Etchujima Inspiration

Her petite features and slim build would have marked her out as a beauty in any era.
And by using modern technology South Korean archaeologists have been able to recreate just how the 5ft servant girl would have looked 1,500 years ago, the first time such a task has been done in the country.
The life-size model of what is believed to be a 16-year-old who lived with a powerful family in the sixth century Gaya Kingdom (42-562) was unveiled today.










A computerised image of the 16-year-old teenager who is thought to have been buried alive 1,500 years ago. A life-size model of the teenager has gone on display in South Korea

'We have excavated human bones on many occasions but it is the first time we created a full-scale model,' said Kang Soon-hyung, director of the Gaya National Research Institute of Cultural Heritageo.
However her beauty did not save her from a grisly fate as researchers believe she was buried alive with her dead masters.

The teenager's 5ft skeleton was used as a starting point for the model before layers of muscle and skin were added

Why this is reckoned to have happened is expected to be contained in a study on the Gayan custom of burying the living with the dead which is soon to be published.
The teenager's 5ft skeleton was used as a starting point for the model before layers of muscle and skin were added.
The project was carried out by sculptor-anatomy specialist Kim Byung-ha and CELL, a firm that does costumes for feature films.
Her remains were among those of four people that were unearthed during an excavation project carried out three years ago.
She had a short jawbone and thus had a rather wide face but had a long neck. The teenager's arms were short but she had long fingers and toes.

Her waist measured 21.5in and an examination of her bones has led scientists to speculate that she frequently knelt on her knees.

DAILY MAIL


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SANDA, Hyogo -- Horned dinosaur fossils have been found in Japan for the first time after they were discovered in a geological layer here, local officials have announced.

The Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo, in Sanda, Hyogo Prefecture, said fossils of a horned dinosaur were discovered in the lower layer of the Sasayama group from the Early Cretaceous Period in the prefectural city of Sasayama. The lower layer dates back some 120 million to 140 million years.

Horned dinosaurs are among a group of large herbivorous dinosaurs including Triceratops that inhabited the North American Continent during the Late Cretaceous Period.

"The find is a precious resource for studying the evolution of dinosaurs in East Asia," said Haruo Saegusa, chief researcher at the museum. The fossils will be put on display at the museum from Saturday through Dec. 27.

The unearthed fossils are those of three jaw bones, including an upper jaw bone (42 millimeters long) with teeth and a front jaw bone (29 millimeters long). They were found almost in their entirety and bear such features as muscles on the surface of teeth.

The dinosaur is presumed to have walked on two legs and had short frills behind its head. It was likely to be a young dinosaur, with its body measuring an estimated 60 centimeters long. Fossils of similar types of dinosaurs have been discovered in five other places including China, and the latest find is close to the fossils of Archaeoceratops that were found in China's Gansu Province in 1992.

The Sasayama group geological layer, which straddles the Hyogo Prefecture cities of Sasayama and Tamba, is home to fossils of the nation's largest herbivorous dinosaur named Tambaryu, Tyrannosaurs and the nation's oldest mammalian fossils -- all unearthed since 2006.

"I had initially thought the fossils may be those of shellfish, such as shrimps or crabs, but I'm surprised to learn that they are of dinosaur bones," said Kiyoshi Adachi, 66, a former high school teacher who is one of the discoverers of the Tambaryu fossils and the latest find.

"I hope to find plant fossils and determine the climate back in those days," he added.

(Mainichi Japan) November 27, 2009 ...Read More>>>

TOKYO, In Japan, being thin isn’t just the price you pay for fashion or social acceptance. It’s the law.

So before the fat police could throw her in pudgy purgatory, Miki Yabe, 39, a manager at a major transportation corporation, went on a crash diet last month. In the week before her company’s annual health check-up, Yabe ate 21 consecutive meals of vegetable soup and hit the gym for 30 minutes a day of running and swimming.

“It’s scary,” said Yabe, who is 5 feet 3 inches and 133 pounds. “I gained 2 kilos [4.5 pounds] this year.”

In Japan, already the slimmest industrialized nation, people are fighting fat to ward off dreaded metabolic syndrome and comply with a government-imposed waistline standard. Metabolic syndrome, known here simply as “metabo,” is a combination of health risks, including stomach flab, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, that can lead to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Concerned about rising rates of both in a graying nation, Japanese lawmakers last year set a maximum waistline size for anyone age 40 and older: 85 centimeters (33.5 inches) for men and 90 centimeters (35.4 inches) for women.

In the United States, the Senate and House health care reform bills have included the so-called “Safeway Amendment,” which would offer reductions in insurance premiums to people who lead fitter lives. The experience of the Japanese offers lessons in how complicated it is to legislate good health.

Though Japan’s “metabo law” aims to save money by heading off health risks related to obesity, there is no consensus that it will. Doctors and health experts have said the waistline limits conflict with the International Diabetes Federation’s recommended guidelines for Japan. Meantime, ordinary residents have been buying fitness equipment, joining gyms and popping herbal pills in an effort to lose weight, even though some doctors warn that they are already too thin to begin with.

The amount of “food calories which the Japanese intake is decreasing from 10 years ago,” said Yoichi Ogushi, professor of medicine at Tokai University and one of the leading critics of the law. “So there is no obesity problem as in the USA. To the contrary, there is a problem of leanness in young females.”

One thing’s certain: Most Japanese aren’t taking any chances.

Companies are offering discounted gym memberships and developing special diet plans for employees. Residents are buying new products touted as fighting metabo, including a $1,400 machine called the Joba that imitates a bucking bronco. The convenience store chain Lawson has opened healthier food stores called Natural Lawson, featuring fresh fruits and vegetables.

Under Japan’s health care coverage, companies administer check-ups to employees once a year. Those who fail to meet the waistline requirement must undergo counseling. If companies do not reduce the number of overweight employees by 10 percent by 2012 and 25 percent by 2015, they could be required to pay more money into a health care program for the elderly. An estimated 56 million Japanese will have their waists measured this year.

Though Japan has some of the world’s lowest rates of obesity — less than 5 percent, compared to nearly 35 percent for the United States — people here on average have gotten heavier in the past three decades, according to government statistics. More worrisome, in a nation that is aging faster than any other because of long life spans and low birth rates, the number of people with diabetes has risen from 6.9 million in 1997 to 8.9 million last year.

Health care costs here are projected to double by 2020 and represent 11.5 percent of gross domestic product. That’s why some health experts support the metabo law.

“Due to the check up, there is increased public awareness on the issue of obesity and metabolic syndrome,” said James Kondo, president of the Health Policy Institute Japan, an independent think tank. “Since fighting obesity is a habit underlined by heightened awareness, this is a good thing. The program is also revolutionary in that incentivizes [companies] to reduce obesity.”

Though the health exams for metabolic syndrome factor in blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, weight and smoking, waist size is the most critical element in the Japanese law — and perhaps the most humiliating.

The hesitancy of some Japanese to expose their bare stomachs to the tape measure has led the government to allow the tape measures to be administered to clothed patients. Those who elect not to strip down are permitted to deduct 1.5 centimeters from their results.

The crudeness of the system has alarmed some doctors. Satoru Yamada, a doctor at Kitasato Institute Hospital in Tokyo, published a study two years ago in which several doctors measured the waist of the same person. Their results varied by as much as 7.8 centimeters.

“I cannot agree with waist size being the essential element,” Yamada said.

Perhaps more astounding, even before Japanese lawmakers set the waistline limits last year, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) amended its recommended guidelines for the Japanese. The new IDF standard is 90 centimeters (35.4 inches) for men and 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) for women. But the Japanese government has yet to modify its limits.

On the day of her exam, Yabe arrived at the clinic at 8:30 in the morning. The battery of tests lasted an hour. The result: her waist was 84 centimeters — safely under the limit. She had shed 6.5 pounds thanks to her diet and exercise.

A week later, however, Yabe was back to eating pasta and other favorite foods.

“I want to keep healthy now, but I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe in December, I will have many bonenkai [year-end parties]. And next summer I will drink beer, almost every day.”

Editor: jimbon

Source : globalpost

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By Dr Ellie Cannon
A new study by The Lancet shows that aspirin should no longer be used to help prevent cardiovascular disease. What does this mean if you're taking aspirin? The Mail on Sunday's expert looks at the findings.

Q: What did the new research on aspirin show?
A: The study by The Lancet looked at a large number of people who were advised to take aspirin to help prevent cardiovascular disease - strokes and heart attacks. In the past few years, doctors have advised aspirin for two groups of patients who are highly likely to have a heart attack: the first because they have risk factors such as diabetes or obesity (what's called primary prevention), the second because they have already had a heart attack (secondary prevention). The study showed that aspirin should no longer be used as primary prevention.

Q: Does that mean it is dangerous?
A: All medication has potential side effects and we know that taking aspirin long-term can cause bleeding from the stomach, although the risks are small. Since the benefits seen in primary prevention were negligible, it is felt that the risks of bleeding outweigh the potential benefits. For those who have already had a heart attack or stroke, the benefits are well established and far outweigh the small risk of bleeding.

Q: Can I just stop it if I am taking it for primary prevention?
A: It is a good idea to discuss it with your GP in case there is anything specific to your medical history that would mean you should continue.

Q: What does aspirin actually do?
A: Aspirin works to prevent heart attacks and strokes by stopping blood clots that are often the cause. There are cells in your blood called platelets which stick together to make clots. Aspirin is an 'anti-platelet' drug and prevents this happening. This action also causes the bleeding.

Q: What else is aspirin used for?
A: Aspirin is an extremely useful drug. As well as being anti-platelet, it is good for lowering temperature and is helpful in inflammatory conditions such as arthritis. It is widely used as a painkiller, and in soluble form can be highly effective at the onset of a migraine.

Q: Who should not take aspirin?
A: Anybody with bleeding problems such as haemophilia or with stomach ulcers must never take aspirin. Caution would be advised in those with asthma, gout or kidney problems.

Q: Can children take aspirin?
A: Children under the age of 16 should not be given aspirin. There is a serious, often fatal, condition called Reye's syndrome which was shown to be linked to giving aspirin to feverish children. For this reason children are no longer given aspirin. For pain relief and fever in children, use ibuprofen or paracetamol.

Q: Can pregnant women take aspirin?
A: Only on the advice of a doctor. It is sometimes prescribed by obstetricians for specific conditions; otherwise use paracetamol when pregnan
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By Tom Dunmore
There's no escaping it: Windows Vista was a disaster. Launched in 2007, Microsoft's follow-up to the massively successful Windows XP software, which powers the vast majority of the world's computers, met with lukewarm reviews and terrible customer satisfaction ratings.
It was simply too demanding of the computers it ran on – and the people who used it. Which is why Microsoft is going to great lengths to prove its new operating system, Windows 7, isn't just better than Vista – it's also simpler.
It takes up 40 per cent less disk space and has lower hardware requirements, so it runs faster on the new cut-price laptops known as netbooks. But it faces tough competition from two of the biggest names in technology: Apple and Google.


The Windows advantage

Microsoft Windows runs on over 90 per cent of all PCs and, despite losing a few percent in the last two years, it's reassuringly familiar for most computer users. What's more, the ubiquity of Windows means many applications – particularly business-critical ones – are written exclusively for Windows.
The Windows-only gaming market is massive, too.

But Windows' dominance comes at a cost: the vast majority of malicious viruses are created to target the system. Which is why Windows 7 builds on one of Vista's notable strengths – security.

Microsoft has produced its own anti-virus software, Security Essentials, which is available as a free download; the latest Internet Explorer browser will stop you giving personal data to spoof websites; and regular software updates will fix any problems as soon as they're discovered.

Just as important as security is simplicity. The new system borrows some of the best bits of the Apple Mac user interface – such as a taskbar at the bottom of the screen allowing you to launch software quickly. The taskbar will also allow you to view thumbnail images of the windows associated with each open application, which helps you navigate your way through email and web pages

There are some cool features that are totally original to Windows, too – like the ability to drag two windows to either side of the screen and have them automatically resize so you can compare and contrast.

The built-in Media Center software makes it easy to enjoy music and video on a laptop that's hooked up to a TV, and you can even 'push' video from one computer to another – enabling parents to control what their children are watching in their bedrooms.

Return of the Mac

Two months before the launch of Windows 7, Microsoft's old rival Apple launched its own operating system update, called Snow Leopard. Rather than adding new features, most of the changes were under-the-bonnet performance improvements. But Apple has less to prove – sales of Macs have been steadily increasing, buoyed by the success of the iPod and iPhone.

Unlike Microsoft, Apple designs both hardware and software, which makes it easier to create stylish and stable systems. You'll pay more for a Mac, but the price includes brilliant software for managing your digital photos, editing home videos, recording music and even designing your own website.

While Apple's high prices mean its computers are unlikely to threaten the supremacy of Windows, the massive success of the iPhone – which offers web browsing, email and downloadable applications – suggests that the face of computing is changing. And in the world of mobile, Microsoft is struggling to keep up with the pace.
The threat of Google
Windows' biggest challenge will come when Google releases its own operating system, Chrome, next year. It's built on the same foundations as Linux – the free, open-source software that powers many netbooks.

But Google promises something altogether different: an operating system 'designed for people who live on the web'. Chrome will provide access to Google's free 'cloud computing' services – everything from email to photo galleries. Because the hard work is done by 'the cloud' – Google's vast server farms – computers running the Chrome operating system can be cheap and low-powered.
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