با سلام خدمت به بازدیدکنندگان گرامی. با سری دوم مسابقات ! Try me  در خدمت شما عزیزان هستیم .

قوانین مسابقه :

تنها یکبار می توانید در این مسابقه شرکت کنید.

حتما نام و نام خانوادگی خود را به طور کامل وارد نمایید.

***********************

و اما پرسش این دوره بدین قرار است : 

: Write this rebus

برای شرکت در مسابقه شکل زیر را کلیک کنید .

The treatment of childhood cancer is one of oncology's success stories, with five-year survival rates that have shot up from 30% in the 1960s to 80% now — at least in high-income countries

But in a series of articles published today in The Lancet Oncology, experts from around the world warn that in recent years progress has stalled — both in the improvement of survival rates and the mitigation of long-term side effects — and that more than 90% of children who die from cancer are in low- and middle-income countries

What is at stake, the researchers say, is not just the need for new drugs to treat children whose cancers are now incurable: the treatments also need to be kinder

More than 40% of childhood-cancer survivors experience lifelong side effects from treatment. Anthracyclines, used to treat many types of cancer including leukaemia, can damage the heart; platinum, widely used for treating certain tumors, can cause deafness. Even the less-toxic, targeted therapies that slow the spread of cancer by stopping the growth of blood vessels in tumors can harm children by stopping other blood vessels from developing properly at crucial times during childhood

Still, the situation is far worse in poorer countries, where more children die from infectious or parasitic diseases than from cancer — leaving cancer overlooked as a result. Poorly trained doctors, inadequate diagnostic tools and lack of access to therapies — even palliative treatments — all contribute to the problem

Another serious issue highlighted in the papers is that of data collection. The incidence of childhood cancer is poorly known in much of the developing world. In Africa, reliable cancer registries cover only 1% of the population, according to one of the studies

In developing countries a diagnosis of cancer is still a death sentence for the majority of children, says Ian Magrath, president of the International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research in Brussels, Belgium, and a co-author of two of the studies. But these figures are just estimates, because the disease is extensively under-diagnosed

Many improvements could be made, the authors write, including better training of health workers in poorer countries; use of the Internet to connect local pathologists to international experts to improve diagnosis; and the creation of at least one cancer center in each country

Having reliable data on cancer incidence may increase the pressure on local policy-makers. For example, in 2006, Mexico developed a series of health-care reforms and set up 49 pediatric-cancer programs, promoting access to therapies and reducing the rates at which patients abandoned treatment courses

Closing the cancer divide is a matter of health and equality and “can greatly contribute to reducing this prominent cause of childhood death,” says Felicia Marie Knaul, director of the Harvard Global Equity Initiative in Boston, Massachusetts

This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on February 21, 2013

Aria Weekly Articles

Have you ever heard people say that they tend to be more of a right-brain or left-brain thinker? From books to television programs, you've probably heard the phrase mentioned numerous times or perhaps you've even taken an online test to determine which type best describes you

? What Is Left Brain - Right Brain Theory

According to the theory of left-brain or right-brain dominance, each side of the brain controls different types of thinking. Additionally, people are said to prefer one type of thinking over the other. For example, a person who is "left-brained" is often said to be more logical, analytical and objective, while a person who is "right-brained" is said to be more intuitive, thoughtful and subjective

In psychology, the theory is based on what is known as the lateralization of brain function. So does one side of the brain really control specific functions? Are people either left-brained or right-brained? Like many popular psychology myths, this one has a basis in fact that has been dramatically distorted and exaggerated

The right brain-left brain theory grew out of the work of Roger W. Sperry, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1981. While studying the effects of epilepsy, Sperry discovered that cutting the corpus collosum (the structure that connects the two hemispheres of the brain) could reduce or eliminate seizures

However, these patients also experienced other symptoms after the communication pathway between the two sides of the brain was cut. For example, many split-brain patients found themselves unable to name objects that were processed by the right side of the brain, but were able to name objects that were processed by the left-side of the brain. Based on this information, Sperry suggested that language was controlled by the left-side of the brain

Later research has shown that the brain is not nearly as dichotomous as once thought. For example, recent research has shown that abilities in subjects such as math are actually strongest when both halves of the brain work together

The Right Brain

According to the left-brain, right-brain dominance theory, the right side of the brain is best at expressive and creative tasks. Some of the abilities that are popularly associated with the right side of the brain include 

• Recognizing faces
• Expressing emotions
• Music
• Reading emotions
• Color
• Images
• Intuition
• Creativity

The Left Brain

The left-side of the brain is considered to be adept at tasks that involve logic, language and analytical thinking. The left-brain is often described as being better at

• Language
• Logic
• Critical thinking
• Numbers
• Reasoning

The Uses of Right-Brain, Left-Brain Theory

While often over-generalized and overstated by popular psychology and self-help texts, understanding your strengths and weaknesses in certain areas can help you develop better ways to learn and study. For example, students who have a difficult time following verbal instructions (often cited as a right-brain characteristic) can benefit from writing down directions and developing better organizational skills

More Information and Resources

 

• Severed Corpus Collosum: Scientific American Frontiers
  Watch this fascinating video that demonstrates the effects of severing the corpus collosum

 

 

• The Big Similarities & Quirky Differences Between Our Left and Right Brains: Discover Magazine
  A closer look at how the left brain and right brain differ and how they work together

 

• The Left-Brain, Right-Brain Quiz: About.com-Homework Tips
  About.com's Guide to Homework Help, Grace Fleming, has created a fun quiz to help you determine your "brain type" and improve your study habits and academic skills. Take the right brain-left brain quiz to learn more. She also offers some great study advice for left-brained students and right-brained students

Aria Weekly Articles

You feel it when you smell your mom's cookies, or listen to that song you loved in college. As the cliche goes, it's that "warm and fuzzy feeling"--and it turns out it's a real thing. According to a new study in the journal Emotion, nostalgia really does make you feel warmer

European and Chinese researchers split 64 students into two groups and asked one group to recall memories that made them feel nostalgic. The students were then asked to guess the temperature of the experiment room. It sounds nuts, but the nostalgic students judged the room to be more than 4 degrees warmer, says Tim Wildschut, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Southampton in England

Why? Wildschut credits something called an "as-if" body loop. Basically, pleasant memories engage the pathways in your brain that were active when you were happy and content, and this emotional comfort extends to your physical state, he explains

But the warm and fuzzy feeling isn't the only cliche that's backed up by research. Here are five more

 You Do Learn from Your Mistakes

Before you register a conscious thought, the lower temporal region of your brain sends out a "warning signal" if you're about to repeat a past mistake, finds University of Exeter research. It takes just .1 seconds for the red flag to go up, the researchers write. Past studies have also shown your brain holds on to more information when you make incorrect predictions than correct predictions. That doesn't mean you won't make the same dumb mistake twice--but at least part of your brain is doing its job, the study suggests

 Santa Claus Is Jolly

That is, he would be if he existed in the overweight body we all know and love. A new study of more than 28,000 people published in Molecular Psychiatry found the gene FTO, which has been linked to obesity, also lowers symptoms of depression by 8 percent. While the FTO gene increases production of a protein that promotes fat mass, it also "turns off" other genes associated with depression, the study authors write. Worth repeating: It's the gene, not being overweight, that lowers depressive symptoms

 You Do Make Your Own Luck

Unlucky people are generally more anxious and rigid, which disrupts their ability to notice and capitalize on new opportunities, finds research conducted by Richard Wiseman, Ph.D., of the University of Hertfordshire. On the other hand, Wiseman found that most fortunate people actually "make" their own luck by being observant and open to change, by putting faith in their intuition, and by having a resilient, optimistic attitude that helps them convert tough breaks into new opportunities, he writes in his book The Luck Factor. (Learn the 5 Lies You Tell Her Every Day. Avoid these fibs that'll put you in the doghouse

 The Pinocchio Effect Is Real

Your nose knows when you're lying. But unlike the famous wooden boy, it doesn't grow--it heats up. Using thermography, researchers at Spain's University of Granada found the temperature of your nose (and nearby orbital muscles) rises when you fib. Here's why: the insular cortex in your brain, which regulates body temperature and is tied to self-awareness, may also have physiological connections to your schnoz, the research suggests

Love Makes You Sick

When you fall in love, your brain is flooded with a potent cocktail of neurotransmitters including dopamine, adrenaline, and oxytocin. All of these boost your mood and give you that sense of energy and elation you feel when you tumble head-over-heels for a new mate, finds research from Syracuse University. That's good. But the "high" you get from this flood of brain chemicals also makes it difficult to eat, sleep, or concentrate, and can lead to panic attacks, chest pressure, and physical sickness, shows a Rutgers University Study

Aria Weekly Articles

Think about this one – the biggest brand in the world has never spent a nickel to advertise itself. That brand is Google. Why? It doesn’t have to. But why and how did Google manage to become the top or if not the top, one of the top brands on the planet? Through the internet and its commonality of use and discussion among us. A huge, online community emerged that had something in common – they ‘googled’. Google has never spent any money on advertising itself. Its talked about, discussed, and in a short period of time has become a brand by doing nothing more than delivering what it suppose to deliver to us – results. No promises of this or that to listen to or read. The free ‘use’ and global access has created a brand with no advertising. Bigger than most firms over 40 years old that have spent millions every year to keep its ‘brand’ in front of all of us. Information does not need to be contained into slogans or cute commercials during the Superbowl. Its amazing to me that in less than 10 years, Google has built one of the worlds most best known brands without spending a dime on advertising on TV, newspapers, etc. Think about it…its really quite amazing

Even Yahoo advertised. Maybe they shouldn’t have

Aria Weekly Articles

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) recently published its Terrible 10 and Terrific 10, lists of the best and worst aspects of America's food scene. The lists were released in advance of Food Day, a nationwide celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainably grown food, which was coordinated by the CSPI and will take place on October 24

Did any of the foods on the list surprise you? What would you add? Tell us on Facebook

The Terrible 10 features foods and practices—ranging from McDonald’s meals to powerful lobbying groups that thwart food reform—that impair American diets and the environment. The Terrific 10, on the other hand, help bolster our health and promote safe and fairly produced food. Among them are federal food programs that fight hunger and efforts by the New York City Health Department to introduce menu labeling

Make better menu choices with help from the new Eat This, Not That

“This collection of ‘terribles’ symbolizes some of the things that Food Day is trying to change,” says Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the CSPI in a press release. “It’s time to encourage Americans to ‘eat real,’ which means ‘out’ with the Froot Loops and ‘in’ with real fruit. It means more food from farmers’ markets—and much less food, if any, from fast-food drive-thru windows and vending machines

Search: Cheap healthy meals

Kellogg's Froot Loops landed a spot in the Terrible 10 for representing the detrimental effects of sugary cereal on American health. Loaded with synthetic dyes, these fruit-free, super saccharine rainbow-colored circles of cereal entice kids to eat but fail to provide substantial nutrients. “If you start your day with just sugar, your going to be hungry a lot sooner than if you start your day with a higher fiber cereal,” says Keri Gans, RD, and author of The Small Change Diet

The Best and Worst Cereals for Your Diet

The CSPI also nailed nutritionally void white flour for its role in the obesity epidemic. Found in breads, pastas, cakes, and other foods, this basic ingredient takes the place of more vitamin-rich grains. "White flour basically has no fiber, but when you are looking to choose a product to eat, look for one made from whole grain," Gans says

With the equivalent of 9 teaspoons of sugar in each can, Coca-Cola easily nabbed a place on the Terrible list. The CSPI credits this ubiquitous thirst quencher for contributing to expanding waistlines and chronic diseases. Studies by the Harvard School of Public Health and the American Heart Association show that soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened drinks are linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and hypertension

(Kick Your Soda Habit (and Drop a Pound a Week

Packed with calories, salt, saturated fat, added sugars, and white flour, a typical McDonald's meal of a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Coke, and fries was another no-brainer for this rundown of nefarious noshes. A diet packed with high-calorie, high-fat meals like these can increase the risks of obesity, hypertension, and other diet-related disease

Alongside these bad-for-you foods the Terrible 10 spotlights political groups and food producers that harm the American food scene with unsafe or environmentally unfriendly practices—such as Jack DeCoster's egg farms, which caused the salmonella outbreaks in 2010

However, it’s not all doom and gloom on the American food-scape. CSPI pinpoints some bright spots in our diet with its Terrific 10

Good old-fashioned water provides an antidote to the Terrible 10’s Coca-Cola. Studies show that replacing sugary drinks with H2O can be a simple and effective way to reduce excess calories in our diets and reverse nationwide problems such as childhood obesity

?  Why Are Our Kids Fat

Likewise, traditional Mediterranean and Asian diets contrast with the malicious McDonald's medley. The fare is typically heavy on fruits and vegetables, but light on high-calorie, high-fat foods like meat and cheese. Following one of these meal plans is a first step to improved health

Aria Weekly Articles

Think you can load up on ice cream and grilled cheese for stronger bones? (Hey, it's dairy, right?) Unfortunately, that's not how it works. Consuming more milk and yogurt can strengthen your bones, but you won't get the same results from cheese and cream products, according to a new study published in the Archives of Osteoporosis

Researchers surveyed over 3,000 people about their diets and compared their dairy intake with their bone mineral density and hip fracture risk down the line. They found that eating 2.5 to 3 servings of milk or yogurt per day was associated with higher bone density. But get this: A higher intake of cream products (like cream, sour cream, ice cream, etc.) was negatively associated with bone density. "Cream has lower levels of bone-specific nutrients, it's high in fat, and for the same serving of milk it has lower calcium and vitamin D," says lead study author Shivani Sahni, Ph.D., instructor at Harvard Medical School. Basically, that pint of chocolate chunk won't increase anything in your body--except maybe your waistline

Cheese didn't seem to affect bone health on its own, but when taken together with milk and yogurt it actually had a positive association with bone density. "I would think that cheeses high in saturated fat and sodium may have negative effects, while other cheeses may be better," says Sahni. The lesson: Your bones can't thrive on cheese alone, but adding them to a diet high in milk and yogurt is still beneficial

If you're striving for stronger bones, load up on 2.5-3 servings of low-fat milk, low-fat yogurt and lower-sodium cheeses (like mozzarella, goat cheese, or Swiss). And just because ice cream, cream cheese, and sour cream are dairy products, don't assume they'll pack a huge punch of bone-strengthening nutrients

Aria Weekly Articles

Late-model 1-Series, 3-Series and Z4 models are affected

BMW is recalling 570,000 cars in North America for power failures and engine stalling, according to filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

The battery cable supplying power to the fuse box has a terminal that can wear out over time, particularly due to road vibrations, BMW said. About 504,545 models of the 2008-2012 1-Series, 2007-2011 3-Series and 2009-2011 Z4 are affected in the U.S.

An additional 33,000 BMW models are being recalled in South Africa, where a significant percentage of 3-Series models are built and exported to the U.S. The 1M and M3 models are not included

If the battery-cable terminal wears out, "variations in electrical resistance" could occur, which could cause the instrument panel to flicker or the engine to cut power. At worst, the engine could stall completely while driving, or if parked, may not start. Other systems, such as the power steering, would also be affected by the electrical failure

BMW said it received two U.S. reports of "no-start" problems during July 2010 and additional problems through 2011, when the company switched its terminal coatings from tin to silver to better handle electrical heat. BMW said it continued to fix "occasional warranty claims" for the same issue even after the fix. In Canada in May 2012, BMW said it received multiple owner complaints of the same problem, including a collision allegedly due to an engine stalling

Dealers will replace the battery-cable connector and secure it to the fuse box with a "vibration-safe method" beginning in March. Owners can contact BMW at 1-800-525-7417 or at CustomerRelations@bmwusa.com

In March 2012, BMW recalled 1.3 million cars worldwide to fix improperly mounted battery-cable covers that could cause dead engines, fires or other electrical problems. About 368,000 5- and 6-Series models were recalled in the U.S

On Friday, BMW recalled 30,265 X5 models to fix brake vacuum lines that could cause the power assist to fail

Aria Weekly Articles

(A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17

    A lot of people go through life with only a few friends. It seems that some have less than that. They have no one on whom they can call in good times or bad. There is no one with whom to bounce ideas around, or to talk about deep and troubling subjects. They have no one to call in times of need or difficulty. They are at the mercy of life, standing alone

    Others seem to have a multitude of friends. Wherever they go, people know them, and like to be around them. Should trouble strike, their biggest hesitation might be over which friend to call. They know exactly the person with whom to discuss the topics of inquiry and debate. Life is full of entertaining and invigorating relationships because it is full of friends

    There ought to be a course in school on friendship. Of course, some people are perfectly happy to operate with fewer friends. They might rather have a few deep and loyal friends, than many superficial ones. Others thrive best when friends are everywhere and numerous. It is not so much the number of friends that is important as is the possession of friends, period

    Friendship is a blessing, and a friend is the channel through whom great emotional, spiritual, and sometimes even physical blessings flow. Friends can cheer us when we’re sorrowful or depressed. Friends can challenge us when we allow ourselves to get beyond our reasonable boundaries. Friends can motivate us when we’re ready to give in, and they can provide for us when life falls apart. They are there when all is well, and we want someone with whom to share life’s pleasant and memorable moments. We often just want them around to have a good time, to laugh, to act silly, to enjoy some mutually liked activity. In how many ways have friends enriched our lives and made us feel loved, accepted, respected and cared for? Probably, too many to list, and the list grows daily

    It is safe to say that when God created the world and all the majestic things in it, when he streaked the heavens with radiant color and the earth with grand mountains and awe-inspiring canyons, when he painted the plains with waving grasses and erected noble forests of towering trees, he outdid it all by creating friends. Why not take a moment or two and thank someone today for being a friend to you?

    May God bless you with all the friends you need, and may he turn you into a blessing by using you as a friend to others

Downshifting means working towards simple living by making conscious choices to leave materialism behind and move on to a more sustainable lifestyle. It does not mean simply cutting back and trying to live the same life only with less money. Downshifting requires prioritizing, an adjustment in values, and a totally different mindset… not just a change to a more frugal way of living

People decide to downshift for a variety of reasons. Many want to get away from “living competitively”… job stress, consumerism, and feeling they have to live up to someone else’s expectations. Other people downshift because of a life changing experience, health reasons, or a crisis in the family. Often downshifting comes out of a wish to conserve natural resources. Whatever the reason, downshifting isn’t limited to any age or income level

Once the decision to downshift has been made, then comes the question of how. Usually the first step is to create more free time for yourself by working fewer hours. This may involve something as simple as cutting down on overtime, or it may involve changing jobs or deciding to work at home. There is no one solution that fits every circumstance because everyone’s situation and needs are different. Taking your time to analyze your own options will prevent you from making any hasty spur of the moment decisions that you might later regret

Hand in hand with a change in the number of hours worked is the need to consume less and therefore spend less. As you prioritize your true needs and wants, you will find that many of the “things” you used to spend money on no longer seem important. You will also discover that a more balanced life will feel very empowering because your new simple living changes will result in actually having more options and access to more discretionary money even though you are earning, spending and consuming less than you did before

Here are some downshifting ideas to get you started, but keep in mind that living a simple life is not about self-denial… you should not give up something that is really important to you

• Limit the number of services you purchase. Anytime you can do something for yourself instead of paying someone to do it for you, you can save considerable amounts of money
• Eat out infrequently, if at all. It is easy to get in the habit of stopping for a quick meal instead of taking the time to cook dinner, but this is one area where there can be really big savings, plus the real food you cook at home is always much healthier
• Change the way you shop for groceries. Comparison shopping and buying to restock your pantry and your refrigerator when items you use regularly are on sale results in huge savings
• Live green. Recycle, start composting, and limit what you throw away. Conserve gasoline, electricity and other resources to help reduce your carbon footprint

Over the last several years there has been a huge change in attitudes and values and for many people a change in the definition of real success. Personal growth, an enjoyment of life and feeling a real connection to family while keeping a healthy balance between work and free time have become more important than titles and big incomes. More and more people now believe that even one person can help change the world. Downshifting can be that first step

Aria Weekly Articles

With the automatic spending cuts kicking in next week, it's tough to separate fact from bluster. Both the Obama administration and congressional Republicans chose this week to go with finger-pointing, a subtle acknowledgement that their differences on taxing and spending won't be bridged by more negotiating

President BarackObama and his team warn of government services getting even worse if the $85 billion of across the board cuts in fiscal 2013 are allowed to kick in next Friday -- cars stuck idling at understaffed border posts, furloughed bureaucrats, fewer police and firefighters, thousands of hungry children kicked off government nutrition programs

Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, labors to remind the country that these reductions -- or sequestration -- were initially a White House-proposed fix in order to raise the debt ceiling back in 2011

"Right up until the last minute, both the president and the Republicans are going to try to make the most hay out of the issue and make the other guy look bad," said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "It's almost like they would rather have the issue than the solution. And I think it's unfortunate for taxpayers, I think it's unfortunate for the government, but this is the reality of politics today"

A few key facts have emerged over the past several days amid the blame game. First, there is a growing consensus that sequestered cuts totaling as much as $1.2 trillion over the next decade won't lower the national debt. The main drivers of the deficit -- Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs -- have been exempted from cuts. The second is that while the sequester may use a feckless "meat cleaver" approach to trim spending on defense and many domestic programs it's not enough to put the whole economy through a meat grinder

"Is it a calamity? No," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an economist who has advised Republican presidential campaigns and now serves as president of the American Action Forum. "It's going to look more like the rounding error in GDP. I think there is a lot more noise than light being shed on the sequester

Here are the five things you need to know

No recession is coming

For all the fear-mongering about hundreds of thousands of furloughs and reduced services, government officials aren't hyping the possibility of a recession. In a $16.4 trillion economy, the sequester just isn't big enough

Macroeconomic Advisers garnered attention this week for predicting that the measure would block the creation of 700,000 jobs by the end of 2014. The sequester lops half a percentage point off from growth, but the gross domestic product would still chug along at a 2% pace -- not too far off the mark in this tepid recovery. "Not catastrophic," the firm concluded

What really matters, economists note, is the issue Obama and Republicans have largely stayed quiet about -- $200 billion in tax increases slated for this year as part of the fiscal cliff deal approved on New Year's Day. Rates ticked up on household incomes above $450,000 and the two-year payroll tax holiday ended, which would likely cause many consumers to open their wallets less often

Failure to extend the current budget resolution or defaulting on our debt -- both possibilities in the months ahead -- would be cause for panic

The cuts are really less than $85 billion

Politicians keep talking about $85 billion in spending cuts. Technically, you should halve that figure because agencies can draw from stockpiles of unused funds from past years. The sequester applies to how much money is authorized, not how much federal agencies actually spend

"This excess budget authority rolls over from year to year," wrote Bank of America economists Ethan Harris and Joshua Dennerlein in a client note. "These programs can use this excess budget authority to count towards their sequester requirements

Actual spending cuts would be about $42 billion for the seven months left in this fiscal. Or on an annualized basis, $72 billion for 12 months, according to Bank of America

Aria Weekly Articles

 

Abnormalities in the brain may make some people more likely to become drug addicts, according to scientists at the University of Cambridge

They found the same differences in the brains of addicts and their non-addicted brothers and sisters

The study, published in the journal Science, suggested addiction is in part a "disorder of the brain"

Other experts said the non-addicted siblings offered hope of new ways of teaching addicts "self-control"

It has long been established that the brains of drug addicts have some differences to other people, but explaining that finding has been more difficult

Experts were unsure whether drugs changed the wiring of the brain or if drug addicts' brains were wired differently in the first place

This study, funded by the Medical Research Council, attempted to answer that by comparing the brains of 50 cocaine or crack addicts with the brain of their brother or sister, who had always been clean

Both the addicts and the non-addict siblings had the same abnormalities in the region of the brain which controls behaviour, the fronto-striatal systems

The suggestion is that these brains may be "hard-wired" for addiction in the first place

Lead researcher Dr Karen Ersche said: "It has long been known that not everyone who takes drugs becomes addicted"

She told the BBC: "It shows that drug addiction is not a choice of lifestyle, it is a disorder of the brain and we need to recognise this"

However, the non-addicted siblings had a very different life despite sharing the same susceptibility

"These brothers and sisters who don't have addiction problems, what they can tell us is how they overcome these problems, how they manage self-control in their daily life," Dr Karen Ersche said

Dr Paul Keedwell, a consultant psychiatrist at Cardiff University, said: "Addiction, like most psychiatric disorders, is the product of nature and nurture

"We need to follow up people over time to quantify the relative risk of nature versus nurture"

It is possible that the similarities in the sibling's brains may not be down to genetics, but rather growing up in the same household. Research on the relationship between addiction and the structure of the brain is far from over

However, many specialists believe these findings open up new avenues for treatment

"If we could get a handle on what makes unaffected relatives of addicts so resilient we might be able to prevent a lot of addiction from taking hold," said Dr Keedwell

The chief pharmacist for Derbyshire Mental Health Trust, David Branford, said the study, "implies that addiction does not produce noticeable changes to brain structure and function which means that there may be provision for looking at new treatment techniques for addiction"

Prof Les Iversen, from the department of pharmacology at the University of Oxford, said: "These new findings reinforce the view that the propensity to addiction is dependent on inherited differences in brain circuitry, and offer the possibility of new ways of treating high-risk individuals to develop better 'self control'

Aria Weekly Articles

As part of its project on the cities of the future, the BBC asked a series of experts to explain their vision of where they would like to live in the future

With input from those who are planning new cities to people who are retro-fitting old ones and even a child's view of the future, we asked one simple question: "What if you could design a city from scratch?"

We have had some intriguing answers, from those who think the smart cities of the future will rely on technology to those who want to put people centre stage

And for the children, who will after all be the citizens of these future urban spaces, the vision is more fantastical

?But then, who wouldn't want a city with tree-high swimming pools full of sweets

Guru Banavar - IBM

Guru Banavar is IBM's chief technology officer and was the chief architect behind Rio de Janeiro's control centre

If I were to build a city from scratch, I would build in the digital infrastructure of sensors, networks and data analytics as meticulously as the physical infrastructure of buildings, roads, and utilities

In a modern city, a robust digital infrastructure is essential to manage the physical resources and ensure that the city will be liveable and sustainable over the long term

A well-designed digital infrastructure will support decision-making by public managers as well as private citizens.

By understanding the large volumes of data emitted by a city, it is possible to not only sense and respond to the current demands of citizens, but also be proactive in anticipating the needs and issues that citizens may face in the future

A modern city would go far beyond simply sensing what's going on all around. Good decisions are based on a good understanding of information, which means that city data from many sources will need to be integrated and analysed rapidly. For example, city leaders will need high-quality insights to manage a carbon neutrality programme, a social and health services programme, or an innovative public transportation programme

The digital infrastructure can provide the insight and foresight needed to support the right operational decisions, drive long-term plans, and help evolve the city towards its goals, whether they are social, economic, or environmental

Steve Lewis - chief executive Living PlanIT

Reasons for urbanisation are wide-ranging but tend to be economic and social in nature

Today the top 25 cities in the world account for 50% or more of our global wealth

Traditionally, permanent and sustainable settlement has taken hundreds of years - in some cases, thousands. However, due to rapid population growth and development of certain regions of the world, town and cities are established rapidly - some in the space of a few years

Through significant advances in computer simulation to provide tools that enable an entire community - including planners - to consider, evaluate and implement current requirements while modelling future scenarios

Moreover, this simulation of thousands of complex variables may include, for example, balancing aesthetics with efficient use of capital - new methods to plan, design, manufacture, operate - and natural resources

It may include reducing our impact on the environment while creating places that increase social cohesion, or accelerating human interaction in education, health and employment to improve the quality of life for an ever greater percentage of our world population

However, people will remain the critical determining factor of how we interpret, implement and enhance our urban environments

Ultimately, they will decide how we retain the fundamental organic development of our cities that lead to their future sustainability

Towns and cities do not exist without their essential ingredient - their citizens

Tom Steinberg - founder of MySociety

I'd like to see a city in which every occasion on which you received a public service was also an opportunity to get involved with the decision-making that determines the nature of that service

Let me give you an example. I have an old mattress I need to get rid of, so I go to the council website to find out how to do this

The council offers a disposal service, but it seems pretty expensive to me - £30

In my vision of a modern city, the page that tells me the cost will link to information on who made the decision to impose a charge, what reason was given, and who controls this decision in the future

The key word here is "opportunity"

I don't think that people want to be repeatedly told that they should be good citizens, attending planning meetings seven days a week

But I do think that every moment of contact between me and the city government - every time I get on a publicly subsidised bus, or check the day of my bin collection - should be treated as an opportunity to engage me in the decisions that relate to that service, if I want

The technology required for this radical educational idea is as old as technology gets on the web - it's the humble link

The challenge is persuading politicians that it is healthy for more local people to understand how decisions are made

Carlo Ratti - Senseable Cities Lab, MIT

Carlo Ratti heads up Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Senseable Cities Lab, which aims to study the ways cities are transforming themselves using sensors and electronic systems.

If we could design a city from scratch... we would not do it

Since their emergence around 10,000 years ago, cities have always been the outcome of a collaborative, bottom-up process

The "urbs"- as Romans would call the physical form of the city - was nothing other than the result of the "civitas", the community of the citizen

Even when Romans needed to plan a new city, they did little more than laying out the main axes and parcelling the land, leaving it up to the individuals to take action

The idea that an architect could design a city from scratch, in a top-down way, is relatively new

It embodies both the 19th Century dream of the artist with unbound freedom and imagination and the egotistic vision of the 20th Century architect; something that resembles Howard Rourke - Ayn Rand's main character in The Fountainhead - who proclaimed that "the first right is the right of the ego"

It also responds to the rapid expansion urbanisation of the past 100 years that often leads governments to call for quick solutions for human settlement

Architectural exemplars of the limitations of such an approach stand out in the dullness of Brasilia and the rigidity of Chandigarh

In fact, as Christopher Alexander reminded us, a good city cannot be designed in a top-down fashion

Spaces and fluxes overlap and intertwine in our interaction with the city, which can only be shaped through a distributed, bottom-up process

A chaotic self-organising movement, which resembles what we have seen during the Arab Spring and its fostering of new forms of participation, is rising in unexpected ways and with unknown consequence

Can these very forms, supported by social media and new technologies, now extend to urban design and planning? Could this be the beginning of a new urban spring

Archie McGuinness and Lily Wakefield - age 9 and 6

OK, so they aren't experts but my children are the future citizens of such cities and have some interesting ideas about where they want to live

Archie: If I could design a city the cars would run on water instead of fuel and would be driven automatically so that you could just sit back and enjoy the ride

There would also be lots of huge buildings that lots and lots of people could work in

In the city centre there would be an extraordinarily big shopping centre with everything you could possibly need

As well as that, there would be little shops dotted around for certain things

Everybody would exercise to keep themselves healthy

Lily: If I could design a city from scratch I would have a swimming pool on trees filled with sweets and chocolate

Also, I would have flying cars

I would have schools that you play in all day and you would have offices that grown-ups can take their children into to watch TV all day

At the centre of the town there would be shops and there would be a Santa's workshop for whenever you wanted to make something

It would be Christmas every day

Aria Weekly Articles

Being careful with your weekly shopping budget needn’t take its toll on your eating pleasure – in fact, the watching your purse strings can result in some of your most inspiring cooking

Learn to bake

Start baking. You don’t need a lot of time to make a glorious loaf of bread – in fact it’s just as quick to make two so do that and freeze one. Make flapjacks for snacks, chocolate cornflake cakes for the kids (and some for you), make savoury biscuits and cheese straws; bake fruit cakes – great for afternoon tea and also for a naughty pudding – try frying a slice and topping with ice cream. Baking is dead cheap because for the most part you’re just using flour – which is very inexpensive. And the results will be far tastier than shop-bought

Try using a pressure cooker

The response you hear most often about why people don’t cook much at home (and particularly cook cheaper cuts of meat) is time – and this is why a pressure cooker should become a basic part of your kitchen armoury. They cut cooking time by hours in some cases – you can cook a stew or a curry succulent with fork-tender meat in under half an hour. Pulses, vegetables, pasta sauces – you can do them all here

Consider going vegetarian

Eating veggie a few times a week is an easy way to do two things: 1. To cut down your eating expenditure (meat is very expensive) and 2. To make your insides more healthy. My sister has been a vegetarian since she was very young so I’m used to cooking for both of us – without feeling like something is missing from my dinner! Lentils can be used to make a killer version of a shepherd’s pie – add flavour with plenty of tangy cheese in the topping and some tinned tomatoes in the base. Or instead of your usual chicken pie, try one with layered sliced potato, swede, parsnip and sweet potato mixed with crème fraiche, wholegrain mustard and cheese

Try buying cheaper cuts of meat

Ten years ago every ‘upmarket’ restaurant worth its salt had to have lobster, fillet steak, foie gras and duck breast on its menu. In recent years, however, the trend has veered towards the cheaper cuts (indeed, those in the know have always been ordering onglet or rib eye instead of fillet and asking for chicken legs and thighs instead of boring breast). Next time you’re shopping, instead of buying a ‘prime cut’ like fillet, opt for a lesser one – flank steak, beef brisket, lamb breast or pork hocks. They require longer cooking and a bit of love but will return you in droves in the flavour department

Plan your weekly meals

Planning is key to cooking on a budget. Work out what meals you are cooking each week, have a think about what crossover ingredients you’ll have, try and keep in mind what’s in your storecupboard (how many times have you bought the same ingredient twice thinking you didn’t have it?) and make a shopping list. And stick to it. Be ruthless with your shopping and your planning and you’ll stick happily with in your budget and see far less waste at the end of the week

Cook with seasonal ingredients

Lots of folks think that the only way to eat seasonally is to shop at local or farmers’ markets – and most of the time this can restrict your shopping which can often be a pain given how mad life is these days. Happily supermarkets also stock seasonal ingredients – particularly in the fruit and veg department. At the moment look out for interesting cabbage varieties (spring or pointed are particularly delicious) – it’s plentiful and turns a simple bowl of leftover mash into a super to be jealous of – bubble’n’squeak topped off with a poached egg.  Shop the seasons – the supermarkets nicely shout out about what’s in season and it’s more often than not the cheaper choice

Cook twice the quantity

Whatever you’re cooking – double it. It’s so much cheaper to cook twice the quantity and requires little more effort. Ok, you might need a larger pan but that’s about it! Loads of food actually gets better overnight – curry sauces, pastas, bean stews and braises all mature really well, the flavours deepen and become richer. And if you’re making double the quantity then you can skip straight to the next point

…And make the most of your freezer

If you are making double the quantity, then get freezing. Use your freezer wisely and you can squirrel away little extras – a bit of frozen stew added to a gravy turns it into a restaurant-level dish straight away. If you’ve got enough space in your garage or shed invest in a chest freezer. So many dishes (particularly from those lovely cheaper cuts of meat) freeze incredibly well and make for a decadent dinner in a flash – so no complaining about not having enough time to stew

Add flavour to cheaper ingredients with small amounts of more expensive ones

You might argue that cheaper ingredients often don’t have as much flavour or may need a bit of pepping up – braised lentils, for example, can need a little helping hand to transform them into the basis of a delicious dinner (topped off with a couple of fried bangers and a dollop of mustard - yum). These helping hands can come in a number of formats – add dried mushrooms to braises (just one or two – be sparing and they needn’t cost the earth); a single rasher of bacon to pulses; half a teaspoon of marmite to stews or finely diced liver to give burgers or meatloaf a meaty boost

Stash extra fresh veg in a pickle jar

I’ve always got a jar of pickles in the fridge. The reason? Well, I’m probably just quite bad with what I keep in my fridge! In truth, if I haven’t managed to use up all the celery and it’s about to get past its best, I slice it up and slip it in the pickle jar. And you can add whatever you like to it – an extra half an onion leftover from your recipe? Slice it up and add it. Chillis? Turn the heat up in there. You can add virtually any leftovers to the jar and you’ll have delicious treats to eat with cheese or to top of a sarnie. Seriously, what is it with celery? My fridge is a celery magnet

Aria Institute Weekly Articles

Can mobile phones trigger cancer? Can your computer keyboard make you ill? Do videogames rot our brains? There are as many rumours and myths about how technology affects our health as there are shiny new gadgets to play with

But how much truth is there behind the headlines? We found out what the experts have to say about whether technology really is bad for our health

?Can mobile phones trigger cancer

The link between mobile phone usage and cancer has been debated for almost as long as we've had mobiles

There is a large body of specialists who believe the two are interlinked. For instance, the International Agency on Cancer has listed mobile phones in 'group 2B' of its 'gold-standard' rating system - its way of saying handsets could 'possibly' cause cancer

However, no firm evidence has ever been produced to suggest that mobiles can trigger cancerous growths

In a study conducted by the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Denmark last year - in which 358,403 mobile phone owners were studied over an 18-year period - no evidence of mobile phone-induced cancer was found

If you still have your doubts, Professor Magda Havas of the Institute for Health Studies at Trent University in Ontario, Canada, recommends chatting through speakerphone to reduce your body's exposure to radiation while using your phone

She told CNN: "Hold it out two inches, and the radiation drops by a factor of four. Hold it out four inches, and it drops by a factor of 16"

Reality rating: 1/10

?Could gadgets make men infertile
Although no study has found a firm link between mobile phone usage and testicular cancer, a 2006 study conducted by US researchers and doctors in both the US and Mumbai, India, has found some evidence that suggests handsets can lower the quality and consistency of sperm

Professor Ashok Agarwal of the Reproductive Research Centre in Ohio, who led the research, believes that electronic radiation produced by handsets is the root cause of the problem

He told the Daily Mail: "Cells in the testes have been shown to be susceptible to electromagnetic waves in previous research in animals

"Somehow electromagnetic waves may be causing direct damage to these cells and that perhaps causes a decrease in sperm production"

However, Dr Allan Pacey, a senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, believes the study is flawed
He told the BBC: "If you're using your phone for four hours a day, presumably it is out of your pocket for longer. That raises a big question: how is it that testicular damage is supposed to occur
"If you are holding it up to your head to speak a lot, it makes no sense that it is having a direct effect on your testes"

Reality rating: 5/10

? Is 3D to blame for my headaches

With Hollywood pumping out floods of 3D movies, the 3D revolution is continuing apace

However, in a study conducted by the University of California, Berkley, researchers have found that watching 3D movies could lead to both headaches and eyestrain

Professor Martin Banks, who led the study, believes the trickery involved in 3D is to blame. He told the Daily Mail: "You converge and focus your eyes to the same distance

"But with 3D, you may have to converge your eyes to one distance, while focusing to another. So with 3D films you're taking that normal relationship which has been in the brain for years and changing it"

Dr Michael Rosenberg at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, says that those with eye problems are most at risk

He told Reuters: "There are a lot of people walking around with very minor eye problems, for example a minor muscle imbalance, which under normal circumstances, the brain deals with naturally"

Rosenberg says 3D films require a greater deal of concentration than 2D movies. "That translates into greater mental effort, making it easier to get a headache," he said

Reality rating: 4/10

?Is the internet making me dumb
The web is crammed with information but some experts believe it's doing our brains more harm than good

Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: How the Internet Is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember, believes the internet is turning us into "scattered and superficial thinkers."

He wrote in the Daily Telegraph: "When we're constantly distracted and interrupted, as we tend to be when looking at the screens of our computers and mobile phones, our brains can't forge the strong and expansive neural connections that give distinctiveness and depth to our thinking. Our thoughts become disjointed, our memories weak."

However, in a 2010 survey in which 900 science, business and technology experts were questioned, it was concluded that the internet does actually make us smarter.

:Janna Anderson of the Imagining the Internet Centre, who helped lead the study, said in a statement

"Three out of four experts said our use of the internet enhances and augments human intelligence, and two-thirds said use of the internet has improved reading, writing, and rendering of knowledge"

Reality rating: 4/10

?I'm ill - could my keyboard be to blame

Computer keyboards can potentially harbour more germs than a toilet seat, according to a test conducted by the consumer group Which

The company, which tested 33 of the keyboards in its offices, found that four were deemed health hazards - while another was so bacteria-ridden, it carried more germs than one of the toilet seats in the office bathroom.

Dr Wilson, a consultant microbiologist at University College London Hospital, said in an interview with Radio 5 Live that contagious illnesses such as a cold could be passed on through keyboards

"If you look at what grows on computer keyboards, and hospitals are worse, believe it or not, it's more or less a reflection of what's in your nose and in your gut," he says. "Should somebody have a cold in your office, or even have gastroenteritis, you're very likely to pick it up from a keyboard"

Reality rating: 7/10

?Are video games bad for our brain
For years, video games have been blamed for turning us into zombie-like couch potatoes

In a 2005 study led by the Criminological Institute of Hanover in Germany -
in which over 23,000 children aged between 10 to 15 took part - researchers concluded that prolonged exposure to video games leads to individuals becoming fatter, less active and less smart

Christian Pfeifer, the director of the institute, told the Scotsman: "The results are truly alarming. Over-consumption of either makes them fat, lazy, stupid, ill, sad, unhealthy. TVs and computers literally steal meaningful time for play, sport and fun from their lives. In addition, brutal films or video games displace things learned at school or from parents from their memories"

However Nick Bilton, author of the book I Live in the Future and Here's How It Works, believes that there are several hidden benefits to playing video games

He told Time magazine: "They are incredibly good for our brains. They increase hand-eye coordination, they increase working memory, and kids that play video games in a balanced way perform better on certain test scores"

Reality rating: 4/10

Aria Institute Weekly Article