This subject came to mind when I read about the woman who was divorced recently because her husband concluded she was not a virgin. Evidence suggests there is no physical indication of virginity. Just like you, buddy!

clipped from www.genus.se The hymen - only a myth There is no such thing as the hymen. It is only a myth, say Carola Eriksson and Monica Christianson, midwives and doctoral students at Umeå University. - Even though we have both worked as midwives for many years, neither of us have ever seen a hymen. - Last summer we participated in the Swedish radio program, ‘Gender.’ Soon after this, a gynecologist who had published a study in the Swedish Medical Journal got in touch with us. Her study had showed the same thing: the hymen is a myth. - Even though this knowledge has existed for a long time, old notions are living on. Countless people make money from adding a few stiches in the vaginal openings of young girls. You can even buy 'man-made' hymens from the Internet - There is no membrane, but just a vaginal opening. This means that you cannot see if a woman has had sex or not.

Male circumcision is a weapon in the sperm wars

In some forms of mutilation, the handicap to sperm competition is obvious. There is subincision, for example, where cuts are made to the base of the penis. This causes sperm to be ejaculated from the base rather than the end, and is performed in several Aboriginal Australian societies, says Wilson.

In some African and Micronesian cultures, young men have one of their testicles crushed.

Male genital mutilation makes it less likely that a male will manage to father a child with another man's wife, Wilson says.
Home advantage

Circumcision is one of the less painful forms of mutilation, but it is also less effective at reducing sperm competition. Wilson suggests, however, that the lack of a foreskin could make insertion or ejaculation slower, meaning brief, illicit sex is less likely to come to fruition and lead to a pregnancy.

Younger men, he says, willingly submit to having their reproductive ability reduced because they benefit socially from the older men, by forming allian

clipped from www.newscientist.com Circumcision and other forms of male genital mutilation have always been a puzzle. The ritual mutilations can leave the man vulnerable to infection and even death. So why do some societies insist on such a risky ritual for their men? There may be an evolutionary explanation, according to Christopher Wilson, of Cornell University in New York, US. It could function to reduce a young man's potential to father a child with an older man's wife, he says. Sperm competition theory predicts that males will evolve ways to ensure that their sperm, and not another male's, fertilises a female's eggs. Genital mutilation, in this view, is just another way to win the sperm war. In some forms of mutilation, the handicap to sperm competition is obvious. There is subincision, for example, where cuts are made to the base of the penis. This causes sperm to be ejaculated from the base rather than the end, and is performed in several Aboriginal Australian societies, says Wilson.

Human stem cells used to cure brain disorder

clipped from www.nature.com Success in mice could be a breakthrough for disorders such as multiple sclerosis. Human stem cells have been used to correct abnormal brain development in mice with fatal brain disorders, offering hope for treating a range of neurological disorders including some deadly childhood genetic diseases. Those behind the new treatment hope that human clinical trials could be just a few years away. The treatment uses human glial progenitor cells — cells that can differentiate into the glial cells that, among other things, make up myelin. Myelin, a protein that insulates the long 'arms' of nerve cells, called axons, helps the conduction of neural signals throughout the nervous system. The breakthrough is “stunning”, says Ian Duncan, who studies myelin at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The work will have greatest relevance in treating congenital childhood diseases, he says, although he warns that a practical therapy is still some way away. ”This is a therapy for the future,” he says.

Stem cells 'halt nerve disease'

Potentially great news for some kids.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk The injection contained immature foetal glial cells An injection of stem cells has been used to cure mice with a normally fatal nervous system condition. The therapy which helped repair faulty nerve wiring raises hopes of treatments for children with rare and deadly nervous leukodystrophy disorders. A UK expert said human treatments were still some way off - but potentially the technique could be used to treat conditions such as multiple sclerosis. The US study features in the journal Cell: Stem Cell. The scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center believe it may be the first time that this type of "shiverer" mouse has been cured. Its genetic makeup means that its nerve cells do not have enough myelin, a fatty coating which acts like the sheath on an electrical wire. Without it, nerve signals do not travel properly from cell to cell, causing the trademark shaking and wobbling symptoms, and normally death within four months.

Nanoparticles rescure HIV drug

clipped from ncsu.edu Nanoparticles Help Combat HIV Researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered that adding tiny bits of gold to a failed HIV drug rekindle the drug's ability to stop the virus from invading the body's immune system. The addition of gold nanoparticles to a modified version of a drug designed in the 1990s to combat HIV – but discarded due to its harmful side effects – creates a compound that prevents the virus from gaining a cellular foothold The drug, a compound known as TAK-779, was originally found to bind to a specific location on human T-cells, which blocks the HIV virus' entry to the body's immune system. Unfortunately, the portion of the drug's molecule that made binding possible had unpleasant side effects. When that portion of the molecule – an ammonium salt – was removed, the drug lost its binding ability.

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk Antidepressant may hold key to long life An antidepressant drug has been found to boost lifespan by around 30 per cent by tricking the brain to thinking it is starving. A wide range of studies on creatures as diverse as fruit flies and mice have shown that restricting calories, while still obtaining all key nutrients, can extend life span by up to half. Now it seems that one kind of antidepressant drug may be able to achieve a similar effect by triggering the same circuits in the brain as starvation. Although the study was done in the nematode worms Caenorhabditis elegans it will give a boost to research to find new ways for people to hold back the ravages of time. The study in the journal Nature reports how Prof Linda Buck and her colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, Seattle, screened 88,000 chemicals to see whether they had lifespan-enhancing effects on C. elegans.

movement = life and health; inactivity = illness, pain, and early death

I think I need to take my manager up on the suggestion that we get sit-stand desk for me. Even with trying to be as active as possible - including deliberate inefficiency like walking the long way around to get to the copier - I spend way too much time sitting down at work.

clipped from munews.missouri.edu MU Study Finds That Sitting May Increase Risk of Disease MU Professor Offers Solution: Just Stand Up! New research shows that what people do in the other 15 and a half hours of their waking day is just as important, or more so, than the time they spend actively exercising.   “Many activities like talking on the phone or watching a child’s ballgame can be done just as enjoyably upright, and you burn double the number of calories while you’re doing it,” They found evidence that sitting had negative effects on fat and cholesterol metabolism. The researchers also found that physical inactivity throughout the day stimulated disease-promoting processes  “The enzymes in blood vessels of muscles responsible for ‘fat burning’ are shut off within hours of not standing,” Hamilton said. Only 28 percent of Americans are getting the minimal amount of recommended exercise. Hamilton predicts that eventually there will be health campaigns with doctors advocating limiting sitting time