Moskovsky Komsomolets
Sheep with model's legs
Plastic surgery knows hardly any limits in making women as beautiful as they can afford. Even the most undistinguished clinics can provide their clients with breasts of any size and hourglass waists. However, long legs have until recently remained beyond their wildest dreams - until Russian surgeons invented a stem cell technique and tested it on sheep.
Until recently, the Ilizarov frame was the only option to lengthen or reshape limb bones, as well as to treat complex and open bone fractures. However, any woman whose self-esteem is impaired by not having legs up to her neck will soon be offered a different way. That path is not paved with roses either, but even high technology cannot cancel the old truth about beauty knowing no pain.
Specialists from the Cell Technology Center at Russia's Veterinary Academy have completed a four-year experiment to extend bone tissue. They have tested their method on a hundred sheep, implanting in their hind leg bones a porous implant (matrix) impregnated with stem cells taken from the animal earlier. In fact a sheep's legs have comparable structure and bear a similar load to human ones.
The experiment has successfully led to the implant's biodegradation and replacement with absolutely natural living bone tissue.
"This technique will help lengthen limb bones by up to 8 cm, and only because muscles and skin cannot be stretched further," said project leader Alexander Teplyashin.
In addition to fulfilling many women's wildest dreams, the new technique will be widely used in disaster medicine. It will help treat survivors with problem bone fractures who would have otherwise faced limb amputation.
"It will become possible to replace the fractured part of any bone, even the skull, with a stem cell matrix," Teplyashin said.
Dr Davud Dervishov, head of the Academy's immunology department, shares his colleague's enthusiasm.
The project is now pending official approval of clinical tests. So hopefully, the women looking with envy at models on glossy covers won't have to wait long.
Kommersant
iPad frenzy sweeps Russia
It's three weeks into official iPad sales in Russia and they have already sold out in most stores. Apple's official retailers across Russia hope the new shipment arrives before the winter holiday season, which traditionally accounts for 30% of their revenue.
The retail chains authorized to sell iPads in Russia, including M.Video, Belyi Veter, re:Store and Z-Store, told Kommersant they had essentially run out of the first batch Apple sent. The iPad officially launched in Russia on November 9. Retailers say only a few of the more expensive models are left in the stores. They do not know when the next shipment from Apple is due.
Apple's first shipment comprised approximately 12,000 tablet pcs, one retail outlet representative told Kommersant. "The first batch sold out in under two weeks, and the 3G model was gone in four days," M.Video public relations manager Anton Panteleyev told Kommersant. Belyi Veter spokeswoman Lyudmila Semushkina says only a few WiFi tablets are currently available at the company's stores.
Retailers are hoping to receive the next shipment from Apple in 7 to 10 days' time, before the winter holiday shopping season starts. They earn up to 30% of their annual revenue during this period. "We are expecting a small batch of iPads in the coming week, followed by a larger shipment in the second half of December," Semushkina says.
M.Video's Anton Panteleyev said their new order took the first batch's successful sales figures into account. Yevgeny Butman, head of the ECS Group (Apple's authorized distributor) said the next iPad shipment would arrive by New Year. Alexander Malis, president of Euroset, another major electronics retailer, told Kommersant that his company was also in talks with Apple about selling iPads in Russia.
The iPad is already a sales hit in the United States. A Deutsche Bank study of iPad sales on Black Friday across 100 Apple stores and 50 retail outlets in the United States shows the tablets were sold at an average rate of 8.8 per hour. By way of comparison, Apple's Mac computers sold at the slightly slower rate of 8.2 per hour. Apple says that worldwide it sold 7,460,000 iPads from April to September 2010.
The retailers could not put an exact figure on how many iPads they were expecting to receive for the holiday shopping season, but the shipment "will definitely be larger than the initial batch," one source on the electronics market told Kommersant.
Russia's largest household and electronics retailer Eldorado is also planning to sell iPads this holiday season. The company "is in the final stages of negotiations with Apple," Eldorado CEO Kakha Kobakhidze told Kommersant. Russia's major mobile operators are also eyeing the attractive iPad market. Representatives of Vympelkom, MegaFon and MTS all confirmed to Kommersant that they are in talks with Apple, but declined to reveal any details.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
St. Petersburg wages war on alcohol abuse
The St. Petersburg government has adopted a regional program to fight alcohol abuse. It proposes an all-out attack on this national vice along all fronts, from alcoholism prevention and healthy lifestyle campaigns to rigid administrative bans. It is expected that St. Petersburg's initiatives will get federal backing and will be implemented across the country.
The anti-drinking campaign, posted on the city government's official website, has been planned until 2020 and stipulates adopting a package of measures aimed at slashing alcohol consumption. The city will battle the harmful habit with social ads, awareness campaigns in the media and sports events to encourage young people to embrace a healthy way of life. Those addicted to alcohol and unable to stop drinking on their own will be offered medical treatment using the most advanced methods.
A series of planned nationwide initiatives are even more rigorous. By 2012, the St. Petersburg authorities are expected to submit amendments to the Code of Administrative Violations introducing punishments for beer and alcohol drinking on the streets. Also, they will recommend that regional administrations set fines for companies and individuals violating alcohol production and sale regulations.
Finally, a total ban on beer advertising throughout the country is sure to deal a powerful blow to alcohol abuse, especially among young people. To achieve this, the St. Petersburg authorities plan to propose amendments to the law on advertising. Currently, there are only a few time and imagery restrictions for beer ads in place.
Meanwhile, St. Petersburg MPs are insisting on starting the campaign immediately, rather than waiting for the federal government to approve the initiatives. They have proposed to introduce a drinking curfew, under which stores would sell spirits for only three or four hours a day and for no more than half an hour on national holidays. Deputy Alexei Timofeyev, a member of the lobby group, explained that similar bans exist in Finland and Sweden, for example. He says these measures are effective in fighting alcohol abuse in those countries.
If St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko acts quickly, the city is likely to bring in the New Year on a sober note.
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MOSCOW, December 1 (RIA Novosti)
