Research is often a slow, maddening search for answers where each new finding only seems to raise more questions. 

This is the case with a story we told you about last month. It offers a good example of how difficult it can be to define a relationship between two events, or even prove a connection.

In this case, one event was a sudden drop in the use of hormone replacement therapy. The other, which followed, was a sharp drop in the breast cancer rate in the United States. 

Many older women stopped taking hormones after a government warning in two thousand two about possible risks.

Last December a team of scientists reported that breast cancer rates fell in two thousand three. Then, last month, they reported that the breast cancer rate was still down in two thousand four. They suggested that the major cause was most likely the drop in hormone use.

Some people's ears produce wax like busy little bees. This can be a problem even though earwax appears to serve an important purpose.

Experts say it protects and cleans the ear. It traps dirt and other matter and keep insects out. Doctors think it might also help protect against infections. And the waxy oil keeps ears from getting too dry.

So earwax is good. It even has a medical name: cerumen. And there are two kinds. Most people of European or African ancestry have the "wet" kind: thick and sticky. East Asians commonly have "dry" earwax.

A recent study in Tanzania found that when pregnant women took vitamins every day,

fewer babies were born too small.

Babies that weigh less than two and one-half kilograms at birth have a greater risk of dying. Those that survive are more likely to experience problems with their development. And experts say that as adults they have a higher risk of diseases including heart disease and diabetes.

The World Health Organization estimates that every year twenty million babies are born with low birth weight. Nine out of ten of them are born in developing countries.

A coronary stent is a small tube that is used to treat heart patients. The tube is made of

wire mesh. Doctors place it inside an artery that has narrowed. They expand the stent to hold the walls of the artery open so blood can flow normally to the heart. If an artery is blocked, people can suffer chest pain and heart attacks.

In most cases, a stent is left permanently in place to keep the artery open after a treatment called angioplasty.

Increasingly doctors use what is called a drug-eluting stent. This kind has medicine on it that is released slowly over time. The drug is designed to prevent the creation of scar tissue in the artery. Scar tissue can cause the artery to narrow again.

Jamejamonline: Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Sunday that, in an official letter Iran has called for arranging a meeting with Iranian diplomats who were kidnapped by American troops in northern Iraq, according to I.R.I.B. News Department.
A statement released by Iraq's Foreign Ministry, quoting Zebari, said that the official request of Iranian embassy in Iraq to meet the kidnapped diplomats has been passed on to the America's Ambassador to Baghdad Zalmai Khalilzad. Zebari made no mention of the time this request was given to Khalilzad, nor the response of the American official.

Jamejamonline: Thousands of Iranians began nuclear celebrations near Bushehr atomic power plant south of Iran Monday, according to I.R.I.B. News Department.
According to IRIB, Bushehr's governor Ali Afrashteh and the Head of Bushehr Atomic Power plant, Jafari are to speak at the ceremony.
Persian Gulf University students issued a statement and supported IRI's peaceful nuclear activities.
Children flew kites to show their happiness for their bright future. A great human chain was also formed around Bushehr Atomic Powerplant.
President Ahmadinejad is due is delivering a key note speech on Iran's nuclear program shortly afterwards.

Jamejamonline: The 10/5-billion-dollar finance agreement concluded with China has become definite, and we are finalizing the agreement and probably increasing the rate, the Head of the Contraction Commission of the Interior Khosro Tajik said in an interview by Fars News Corporation.
Tajik expressed the negotiations with the Chinese sides concerning the finalizing the rate of finance will be kept on.
Translator: Mandana Davar-Kia

Jamejamonline: The Chairman of Cultural-Social Commission of the Shiraz city of Iran Haghdel announced contemporaneous with Shiraz Day on Ordibehesht 15, 1386 (May 5, 2007), 70 people from the European, Asian and African countries will participate in the festival, according to the Jam-e-Jam Reporter of the Shiraz city of Iran.

Jamejamonline: More than 5 million tons goods valued 20 thousand billion rials were, from the Khouzestan province of Iran, exported out of the country, the Customs Supervisor of the Khouzestan province of Iran Iraj Jabbari said to the Jam-e-Jam Reporter of the Ahvaz town of Iran.

Jamejamonline: International Monitory Fund pronounced in its latest report that the Islamic Republic of Iran has, after Thailand, turned into the 21st greatest economy pole of the world in 2006 from the view point of domestic impure production volume within 180 countries, according to Fars News Corporation.

The Chairman of Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines Ali Naghi Seyyed Khamoushi announced the Indians companies will invest 15 billion dollars in Iran, and the private sector of Iran will turn back to the West.

 The Iranian Minister of Oil Seyyed Kazem Vaziri Mahaneh said 118 companies out of the entire ones under the coverage of Iran Ministry of Oil have, in the implementation framework of the code 44 of the constitution, been singled out for delegation that their capitals must be assigned, according to Mehr News Corporation.
Vaziri Mahaneh added committees have been formed in the 4 main bureaus under the umbrella of Iran Oil Company to materialize the code 44.
Translator: Mandana Davar-Kia

For other uses of the term brain see brain disambiguation). For information on the human brain specifically, please see its article.

 Comparative brain sizes

In animals, the brain, or encephalon (Greek for "in the head"), is the control center of the central nervous system. In most animals, the brain is located in the head close to the primary sensory apparatus and the mouth. While all vertebrate nervous systems have a brain, invertebrate nervous systems have either a centralized brain or collections of individual ganglia. The brain is extremely complex; the human brain contains 100 billion or more neurons, each linked to as many as 10,000 others[1]. This enormous number of interconnections enables the human brain to display intelligence.