VOA Scripts - May 21, 2008

US Choreographer Blends Egyptian and Western Dance

Twenty three years ago, Diana Calenti went to Egypt to teach dance at the American University of Cairo. She says she was attracted to Egyptian folkloric dance, which tells a story through movement and music. And she combined the traditional approach with Western ballet and modern dance.The Egyptian Ministry of Culture asked her to develop and modernize the performance of a famous folkloric dancing troupe. She explains, "I was a trained dancer when I went there, so my body was trained and skilled, so I just simply applied what my body was and absorbed the movements from Egypt."Over several years of mixing various types of American and Egyptian dancing, Diana Calenti became a celebrity in Egypt. She was granted Egyptian citizenship and was appointed as director and choreographer of the Modern Folkloric Egyptian Dance Company.Her love for the land of the Pharaohs, she says, began with Egyptian music when she was a child. "My first exposure really came in New York when I was growing up. I grew up in a very ethnic neighborhood, as a lot of New Yorkers have, so I heard a lot of kinds of music and I was fascinated with the sounds of the music from there."With the help of her Egyptian-Canadian husband, Calenti co-produced a fictional movie called "Search for Diana." The movie tells a story of a young American woman who feels somehow she is drawn to Egypt by an archeologist who was uncovering Pharaohs tombs.Now, Diana Calenti is in the eastern U.S. state of Maryland, where she has formed a troupe to teach young American dancers how to perform Egyptian folkloric dancing. "You talk to them about the music and the culture it comes from, because the music comes out from the society and the culture and they are very smart girls. Once they begin to understand, it is easy for them to get into the idea of the movement."Alexia Whaley, a 16-year-old member of the newly-formed Calenti Dancing Troupe says her experience with the Egyptian dancing introduced her to a unique expression of human feelings. "I came to find out that the Egyptian dancing is more spiritual, it comes from your soul, you really have to put your mind into everything that you do."The Egyptian Embassy in Washington hosted the first performance of the troupe, and American spectators say they liked the cultural connection. After watching the show, one American professional dancer, who called herself Stephanie, says she is more convinced now that dancing is a real cultural bridge. "Art, music and dance is a way of helping different cultures communicate themselves and to foster tolerance and understanding worldwide."Diana Calenti agrees and says she deeply believes in her mission of connecting cultures through common expression of human feelings.

Glossary
Choreographer 舞蹈指導 Pharaoh 法老 troupe團 Embassy 大使館

Men feel macho need for speed

GENEVA, AFP -- Young men drive fast because speed is perceived as inherently male, a team of Swiss and German researchers claimed in a study released on Monday.


The scientists at the Universities of Zurich, Neuchatel and Heidelberg found that men who were exposed to a "typically male environment" drove "significantly" faster than when they were in female or neutral environments.
The study involved 83 male students aged 20 to 27, who were placed in driving simulators, Neuchatel psychology professor Marianne Schmid Mast said.
They accelerated when they were played words such as "muscle" or "beard" － which were taken to evoke masculine traits － over the car radio in the simulated male environment.
In the female environment, words like "lipstick" or "pink" were played and they drove about two kilometers an hour slower. Similar results were found with the simulated neutral environment － words like "table" or "chair."
The study was prompted by concern about the high proportion of young men involved in road accidents linked to speeding. Schmid Mast said the results were statistically significant.
"The link between a macho attitude and aggressive driving has often been evoked but it hadn't been demonstrated," she said.
The researchers said the findings could help design road safety campaigns that dissociate speed from masculinity, such as by showing seven times Formula One motor racing champion Michael Schumacher driving slowly on normal roads. Schmid Mast said she hoped to conduct a similar study with a group of women.

Flu may be peaking, but can be avoided

Published: Feb. 25, 2008 at 4:18 PM

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 25 (UPI) -- In parts of the United States, influenza is peaking, and while this year's vaccine isn't as effective as usual, the flu's misery can be avoided, an expert says.

Nancy Cox of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's influenza division said the flu epidemic is up in 49 states with a dozen new deaths among children.

Though a flu season's duration can't be predicted, "the latest numbers suggest we may be nearing the peak," Cox said in a statement. This year's vaccine covers only one of the three active flu types, leaving people with less protection against two of the circulating strains, Cox said.

Dr. Mark Moyad, a immune health expert at the University of Michigan, said that in addition to proper nutrition and regular exercise there are things people can do to avoid the flu, including:

-- Wash hands and carry hand sanitizer at all times.

-- Take 500 to 1,000 mgs daily of vitamin C/Ester-C, which has shown to boost immunity.

-- Stay hydrated; drinking fluids helps flush out impurities in the system.

-- Avoid direct contact with anyone who is sick and stay home if sick.

-- Sleep; being rested is one of the body's best defense mechanisms.

© 2008 United Press International.

1. Tattoos help vaccines penetrate skin

Friday, 8 February 2008 Ben HirschlerReuters

Tattooing may be a better way of delivering a new generation of experimental DNA vaccines than standard injections into muscle, German scientists say.
They publish their results with mouse tattoos online in the journal Genetic Vaccines and Therapy.
Using fragments of DNA to stimulate an immune response is seen as a promising way of making better vaccines for everything from flu to cancer.
But until now the concept has been hampered by its low efficiency.
"Delivery of DNA via tattooing could be a way for a more widespread commercial application of DNA vaccines," says Martin Müller of the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg.
There are currently no approved DNA vaccines on the market but several drug companies are conducting clinical trials and investing in the technology.
Mouse tattoo
Müller and his colleagues tested tattooing by vaccinating mice with a protein fragment of human papillomavirus, or HPV, a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.
The researchers didn't use ink, so the tattoo left no permanent mark.
The researchers found three doses of DNA vaccine given by tattooing produced at least 16 times higher antibody levels than three intramuscular injections.
The far stronger response reflects the fact that giving a tattoo with a vibrating needle causes a wound and inflammation.
As a result the tattoo, which measures about 1 centimetre square, is more painful but more efficient than a normal injection.
"This is probably what makes it work better than normal injections because the tissue is damaged and this affects the immune cells, which then look out for antigens," Müller says.
Cancer, cattle
Tattoo vaccines are unlikely to be for everyone. But they could be valuable for delivering certain therapeutic vaccines to fight cancer or other serious conditions, where some pain is acceptable, Müller says.
Therapeutic, as opposed to prophylactic, vaccines are being developed to treat disease, rather than just prevent it.
Müller says tattooing could also have a role in routine vaccination of cattle.