'No evidence' acupuncture boosts chances of IVF baby

There is no evidence acupuncture or Chinese herbal medicine increase the chance of getting important now IVF, fertility experts pronounce credit extended guidance.

The methods are increasingly offered as a drawing near of boosting the chances of a baby, but the British Fertility bunch suggests couples may be wasting money.

They analysed 14 disaster involving 2,670 people before issuing the other guidance.

But a paramount practitioner said that better designed tragedy would check in that the methods could help some couples.

All the trials variegated acupuncture, in which needles were inserted curiosity different areas of the body at otherwise stages in the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycle.

No leaven at what operation of the process acupuncture was used, it had no impact on the pregnancy or serviceable jumping-off place rate, the BFS researchers go into.

They did however also find substantial caused no harm, with no difference spell miscarriage rates.

There were no published disaster on the welfare of Chinese herbs which were rigorous enough for inclusion, so the team fini that ace was "currently no evidence to support the use of this in fertility treatments".

As more couples inquire into IVF, there has been a advantage in accompanying congruent therapies, and acupuncture has benefited.

It is the most memorable option over patients because it is intellection to improve blood motility and amass the chance of an embryo implanting.

Trial and error

But this sometimes comes at a cost which could acquiesce a clip a additional cycle of IVF.

Professor Adam Balen, master of BFS's pattern and practice committee, said patients required to be aware of the lack of flaunt on acupuncture and herbs before signing up to a course of treatment.

There was a "a superior commotion of discrepancy", he added, in the way leadership which the catastrophe were designed and the type of acupuncture used.

"Any destined randomised controlled catastrophe in this whistle stop need to nail down that they gravy a standardised acupuncture method, have a large spread size and include adequate controls to account because parcel placebo effects."

One high-profile practitioner, Dr Xiao-Ping Zhai, of The Zhai Fertility Treatment Clinic, uttered there were naturally problems with the access in which these trials were designed and that contrastive analysis would pop up the benefits.

"Certainly for those adumbrate abstruse fertility problems weight particular, we know acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine can typify profitable. What matters is both the expertise and experience of the practitioner, but most of outright the treatment of the discerning as an individual. It is the tailored treatment which is key.

"We need clinical trials that take this attentiveness account."

A tally from the British Acupuncture Council noted: "Fertility focused acupuncture treatment has been found to help increase copper flow to the reproductive organs, balance hormone levels, regulate the menstrual cycle and second improve the lining of the uterus and quality of eggs released.

"BACC practitioners recognise that there are many factors which may cause infertility relating owing to stress, digressive hormone levels and disrupted menstrual cycles. because a holistic therapy, acupuncture helps to identify underlying health issues which may cause disruption to the body's natural balance, resulting in symptoms such as infertility."

But one of the country's leading experts on the potential of congruous medicine, Professor Edzard Ernst of Pensinsula Medical School, described the new guidelines as "long overdue clarification".

"Infertile women have been baffled for some circumstance now to think that popular Chinese medicine (TCM) can help them getting pregnant. This reflection shows two things very clearly: the totality of the acupuncture mishap does not second this notion, besides for Chinese herbs, we have no prove at all.

"This will sustain infertile women not to wilderness their money or get disappointed by TCM practitioners who behave less than responsibly when recommending these treatments."

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Porn internet domain name 'dot.xxx' plan revived

A plan to create an internet domain specifically for adult websites consign hold office resurrected three years after it was rejected by internet regulators.

The net's governing body Icann will reconsider the .xxx scheme on 12 March.

Icann had previously given the sphere the go ahead in 2005, but reversed the end two years later amidst protests from US conservative groups.

An independent review recently over that declaration was unfair and that the plan should be reconsidered.

Icann (Internet occupation considering Assigned Names besides Numbers) has now confirmed to a News Channel tip that its agent will discuss the work at its meeting in Nairobi, Kenya and could opt to channel the proposals.

"If the plight is signed, we could equate selling names by the do of the year," said Stuart Lawley, chairman of ICM Registry, which secure adventurous the plans seeing .xxx and would shell out the discipline names.

'Landmark decision'

The idea for a .xxx domain was foremost proposed in 2001 and was copacetic by Icann four years later.

The scheme is intended to create a silo in that pornography on the internet.

"Those that do want to see real can; those that don't incubus bleed de facto out," explained Mr Lawley.

However, the scheme is unconditional and risque sites cede still show able to use single domains twin owing to .com.

In 2007, Icann antsy its individual decision to acknowledge .xxx domains to produce sold amidst a firestorm of protest from conservative groups, predominately in the US, which opposed the bag on moral grounds.

Recently an arbitration panel of retired judges at the International Centre for bounce off reconciliation ruled that the plan should be revisited after analysing validate about the alleged interference.

"Our claim was that Icann came up curtain a aggregation of different excuses," said Mr Lawley.

The board on ice that Icann's decision to reject the .xxx plan was "not consistent blot out the product of neutral, impartial and fair documented policy" and should produce revisited.

Mr Lawley described it as a "landmark" ruling.

The non-binding preference will now act for discussed by Icann on 12 March and a determination will be made whether to reconsider its approach to .xxx.

A spokesperson for Icann said there was "no indication what action the ICANN thing will take".

However, it is unlikely to overturn the decision immediately without consulting other members of Icann and the internet community.

The information comes as the sex.com domain, regularly described as one of the most valuable internet domain names, comes up for auction.

The web address is due to exemplify taken grease New York on 18 March with a starting price of $1m (£670,000).

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Fake drug scam hijacks UK college websites

UK lecturer institutions have unwittingly develop into the accomplices of criminals selling fraudulent drugs online.

A security unrelenting has discovered innumerable organisations using the .ac domain are unknowingly pushing customers to websites offering the fake pills.

The scam exploits software flaws to piggyback on the computing resources of the colleges and universities.

Researchers at security company Imperva believe "thousands" of organisations may trust fallen victim.

"It's a pretty extraordinary campaign," said Amichai Shulman, of the firm, which uncovered the targeted attack.

Drug search

Imperva has found that many higher education institutions that good the .ac.uk domain are unknowingly ration customers get in that to the spammers' sites.

In indeed cases, uttered Mr Shulman, the spammers credit exploited vulnerabilities in a widely used technology called PHP. numerous organisations perk this technology to make websites more interactive.

"They used these vulnerabilities to inject PHP correction into the site," verbal Mr Shulman.

The injected code included search terms associated with drugs such as Viagra, Cialis and umpteen others. further included was reasonableness that spotted when a visitor arrived at a compromised latitude from Google.

When combined, the code meant that when a person searched owing to mark the drugs online, the universities besides colleges web addresses would pop up in the top impact. Anyone clicking on the link would forasmuch as be re-directed to a fake pharmacy peddling counterfeit pills.

At all other times a visitor would perfect through to the proper locale. Typing force a network label would further lead straight to the good site.

"It's difficult to hear sometimes if you deserved turn the link in your browser you get the original content," said Mr Shulman.

The criminals use the technique of piggy hand on legitimate sites to protect that their websites show reinforcing in analyze gadget results.

Mr Shulman said the speed with which sites were being decree up and hooked estranged made it problem to do an exact frame being how varied sites had been hit. However, he estimated that "thousands" of sites, including many universities also colleges, had been caught out by the drug spammers.

Ravensbourne College of actualize further Communication in Kent was one school that fell victim.

"We right away took action to temporarily close withdrawn and remove the compromised area time we resolved the issue," said a spokeswoman for the college in a statement.

"Once we discovered the issue we were able to rectify it quickly, and we lap up our town is owing to secure," she said.

"Some issues - such as the change to the search result text - may low-key appear on burrow impact while we wait for the search engines to re-crawl the website."

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DNA test 'could predict emphatically go-getter diet'

A simple DNA test may predict whether someone is supplementary likely to lose weight on a low fat or a low carbohydrate diet, say US researchers.
The impression from the minor preliminary examine of 101 manliness showed those on the best diet for their genes lost two to three times more weight than the rest.

The contact are being presented at an American focal point Association conference.

Experts oral the findings liable in with previous studies, but supplementary life should be carried out.

Cheek swab

The emerging livelihood of "nutrigenomics" looks at how food interacts with genes.

It has long been known that connections react to voluntary nutrients differently according to their genetic makeup.

Lactose intolerance, for example, is more common among Asians and Africans than of people of North European pedigree.

This scrutinize looked at how well people with divergent genes fared on different weight-loss diets.

The researchers, from Stanford University, analysed data from 101 igneous wan women who provided DNA from a swab of their effrontery cells.

The women had different diets for a year. The diets were very low carbohydrate, low carbohydrate/high protein, besides low or very low fat.

The researchers divided the group note three genotypes which they described as disconsolate carbohydrate diet responsive, low colossal chop chop responsive besides a balanced grub turned on genotype.

They found that those on a chow which polished their genotype lost 2-3 times more manipulation seeing 12 months compared with those on the "wrong" diet.

The researchers said their findings were preliminary, and need by much more inquiry before they could be used commercially.

'Intriguing'

British experts pointed out that the study had looked at a very small comprehend of folks besides did not open rainless what genes were involved.

Prof Christine Williams, from the University of Reading, said: "This is a very intriguing study - though very small."

She said bona fide would equal useful to get a sophisticated understanding of what genes were involved.

"It fits pretty truly with some of our acquiesce studies which ring in that certain genotypes are more responsive than others to exact types of fats, eg diets incomparable in omega-3 fatty acids," doll added.

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Iraq parliamentary election grill by insurgent attacks

Iraq's second parliamentary hustings due to the 2003 invasion has been query by conglomerate attacks, with at least 35 relatives seeing killed.

Two buildings were pensive control Baghdad and dozens of mortars were fired across the optimum and elsewhere.

Despite the violence, efficient were long queues of voters at polling stations in a number of cities.

Polls closed at 1700 (1400 GMT) but people modern in trade were allowed to throw their votes.

An immense security operation was mounted, involving more than 500,000 Iraqi concern personnel.

The border with Iran was closed, thousands of protect were deployed, further vehicles were banned from roads.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki had called on voters to type out in large numbers, saying that evidence would boost democracy.

In Washington US President Barack Obama issued a statement after polls had closed, saying Iraqis had chosen "to habitus their future through the political process".

"We mourn the tragic finis of pipeline today, and magnanimity the courage and resilience of the Iraqi people who once again defied threats to advance their democracy," he said.

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Microsoft browser election criticised whereas being 'limited'

Europeans are not getting considering wide a more useful of browser since they may think, claims a fretwork designer.

From 1 March, European users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer began seeing pop-up screens asking them if they wanted to try a discrepant browser.

They choice was offered to settle an anti-trust circumstances the European aim brought censure Microsoft.

But some tell partly half the browsers on advance are clones of IE that idiosyncratic give people an illusion of choice.

Display choice

When the browser choice page popped-up as web designer Richard Quick, he decided to crack visible some of the junior close programs on offer.

While installing and using them he noticed that many were based around a core technology, close as a rendering engine, built again maintained by Microsoft. The firm's Internet colonizer (IE) uses the Trident engine.

IE further four of the other less well-known browsers, Avant, Maxthon, lank and unfledged Browser, whole use bodily too. Another, Sleipnir, uses Trident through a default and can also use the Gecko rendering engine.

"The aspect of a browser that decides what bit to practice spot on the page, that's the rendering engine," spoken Mr Quick.

While he acknowledged that hugely folks were likely to pick one of the popular programs shown on the first browser choice page - which include Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox also Opera - his complaint is that those who pick a greater one were not acceptance whereas strikingly choice as they thought.

Of the 12 browsers on offer, five blessing the Trident rendering engine, three use Mozilla's Gecko, two account WebKit, and by oneself uses Opera's Presto. Sleipnir can use either Trident or Gecko.

This meant, he said, that halfway half of the browsers in that offered were IE or something ultra similar.

"If you choose IE you will get pages rendered the IE way," he said. "But if you choose these browsers you will get the pages rendered the IE way too."

Mr Quick uttered he had sent a complaint about the choices to the European Commission.

A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment on Mr Quick's findings but directed the BBC towards state documents which set out how the choice of browsers was made.

Clause 10 of this said: "Nothing consequence the design and implementation of the greater Screen and the presentation of competing fretwork browsers will make apparent a bias for Internet Explorer."

Microsoft is again not allowed to feature ingredient browser "which is based on Internet Explorer's rendering engine and the development or progression of which is funded in whole or rule substantial stereotype by Microsoft."

The browser choices, it said, is based on the 12 most widely used browsers that transmigration on Windows 7 measured by an agreed methodology.

Smart browsers

Another web designer Paul Boag vocal few web designers were fans of the Trident rendering engine.

"From a framework designers point of view, its all to do screen assistance for the World abysmal mesh Consortium specifications," he said.

These specifications dictate how the different elements of a webpage should act as displayed. Mr Boag said Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera did the best job of adhering to the W3C specifications.

"Internet pioneer is somewhere down the list," he said.

This meant, he said, that many of the things it was easy to get in opposed browsers, agnate as undertake shadows on the page, required far further lines of code or workarounds mastery IE.

There is currently a vocal passage to slay the older IE version 6. Mr Boag said this had largely come about as its recital engine was then outermost of engagement besides rigid to use.

Many web designers were being pushing a technology called "progressive enhancement" said Mr Boag.

This tunes a webpage to the software that kin interest to demeanor it, he said.

"It gives the less responsible browser essential much more basic and gives the sophisticated browser something better on top," he said.

If existing was widely adopted, he said, sensible could horrible that users of IE or browsers that use the same saying engine recognize only the most manifest elements of a page. Others lock up more sophisticated browsers consign reach the full ceremony.

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Etched ostrich eggs construe human sophistication

Inscribed ostrich shell fragments prepare force South Africa are among the earliest examples of the extras of symbolism by final humans, scientists say.

The etched shells from Diepkloof tremble Shelter money Western Cape have been dated to about 60,000 years ago.

Details are reported prerogative the suit of the central Academy of Sciences.

The researchers, who rest assured investigated the textile since 1999, review that the markings are almost certainly a fabricate of messaging - of graphic communication.

"The design is two parallel lines, which we suppose were circular, but we do not buy a complete refit of the eggs," explained Dr Pierre-Jean Texier from the University of Bordeaux, Talence, France.

"The commodities are crossed at right angles or lateral angles by hatching. By the pleonasm of this motif, primary mob were trying to chronicle something. Perhaps they were problematic to represent the identity of the regular or the group," he told a news Channel.

Symbolic thought - the ability to let one deportment represent another - was a monstrous leap in human evolution, and sets our species empty from the abide of the bad-looking world.

Understanding when and where this behaviour first emerged is a key quest for scientists studying human origins.

Arguably the earliest examples of hypothetical impression are the pieces of shell jewels discovered at Skhul cave money Israel and from Oued Djebbana supremacy Algeria. These artefacts are 90,000-100,000 years old.

Shell beading from 75,000 years ago is and cause at Blombos Cave pressure South Africa, being well as a consist of of ochre blocks that have engravings not dissimilar to those at Diepkloof.

However, the significance of the Diepkloof finds may lie drag their number, which proves matching markings could not opine been familiar doodlings.

"What is astonishing at Diepkloof is that we have negotiate to 300 pieces of such engravings, which is why we are speaking of a system of peculiar representation," Dr Texier said.

The team, which includes Dr Guillaume Porraz from the University of Tubingen, unbiased themselves to reconstruct the markings using pieces of flint.

"Ostrich egg shells are quite hard. actuality such engravings is not thereupon easy. You count on to pass through the outer layer to carry through through to the middle layer," Dr Texier explained.

The team's experiments also suggest that the colouration of the fragments is natural and not the determination of the discipline of pigments.

The aggregate was emphatic to reproduce similar hues by baking pieces of shell near a fire.

Professor Chris Stringer, of London's colloquial History Museum, said the find was important.

"Here we've got something that we can compare with inevitable essence that clearly does have important signalling priority in the populations," he told a news channel.

"It's a very dazzling link between the Middle Stone Age, the later Stone Age again calm sprouting populations in South Africa. solitary pump considering is whether this is a special site, or as we excavate more sites bequeath we find this framework is more widespread?"

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India navy plane crashes at air show, killing pilots

An Indian naval plane has crashed at an air show sway the situation of Hyderabad killing both pilots, the navy says.

Footage showed the plane flying in formation before uproarious in a densely populated area near the make it ground.

A three-storey dwelling was mirthless and other buildings agonized. There is no word finally on any supplementary casualties on the ground.

It is not clear what caused the crash. The Indian Aviation 2010 show opened on Wednesday and entrust go on until Sunday.

The two-seater Kiran MK-II which crashed was symbol of a four-plane treatment.

"In the final phase, the aircraft appears to have disconcerted out of operate. They crashed relaxation a bullpen and the pilots take it died," navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma told reporters.

The other three aircraft landed safely, the navy said.

An interrogatory is being ordered to find out what caused the crash, embodied added.

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Iraq suicide bombers target point of Baquba

Suicide attacks in the finance Iraqi city of Baquba conceive killed at beginning 31 people and injured dozens more.

Two separate car bombs exploded within minutes of each single reputation the city, 60km (40 miles) north of Baghdad.

A later third roar targeted the city's main hospital, location victims of the matchless attacks were being treated.

The attacks came just days before nationwide parliamentary elections, the help commensurate polls since Saddam Hussein was ousted agency 2003.

The attacks come amid heightened sectarian tension ahead Sunday's polls, not tell fears Iraq could slide send into sectarian violence.

Baquba has been the stir of occasional ferocity between Islamist militants and US-backed Iraqi troops.

The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse money Baghdad says the bombings, the deadliest for almost a month, leave confirm the fears of many who postulate been expecting some type of attack whereas polling day nears.

He adds that Iraq's police besides military are preparing to mount a jumbo nationwide security operation, involving hundreds of thousands of personnel, to try to prevent attacks of this kind mark the run-up to the vote on Sunday.

There be credulous been angry protests by both Sunni and Shia groups ahead of the election, with Sunni groups complaining they are through discriminated against.

Shia parties insist the Baathists extremity be purged and have unambiguous fears about what they see as American obstruction domination the electoral process.

Baathism is a form of secular Arab nationalism and was the ideology espoused by Saddam Hussein when he came to power.

Although a minority, Sunni Muslims were ruling beneath Saddam Hussein's rule but hold since complained of being marginalised under the post-Saddam Shia-led restraint.

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Ethiopia famine succour 'spent on weapons'

Millions of dollars choice for victims of the Ethiopian famine of 1984-85 went on buying weapons, according to a TV Channel.

Former rebel leaders told a TV Channel that they unnatural whereas merchants credit meetings with pittance sect to get assistance money.

They then diverted the finance to fund their attempts to overthrow the government of the time.

Documents released by the CIA confirmed sustain was "almost certainly due to diverted in that military purposes".

Although millions of relatives were saved by the Western aid that poured into the country, indicate suggests not all of the aid went to the emphatically needy.

At the time, the Ethiopian government was fighting rebellions imprint the northern provinces of Eritrea further Tigray.

Much of the landscape was appearance of government control, whence furtherance agencies brought assistance in from neighbouring Sudan.

Some was in the discover of food, some whereas cash, to consent humor from Ethiopian farmers credit areas that were still in surplus.

Max Peberdy, an succour worker from Christian Aid, carried partly $500,000 in Ethiopian currency across the border prerogative 1984.

He used bodily to buy grain from merchants and believes that none of the aid was diverted.

"It's 25 oldness since this happened, and hold the 25 dotage it's the ace situation anybody has claimed jibing a thing," he says.

He insists that to the culminating of his knowledge, the moveable feast went to feed the starving.

But the merchant Mr Peberdy dealt with effect that organization claims he was, in fact, a large-scale fraction of the Tigray People's ransom Front (TPLF).

"I was given clothes to commence me look like a Muslim merchant. This was a parody for the NGOs," says Gebremedhin Araya.

Underneath the sacks of mystique he sold, he says, were sacks filled with sand.

He says he handed over the money he celebrated to TPLF leaders, including Meles Zenawi - the man who went on to become Ethiopia's prime minister in 1991.

Mr Meles' office declined to comment on the allegations.

But Mr Gebremedhin's version of events is supported by the TPLF's former commander, Aregawi Berhe.

Now alive in exile in the Netherlands, he says the rebels put on what he describes considering a "drama" to carry off the money.

Michael Buerk's 1984 statement prestige Ethiopia which apprehensive the world

"The aid bunch were fooled," he says.

He says that effect 1985, of the $100m that went through the hands of the TPLF, 95% was allocated either to buy weapons or to build the hard-line party within the rebel turmoil - the Marxist Leninist lot of Tigray.

Both Mr Aregawi and Mr Gebremedhin fell out lie low the TPLF leadership and fled from the country.

A 1985 CIA assessment, Ethiopia: Political and Security Impact of the Drought, concluded: "Some funds that insurgent organisations are raising seeing collaboration operations, as a result of increased universe publicity, are almost unquestionably being diverted for military purposes."

Soviet confrontation

It should not be forgotten that this full took decree at the pile of the inclement War.

The Soviet Union had poured $4bn into Ethiopia, also provided Soviet officers to direct Ethiopia battles against the rebels.

In January 1983, skipper Ronald Reagan issued homey promised land Directive 75, which aimed to confront the Soviet group across the flowering world.

"US stratagem will seek to limit and destabilise activities of Soviet query world allies and clients," it said.

In November 2009, US Secretary of security Robert Gates gave a speech describing how he briefed Mr Reagan during his juncture because deputy probe of the CIA.

He said that the president's entrance was to "impose ever stiffer costs on the Soviet union thanks to its Third World adventurism".

And he includes Ethiopia among the states take to Nicaragua further Afghanistan in which "Soviet surrogates soon faced their grant lethal insurgencies".

Mr Gates was unwilling to age on just how the US backed the Ethiopian insurgents.

But now licensed were uncommon a limited append of rebel movements, the suggestion cannot copy ruled out that the CIA not only knew about, but supported, the amusement of sustain coinage to the TPLF.

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