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The Star
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Dragon boat race in Ljubljana sees record attendance
LJUBLJANA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of spectators gathered along the river of Ljubljanica in the heart of Slovenia's capital on Saturday to watch a traditional dragon boat race, with 12 teams competing in this year's event. Organised by the Confucius Institute at the University of Ljubljana with the support of the Kayak Association of Slovenia, the annual race celebrates the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. With a history of more than 2,000 years, the festival is recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization as part of China's intangible cultural heritage. Danijela Voljc, the Slovenian director of the Confucius Institute Ljubljana, noted that this year's race coincided with the official date of the festival in China. Andrej Jelenc, head of the Kayak Association of Slovenia, highlighted the record turnout, saying participant levels exceeded those of previous years. "The event is about getting together and having fun," Andrej said. Besides the race, visitors enjoyed cultural activities such as writing Chinese characters and tasting traditional Chinese dishes. The four 10-seat dragon boats used at the 200-meter race were made in China and brought to Slovenia several years ago. Among the rowers was Shan Yujie, a local elementary student who moved to Slovenia eleven years ago. "I like everything at this festival: rowing, company, food," the experienced rower told Xinhua in fluent Slovenian. Another participant, Anja Bradic, a sinology student at the University of Ljubljana, said she joined the race to enjoy time with friends and practice her Chinese. "The hardest thing on the boat was to catch the right rhythm," she said. Participants also came from other parts of Europe. Romanda Sheku from North Macedonia, currently studying at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Social Sciences, said: "This is my first time at the race, and I am really happy to be a part of it." This year's champion was the team of the Confucius Classroom from Gymnasium Celje-Center secondary school, who was also last year's winner. The Confucius Institute Ljubljana, established 15 years ago, has been organising the annual dragon boat race in Slovenia for almost ten years.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Melania Trump, a life in pictures: From modeling to motherhood to first lady
It's been quite a year life for Melania Trump. Married to President Donald Trump since 2005, the first lady got her start modeling when she was a teenager — and more than 25 years later, she's still in the public eye. Below are some quick facts about Melania Trump, from modeling to motherhood to first lady. Slovenian model Melania Trump was born April 26, 1970. Married to billionaire Donald Trump, Melania Trump began her modeling career at age 16 and moved to New York in 1996. The couple met in 1998, became engaged in 2004 and married in 2005. All of this was before Trump became the 45th and 47th president of the United States, before Melania became a mom to Barron Trump (Trump's youngest child of five), and before Mar-a-Lago, site of the billionaire's wedding reception, became known as the Southern White House when Trump was in office. Trump makes 'I do' a doozy! Wedding to Melania Knauss was so full of lights & cameras, Shannon Donnelly reports Then Melania Knauss (Melania Knauss was a name change and her original name is Melanija Knavs), the Slovenian "began modeling at age 16, and two years later she signed on with an agency in Milan. She enrolled at the University of Ljubljana but dropped out after one year to pursue her modeling career," according to the Melania Trump bio on In her early days of modeling, the site states, Melania Trump worked in Milan and Paris, before moving to New York in 1996. She met her future husband Donald Trump two years later, at a New York fashion party. Melania often appeared on 'The Apprentice' with Donald Trump when he was host of the reality TV show on NBC. She also accompanied Trump to lavish parties at his private club, Mar-a-Lago. Melania Knauss appeared on the covers of Harper's Bazaar (Bulgaria edition), Vanity Fair (Italy edition), GQ (for which she posed nude in January 2000) and she appeared in a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The Trumps became engaged in 2004 and married Jan. 25, 2005, in Palm Beach, Florida. Their reception was held at the 'Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom' at Mar-a-Lago, which is less than 3 miles from wedding venue Bethesda-By-the-Sea Episcopal Church. The ballroom cost $35 million and was built in a Versailles-inspired Louis XIV style, including several Czechoslovakian crystal chandeliers, according to the Palm Beach Daily News. In 2006, Donald Trump became a father for the fifth time when his third wife Melania Trump gave birth to Barron Trump on March 20, 2006, in Manhattan, New York. Melania Trump raised Barron Trump for much of his childhood at Trump Tower in Manhattan and at Donald Trump's private estate, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. When Donald Trump moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as president in 2017, Melania Trump and Barron Trump stayed in New York so Barron could finish up his school year. Barron and Melania Trump remained in New York for the first five months of the Trump administration. During his term as president from 2017 to 2021, Trump, Melania and Barron also stayed at Mar-a-Lago during Palm Beach's "social season," roughly from October through April. It became known as the Winter White House or the Southern White House. While Trump used his New York City address as his main residency for years, he made Mar-a-Lago his primary residency in 2019. After Donald Trump relocated with Melania and Barron to Palm Beach, Florida, in 2019, his adult children and their families followed suit. Melania Trump was the first lady of the U.S. from 2017 to 2021. After Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election on Nov. 5, 2024, he was sworn in for a second time Jan. 20, 2025, or Inauguration Day, as the 47th president of the United States. Melania Trump became the first lady for a second time. They do! Memories of Donald & Melania Trump's wedding in Palm Beach, reception at Mar-a-Lago The photo galleries below show photos of Melania Trump when she was known as Melania Knauss, when she was dating or engaged to Donald Trump, before he became president, when she was pregnant with Barron Trump, and photos of her time in the White House and after. Contributing: Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Post Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Melania Trump: Photos from Mar-a-Lago, Florida, to the White House
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The Way You Breathe Could Reveal a Hidden Sign of Alzheimer's
Earlier, more reliable Alzheimer's disease detection means better post-diagnosis support and more opportunity to understand how it gets started. Researchers from the UK and Slovenia have now found specific brain activity and breathing patterns can act as signs of Alzheimer's. The team set out to study how oxygenation of the brain might be linked to neurodegenerative diseases, comparing measures of brain oxygenation, heart rate, brain waves, and breathing effort of 19 Alzheimer's patients to 20 people without Alzheimer's. Their analysis found differences in neurons linked to blood vessels and in how blood oxygen levels fluctuated as neurons fired. The sync of blood flow and brain activity seems to be noticeably disrupted in Alzheimer's brains. What's more, there was an unexpected extra: the Alzheimer's patients had a higher breathing rate than the control patients, around 17 breaths per minute compared to 13 breaths per minute. This is possibly a result of changes in how blood vessels in the brain connect with deeper nerve tissues to provide a generous supply of oxygen. "This is an interesting discovery – in my opinion a revolutionary one – that may open a whole new world in the study of Alzheimer's disease," says biophysicist Aneta Stefanovska, from Lancaster University in the UK. "It most likely reflects an inflammation, maybe in the brain, that once detected can probably be treated and severe states of Alzheimer's might be prevented in the future." The setup for the analysis involves a variety of electrical and optical sensors on the scalp – but it doesn't require any blood or tissue samples, and is cheaper and quicker than a lot of other diagnosis options. And while breathing patterns on their own wouldn't yet be enough to detect Alzheimer's, with so many other variables in play, researchers can now look at respiratory rates in future studies to build up a more complete picture of Alzheimer's symptoms. This supports the hypothesis that Alzheimer's disease is triggered by a breakdown in the functioning of the brain's vascular system, which reduces the efficiency of oxygen flow and clearance of toxic materials. "The vascular system and the brain work together to ensure that the brain receives sufficient energy," says neurologist Bernard Meglič, from the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. "In fact, the brain needs as much as 20 percent of the body's overall energy consumption despite contributing only about 2 percent of the body's weight." There's much to consider with Alzheimer's – from symptoms to risk factors – that it's likely that a combination of causes are working in combination, but research like this helps get us closer to understanding the disease's progression. "We show clear results of our approach and how Alzheimer's can be detected simply, noninvasively, and inexpensively," says Stefanovska. "The method has great potential, and we are discussing possibilities to create a spin-out or start-up company to proceed with it. Of course, more research is needed." The research has been published in Brain Communications. Yogurt Shows Great Potential Against Colon Cancer, Study Reveals This New Drug Mimics The Health Effects of Living at High Altitude The Seeds of Schizophrenia May Be Planted in The Earliest Moments of Life
Voice of America
21-02-2025
- Health
- Voice of America
Researchers Use Chemical Examinations and Human Smell to Study Ancient Remains
A recent study about the smell of Egyptian mummies reached some surprising findings. The ancient bodies did not smell bad, the researchers found. Instead, they say, the remains mostly smelled good. Cecilia Bembibre is director of research at University College London's Institute for Sustainable Heritage. 'In films and books, terrible things happen to those who smell mummified bodies,' she said. 'We were surprised at the pleasantness of them." The researchers reported the leading descriptions of the smells as 'woody,' 'spicy' and 'sweet.' They also reported a floral or flowery smell. That smell could be from pine and juniper resins used in mummification; a process designed to protect the body from decay. The study appeared recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. It used both chemical examinations and several human smellers to study nine mummies. The mummies, some around 5,000 years old, had been housed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Bembibre, one of the report's writers, said the researchers wanted to study the smell of mummies because it has long been a subject of interest for the public and researchers alike. She added that even fiction writers have written pages of work on the subject — for good reason. Scent, or smell, was an important consideration in the mummification process. This process used oils and plant-based materials to protect the body and its spirit for the afterlife. Mummification was largely used for powerful people such as pharaohs and other leaders. Pleasant smells were linked with purity and gods. Bad smells were signs of corruption and decay. Researchers did not want to directly measure the mummies, because doing so might be damaging. Instead, researchers were able to take measurements that did not involve touching the mummies. Researchers from UCL and the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia were able to measure smells, pesticides, and other effects due to mold, bacteria or microorganisms. Using technical instruments to measure air molecules released from sarcophagi was very important, said Matija Strlič, a chemistry professor at the University of Ljubljana. "It tells us potentially what social class a mummy was from and therefore reveals a lot of information about the mummified body...." he said. 'We believe that this approach is potentially of huge interest to other types of museum collections.' Barbara Huber of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Germany was not involved in the study. Huber said the findings provide important data on compounds that could preserve or damage mummified remains. The information could be used to better protect the ancient bodies for future generations. Huber said that over thousands of years, differing conditions have changed the scents of the mummies in a major way. Huber wrote a study two years ago that examined a jar that had contained mummified organs of a woman. The goal was to identify the material used to preserve the organs and what that would show about ancient trade paths. Researchers of the current study hope to do something similar. They want to use their findings to develop 'smellscapes' to recreate the scents they discovered. They also want to change the experience for future museumgoers. Bembibre said museums generally ask visitors to experience everything with their eyes. She added that seeing mummies through 'a glass case reduces the experience because we don't get to smell them.' Smelling the scents of mummification would improve the museum visitors' experiences, she suggested, as smell is one of the ways that people understand the world. I'm John Russell. Brian Melley reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. _________________________________________________________ Words in This Story mummy – n. an ancient body treated for burial with preservatives resin – n. natural organic substances that are usually transparent or translucent and yellowish to brown in color and are often made from plant materials; they are also soluble in organic solvents but not in water, are electrical nonconductors, and are used to cover and protect surfaces decay – n. to go through or cause to go through decomposition fiction – n. something invented by the imagination museum – n. a place devoted to the care, study, and display of objects of interest, importance or value sarcophagus – n. an ancient container used for holding human remains potentially – adv. possibly reveal – v. to show plainly approach – n. a way of dealing with something preserve – v. to keep in a good state or condition
Euronews
18-02-2025
- Health
- Euronews
New study reveals that Ancient Egyptian Mummies smell ‘spicy' and ‘sweet'
Researchers from UCL and the University of Ljubljana have made history with a groundbreaking study, the first to systematically analyse the smells of mummified bodies. Using a combination of high-tech tools like an electronic 'nose' and trained human sniffers, they studied nine mummies on display and in storage at Cairo's Egyptian Museum. The results, published in 'Journal of the American Chemical Society', offer a fresh perspective on ancient embalming materials and the way museums conserve these ancient artefacts. 'The smell of mummified bodies has for years attracted significant interest from experts and the general public, but no combined chemical and perceptual scientific study has been conducted until now,' Professor Matija Strlič, lead author of the study, said in a statement. 'This ground-breaking research really helps us better plan conservation and understand the ancient embalming materials. It adds another layer of data to enrich the museum exhibition of mummified bodies.' Odours are molecules released by a substance into the air, and the team used a gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer to identify chemicals emitted by the mummies. Alongside the instruments, a panel of trained sniffers described the scents' quality and intensity. This method helped distinguish between the odours caused by the original mummification process and those resulting from modern efforts to conserve the mummies. For Dr Cecilia Bembibre, another of the researchers, two particular aspects of the study stood out: 'First, new information was revealed by the smells, highlighting the importance of using our senses to understand the past. Secondly, while most of the studies on mummified bodies have taken place in European museums so far, here we worked closely with Egyptian colleagues to ensure their expertise and perceptual experience were represented, and we jointly developed an ethical and respectful approach to studying the mummified bodies.' One key takeaway from the research is that the ancient Egyptians were very aware of how smell was tied to the purity of the deceased, especially when embalming gods and pharaohs. The process involved oils, resins, and balms like pine, cedar, myrrh, and frankincense, which still give off a pleasant aroma, even after 5,000 years. 'To the ancient Egyptians, mummification was an important mortuary practice aimed at preserving the body and soul for the afterlife through a detailed ritual of embalming of the deceased using oils, waxes and balms,' Professor Ali Abdelhalim, co-author and director of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, said, 'The practice evolved over time, and identifying different techniques and materials used offers insights into the era, location and socioeconomic status of the individual being mummified.' The study is also paving the way for something new in museum exhibitions. In the future, the team hopes to create 'smellscapes' – recreations of the smells of ancient mummified bodies – which could be used in museums to help visitors experience history in an entirely new way. This ground-breaking research, therefore, isn't just enriching our knowledge of the past – but also shaping how we interact with it.
