Senator Chuck Grassley Is the Worst Twitter User in the United States of America

Last year, 77 year-old Iowan senator Chuck Grassley vowed to do anything for reelection—including picking up Twitter. We almost wish he hadn't. Grassley's 1,147 tweets are possibly among the most incoherent, confounding, mind-boggling text on the internet.

Is This the US Navy’s Secret Helicopter?

Ever since SEAL Team 6 blew up its downed, stealth Black Hawk, aviation geeks around the globe have been trying to figure out what the hell it was. One flight expert has gathered the clues and created this detailed rendering.
David Cenciotti, the brain behind the sketch, has serious credentials: he's a former member of the Italian air force, current private pilot, computer engineer, and journalist. With the help of Ugo Crisponi, an artist at Aviation Graphic, we might have a better understanding of what whisked the commandos in and out without Pakistani interference (beyond a few photos of a severed tail rotor). It's still a drawing, of course, but here it's easier to appreciate the strange tail rotor, and the sleek, streamlined stealth chassis—particularly compared to the standard Black Hawk underneath (click images to expand). We're eager for more details to surface on this mystery bird, but I have a feeling the Pentagon wishes the whole thing had been blown to bits.

The cost of fertility treatment 'tourism'

BBC Radio Scotland's The Investigation programme examines the increasing number of couples travelling abroad to seek infertility treatment.

It is described as one of the fastest growing areas of medical "tourism" although that is a word none of those undertaking this journey like to use.

But is it costing too much in terms of emotional, physical and financial stress?

One couple, interviewed anonymously for BBC Scotland's The Investigation programme, said they had spent £90,000 already, and after 17 treatments in various places, including the US, are heading to Spain again this year for one last try at conceiving a longed-for baby.

This couple did not meet until their mid-30s, and by the time they went for treatment on the NHS, at 40 the patient was deemed too old to qualify by her local health board.

The couple have had to remortgage their house to raise funds, so the financial pressure has been enormous, but they have also been on an emotional and physical rollercoaster. And two miscarriages have made it all the more devastating.

It should be the most natural thing in the world, starting a family when the time is right, but for many thousands, it just does not happen.

Fertility decline
Growing numbers choose to take the overseas route to pregnancy, driven by a desperate desire to have a child of their own.

Professor Richard Fleming, director of the Glasgow Centre for Reproductive Medicine, said that the root cause was because women were starting their families later in life. Scientific studies have shown that human fertility starts declining at the age of 31, which is the age many women are having their first babies.

By the mid-30s, eggs are of poor quality, and chances of natural conception have decreased considerably, and even IVF, the professor said, struggles to make up the shortfall.

Prof Fleming is concerned that the general population are not aware of this sharp decrease in fertility. He said it was not the age of the patient that counts, but the age of the eggs.

A number of studies have looked at the reasons people go abroad for treatment. The Infertility Network UK carried out an online fertility tourism survey, which produced some surprising results.

They found that 76% of those who responded would consider travelling overseas for treatment. Of those, 70.5% said it was because of shorter waiting times than in the UK, 69.5% gave the cost of treatment as a reason, and 61% pointed to the success rates of conception in clinics abroad.

Donor anonymity
The availability of donor eggs and sperm was also an important element in their choice.

Availability is a crucial issue in the UK. There are huge waiting lists everywhere for donor eggs and sperm.

Five years ago the government lifted the anonymity granted to donors, so that now any offspring conceived by the donor method, are able to trace their biological parents when they get to the age of 18.

Juliet Tizzard, policy director of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), believes this was the right thing to do, but donor numbers have declined, and many people go abroad particularly because there is still anonymity, and many donors prefer it too.

In Europe it is not allowed to pay donors a fee, but they may be paid "compensation" for their time and trouble. In the UK it is expenses only, up to a limit of £250, but in Spain, a favourite venue for those seeking treatment, donors will receive €900. In Europe much younger donors are used, often students, whose eggs are at their most fertile.

Varying treatments
Costs of treatments vary, too, with an IVF cycle in the UK costing up to £4,500, or with donor eggs up to nearly £6,000.

Those going abroad also have to build in the cost of travel and accommodation, and, of course, time off work.

A European Union directive, in force since 2007, focuses on the safety and laboratory practice at all fertility clinics in the EU, and last week the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) issued a new code of practice to ensure high standards of care for patients.

In Scotland, it is the health boards who determine how much NHS treatment infertile patients may have, and it varies from one area to another.

Some offer two cycles, some three; for all the cut-off point is at 40 years of age, and there are other criteria, such as whether there are already any other children living in the home.

Gwenda Burns, Scottish co-ordinator of the Infertility Network, is calling for an acceptable waiting time in each health board area, and fairness for all those who need help with their fertility, which has been recognised as an illness by the World Health Organisation.

But she also said people must be realistic and call an end to treatment when there is no chance of it working, just as you would with any other illness.

What Happens when You Get Shot in the Head

You may or may or may not see it coming, but it doesn't really matter. You're not going to have time to react. Because a bullet can travel at speeds exceeding 3200 feet per second, which is too fast to duck or yell or plead. Hang in there. Taking a cap to the dome means that it will be over faster than a fatal wound anywhere else.

The bullet with your name on it slides past hair, skin and muscle before it smashes into one of eight cranial bones engineered to keep your brain safe. Unfortunately, it's too late for that now. Bullets beat bones. The projectile's entrance into your skull makes easy shrapnel of your calcium, phosphorus, sodium, and collagen case. As a souvenir of the opening, you gain a circular hole rimmed with abraded skin. Distance matters, too: The closer you are to the bullet, the more the gun's smoke and powder could burn your flesh.

But enough about the blemish; the real work happens deeper. The connective tissue and fibrous membranes that act as internal cushioning are split open just before the bullet dives into your cerebrospinal fluid. This fluid serves as a shock absorber. It, with some other structures, allows you to ride roller coasters and join mosh pits without injury. But again, because your 3.4-pound control system is being taken out, this will be your last head bang.

The bullet travels through your brain faster than the speed at which your tissues tear. This means that it's actually pushing tissues out of the way, stretching them beyond their breaking points. When high velocity long arms are responsible, bullets traveling at thousands of feet per second will exit your body before your tissues have a chance to rip.

The ability to process information and solve problems? All gone when the bullet shoves its way through your prefrontal cortex. Your ability to index memories? Gone with your hippocampus. In the bullet's wake, a long temporary cavity is left. When the tearing finally does happen, your tissues will snap back toward the initial opening and overshoot their original position. You know that back and forth thing that happens when you kick one of those springy door stops? Well that's what your tissues do when the shock waves kick them.

Then the passage collapses. The high-speed firearm that produced the bullet created a disruption in your brain 10 times its diameter.

But you're lucky, relatively speaking. If you were shot in the heart, your blood pressure would quickly drop, but it would take 10 to 15 seconds to lose brain function. In that time you could draw your gun, utter last words, or spend some time thinking about your unfortunate situation. But a shot to the brain is different. Your brain stops functioning almost immediately. In just a fraction of a second, you're gone.

by Rachel Swaby

Lower IVF Success Rates Widely Reported In Patients Of African Origin May Be Consequence Of Genetic Predisposition Towards Autoimmunity

In vitro fertilization (IVF) pregnancy rates, also known as "IVF success rates" are related to specific genotypes and races/ethnicities, according to new research conducted by a New York City-based IVF center. It has long been known that IVF success rates differ amongst different races/ethnic groups. This new study suggests that predisposition to autoimmune disease may be the cause for these differences.

Despite general improvement in outcomes of fertility treatments, disparities between races/ethnicities have actually increased. Prevalence of infertility also differs in that African women experience infertility more frequently than Caucasians and Asians. Causes for these differences have remained largely unknown.

This new study, just published in the prestigious medical journal PLoS One, was conducted by the Center for Human Reproduction (CHR) in New York, NY, and involved 339 Caucasian, Asian and African women. As previously widely reported in the medical literature, African patients demonstrated significantly lower IVF pregnancy rates, compared to Asian and Caucasian patients, even after controlling for age and BMI. African patients also demonstrated the highest rates of the recently described FMR1 (fragile X mental retardation) gene sub-genotype het-norm/low, which the same group of researchers previously reported to be statistically highly associated with autoimmunity. Asian women, with lowest prevalence of het-norm/low experienced the highest pregnancy rates after IVF.

"We have previously associated this specific FMR1 sub-genotype with an approximately 50% reduction in IVF pregnancy chances," explains David Barad, MD, MS, one of the study's senior authors, and Clinical Director of ART at CHR. "This new finding is in line with our previous studies on this specific FMR1 sub-genotype."

"The association of FMR1 genotypes and risk for autoimmunity presents evidence that autoimmunity may be associated with lower pregnancy rates in IVF in general," adds Norbert Gleicher, MD, the study's second senior author, and Medical Director of CHR. "Autoimmunity may, thus, also be at least partially responsible for the racial/ethnic disparities in infertility prevalence and treatment outcomes."

Soya- egg yolk mix helps UK mum give birth after 3 miscarriages, failed IVF

A UK couple, who struggled to have a baby after three miscarriages and failed IVF treatments, are now proud parents of twins-thanks to a mix of soya and egg yolk.
According to Stacy and James Bodle, an experimental fertility treatment using egg yolks and soya oil cured the condition causing the miscarriages and they are now celebrating the arrival of twins Libby and Harry.

"I've hardly slept for the 13 weeks since they were born but I'm not complaining," the Daily Mail quoted Stacy, as saying.
"They have been the happiest weeks of our lives. We were trying for three years for a family and we started to think this day would never come. There were so many awful times and to sit here and see our lovely twins staring back at us is wonderful," she added.
The treatment involved a combination of natural fats made up from egg yolks and soya oil.
Doctors believe this intralipid liquid, a calorie-rich potion normally used in tube-feeding sick patients, could help more women achieve their dream of motherhood.
Studies show a remarkable success rate at overcoming an immune system problem in which "killer cells" attack a fertilised embryo.
"It's basically just a lot of calories, but research suggests that it can suppress the natural killer cells," said Dr Adel Shaker, medical director at CARE fertility clinic in Sheffield.

Don't Kiss & Tell