Six years later, Professor Liu Jianlun, a specialist in respiratory medicine visiting Hong Kong from the Chinese city of Guangzhou, sneezed in a lift at the Metropole Hotel and sparked a global panic. The mystery virus he carried ? severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) ? spread to seven other guests staying on the ninth floor of the hotel. Within six weeks it had infected 2,300 people in 17 countries and claimed 80 lives.

Sars wasn't flu but it was awfully like it. Yet in months, as suddenly ( Read more... )
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CT scans use blasts of X-rays in a test that allows doctors to see a three-dimensional image of a targeted organ or tissue.

The first study, undertaken in four San Francisco hospitals, found that "even the median doses (of radiation) are four times higher than they are supposed to be, according to the currently quoted radiation dose for these tests."

Just one CT coronary angiogram on average submits the patient to the equivalent of 309 chest X-rays.

This study found that one ( Read more... )
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Search for the perfect furniture with The Independent house and home database, powered by mydeco. 

"In the past few years, people have propelled furniture into the sculpture and modern art idiom," Linley, the son of Princess Margaret, told me last week. "Not long ago it was a huge gamble to call furniture design art. Recently, there has been a huge change ( Read more... )
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Directed by Sting's son Jake Sumner, the film shows Ricci portraying four different personalities (the 'Dreamer,' 'Expressionist,' 'Paramour,' and 'Voyeur') that meet in the end.

"I didn't want it to feel like advertising," Sumner said. "I wanted it to feel like something that could be viewed in itself, but using the aesthetic of Donna Karan. There's a thin line between very unsubtle advertising and doing something that stands alone and has its integrity."

Karan's move comes after ( Read more... )
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Panasonic said t had converted preferred shares to give it a 50.27 per cent stake in Sanyo. It acquired the shares in a previously announced US$4.6 billion tender offer that ended 9 December.

The acquisition gives Panasonic access to Sanyo's advanced solar panel and rechargeable battery technology.

But Panasonic must also find a way to bring profitability back to Sanyo, which had a net loss of US$338 million in the April-September half.

Panasonic has said ( Read more... )
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Although the A(H1N1) flu virus is peaking and even declining in parts of the northern hemisphere, and is hardly present in the south, Fukuda said there was an unproven possibility that there could be another wave later in the winter.

"It really probably remains too early to call the pandemic over," Fukuda said in a weekly telephone news conference.

Fukuda, Special Adviser to the WHO Director-General on Pandemic Influenza, said flu "activity continues at quite high levels in several ( Read more... )
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Like many relationships, my time with iTunes started out with intense passion and infatuation. It's slick, sexy interface instantly caught my attention. As things progressed I developed a deep devotion to iTunes as it selflessly synched music across to my iPod. As the years progressed however, the relationship began to sour.

iTunes began to develop a middle aged spread, becoming slower and fatter with successive update. The breaking point finally came as iTunes ( Read more... )
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The prediction is in contrast to warnings from economists such as the former Monetary Policy Committee member Kate Barker, who has said that the recovery might not be sustainable. Organisations such as the National Association of Estate Agents and the Council of Mortgage Lenders have said that a shortage of first-time buyers might act as a natural brake on the market. Stamp duty rises in January may also be a problem, some property professionals fear.

However, Rics expects transaction levels ( Read more... )
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"Christmas can be a tricky time for blended families," says Keren Smedley, author of Who's That Sleeping in My Bed? The Art of Relationships for Grown-ups. "If one parent is left alone, the kids are often racked with guilt. Ideally parents say, 'Fine, let's spend Christmas together'... but there are also all these other half-brothers and sisters, steps and so on. The fantasy people have is that because they fall in love with someone, the children will immediately like each other ( Read more... )
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Gold

Gold injections have been an established treatment to halt the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for more than a 100 years. Today they're used only as a last resort, now that more effective biologically engineered therapies have become first-line treatment. But gold could regain its therapeutic importance now that scientists have finally gained an understanding of the particular properties of gold that halt this unpleasant disease.

( Read more... )
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"When I was asked as a child what I wanted to be, I'd say, 'I want to be rich, I want to be famous, I want to live in the big city, I want to have a fabulous life'," he once said. "All I've done my entire life is fulfil my destiny."

The critics who have been galled by such supreme self-confidence (and he has had to deal with his fair share of snipers) should prepare for a further galling, because now, at the age of 48, Ford could be staring down the barrel of an Oscar ( Read more... )
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"There has been a constant flow of shoppers," Tor Rauden Kaellstigen of company NoKo Jeans told AFP.

Some 1,100 pairs of the jeans went on sale for 1,500 Swedish kronor (150 euros, 226 dollars) each.

"We have a few pairs left," Kaellstigen said, refusing to disclose detailed sales figures.

The jeans were to have gone on sale at trendy Stockholm department store PUB on December 5 but PUB decided at the last minute to halt the sale, saying it did not want to be dragged into a political ( Read more... )
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Scientists commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) found the bug campylobacter in 65 per cent of frozen and chilled chicken sold by Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and other smaller stores.

Chicken is the biggest source of campylobacter, the most prolific food poisoning bug in the UK, accounting for 30 to 40 per cent of cases.

With correct cleaning and cooking, it poses no threat to human health. But if spread on to work surfaces or underheated it can cause diarrhoea, cramping ( Read more... )
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Answer: For a homeowner, there's nothing more critical than proof of ownership. But while you might be concerned about having mislaid the documents, your calamity isn't as bad as it seems, says Mark Harrison at Savills Private Finance.

"Title deeds are very important as proof of ownership but, in fact, as most properties are registered with the Land Registry, the deeds are, in fact, just a copy of the originals. These originals are held by the Government body."

So while you've lost ( Read more... )
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With distant relatives visiting for the festive season, they will either criticise or compliment you on the Christmas trimmings ? not only of the turkey, but also the dining table, lounge room, and anywhere else they'll congregate.

So if you are hosting your first Christmas, watch this video to get some tips on what's hot this cool season when it comes to decorating. From handmade placemats in festive shapes to table runners, from using wreaths inside as wall decorations ( Read more... )
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Zoo World climbs to second place, gaining 29.6% more players this week than last, and Fish Isle scrambles from sixth up to fifth as just over 850,000 more players checked up on their aquatic pets. FishVille, last week's number two, appears to have hit a glass ceiling with data suggesting that somewhat surprisingly just over 30,000 additional fish aficionados have checked in the past seven days. New fish, plants, and similar updates appear to be scarce as the game's public ( Read more... )
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In the US App store, the best games of 2009 included Real Racing, Sally's Spa, Blades of Fury and DOOM Classic while ReelDirector, Jamie Oliver's 20 Minute Meals and SketchBook Mobile were among Apple's US list of Best Applications for 2009.

Applications were split into four different categories. Rather than relying on the sometimes flawed user submitted ratings, the Best Apps and Best Games lists appear to have been selected by Apple staff. Applications in the "best of" list have the ability ( Read more... )
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According to a report by market research firm Zenith International published in October and highlighted by the Food Navigator, the European market for flavored and functional water rose 5 percent in 2008.

The rise comes in the wake of increased awareness about the health benefits of keeping well hydrated and concerns of the high calories and sugar content of soft drinks and other beverages, the report says.

Waters claiming to have weight loss or health benefits are experiencing the ( Read more... )
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Barney ballooned to more than twice his normal size as his owner fed him a diet of crisps and chocolates.

John Green, 40, of Macclesfield, Cheshire, was given the ban by the town's magistrates after he pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering.

The court heard yesterday that RSPCA inspectors were first alerted to the plight of eight-year-old Barney following concerned calls from members of the public in June 2007,

Officials ( Read more... )
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