere with daily functioning, compared with those who have not had cancer, according to results of a new, large study. The findings, believed to be one of the first culled from a nationwide sample of people diagnosed with different cancers, mirror findings of cancer-related memory impairment in smaller studies of certain cancers, such as breast and prostate cancer. Results were presented at the Third AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities. "The ...

MIAMI — Mexican women who do not smoke but are exposed to smoking, known as environmental smoke exposure, are at three times higher risk for breast cancer than non-smoking women not exposed to passive smoking, according to findings presented at the Third AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, being held Sept. 30-Oct.3, 2010. "Everyone should avoid secondhand smoke," said Lizbeth López-Carrillo, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology, at the National Institute for Public Health, Mexico City, Mexico. "Tobacco smoking produces both mainstream smoke, which ...

MIAMI — Awareness of genetic testing was higher among adults in Puerto Rico compared to previous U.S. population-based studies, while use of genetic testing was lower, according to data presented at the Third AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held Sept. 30 to Oct 3, 2010. Genetic tests are increasingly being offered direct-to-consumers through the Internet and other venues, providing individual access to genetic tests without the involvement or consultation of a health care provider. Researchers analyzed data from the Health Information National ...

MIAMI — Vigorous exercise of more than two hours per week reduces the risk of developing breast cancer in postmenopausal African-American women by 64 percent, compared to women of the same race who do not exercise, according to researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Results were presented at the Third AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, 2010. "People often want to know what they can do to reduce their risk of disease, and we have found that just two or more hours of vigorous activity per week ...

AUDIO: Siblings of children with autism have more frequent language delays and other subtle characteristics of the disorder than previously understood. Girls also may be mildly affected more often than recognized... Click here for more information. Siblings of children with autism have more frequent language delays and other subtle characteristics of the disorder than previously understood. Girls also may be mildly affected more often than recognized in the past. A new ...

Berkeley — A new study led by a University of California, Berkeley, researcher could give women a little extra motivation to visit their dentist more regularly. The study suggests that women who get dental care reduce their risk of heart attacks, stroke and other cardiovascular problems by at least one-third. The analysis, which used data from nearly 7,000 people ages 44-88 enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study, did not find a similar benefit for men. Published online Sept. 29 in the journal Health Economics, the study compared people who went to the dentist ...

Our ideal image of the perfect partner differs greatly from our real-life partner, according to new research from the University of Sheffield and the University of Montpellier in France. The research found that our actual partners are of a different height, weight and body mass index than those we would ideally choose. The study, which was published this week (27 September 2010) in the Journal PLoS ONE, found that most men and women express different mating preferences for body morphology than the actual morphology of their partners and the discrepancies between real ...

You've heard them at tennis matches – a loud, emphatic grunt with each player's stroke. A University of Hawai'i at Mānoa researcher has studied the impact of these grunts and come up with some surprising findings. Scott Sinnett, assistant psychology professor at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, has co-authored a study on the potential detrimental effect that noise has on shot perception during a tennis match. Sinnett's work is published in the October 1 online issue of Public Library of Science ONE. He co-authored the study with Alan Kingstone, psychology ...

Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) have produced a new league table of Spanish savings banks based on economic, financial and social criteria. This is the first study of these characteristics carried out in Spain, and the data used come from the savings banks' annual accounts for 2007. "All the banking sector rankings previously produced have revolved around a single variable, such as size, number of assets or number of deposits, meaning they fail to give an overall vision of the organisation as a whole", Fernando García, co-author of the study ...