Washington, Nov 12 : In a new study, scientists have established that sildenafil, a drug also sold as Viagra and known for treating erectile dysfunction (male impotence) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), does not influence blood flow in patients with cirrhosis.

Erectile dysfunction is a common problem affecting about half of all patients with end-stage liver disease.

The scientists found that sildenafil had no effect on the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG).

Munich - Germany's HVB banking group said Wednesday it posted a loss of 285 million euros (356 million dollars) in the third quarter as a result of the global financial market turmoil.

This compared to a profit of 83 million euros in the same quarter of the previous year for the Munich-based bank, which is the German offshoot of Italy's Unicredit.

A trading loss of 490 million euros coupled with increased outlays to boost credit risk provisions, were major factors in the bank's 2008 third quarter performance, the company said.

HBV shares slumped 8.2 per cent to 3.60 euros after the figures were released.

New York, Nov 12 : For Svetlana Pankratova, having the world''s longest legs and being recognized for it has its advantages and disadvantages.

The 36-year-old, who had recently appeared in Times Sq. to receive certification of the Guinness world record for the world''s longest legs, stands 6 foot 5 inches tall and had been encouraged by her friend to enter her legs into the record books.

“I wasn''t too interested in the idea at first, but she convinced me,” the New York Daily News quoted the Russian record-breaker, currently in the U. S. to promote this Thursday''s Guinness World Records Day 2008, as saying.

London, Nov 12 : Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, 33, has revealed that his pregnant wife Jools has developed an odd craving for hot water bottles.

The Naked Chef, as he is known, also revealed that Jools, 34, had a hunger for “retro” food from her childhood.

“Basically she’s an eating machine and I’m feeding her,” the Sun quoted him as telling US chat show host David Letterman.

“She’s gone back to retro food — fish paste, all that stuff from her childhood. She’s dipping bananas in vegemite.

Manila - An official of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Wednesday urged South-East Asian countries to prepare programmes to mitigate the negative impact of the global financial crisis on food security.

Purushottan Mudbhary, chief of the Policy Assistance Branch of the FAO regional office, said food supply would not be a problem as production was expected to be "quite good" for the rest of the year and 2009.

But he warned that "the problem is the access."

London, Nov.