Travel Postcard: 48 hours in New York for the holidays

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Got 48 hours to explore New York over the holidays? Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors make the most of the shopping and holiday attractions on offer in the Big Apple.

FRIDAY

6 p.m. - Why not start the weekend with a cocktail? The Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Terminal on 42nd Street at Lexington Ave offer a taste of luxury in the famous New York landmark.

7 p.m. - Take a stroll along up Fifth Avenue to see the Rockefeller Christmas Tree which attracts about 500,000 people a day. Watch the ice skaters below and don't miss the spectacular window displays across the road at the upmarket Saks Fifth Avenue store.

8 p.m. - Try dinner at Tavern on The Green (www.tavernonthegreen) at Central Park West at 67th Street which prides itself on its festive atmosphere with a holiday dinner menu which ends with plum pudding.

10.30 p.m. - End the evening with a ride in a horse-drawn carriage around Central Park, pure magic on a snowy night.

SATURDAY

8 a.m. - A trip to Santaland at Macy's, the massive department store on 34th Street at Broadway, is a must. Wind your way through a wonderland of trains, talking trees and busy elves to the North Pole where you can have photos with Santa. There are fantastic display windows too.

Other stand-in Santas are available for photo opportunities at Bloomingdales on Third Ave at 59th Street, Saks Fifth Avenue at Fifth Ave and 50th Street, Manhattan Mall on 33rd Street at Sixth Ave, South Street Seaport at Pier 17, and the World Financial Center at Winter Garden on Vesey Street.

12 noon - Walk up to Times Square to join the crowds squeezing into Toys 'R Us which has a ferris wheel inside the store and three floors of toys. For a family lunch try Carmines (www.carminesnyc.com ) at West 44th Street, an Italian eatery which serves family sized portions of various pastas.

2 p.m. - New York is a city for shoppers with stores ranging from the very expensive to the affordable and the discount. Designer discount stores like Century 21 (www.c21stores.com ) at 22 Courtlandt Street is a haven for the truly committed shopper.

There are numerous holiday markets as well to enjoy:

- Bryant Park on Sixth Ave at 42nd Street has over 100 booths with this European-style holiday market one of the biggest in town with free ice-skating on the park's rink.

- Grand Central Holiday Fair in the Vanderbilt Hall has stalls and a kaleidoscopic light show in the main concourse

- Holiday Gift Shops at St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue at 50th Street is a pretty market

- Holiday market at Union Square on 14th Street at Broadway where red and white tents have been put up for various stalls

- Holiday Market at Columbus Circle at Central Park South and Central Park West is an ideal location for foodies

6 p.m. - Aim for an early dinner then pick one off the list of holiday shows in New York.

8 p.m. - There is a show for everyone. From the traditional high-kicking Rockettes at Radio City Hall (www.radiocity.com ), to the Nutcracker ballet at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center (www.nycballet.com ), to the more modern musicals such as "Shrek the Musical" and Rodgers & Hart's "Pal Joey." Be sure to book shows in advance.

SUNDAY

9 a.m. - A trip to New York is incomplete without a visit to Central Park for a ride on the carousel, to see the polar bears and penguins in the zoo, and for a skate around the picturesque Wollman Rink (www.wollmanskatingrink.com). Go early as the rink is packed by noon.

12 noon - Grab a pretzel off a street stand for lunch and head down Fifth Avenue, making the upmarket toy store FAO Schwarz your first stop. Virtually every shore along Fifth Avenue has holiday windows to enjoy including Cartier, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany & Co., and Henri Bendel.

2.30 p.m. - St. Patrick's Cathedral on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 51st Street is worth a stop and break from the crowds, regardless of your denomination or religion. It is an architectural beauty and a nativity scene with life-sized statues adds to the holiday spirit.

4 p.m. - Finish off the weekend with the final holiday windows at department store Lord & Taylor at Fifth Ave at 38th St, which are usually the most traditional of them all.

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Obesity 'controlled by the brain'

Rates of obesity are on the rise

Seven new gene variants discovered by scientists suggest strongly that obesity is largely a mind problem.

The findings suggest the brain plays the dominant role in controlling appetite, and that obesity cannot easily be blamed on metabolic flaws.

Two international studies, published in Nature Genetics, examined samples from thousands of people for the tiniest genetic changes.

Many of the seven key variants seem to be active in the brain.

This cannot be the explanation for the current epidemic of obesity since these genes have been present for centuries and the obesity epidemic is a relatively new phenomenon Professor Peter Weissberg British Heart Foundation Calculate your BMI

This suggests that the brain's impact on appetite and eating behaviour may be more important that any genetic variation which alters the body's ability to lay down or burn up fat.

All seven variants were picked up by a study led by Icelandic company deCODE Genetics, while six of the seven were also identified in a second, independent study by an international team dubbed the Giant consortium.

In both cases the researchers scrutinised DNA samples from thousands of people to assess the impact of tiny changes.

Each of the variants identified had a small impact on obesity, but a person carrying all of them was typically around 1.5kg - 2kg heavier than average.

It is estimated that as much as 70% of the variation in body mass index - a measure of obesity based on height and weight - is down to genetics, rather than environmental factors.

Researcher Dr Kari Stefansson, of deCODE Genetics said: "This suggests that as we work to develop better means of combating obesity, we need to focus on the regulation of appetite at least as much as on the metabolic factors of how the body uses and stores energy."

Major step forward

Dr Alan Guttmacher, of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, said the research was a major step forward in understanding how the human body regulates weight.

However, Professor Peter Weissberg, of the at the British Heart Foundation, expressed caution.

He said: "This research adds to the growing body of evidence that some people are more at risk of becoming obese because of their genes.

"It suggests that some people may be less able than others to resist the temptation to overeat because of their genetic background and it might start to explain why some people have no problem keeping their weight down whilst others struggle.

"However, this cannot be the explanation for the current epidemic of obesity since these genes have been present for centuries and the obesity epidemic is a relatively new phenomenon."

Almost one in four people in the UK is now classified as obese, and expert predict the proportion will continue to rise sharply.

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Antisocial, Invasive Cells Are Basis Of Cancer, Finding Suggests

Photomicrograph of cervical cancer cells in tissue culture. New research finds that cancer cells sidestep the mechanism by which cells normally repel each other. (Credit: iStockphoto/Torsten Wittmann)

Scientists at UCL funded by BBSRC and the Medical Research Council have discovered the mechanism by which cells normally repel each other – a process sidestepped by cancer cells which go on to invade and conquer healthy regions of the body.

The findings suggest an alternative way in which cancer treatments might work in the future, if therapies can be targeted at the process of ‘cell repulsion’ to stop cancer cells from spreading and causing secondary tumours.

Cells typically produce localized protrusions which help them navigate their environment. When two cells meet, they normally retract their protrusions and change their direction of movement, effectively ‘repelling’ one another. This phenomenon, called contact inhibition of locomotion, was first discovered 50 years ago in a UCL laboratory experiment, and its failure was thought to contribute to the malignant invasion of cancer. But it took up to now to witness the process in action and pin down the mechanism.

The latest UCL study led by Dr Roberto Mayor, UCL Cell and Developmental Biology, has captured the phenomenon ‘in vivo’ – in living tissue – and has identified the mechanism by which it works, suggesting possible new targets for future cancer therapies.

Dr Roberto Mayor says: "Contact inhibition of locomotion was first discovered by UCL Professor Michael Abercrombie more than 50 years ago, when he saw fibroblast cells under the microscope confront each other, retract their protrusions and change direction on contact. The failure of cells to repulse each other in this way was thought to play a role in the spread of cancer."

"However, until now the molecular basis of this process and whether it also occurred within the body was unknown. Our study of neural crest cells shows that these cells behave in exactly this way. When two migrating neural crest cells meet, they stop, collapse their protrusions and change direction. However, when a neural crest cell meets another cell type, it fails to behave as expected and instead invades the other tissue, in the same manner as metastatic cancer cells which migrate and go on to cause secondary tumours."

"Inhibition of a type of cell signalling - non-canonical Wnt signalling – is behind this behaviour, cancelling the normal repulsion you would expect between cells. Our discovery offers possible new targets for the future treatment of tumour metastasis – the spreading of cancer cells, one of the mostly deadly aspects of cancer."

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