HPV tied to throat cancers: study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A sexually transmitted infection usually thought of in connection to cervical cancer is also tied to a five times greater risk of cancer of the vocal chords or voice box, a new report suggests.Combining the results of 55 studies from the past two decades, Chinese researchers found 28 percent of people with laryngeal cancers had cancerous tissue that tested positive for...

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Uncircumcised boys and men may face more UTIs

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Infections of the kidney, bladder and urethra happen in uncircumcised baby boys at ten times the rate of circumcised boys, and over a lifetime uncircumcised men are four times more likely to experience one, according to a new analysis of past research.Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are most common in boys' first year of life, and circumcision was already known to make...

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In Search of a Better Condom

It's hard to believe, but the condom is still the only way to protect against pregnancy and HIV at the same time. But researchers say they believe they can develop a kind of 21st-century contraceptive that offers superior protection against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and that people will like enough to use consistently.A paper describing early work on the project was published earlier...

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Venezuelans on edge amid shifting news on Chavez

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chavez alike nervously welcomed the new year Tuesday, left on edge by shifting signals from the government about the Venezuelan leader's condition three weeks after cancer surgery in Cuba.With rumors swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised interview in Cuba that he had...

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Chavez's VP says ailing leader still 'delicate'

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice president is returning home Wednesday from a visit with Hugo Chavez in Cuba and says the ailing president's condition remains "delicate" three weeks after his cancer surgery.With rumors swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday that he had met with the president twice and had spoken with him."He's totally...

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Venezuela opposition: Chavez secrecy feeds rumors

Venezuela opposition: Chavez secrecy feeds rumorsCARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's opposition demanded that the government reveal specifics of President Hugo Chavez's condition Wednesday, criticizing secrecy surrounding the ailing leader's health more than three weeks after his cancer surgery in Cuba.Opposition coalition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo said at a news conference that the information...

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Venezuelan gov't: Chavez fighting lung infection

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's government says President Hugo Chavez is being treated for a respiratory deficiency after complications from a severe lung infection.Information Minister Ernesto Villegas provided the update on the ailing president's condition Thursday night. He read from a statement saying that Chavez's lung infection had led to "respiratory deficiency" and required strict compliance...

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Disputes brewing over Hugo Chavez's inauguration

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez is due to be sworn in for a new term in less than a week and his closest allies still aren't saying what they plan to do if the ailing leader is unable to return from a Cuban hospital to take the oath of office.The Venezuelan government on Thursday night described Chavez's lung infection as "severe" and said he is now being treated for "respiratory deficiency."Chavez...

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Discover Financial Services 4Q net income rises

Discover Financial Services on Thursday reported higher earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter, as users of its namesake credit card stepped up purchases and the company wrote off fewer unpaid balances.Even so, the Riverwoods, Ill.-based company's results fell short of Wall Street expectations, and investors sent its shares down over 3 percent Thursday.Discover, the nation's sixth-largest credit card...

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RIM shares fall at the open after earnings

TORONTO (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd fell in early trading on Friday following the BlackBerry maker's Thursday earnings announcement, when the company outlined plans to change the way it charges for services.RIM, pushing to revive its fortunes with the launch of its new BlackBerry 10 devices next month, surprised investors when it said it plans to alter its service revenue model, a move that...

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Walgreen fiscal 1Q profit sinks nearly 26 pct

Walgreen's fiscal first-quarter earnings sank nearly 26 percent as costs tied to a couple big deals and Superstorm Sandy helped put a bigger-than-expected dent in the drugstore chain's performance.CEO Greg Wasson told analysts he saw the quarter as a "turning point" for the Deerfield, Ill., company, which has been working to recapture customers it lost during a contract dispute with Express Scripts...

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Nigeria's Dangote Cement expects 38 pct rise in Q1 profit

Nigeria's biggest listed company, Dangote Cement, expects pretax profit to rise 38.9 percent year-on-year to 42.09 billion naira in the first three months of next year, it said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.Dangote Cement, Nigeria's biggest cement producer, said it expected turnover of around 81.6 billion naira in the first quarter, compared with 64.1 billion naira it achieved in the...

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Piano maker Steinway takes down "for sale" sign

 Steinway Musical Instruments Inc, the famous manufacturer of pianos, saxophones and trumpets, said on Wednesday it had decided not to sell itself following a 17-month-long exploration of strategic alternatives.An American icon synonymous with handmade grand pianos, Steinway has struggled to keep its production margins competitive amid stagnant sales, and has seen its shares plunge 10 percent...

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Microsoft lashes out at Google’s decision to spurn Windows Phone

Dave Heiner, vice president and deputy general counsel for Microsoft (MSFT), took aim at Google (GOOG) and the company’s unwillingness to develop for Windows Phone 8 in a blog post on Wednesday. Heiner claims that, “Google continues to prevent Microsoft from offering consumers a fully featured YouTube app [among other] for the Windows Phone.” Microsoft has been apparently been trying to get a full-feature...

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What Happened to the 2012 Tech Bubble That Never Was

Turns out Facebook's fizzled IPO was a pretty good microcosm for 2012 in startup land: it was all one big fizzle. The final numbers for last year in venture-capital IPOs and acquisitions are in, and while there was no dot-com-era type of explosion, the much hyped new tech bubble appears to have just... petered out. There remains hope, as always, for the unpredictable year ahead. Here are some key...

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Patent hints Apple may bring its own unique stylus to iOS devices

Many people had a good laugh when Samsung (005930) unveiled the Galaxy Note last year and made a big deal out of the device’s Palm Pilot-like stylus. But once the Galaxy Note became a hit, people stopped snickering and began to take the stylus seriously as an accessory once again. Apple (AAPL) is apparently considering hopping on the stylus bandwagon, as HotHardware reports that the company has filed...

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Quick fix for Boot Camp brings Windows 8 to new iMac computers

Early adopters of Apple’s (AAPL) new iMac computers who chose the 3TB Fusion Drive model have been unable to use Boot Camp Assistant. The program, which allows OS X users to install a Windows partition on their computers, is limited to drives of up to 2.2TB. Apple has hinted that the software may be updated in the future to support larger drives, however no set time frame has been given. Despite the...

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Samsung forced to reveal Galaxy sales data to Apple

Samsung (005930) was found to have infringed upon six of Apple’s patents this past August and ordered to pay the company $1.05 billion in damages. Apple (AAPL) is also seeking additional damages after its bid to blocks sales of eight Samsung devices failed. In order to asses the damages, Apple requested that Samsung hand over its sales data for its popular Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets. The...

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Governor to sue NCAA over Penn State sanctions

 Gov. Tom Corbett said Tuesday he plans to sue the NCAA in federal court over stiff sanctions imposed against Penn State University in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.The Republican governor scheduled a Wednesday news conference on the Penn State campus in State College to announce the filing in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg.A person associated with the university...

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NHL, players' union set to meet at league offices

The NHL and the union are back at the bargaining table and seem determined to work toward a deal to save the hockey season.A full day of talks was planned for Tuesday, one day after negotiations resumed following nearly three weeks apart. On Monday, the players' association presented a counterproposal to an offer made by the league late last week. The NHL spent Monday night reviewing the document,...

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Stanford holds off Wisconsin 20-14 in Rose Bowl

Although Stanford didn't score many style points in the 99th Rose Bowl, the Cardinal could celebrate because they didn't let Wisconsin score any points at all after halftime. Stepfan Taylor rushed for 89 yards and an early touchdown, Kevin Hogan passed for 123 yards, and No. 8 Stanford won its first Rose Bowl since 1972, beating the Badgers 20-14 on Tuesday night. Usua Amanam made the decisive interception...

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Pennsylvania governor to sue NCAA over Penn State sanctions

 Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett said on Tuesday he will file a federal lawsuit against the NCAA over sanctions it levied against Pennsylvania State University in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal.Corbett is scheduled to hold a news conference on Wednesday at the Nittany Lion Inn on the Penn State campus to reveal the details of the lawsuit against the governing body of...

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A surprisingly good vintage as market logs gains

 If you'd told investors what was going to happen in 2012 — U.S. economic growth at stall speed, an intensifying European debt crisis, a slowdown in China, fiscal deadlock in Washington, decelerating corporate earnings growth — and asked how the stock market would perform, few would have predicted a good year.But that's just what they got.The Dow Jones industrial average, the Standard & Poor's...

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