Toronto International Film Festival , stealing the spotlight from darker films on war and politics. While films with themes wrought from the war in Iraq and global terrorism have drawn a generally positive response, lighter fare such as "Juno" and "Lars and the Real Girl" have also emerged from the pack. In the Valley of Elah ," as well as Gavin Hood's "Rendition," a tense look a the practice of detaining terrorism suspects in foreign prisons. But with the war in Iraq still going on, some say audiences may not be ready to step back and look objectively at its consequences, an argument that may become more apparent when these films hit the box office. The festival, which will have screened 349 films from 55 countries by the time it wraps up on Saturday, is considered by many the kickoff to Oscar season, as it features the North American premieres of many films that will be considered for key awards. read more

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Science Daily — New research shows children whose mothers had a high pre-pregnant body mass index or large mid-upper arm circumference in late pregnancy, have a greater fat mass index at age nine years than other children in their age group. The study followed 216 nine-year-old children whose mothers had previously participated in a study of nutrition during pregnancy. In the previous study, mothers had their height and weight measured in early pregnancy and their mid-upper arm circumference measured in late pregnancy. After adjustment for age, birthweight, infant weight gain, duration of breastfeeding, maternal height, smoking and amount of weight gained in pregnancy, a larger maternal mid-upper arm circumference in late pregnancy or a higher pre-pregnant body mass index remained independent predictors of greater fat mass in both boys and girls. read more

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Study finds that deficiency increases risk of preeclampsia By Thomas H. Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of life-threatening preeclampsia during pregnancy five-fold, Pennsylvania researchers reported yesterday. Some researchers have suspected that low levels of vitamin D contribute to the disorder, which is characterized by soaring blood pressure and swelling of the hands and feet, but the new study is the first to examine its role directly. Preeclampsia affects as many as 7 percent of first pregnancies and can progress to eclampsia, which produces seizures and often-fatal complications of the liver, kidneys, lungs, blood and nervous system. Although most of the women had levels of vitamin D lower than the optimum level of 80 nanomoles per liter, those who suffered preeclampsia had significantly lower levels. read more

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