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Pantothenate acid, also known as vitamin B5, stimulated the production of brown fat in both cell cultures and mice, a new study finds. "We identified [pantothenate acid] as an effective [brown fat] activator that can prevent obesity and may represent a promising strategy for the clinical treatment of obesity and related metabolic diseases," the researchers wrote. Unlike the more common white fat, brown fat burns calories to produce heat. Under particular conditions, white fat can be converted to brown fat. Scientists have been investigating the behavior of brown fat and methods of converting white fat in hope of finding treatments...

Weight loss surgery significantly lowers the risk of major adverse liver outcomes as well as major acute cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with biopsy-proven nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), compared with similar patients who didn't have surgery, new research shows. "This is the first study in the medical field reporting a treatment modality that is associated with decreased risk of major adverse events in patients with biopsy-proven NASH," senior author Steven Nissen, MD. As the authors point out, obesity is the main pathophysiologic driver of NASH and weight loss — however achieved — is currently the primary treatment for NASH. "However, bariatric...

An antioxidant drug reverses atherosclerosis and could be used to prevent heart attacks and strokes due to clots. Atherosclerosis is the build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries. When a type of fat called LDL cholesterol becomes oxidized and builds up to form plaques in the artery walls, inflammation and damage increase which can cause the plaques to rupture and cause blood to clot. These clots can block vital arteries that allow blood to flow to the heart, causing a heart attack, or to the brain causing a stroke. Previously, researchers at the University of Reading discovered that LDL cholesterol...

Records Show Obama Hired Behavioral Experts to Expand Use of Govt. Programs - Judicial Watch http://www.judicialwatch.org/the-blog/records-show-obama-hired-behavioral-experts-expand-use-govt-programs/ Records Show Obama Hired Behavioral Experts to Expand Use of Govt. Programs SEPTEMBER 08, 2016 The Obama administration quietly hired 20 social and behavioral research experts to help expand the use of government programs at dozens of agencies by, among other things, simplifying federal forms, according to records obtained by Judicial Watch. The controversial group of experts is collectively known as the Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST) and it functions under the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). In 2015...

Markings on no fewer than four emails contained on Hillary Clinton’s private system were changed to a category that blocks Congress and the public from viewing their contents ... One of the lawyers present during the review by State’s legal office was government attorney Catherine Duval, who was a key player in the controversy surrounding ex-IRS official Lois Lerner’s missing emails related to the investigation of the agency’s targeting of conservative groups. Duval, who is now spearheading the release of materials related to the 2012 attack in Benghazi, formerly worked for the same law firm as the Clintons’ private attorney...

EXCLUSIVE: At least four classified Hillary Clinton emails had their markings changed to a category that shields the content from Congress and the public, Fox News has learned, in what State Department whistleblowers believed to be an effort to hide the true extent of classified information on the former secretary of state’s server. The changes, which came to light after the first tranche of 296 Benghazi emails was released in May, was confirmed by two sources -- one congressional, the other intelligence. The four emails originally were marked classified after a review by career officials at the State Department. But...

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The sci-fi hit returns when warner home video releases Babylon5: The Lost Tales, an original made-for-video movie on July 31, 2007! Babylon5: The Lost Tales Includes an Inside Look from J. Michael Straczynski into Making the Babylon5 Film BURBANK, CA, April 24, 2007 - Created by J. Michael Straczynski in 1993, Babylon 5 became a Sci-Fi cult fan favorite and a top rated show. Now in 2007, Warner Home Video (WHV) and Warner Bros. Television (WBTV) will take you to 2271 A.D. for Babylon 5: The Lost Tales,a made-for-video movie featuring the original cast including Bruce Boxleitner ("President John Sheridan"),...

Actress Teryl Rothery has been cast in Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, a new direct-to-DVD movie now in production in Vancouver, British Columbia. The film (actually a collection of two one-hour stories) will be released in 2007, picking up some time after the events of the hit 1990s sci-fi television show. Rothery co-starred for seven years on Stargate SG-1 as the beloved Dr. Janet Fraiser. She will play an ISN news reporter in The Lost Tales, according to writer, director, and executive producer J. Michael Straczynski. The Lost Tales is intended to be a multiple-DVD series, with this first 2-hour...

Warner Home Video and Warner Brothers Television announced the start of production on Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, a made-for-video movie that will tell two new stories set in the B5 universe. WHV will be the home-entertainment distributor for the made-for-DVD release, which will include two new stories under the collective subtitle "Voices of the Dark" in one film, plus exclusive behind-the-scenes content. The stories will be written and directed by executive producer and Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski. Executive producer Doug Netter also returns in that role. Actors from the original series that have signed on to participate...

Babylon 5's Katsulas Dies Andreas Katsulas, the character actor known to SF fans as G'Kar on Babylon 5 and a familiar face from Star Trek and other SF&F TV shows, died Feb. 13 of lung cancer in Los Angeles, his agent, Donna Massetti, confirmed to SCI FI Wire. He was 59. Katsulas, a longtime resident of Los Angeles, played the Narn ambassador G'Kar for five years in the syndicated cult TV series Babylon 5, starting in 1993. He reprised the role in subsequent Babylon 5 telefilms. Katsulas was also no stranger to Trek fans, playing Romulan Cmdr. Tomalak in Star...