Royal Couple In NI

Prince William and his wife-to-be, Kate Middleton have arrived in Northern Ireland for a one-day visit. The couple arrived at Belfast City Hall at about 10.30am and were met by Lord Mayor Pat Convery and Dame Mary Peters, a former Olympic pentathlon athletics champion who is now the Lord Lieutenant of Belfast in the first in a series of engagements planned for them. It is Prince William's first royal visit to Northern Ireland and comes in the run-up to the couple's preparations for the Royal Wedding on 29 April. Last week, it was announced that the Queen would visit the Republic of Ireland later this year.

A Winter Of Contrasts

This winter wasn't as cold as last year, despite the exceptionally cold December, Met Office provisional figures show. The mean UK temperature was 2.4 °C, compared to 1.6 °C last winter. A 'normal' winter average temperature would be 3.7 °C. Heavy snow and very cold weather dominated the UK through much of December, however, during January UK mean temperatures were close to average and by February were above average. Through the course of the winter, the UK went from the coldest December on record to the ninth warmest February on record. Met Office forecasts and warnings highlighted the severe weather throughout the coldest December in the UK for at least 100 years.

David Willetts Addresses Office For Fair Access Guidance To Universities

Commenting on the Office for Fair Access Guidance to Universities published this week, Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said: “Universities are being asked to work much harder to recruit students from disadvantaged backgrounds in the future. The Director has moved quickly to give universities clarity about what he expects from them on access. The Government has been clear that universities charging more than £6,000 who are not meeting their access benchmarks should redouble their efforts to widen participation. There is a range of good practice across the sector to draw on, as well as the new National Scholarship Programme which the Government is match funding.”

High Levels Of 'Good' Cholesterol May Cut Bowel Cancer Risk




High levels of “good” (high density lipoprotein) HDL cholesterol seem to cut the risk of bowel cancer, suggests research published online in Gut. 

The association is independent of other potentially cancer-inducing markers of inflammation in the blood. 

The researchers base their findings on participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. This is tracking the long term impact of diet on the development of cancer in more than half a million people in 10 European countries, including the UK. 

Some 1,200 people who developed bowel and rectal cancers, 779 bowel and 459 rectal cancer, after agreeing to take part in EPIC were matched with another 1,200 participants of the same age, gender, and nationality.

 Blood samples taken when they joined the study, and the dietary questionnaires these participants had completed, were compared to see if there were any discernible differences between the two groups. 

The analysis showed that those who had the highest levels of HDL cholesterol, and another blood fat, apolipoprotein A, or apoA, a component of HDL cholesterol, had the lowest risk of developing bowel cancer. 

Each rise of 16.6 mg/dl in HDL and of 32 mg/dl in apoA reduced the risk of bowel cancer by 22% and 18%, respectively, after taking account of diet, lifestyle, and weight. 

But HDL and apoA levels had no impact on the risk of rectal cancer. 

After excluding those who had only been monitored for two years, as they may have already been undergoing cancerous changes when they joined the study, only levels of HDL were associated with a reduction in bowel cancer risk. 

The association remained intact, irrespective of other indicators of inflammation, insulin resistance, and oxygen free radicals levels, all of which are associated with the development of cancer. 

The authors explain that low HDL levels have been linked to higher levels of proteins involved in inflammation, while higher levels of proteins that dampen down the inflammatory response have also been linked to high HDL levels. 

The pro inflammatory proteins boost cell growth and proliferation while curbing cell death, so HDL may alter the inflammatory process in some way, they suggest.

(BMcN)/KMcA)