Cameron has market guessing

2010-09-06 09:34:48

The intentions of retail queen Jan Cameron in taking a higher stake in Christchurch-based Postie Plus Group remain unclear. Cameron could not be contacted by Fairfax yesterday to comment on the extra stake she bought in Postie Plus last week taking her to a holding of 19.26 per cent, near the 20 per cent level that triggers takeovers rules, raising speculation that she will some day make a further move as part of her retail plans.

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Broker Hamilton Hindin Greene director Grant Williamson said it was hard to second guess what Cameron's intentions were, but she had been consistently buying shares in what had sometimes been an underperforming stock. "She's now close to the stage where she will have to make a decision whether she's a passive investor at just under 20 per cent Fake gucci or whether she goes the whole way . . . Mind you, history shows she is an owner of business, and she already does have some retail businesses in operation. You would think there is more to it than just an investment." Cameron disclosed through the NZX on Friday that she had bought Fake gucci 600,000 Postie Plus shares for 30 cents a share, an all-time trading low for the company which has 79 nationwide Fake gucci Postie stores nationwide and also owns Baby City stores. Postie Plus shares yesterday fell 1c to 31c, within a 12-month trading range of 30c to 45c.

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Do bikini waxes spread STDs

2010-09-03 10:19:30

In spring, New Jersey lawmakers considered a ban on Brazilian bikini waxes after two women claimed they had contracted infections from the procedure. Although the measure was eventually voted down, the fact remains: You Fake Tag Heuer can contract a sexually transmitted disease during a bikini wax. "Bacteria and viruses, such as herpes, can be spread from one client to another through contaminated tweezers, scissors, or surfaces," says Carol Livoti, M.D., a gynecologist in New York City and a Shape advisory board member.

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"Double dipping," or reusing one spatula on multiple clients, may also put you at risk, as it may spread any microorganisms from previous clients that got in the wax. To safeguard yourself, seek out a salon that's staffed with a licensed aesthetician and has strict sanitary policies, including using hospital-grade disinfectant on any tools that will be reused.


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DNA scans can reveal susceptib

2010-09-03 10:19:29

By Margaret Munro

A Canadian-led team that can "read" an individual's DNA in just minutes has uncovered several genes that make people susceptible to the most common form of diabetes.

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"And this is just the tip of the iceberg," says Dr. Constantin Polychronakos of Montreal's McGill University, who co-led the international team that's shown the power of new scanning techniques to find genes associated with common disease.

Polychronakos says the field is moving so quickly it will soon be possible to predict from birth what ailments someone is prone to.

"You'd be able to take a drop of blood from a newborn and determine if they have genes associated with diabetes, or heart disease or Alzheimer's or any of the common health problems," says Polychronakos, acknowledging there would be sticky social and ethical issues associated with such gene profiling.

"I'm not saying we should be doing this, but I'm saying we will be able to do this in a few years. We will have the capability."

For the work on diabetes, published online Sunday by the journal Nature, Polychronakos and his colleagues scanned DNA from almost 7,000 individuals and turned up five genes associated with Type 2 diabetes.

"For 7,000 people, it took us a couple of months to do the whole thing," Polychronakos said in an interview.

"With conventional methods it would have taken 20 years to do all the DNA tests. It would have been virtually impossible."

The Montreal team used high-tech probes widely use in gene studies to test almost 500,000 gene regions at once.

"You can do half a million DNA tests on one individual in a matter of a few minutes," explains Polychronakos.

They then honed in on the gene variations that set people with Type 2 diabetes apart. Four of them confer a significant risk for developing the disease, and confirmed an already known association between the TCF7L2 wholesale colthing gene and Type 2 diabetes. The scientists say the five variations might account for 70 per cent of the genetic risk associated with Type 2 diabetes, an increasingly common and debilitating disease that affects more than 1.3 million Canadians.

The researchers are now racing to find other genes associated with the disease and expect to soon have a list of at least 20 genes that increase susceptibility to the disease. They say knowing these genes will lead to "more intelligent" diagnosis and treatment.

"Discovering the genes is the first step in a long road," says Polychronakos.

The researchers say a complex interplay between genetics, lifestyle and environment contribute to Type 2 diabetes, which is associated with overeating and lack of exercise. The genetic factors help explain why one 'couch potato' develops the disease while another doesn't, says Polychronakos, an endocrinologist who specializes in genetics.

The genes are related to the control of insulin secretion and pancreatic development. One gene directs production of a protein that helps move zinc ions around and is found in cells that make and release insulin. Laguna Beach

The researchers say therapies targeting zinc may be worth exploring. Polychronakos cautions that diabetics should not rush out and increase their intake of zinc, which can be toxic.


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Cranking up the vuvuzelas Cup

2010-09-02 16:11:11

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The soundtrack of this summer's World Cup will be played on a cheap yard-long plastic horn capable of a single note - a thudding B flat.

Played alone, it sounds like an elephant. Play a few dozen in concert, and it sounds like a swarm of angry bees.

But put 90,000 of them together in the enclosed space of a World Cup stadium for two hours? Well, then you have a Tory Burch potential health hazard.

"They can really hurt your ears," says South Africa soccer fan Candice Meyer, a vuvuzela tooting just behind her.

"People from outside aren't used to this," agrees another Johannesburg fan, Trevor Bongani. "It could be a problem."

Yet after months of debate, World Cup officials recently turned a deaf ear to complaints from opposing teams and public-safety officials and gave their blessing to the ubiquitous South African horns, guaranteeing, according to Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the local organizing committee, "the noisiest World Cup ever."

So noisy, viewers at home might want to watch the games with the volume turned down.

"My first thought was Wow.' It is a remarkable sound," said Jed Drake, who oversaw ESPN's coverage of last summer's Confederations Cup in South Africa and is doing the same with the network's World Cup broadcasts. "Boy oh boy was it loud."

How loud? About as loud as a jet engine at full throttle. And louder than a NASCAR race, a rock concert or a jackhammer, according to researchers who studied the noise level at a South African Premier League match and found it peaked at 144 decibels.

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The U.S. government considers two hours of exposure to anything over 100 decibels to be dangerous.

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"Just the buzz, you can't even talk they're so loud," says U.S. defender Jonathan Bornstein, who has played a half-dozen matches in South Africa over the last year. "It's even sometimes hard to think. Cause it's like raaaawwwww."

The vuvuzelas will be part of the World Cup because they're as much a part of soccer tradition in South Africa as bongo drums and chants are in other countries, tournament organizers said. Which is true if you believe soccer tradition in South Africa began about the time Nelson Mandela Ankle boots got out of prison and not 150 years ago, when the sport was first introduced by British soldiers.

Although the instrument's history is a little fuzzy, some here say the vuvuzela was inspired by the kudu horn African villagers once used to summon neighbors. But they didn't reappear in South Africa until around 1990, and they didn't become popular at soccer stadiums until the end of the decade.

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Not everybody buys that timeline, however.

"The vuvuzela is embedded in South African soccer culture," insists Firdoze Bulbulia, director of an entertainment company based in Johannesburg. "It is like the drums or the wave for fans from Latin American or Europe."

Brandon Bernardo, a young Johannesburg musician, agrees.

"Every country has its way of hosting a football game and a football game in South Africa without a vuvuzela is like having a barbeque without sausage," he says. "It just doesn't feel Christian Louboutin Shoes
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Crashing euro aids, hurts U.S.

2010-09-02 16:11:08

Only a few months ago, Americans were fretting about a weak dollar, adoring the euro and looking for ways to insulate themselves from the greenback's slide.

They were buying foreign mutual funds to take advantage of stronger currencies. They were adding oil and other commodities to their portfolios because natural resources tend to perform well when the dollar is weak.

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Then along came the European debt crisis, and all is turned upside down. Now the euro is plunging.

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The topsy-turvy ride of the dollar and euro shows how quickly conditions can change -- upsetting common assumptions. But with that in mind, here are some effects of the weakening euro:

For the consumer: A trip to the gas station will probably become a bit easier to stomach, because oil -- priced in dollars -- becomes less expensive in the United States when the dollar strengthens. In addition, with the European economy slowing, demand for oil is likely to fall, another factor in possibly lowering prices.

Food is expected to be cheaper as demand worldwide eases and the dollar strengthens, said Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist of forex.com.

As fear has grown over the euro, there has been a flood of money into the United States and Treasury notes. That means interest rates are staying low, and should keep mortgage rates low, Dolan said.

For U.S. Companies: "The strong dollar is a negative for corporate profits," said investment Womens short boots strategist Ed Yardeni.

When American companies doing business abroad translate profits, the stronger dollar will reduce earnings from Europe.

And with European products cheaper than U.S. products, consumers in the United States and other parts of the world might buy from Europe rather than America.

"By restraining U.S. export growth, a Christian louboutin pumps stronger dollar will dent GDP growth," said economist Paul Dales of Capital Economics.

But the threat may be modest, he said, because the United States sends just 17 percent of its exports to the eurozone.

Still, with the low-priced competition from Europe, Dales estimates that real U.S. export growth will slow.

For the economy: Slower GDP growth means another hitch for Christian louboutin pumps the economy as it emerges from recession. But it's not all negative.

With oil prices down sharply in recent weeks, Dales estimates Christian louboutin pumps that could take 0.3 percent off inflation this year. Cheaper fuel costs can help companies such as airlines, manufacturers and trucking firms.

But the United States is not the only country that could find resistance to higher-priced products with the dollar stronger. China could face more competition for its products, Dolan said.

For investors: The flood of money into U.S. investments means that risk-averse savers looking for alternatives to low-interest CDs and U.S. Treasurys are not likely to see near-term relief, although some analysts predict that 10-year Treasurys now yielding 3.35 percent could be at 4.5 percent by the end of the year.

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