SWINE FLU: How Dangerous Is the H1N1 Virus Truly?

Scientists who are intensively studying the swine flu virus have concluded after the first tests that this hybrid flu strain, at least in its current form, is not mutating into a virus that could be as fatal as the strains of some previous pandemics, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Although the health threat level was raised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the first death confirmed in the United States, scientists believe that the danger and fatality of the virus may not be on the level of the usual seasonal flu that occurs every winter in regular intervals.

Scientists recalled that the usual, seasonal flu is also a big health problem which kills dozens of thousands of people in the United States and hundreds of thousands of people in the world, which is why it is important that the current “crisis” is viewed at as a “large force”.

Although flu viruses are known for their unpredictability and this virus strain can mutate at any given moment and become even more dangerous, that possibility is equal to the possibility of the mutation making the virus more benign. According to the preliminary results of epidemiology testing, there is a big possibility that the fatal scenarios in the current epidemic are avoided.

- This virus doesn't have anywhere near the capacity to kill like the 1918 virus which claimed an estimated 50 million victims worldwide – Richard Webby, a leading flu virologist at a children’s research hospital in Memphis said.

Immediately after the swine flu virus was identified for the fist time, scientists noticed a striking similarity with the virus from 1918. Both viruses erupted in the spring after the end of the seasonal flu and attacked young and healthy people instead of children or the elderly. The swine and the Spanish flues are also of the H1N1 strain – which is the name of the two main proteins that are responsible for the virus’s ability of transmission.

The American Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Health Institute issued data about the genetic sorting of the flu they received from samples from patients in California and Texas. They compared the results with known “killers” such as the 1918 strain and gave out positive news.

According to the results, the swine flu lacks certain “killer” characteristics, such as a molecular signature and especially amino-acids that increase the number of virus cells in the lungs and makes the disease more deadly.

As new cases of infections and hospitalisation are being expected, but also cases of death, and
Symptoms of the swine flu are similar to the usual, seasonal flu: sudden fever, cough, muscle pain and chronic tiredness. The only difference is that with the swine flu there is increased vomiting and diarrhea than in the ‘normal’ flu.
although the virus was identified in several places (Austria, Canada, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, Spain and Great Britain), virologists stress that this does not mean that the virus is spreading at incredible speed.

- You don't ever find anything that you don't look for. Now that diagnostic laboratories and physicians and other healthcare workers know to look for it, perhaps it's not surprising that you're going to see additional cases identified – Dr. Christopher Olsen, a molecular virologist at the Veterinary University of Wisconsin told the Los Angeles Times.

- And a pandemic doesn't necessarily have a high fatality rate. Even in Mexico, the fatalities may simply reflect that hundreds of thousands of people have been infected. Since the symptoms of swine flu are identical to those of a normal flu, there's no way to know how many cases have evaded government health officials – Webby added.

Because the virus adapts to the human body, it will probably find a way to spread more efficiently, but it is also possible that it can become less dangerous, Olsen said.

Foxx embarrasses Rihanna at party

"The Ray" actor was cracking jokes for fellow party-goers at Sin City's Tao hotspot when he spotted the R&B star and repeatedly asked her to join him on stage and take the mike.

She refused, and Foxx prompted the DJ to blast out her hit "Umbrella" over the speakers, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Foxx saw the singer preparing to depart and ordered her to stay, reportedly leaving her "fuming".

"Jamie took over the microphone and started doing a show. Halfway through, he asked Rihanna to join him onstage. Rihanna declined, but Foxx continued to badger her," said a source.

"When the DJ began to play ('Umbrella') that was the last straw. She got up to leave, and Jamie told the DJ to stop the record. (He shouted) 'You can't go while your song is playing'."

"Rihanna stayed and pretended to enjoy herself, but it was so obvious she was fuming. As soon as the song was over, she got the hell out of there," the source added.

This is not the first time Foxx has offended a celebrity. He sparked outrage in April this year during a US radio interview when he urged 16-year-old "Hannah Montana" star Miley Cyrus to take heroin and make a sex tape.

The Red Devils goes to JAKARTA

Manchester United Asia Tour

The champion of English Premiere League Manchester United (MU) will break new ground this summer when they visit Indonesia and play against Indonesia Super League Select as part of their four – match Asia Tour 2009.

The match MU against Indonesia Super League Select will be play at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (Named after the country first president) on 20 July and will be relay in over 10 Asian territories reaching 120 million households by MUTV. The Red Devils Captain Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Park ji sung, Van der Sar, Fletcher, etc will be join in this match. MU New star Michael Owen (ex Newcastle striker) also join in this tours.

MU tour to Indonesia is the first time in 30 years. MU fans is biggest In Indonesia with 28 million fans or more .Although the Red Devils (MU) losing CR7 (cristiano ronaldo join to Real Madrid FC) and Carlos Tevez, enthusiastic fans will not decrease. This proven by all 80,000 tickets for MU pre season game in Jakarta have been sold out.

Beside give opportunity to MU fans come to Gelora Bung Karno Stadium with paying tickets, committee also try to pamper MU fans by following some activity which can make they get free tickets, by following SMS program to choose player of indonesian

All star to be against with MU. Other facility trying to promote by committee is making package of Meet & Great MU in Ritz Carlton Hotel Mega Kuningan Jakarta with various facility.

MU tour Jakarta Supported by Three (operator seluler) , Danamon bank and Indonesian Art & Tourism Department .Three have signed up Exclusive during 3.5 competition season with Red Devils.

‘The club recognise the amazing levels of support it has in Asia’ added David Gill(MU chief Executive). It is not possible to give fans many opportunities to see the players live, so we work hard on finding new ways that allow them to have a daily relationship with the club, including through our key sponsorship partners.

An Indonesian version of the club magazine ”Inside United” will be launched this year and will join the existing Korean and traditional and simplified Chinese versions.

Highest-Quality Cars Of 2009

Hyundai Elantra Sedan




Chrysler, Ford Motor and General Motors are showing marked improvement in the quality of their new vehicles--but you're still probably better off buying a Toyota.

According to the annual Initial Quality Study released today by market-research firm J.D. Power and Associates, cars made by Detroit's Big Three have improved in quality by an average of 10% over last year, putting them ahead of the 8%-improved industry average. Toyota, however, had the strongest showing in the industry this year, with the brand seeing, on average, 101 reported problems by consumers per 100 vehicles in the first 90 days of ownership--well below the industry average of 108 problems.

n all, Toyota earned 10 segment awards for specific models. Each segment's winners are the models with the fewest reported problems in their class.

David Sargent, the vice president of automotive research at J.D. Power and Associates, told reporters at a press event today that Detroit's improvement with its products is a good indicator for "long-term" success. "Consumers can expect the quality of new vehicles to continue to rise," he said.

Ford's Edge, F-150 and Mustang each won segment awards, as did the Chevrolet Trailblazer, Chrysler PT Cruiser, GMC Yukon and Mercury Sable.

Overall, Toyota's Lexus brand led the nameplate rankings for quality--the 12th year it has achieved such distinction in 20 years, and the first year since 2005. Porsche, Cadillac, Hyundai and Honda rounded out the top five.

Behind the Numbers

The J.D. Power Initial Quality study highlights the top vehicles in car and light-truck segments, measuring new-vehicle quality at 90 days of ownership. Information on problems experienced by consumers is gathered from more than 80,000 purchasers and lessees of 2009 model-year vehicles.

The study evaluates 228 problems distributed throughout eight categories: exterior, driving experience, features/controls/displays, audio/entertainment/navigation, seats, climate control, interior and engine/transmission. Each vehicle's performance is measured using a "problems per 100 vehicles" (PP100) system. A low PP100 score indicates better quality than a high PP100 score.

Overall, the industry average for initial quality has improved, moving from 118 problems per 100 vehicles in 2008 to 108 this year.

Standouts on the top-quality list include the Acura TL, Honda Pilot and Nissan Z, but several newly launched and redesigned models of 2009 also were surprise winners, since all-new models often lack the quality of the repeatedly updated cars that have been in the market for several years. The Hyundai Genesis, Kia Borrego, Toyota Venza and Volkswagon CC all bucked that trend, earning significantly better ratings than their segment averages.

Toyota Tops Again

Toyota's 10 segment awards were spread across its Lexus, Toyota and Scion brands. Lexus won awards for its IS, GS, GX, LS and LX models. The LX fared particularly well--it has the fewest quality problems of any vehicle, with just 52 per 100 vehicles reported.

"The LX basically sets a new standard in dependability," says Raffi Festekjian, the senior manager of product research and analysis at J.D. Power.

The MINI brand fared the worst in the study, with an average of 165 reported problems per 100 vehicles.

2009's Highest-Quality Cars

1. Toyota Yaris

2. Hyundai Elantra Sedan

3. Scion tC

4. Nissan Z

5. Lexus IS

Football: Cristiano Ronaldo to be presented at Real Madrid tonight

“My great dream is to win the Champions League in the Santiago Bernabeu next season.” This is one of Cristiano Ronaldo’s most important statements since becoming an official Real Madrid player.

Cristiano Ronaldo will be presented tonight at the Santiago Bernabeu in what promises to be a galactic ceremony. Over 75,000 supporters are expected to attend the stadium to see Florentino Perez’s most expensive signing wear his white jersey for the first ever time.
Cristiano Ronaldo: Trophies first, Ballon d’Ors later

Ahead of tonight’s gala reception in the Spanish capital, the world player of the year has underlined his desire to achieve success in his dream club. Ronaldo went on to put individual awards way behind collective success. The 24-year-old winger is expected by many journalists to reaffirm himself as the world’s best next season, as Messi is predictably going to scoop every award this year.

“Many players have won the Ballon d’Or with Real Madrid. Of course there are aspects of my game which I can improve upon,” Ronaldo suggested. However, he continued:

“But my priority is not the Ballon d’Or, it is the success of the team. I want to one day win the same number of trophies as Di Stefano.”

Cristiano Ronaldo’s € 94 million price tag has come under criticism from many people including UEFA’s president Michel Platini. While some are predicting flop years in Spain for Cristiano Ronaldo, the player himself is looking forward to become Real Madrid’s greatest every footballer.

“My objective is to be one of the best players in history, if not the best.

“I will show that I am worth what I was paid for.”

“I admire Raul’s dedication, Guti’s talent and Casillas’ skill.”

“Now I can say that I have completed my dream. Monday will be the biggest moment of my life.”

Cristiano Ronaldo, who avowed that he would have preferred the number 17 jersey, will carry the number 9 jersey in Real Madrid if AS’s reports are to be believed. Coincidently, this number was worn by Real Madrid legend Di Stefano and Brazil’s phenomenal Ronaldo.
Ronaldo expecting a wonderful atmosphere at Real Madrid

Kaka, Benzema, Raul, Arbeloa, perhaps Ribery and Alonso… Well, all these players are expected to feature in Real Madrid come next season. It is a bit hard to imagine how they’ll team up together and what formation they’ll play. But Ronaldo imagines that there will be no problem whatsoever.

He said:

“I am looking forward to playing with Kaka, we are totally compatible. Benzema is very good too, a great player.”

The media, who have been portraying Cristiano Ronaldo as a selfish and arrogant lad, are tipping the Portuguese Star to create an unfriendly atmosphere in the dressing rooms at Real Madrid. However, Cristiano Ronaldo has other ideas. He revealed:

“I am not like the tabloid press say.”

“I am a very friendly and approachable person.”

Tonight will mark a new era in the career of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Vitamin D Deficiency Problem

Vitamin D deficiency is traditionally associated with bone and muscle weakness,but in recent years a number of studies have shown that low levels of vitamin may predispone the body high blood pressure,congestive heart failure,and chronic blood vessel inflammation(associated with hardening of the arteries).It also alters hormone levels to increase insulin resistance,which raises the risk of diabetes.

In a review article published in the Journal of American College of Cardiologi,researchers surveyed recent studies on the link between vitamin D deficiency and heart disease to come up with practical advice on screening and treatment.They concluded that vitamin D deficiency is much more common than previously thought,affecting up to half of adults and apparently healthy children in the U.S.Researchers say higher rates of vitamin D deficiency may be due in part to people spending more time indoors and efforts to minimize sun exposure through the use of sunscreens.Sunscreen with a sun protection factor(SPF) of 15 blocks approximately 99% of vitamin D synthesis by the skin.

"We are outside less than we used to be,and the older adults and people who are overweight or obese are less efficient at making vitamin D in response to sunlight",says O'keefe."A little bit of sunshine is a good thing,but the use of sunscreen to guard againts skin cancer is important if you plan to be outside for more than 15 to 30 minutes of intense sunlight exposure".

Popular 2010 Sports Car Previews: 2010 Mazdaspeed3

With 263 bhp and 280 lb.-ft. of torque, the Mazdaspeed3 has plenty of motor compared to its competitors. That must be what Mazda thinks, because the 2010 Mazdaspeed3 unveiled at the New York auto show has new styling and suspension tweaks, but a basically untouched engine compartment.

The car's new Nagare-inspired styling follows the same lines as the Mazda3 4-door and 5-door previously introduced. The Mazdaspeed3 distinguishes itself from its more economical siblings with a lower airdam and round foglights, flared front fenders and a Subaru-like hood scoop to feed air to the turbo's charge cooler.

The interior also follows the new Mazda3's design, with a new dashboard intended to give a roomier feel. Of course, it adds Mazdaspeed touches, such as red stitching on the steering wheel, seats, door trim, shifter boot and center armrest. Plus, for the first time the Mazdaspeed3's instrument cluster includes an LED turbo boost gauge.

The Mazdaspeed3's handling is said to be improved due to stiffer springs, higher damping rates, larger anti-roll bars with new mounting points, as well as a stiffer body shell with double the amount of high-strength and ultra-high strength steel. Giving the car better grip are wider Dunlop tires, size 225/40R-18 (versus 215/45R-18), mounted on new 18 x 7.5-in. alloy wheels with a style similar to those found on the RX-8 R3. Mazda engineers say they've improved steering feel and response by giving the steering rack a more rigid 3-point mounting (previously 2-point), while the power steering has been switched from hydraulic assist to electric.

Although the Mazdaspeed3's 2.3-liter direct-injected turbocharged 4-cylinder is mostly carryover (power figures are identical to the '09 model), Mazda says the improved airflow to the top-of-engine charge cooler via the new, direct hood scoop allows the engine to produce more consistent power, while also freeing up grille space to provide air for the engine's air intake. Because of this, Mazda says real world power and fuel economy have improved.

Mazda says revised gear ratios on the 6-speed manual transmission — 2nd through 5th gears all now slightly taller — make better use of the engine's plentiful torque. Low-viscosity transmission fluid is said to reduce shift effort when the engine is cold.

Despite the flashy new body and numerous small updates, the 2010 Mazdaspeed3 will remain a performance bargain when it goes on sale this summer. It will start at just $23,195, versus $22,740 for the 2009 model.