Washington, Apr 25 : Forget dieting and gruelling exercise regime - just have a positive image of your body and you'll be able to shrink your waist line and kick the butt, say researchers.

The research team from Temple University has shown that positive body image is more effective than exercise in helping young women lose weight and quit smoking.

Tokyo  - Japan's Narita Airport began checking temperatures of passengers arriving mainly from Mexico Saturday after a swine influenza outbreak killed at least 20 people, media reports said.

The quarantine office's thermographic imaging device detected no signs of infection on 177 passengers and crew members who arrived at Narita Saturday morning from Mexico, Jiji Press quoted airport authorities as saying.

Washington, Apr 25 : Every brain composes a soundtrack. Its tempo and tone differ, depending on mood and frame of mind. Now, researchers at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) believe that the cerebral music can help in dealing with insomnia and fatigue in the aftermath of a stressful experience.

New York  - Every 30 seconds, somewhere in the world, a child dies of malaria, and ending the scourge of the preventable disease is a major development priority, the United Nations Childrens Fund said Friday.

Despite substantial progress in the fight against malaria, especially the increased distribution of insecticide-treated nets, the disease still kills an estimated 1 million people every year, UNICEF said on the eve of World Malaria Day on Saturday.

Washington, Apr 24: A subset of immune cells could make malaria patients vulnerable towards contracting the severe form of the disease and suffer worse symptoms, according to a new study.

Researchers, led by Monash University immunologist Professor Magdalena Plebanski, found that patients with the severe form of malaria have a specific type of cell in their body, which is absent in people with uncomplicated disease.

This type of cell turns off the immune system and can allow the parasite to grow uncontrollably.