Beijing Roost Duck

Materials:
2250g dressed Beijing duck
10g malt sugar (maltose)
1 dish sweetened soy-bean paste
1 dish Beijing chive sections
lotus leafcakes and hollow sesame seeds buns

Preparations

1. Select a Beijing Duck crammed with whole skin. Pump in air through the opening cut at the windpipe so as to plump up the duck and disjoin from meat.
2. Cut open the belly and draw, and then insert a 2 inch- long piece of wood to support the chest bone and to stretch the skin. Hook the duck by the neck, spread diluted maltose over it. Hang the duck in an airy place to dry.
3. The stuffed duck is hung in the roaster and kettles of hot water are placed in front to fill out the duck.Proper timing and temperature are important and the duck is turned often enough to roast them completely and evenly.Roasting rods may be used if needed.
4. Roast until golden brown. The removed duck looks as though it were lacquered.
5. Lotus leafcakes, hollow sesame seeds buns and seasonings are arranged on the table before serving.

Beijing Roost Duck

Emerging Technologies and their Impact

In recent years, scientists have discovered that the brain has a remarkable capacity for self-repair. Hoping to take advantage of this ability, researchers have developed a technology to deliver electrical stimulation directly to brain tissue. The therapy, now being tested in large clinical trials, could boost the brain's repair mechanisms and improve recovery after stroke.

Studies in both laboratory animals and humans have shown that after stroke, neurons near the damaged tissue begin to reorganize themselves in an attempt to compensate for the injured areas. However, this healing ability can be hit or miss -- some patients regain the ability to walk or talk while others are left permanently disabled.

In many cases, patients can stimulate recovery through practice. Someone who has lost function in their left hand, for example, could practice various movements with that hand to boost the brain's innate repair mechanisms. "But in most cases, that neuroplasticity doesn't go far enough," says Alan Levy, CEO of Northstar Neuroscience, a medical device company based in Seattle, WA.

So Levy and collaborators designed a way to stimulate specific parts of the cortex to try to further enhance the brain's natural neuroplasticity. The technology has shown promise in preliminary human studies -- researchers found that patients receiving both rehabilitation therapy and stimulation improved 15 to 30 percent on standard tests of hand and arm function; while controls, who underwent only physical therapy, improved just 0 to 12 percent. Northstar is now sponsoring a larger clinical trial at 18 rehabilitation centers across the United States.

Experts caution that it's too soon to say how effective or broadly applicable the technology will be, though. "We need to see studies in larger groups to know if it's effective," says Douglas Katz, a neurologist at Boston University Medical School, "and under what circumstances it's effective, such as the location of stroke, the time after stroke [that the treatment is used], and how much stimulation is necessary." Adds Katz: "But I do think these techniques show a lot of promise."

The benefits may also depend on the severity of stroke. It's possible that this therapy will be effective only in patients with relatively mild impairments, says Randolph Nudo, director of the Landon Center on Aging at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, who is studying the effects of the Northstar technology in animal models of stroke. People who have had a more severe stroke, and therefore have fewer neurons left to compensate for the damaged area, may not be able to benefit from stimulation.

Emerging Technologies and their Impact

In Egypt, saving the cats of the gods

CAIRO, Egypt — In the times of the ancient pharoahs, the cat was almost an equal of the gods.

Pilgrims would place mummified cats around statues of cat-headed goddess Bastet, along with written prayers. The temple would periodically be cleared of these mummies, which would then be buried in a special necropolis designated for cat burial. And in 5 BC, a Greek historian observed that the members of an Egyptian household had shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the family cat's demise.

The cat even had a place in hieroglyphics, where it was written as "miu,” not unlike the noise it made as it hunted birds in the marshes, gnawed on a fish under its mistress' chair or slayed serpents — all scenes recorded for eternity on tomb walls more than 3,000 years ago.

But take a short walk in Cairo today, it is clear to see that the former demi-gods have indisputably fallen from grace. Feral cats are everywhere — prey for cars, abuse, disease and starvation.

One woman, though, is fighting a largely lone battle to take Egyptian cats off the streets and put them into homes with people who appreciate their legendary heritage. Her greater dream is to see theses native animals revered for what many believe them to be: modern descendants of cats domesticated in Pharaonic times.

In Egypt, saving the cats of the gods

15 ways to live longer

It's been said that a man dies simply because he doesn't know how to live longer. Well, thank goodness for progress.

People are living longer these days. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 1920 the average life expectancy was 54. Today, people can expect to live to 78.

Feel free to speculate about why — better food supply, better medical care, better hygiene or any number of other factors. It's not totally clear to scientists how they all add up. But what we do know is that studies are finding genetics don't tell the whole story when it comes to which diseases will likely kill us. "There's a saying that genetics load the gun, but it's the environment that pulls the trigger," says Dr. David Fein, medical director at the Princeton Longevity Center, a clinic in Princeton, N.J., which focuses on quality of life and prolonging it. "You can have the gene for a certain disease, but it doesn't mean you're going to get it."

Take heed: Your lifestyle choices are very significant. While there is no way to ultimately defy death, that isn't an excuse to start indulging in vices and neglecting your health. There are plenty of ways to keep the grim reaper at bay — and many of these "secrets" result in an improved quality of life.

If you really want to live longer, then start with your attitude. Your way of thinking not only improves your outlook on life, but also how long you actually live. In 2002, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that optimistic people decreased their risk of early death by 50 percent compared with those wholeaned more toward pessimism.

15 ways to live longer

Hackers can crack top antivirus program

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Symantec Corp.'s leading antivirus software, which protects some of the world's largest corporations and U.S. government agencies, suffers from a flaw that lets hackers seize control of computers to steal sensitive data, delete files or implant malicious programs, researchers said Thursday.

Symantec said it was investigating the issue but could not immediately corroborate the vulnerability. If confirmed, the threat to computer users would be severe because the security software is so widely used and because no action is required by victims using the latest versions of Symantec Antivirus to suffer a crippling attack over the Internet.

Symantec has boasted that its antivirus products are installed on more than 200 million computers. A spokesman, Mike Bradshaw, said the company was examining the reported flaw but described it as "so new that we don't have any details."

Hackers can crack top antivirus program