Small World

Women get PMS and men get IMS. While it may be common knowledge that PMS is the psychological and emotional symptoms related to a woman’s menstrual cycle it is not so clear what IMS, or Irritable Male Syndrome, is.

The name for the result of a drop in testosterone levels in male mammals may interfere extensively with a man's daily life, causing everything from depression and anxiety to hyper-sensitivity and anger. Jed Diamond, author of “Male Menopause,” specializes in helping men and women overcome negative outcomes of the condition.

Upon opening a shelf in the kitchen of a Splenda, or sucralose, addict it is certain one will find a treasure trove of regular foods that have been touched by the most popular sugar substitute in the U.S. Vitamin C drops, cookies and canned fruit—all with Splenda are a few examples of the extensive list of over 3,000 Splenda products.

On the surface the zero-calorie Splenda, marketed with the catchy phrase “made from sugar so it tastes like sugar,” may seem like the sweetener of all sweeteners. However, similar to the mantra that getting a little requires giving a little, the consumption of Splenda doesn’t come free.

Since 1969 a U.S. patent has been registered on the process of turning alcohol into powder. This year, products, such as gelatin shots and margaritas, based from alcohol powder are set to be released by Pulver Spirits and BPNC Distillery.

Though alcohol powder is regulated the same as other alcoholic beverages in the U.S., it is only sold as a food flavoring. However, in other countries such as the Netherlands, lack of regulations make obtaining powdered alcohol within reach to minors.

A normal-sized, black coffee cup with a handle, of course, sitting in the middle of a wooden picnic table, is filled with hazelnut coffee. While one many view this simply as a cup on a table, it is possible that another will view the cup as a metaphor for the fresh beginning of a new day. In the cyber world, Kine Dorum, a PhD Student at the University of Leicester, in Great Britain, analyzes the way humans use images from past experiences as a guide when using the computer rather then directly associating computer images to real-life.

Dorum hopes to develop a set of common attributes in predicting individuals’ behaviors and performances while on the computer through her notion that the universe on screen is similar to perceptions of “real life” based on past experiences.

The French like their artichokes fried, the Italians like them on pizza, in Spain they are used in frittata and the best artichokes are supposedly found in Greece. Meanwhile, at the University of Reading, a research University in Great Britain, the flower is being used for medicinal purposes connected to reducing cholesterol.

High cholesterol levels related to cardiovascular disease have been shown to improve with the help of Artichoke Leaf Extract, or ALE, therefore minimizing the need for prescription drugs. By stabilizing cholesterol before it becomes a problem, researchers at University of Reading found yet another dietary supplement beneficial to healthy cholesterol levels.

Almost fifty percent of people over the age of 85 have Alzheimer’s disease, an illness that is not considered part of the normal aging process by the U.S. National Institute on Aging. Statistics on the NIA website also reveal that there is no cure for the degenerative disease.

Recently, according to scientists at University of York and Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, tricking the brain into halting the degeneration of neurons could be a dramatic step in finding a remedy for neurodegenerative diseases—especially Alzheimer’s disease.

Research in the latest issue of Nature Chemical Biology looks at Alzheimer’s disease in relation to neurodegeneration involving the death of neurons.

Starve a fever, feed a traumatic brain injury. Recent studies by clinician-scientists from New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center found that patients with traumatic brain injury, or TBI, have a higher survival rate when their caloric intake is increased.

Patients of TBI are fed through a gastric feeding tube inserted through a hole in the stomach for long-term eternal nutrition. The sooner the supplemental nutrition plan is initiated the better chance a patient has for survival, up to four times, researchers say.

A portable chip that detects everything from food-borne diseases, pathogens and pollution in water, to AIDS, cancer, hepatitis, drug-abuse, and flu in humans in a little over an hour, is set to be commercially released in no more than three years, experts say. The OptoLabCard European Union-based project, uses a device otherwise known as a “lab-on-a-chip,” making it possible to perform full size laboratory tests on site. The chip, lined with a negative thick photoresist, is more than just cost and time effective. “The uses for these devices are almost endless…….and the market is huge” said Jesus M. Ruano-Lopez who is the coordinator of the OptoLabCard Project in Spain at Ikerlan-IK4.