Water research institute in Kolkata soon

Kolkata: Researchers from Queen's University Belfast will travel to India to open the Eastern India Water Research Institute (EIWRI) here to provide world's first low-cost technology for arsenic-free water to people in India and surrounding countries.

EIWRI will be located at Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) and include a second Indian partner, the Institute of Environmental Management and Studies.

A European Union-India consortium led by Queen's has led to the development of a technology which could provide safe drinking water for over 70 million people in South East Asia.

Work on the collaboration with the Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU), Kolkata has been ongoing for two years and it is hoped the technology will benefit other regions of the world with similar problems.

Recognising the work of Queen's University of Belfast in this area, the British Council will also announce the university's selection as a provider of training to improve groundwater management in regions of eastern India affected by arsenic.

The opening of the new Institute forms part of a 10-day visit to India by a Queen's delegation, led by its Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Gregson.

In Kolkata, Queen's delegation will announce an expansion of its India Welcome Scheme for Indian Postgraduate students.

Designed to develop science and technology leaders of the future, 30 scholarships will be offered to encourage leading Indian students to come to Queen's varsity.

Professor Gregson will also meet with India's industry confederations and the Indian Chamber of Commerce and focus on trade collaborations between companies in Northern Ireland and India.

One of the first beneficiaries of such partnerships will be Queen's Centre for Data Digitisation Analysis (CDDA) as a leading Kolkata-based IT company CMC will announce a £400,000 deal with CDDA to digitise Indian government records.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Professor Gregson said, "International cooperation in research and education is vital for the joint economic futures of Northern Ireland and India."

The opening of the EIWRI was a clear demonstration of the benefits of such cooperation and one that will benefit people around the globe, the Vice-chancellor added.

Courts decide to outsource management of documents

From http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/31/stories/2007013104611300.htm

Registrars-General conference wants States to meet the cost of digitisation

# Vigilance cell mooted in each district
# To consider accreditation of reporters of newspapers

New Delhi: Confronted by inadequate space to store voluminous records in the context of mounting arrears of cases, the High Courts and subordinate courts have decided to outsource the management of court documents.

A decision to this effect was taken recently at a conference of Registrars-General of High Courts and Law Secretaries of various State governments. It said: ``Since space is a constraint for keeping the old records in High Courts and subordinate courts, the High Court may consider preservation and maintenance of court records by digitisation and scanning, through outsourcing, which will not only save cost but also time. The State Governments should provide funds required for digitisation and scanning of court records.'' Another drastic decision empowered the High Courts to consider outsourcing various services relating to maintenance of court buildings so as to minimise the expenditure and bring efficiency.

The process of computerisation in High Courts and district courts with emphasis on interlinking status reports of each case should be continued by the High Court concerned independent of the National Informatics Centre and E-Committee with the help of funds provided by State governments.

On streamlining of issue of copies of judgments and various orders, it was decided that a computerised endorsement about the particulars of filing of the applications was sufficient for issue of copies.

At present judges to the High Court are appointed in the ratio of two-third (of the strength of judges) from among lawyers and one-third from among the district judges. The meeting requested that in future the ratio should be 50:50 from the bar and the subordinate judiciary.

It called for conferring limited financial autonomy on the High Courts and involvement of professionals in the financial management of the High Courts and district courts. The conference decided to have a vigilance cell in each district, to be headed by a senior judicial officer to keep effective control on the court staff and to regularly monitor their activities so that the image of the courts was not tarnished in the eyes of the public.

It was resolved that the High Courts might consider accreditation of reporters from various newspapers and electronic media on the pattern of the Supreme Court so that the reporting in the media was true and accurate.

Regular, Long-term Use of Aspirin Reduces Colorectal Cancer Risk

According to a new study, regular and long-term use of aspirin and Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) cuts down the risk linked with colorectal cancer.


However, use of aspirin for chemoprevention of colorectal cancer might require using the drug at doses that are higher than recommended over a long period of time.

This might cause serious side effects including gastrointestinal bleeding.

“While the results of our study show that aspirin should not currently be recommended for the chemoprevention of colorectal cancer in a healthy population, there is a need for further studies to help identify for which patients the potential benefits outweigh the risks,” said Andrew T. Chan, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital and lead author of the study.

“We also need to improve our understanding of how aspirin works to prevent and inhibit the formation of colorectal cancer,” added Chan.

In the study, the participants were enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, a large prospective cohort study, which has provided detailed and updated information on aspirin use.

The Health Professionals Follow-up Study has been conducted on 51,529 male dentists, optometrists, osteopaths, podiatrists, pharmacists and veterinarians, who returned a mailed health questionnaire in 1986.

The questionnaire consisted of questions based on diet, aspirin use and medical diagnoses, including cancer.

The biennial questionnaires ask for updated information including cancer diagnoses and aspirin use. The participants were between 40 and 75 years of age when the study began.


The research team found that men who used aspirin regularly experienced a significantly lower risk of colorectal cancer, including distal colon cancer, proximal colon cancer and rectal cancer, even after controlling for other risk factors.


The reduction in risk was seen in both early (stage I/II) and advanced (stage III/IV) colorectal cancers.

There were 975 documented cases of colorectal cancer over 761,757 person-years, among the 47,636 eligible men. Participants who reported regular aspirin use, equal to or more than twice a week, were older, more likely to have smoked, used multivitamins and folate, and consumed slightly more alcohol.

In an average-risk population of men, results showed that the benefit of aspirin was not apparent until after more than five years of use.

The greatest reduction in risk was observed at cumulative doses of more than 14 standard tablets (325 mg) per week, which is higher than normally recommended.

The advantage of aspirin use appears to diminish less than four years after stopping use and is not evident after four to five years of discontinued use.

The study is published in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

Source-ANI
KAR /J

Aspirin and Ibuprofen Effectively Offers Short-term Relief from Low-back Pain

Non steroidal painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen are effective for reducing low-back pain in the short-term, says a Cochrane Systematic Review.


Low back pain is a major health problem in western industrialised countries and Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin are the most frequently prescribed medication.

In order to evaluate the efficacy of these drugs, Cochrane Researchers reviewed data from 65 trials that involved a total of 11,237 people.

They found that NSAIDs were more effective at reducing pain than placebos. However, the effects were only seen in the short-term and the drugs were associated with more adverse effects.

They also found that different types of NSAID appeared to be equally effective.

The researchers noted that the short-term use of selective COX-2 inhibitors had fewer (gastrointestinal) side effects than the other NSAIDs.

As a part of the review, the boffins also compared the effects of NSAIDs and paracetamol, another drug used by people with low back pain.

Based on their findings they concluded that both drugs were equally effective at relieving acute low back pain, but paracetamol had fewer side effects.

“Physicians and patients with acute low back pain therefore have a choice about whether to use a NSAID or paracetamol, and the decision should be driven by individual clinical circumstances,” says lead author Pepijn Roelofs who works in the Department of general Practice at Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

“Most of these results came from studies of people who did not have sciatica, so we now need studies that look at whether NSAIDs have a role in helping those people as well,” says Roelofs.

Source-ANI
KAR/M

Most Britons Say Okay for Sex Before Marriage

Britons are taking a more liberal attitude toward sex and marriage, but retain traditional views on how best to raise children, an annual report said Wednesday.


A majority now think there is nothing wrong with sex before marriage and society is increasingly comfortable with gay relationships, according to the 24th annual report by the National Centre for Social Research.

Entitled "New Families? Tradition and Change in Modern Relationships," the study found that men's views about marriage and parenting tend to be more traditional than women's.

The survey follows major changes in British family life, the study's authors say. The number of single-person households and cohabitation is on the rise, while marriage rates are at their lowest since 1986.

Meanwhile civil partnerships -- dubbed "gay marriages" -- which give homosexual couples similar rights to wedded heterosexual couples, have been legal in Britain since December 2005.

The random survey of 3,000 people found that 70 percent think sex before marriage is fine, compared with 48 percent in 1984.

Two-thirds of those polled (66 percent) think there is little difference socially between being married and living together, while 54 percent believe that couples do not need to live together to enjoy a strong relationship.

Sixty-nine percent believe it is not necessary to have a partner to live a happy and fulfilled life, and just 10 percent think that people who choose to live alone are not good at relationships.


Meanwhile, some 61 percent think single women should be allowed to use donor sperm to become pregnant.


"The heterosexual married couple is no longer central as a social norm. But views are more traditional when it comes to bringing up children," said Simon Duncan, professor of comparative social policy at the University of Bradford in northern England, who co-authored the report.

On another subject -- homosexuality -- 18 percent of those surveyed consider gay relationships are always wrong, while 32 percent see homosexual sex as always or mostly wrong.

Moreover, four in 10 people (42 percent) think gay male couples are not as capable of being good parents as heterosexual ones -- although three in 10 (31 percent) believe they are.

The survey revealed conflicting sentiments about single parents, with only four in 10 (42 percent) polled believing one parent can raise a child as well as two. But almost the same number, 41 percent, disagreed.

"Children seem to hold a particular position in people's attitudes to family life. When they are involved, alternative family arrangements are seen as less acceptable," Duncan said.

Source-AFP
SRM /J

One Fourth of Brits Blames Sex Addiction for Bankruptcy

One in four people in debt in the UK blame their financial woes on spending money on sex.


The finding is based on data from The UK Insolvency Helpline that stated that spending money on sex was the third most common reasons for people to go bankrupt.

The leading causes were alcohol, drugs, and a shopping addiction.

According to the helpline, out of all its clients, 10,251 - the equivalent of one in four people - who called in between January and September 2007, admitted they had paid through their pockets to watch porn, visit a lap dancing club or a brothel.

The clients were aged between 25 and 49, with the average age being 42.

UK Insolvency Helpline said that sex addiction can take a toll on their professional lives, with people losing their jobs or getting into debt as a result of having to pay legal bills relating to sexual harassment.

The problems can also lead to divorce or separation and their associated financial probles.

"We feel that as computer, satellite porn and prostitution becomes more widespread it will give more men unrealistic expectations of their love lives and threaten couples' relationships," the Sun quoted Richard Sorsky, social policy co-ordinator at The UK Insolvency Helpline, as saying.

"This has become apparent due to the number of men admitting to using prostitutes and our referrals to divorce or marriage counselling organisations."

According to the helpline, three-quarters of the people who called in were single men, with the rest either married men or women or single or separated women.

Source-ANI
KAR/M

Breast Infections Alarmingly High After Reconstruction Using Implants

According to recent research, more than one in 20 patients undergoing breast surgery later develop infections at incision sites. The study also found that breast cancer patients are twice as likely to suffer an infection at the surgery site if they receive an implant instead of their own tissue.


The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts down the infection rate following breast removal surgery at 2 percent, though other studies show it to be anywhere between 1 percent and 28 percent.

A two-year study published in the Archives of Surgery, gives that 5.3 percent, or 50, of nearly 950 patients developed infections within a year of their procedures, either inside and outside of the hospital. The average time between surgery and infection was stated to be 47 days.

"The surgical site infection rates following breast surgery seem to be much greater than the nationally reported incidence of 2 percent and much higher than what is expected for clean surgical procedures,” reports lead author Margaret Olsen of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

It was also seen that these infections rose in a little more than 12 percent of mastectomies where breast reconstruction involved an implant, as against just over 6 percent of mastectomies where the reconstruction involved the patient's own abdominal tissue. "The bottom line is that implants are associated with an increased risk of infection in breast cancer patients. The question is what factors contribute to this increased risk and what can be done to prevent it?” ask Olsen.
According to Dr. Stephen R. Colen, chairman of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, any time a foreign body is introduced during surgery it provides a surface on which bacteria can grow. Yet, Colen also stresses that reconstruction using abdominal tissue has its own risks. These procedures take several hours longer than implant reconstructions and boost patients' odds for blood clots and lung embolisms. This is not all, in 2 percent of cases, the transplanted tissue dies, necessitating more surgeries.

Olsen has also urged hospitals take greater care by making sure preventive antibiotics are administered correctly before surgery, maintaining meticulous hand hygiene and ensuring timely removal of wound drains.

The cost of follow-up medical care was given as around $4,000 per patient, sealing the need for prevention of such infections. Infections have taken on fresh urgency as drug-resistant staph infections rise.


Source-Medindia
ANN/M

Gregarious People are Generally Obese: Study

A study has shown that sociable and outgoing people tend to be overweight while anxious and worried ones are usually thinner.


Masako Kakizaki of Tohoku University and colleagues questioned 30,000 people, aged between 40 and 64, in northeastern Japan about their height and weight. The participants were also given a personality test.

The researchers found that extroverts had a greater chance than other people to have a body mass index (BMI) of more than 25, a commonly used definition of overweight.

After controlling for other factors, such as smoking, men in the most outgoing group were 1.73 times more likely to be obese than their most introvert counterparts.

Meanwhile sociable women were 1.53 times as likely to be obese.

On the contrary, those who had the most anxious personalities were twice as likely as the least anxious to be underweight, or have a BMI of less than 18.5, the researchers said.

"These results may provide clues to devising more effective measures for preventing overweight, obesity or underweight," News.com.au quoted the researchers, as saying.

The study is published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research.

Source-ANI
KAR/M

Music Therapy Offers Hope for People to Get Rid Depression

Music therapy may help in combating depression and improve, restore and maintain patients’ health, says a new study.


It is often seen that people under depression have a disturbed appetite, sleep patterns and overall functioning as well as low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness and guilt. According to the statistics around 121 million people are globally suffering from depression.

Drugs and psychotherapy are common treatments for depression but a systematic review from the Cochrane Library found that music therapy might offer a hope for people to get out of depression.

The team examined international literature and identified five studies that met their criteria.

They found that four out of five studies accounted for greater decrease in symptoms of depression among people treated with music therapy.

Anna Maratos, lead author and an Arts Therapist in Central and Northwest London Foundation NHS Trust, London, UK said that the area was worth investigation and find out which forms have greatest effect.

“While the evidence came from a few small studies, it suggests that this is an area that is well worth further investigation and, if the use of music therapy is supported by future trials, we need to find out which forms have greatest effect,” said Maratos.

“The current studies indicate that music therapy may be able to improve mood and has low drop-out rates.

“It is important to note that at the moment there are only a small number of relatively low quality studies in this area, and we will only be confident about the effectiveness of music therapy once some high quality trials have been conducted,” she added.

Source-ANI
KAR/M

Men too Go in for Breast Implants

Breast implants don’t seem to be the territory of women any more in the US. Men too have begun to go for them more and more.


When weightlifting or dieting doesn’t help, people of course go for steroids and human growth hormone. But when such strategies fail, they seem to opt for plastic surgery. It is a culture that enshrines physical perfection after all.

'Location is everything,' says Bill Hayes, a lifelong bodybuilder and writer on health and medical issues ('The Anatomist'). 'And in the landscape of the body, the chest is prime territory. Think about it: It's at the top of the trunk; it protects and covers the heart and lungs. It's a great spot for a head to rest on.'

Pectoral implants, although still a niche product, are growing in popularity: 409 procedures were performed in 2006, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, a 99 percent increase over the year before.

There's a stigma attached to them - the feeling that men who go that route are lazy or excessively vain - but those who buy the implants contend that the psychological benefits are substantial, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

'It's such a confidence booster,' says one San Francisco massage therapist who got the implants two years ago as a 40th birthday gift to himself. 'I walk a little taller now. And of course you want to buy every tight white T-shirt. It's crazy!'


Anthony Durante, a San Francisco personal trainer for 25 years, says well-defined pecs project 'power, strength, health, virility.


'A guy with a great chest looks like a warrior, wearing armor for battle. Nothing can penetrate that hull.'

Among his clients, Durante says, 'the chest is usually their first concern.' 'Every time a man looks in a mirror,' adds Hayes, 'whether shaving or at the gym, he sees his chest. So naturally it becomes a focus of his attention or even obsession - as opposed to back muscles, which generally go unseen and are often ignored entirely.'

For most of the 20th century, weightlifting and the '300' body ideal were marginalized, regarded as fetishy by mainstream standards. Consider 1940s movie stars like Humphrey Bogart or Cary Grant, or '60s icons Steve McQueen and Paul Newman: They had looks and charisma; they were trim. But none had the Vin Diesel superhero physique or overdeveloped chest of today's cultural ideal.

'It was sometime in the '80s when it sort of all began for men,' says Edisol W. Dotson, author 'Behold the Man: The Hype and Selling of Male Beauty in Media and Culture' (Haworth Press, 1999). 'You saw it in the 'Terminator' films and big action adventures. The early Batman films.'

Pec implant surgery starts at about $7,000. Beverly Hills surgeon Adrien Aiache, who performs about three dozen procedures per year, says he charges $9,000.

Pec implants were introduced 20 years ago, Dr. James J. Romano, a San Francisco plastic surgeon who performs 35 to 40 pec implant surgeries per year.

'It's a cult following, almost, although it's growing because of the media and the Internet.' For the most part it's cosmetic, but in some cases men seek implants because of congenital deformities: They're missing ribs or a pectoral muscle on one side, or there's a natural concavity they want to correct.

During the operation, Romano says, 'I make an incision high up in the armpit in the hair-bearing region. It's about three fingers wide. Then the space is made under the muscle in what we call a 'free area' in surgery: free of nerves, free of blood vessels.'

Romano folds the implant in half and positions it between the pectoral muscles, sews up the incision and then repeats the process on the other side of the chest. Recovery is 'mostly quite comfortable,' Romano says, 'and is mostly complete within two weeks.'

Romano says he screens patients carefully to make sure their expectations are realistic.

'Some men come in and ask for it, and either don't have the anatomy that will allow me to do it and look good, or they want something that is too big or out of proportion. I don't take all comers.'

The risks of the procedure include a possible migration. '(The implant) can move a little bit. I tell the patients, 'You're going to feel the edges sometimes when you're lifting or involved in the extreme ranges of motion or other activities. It's never going to be like your God-given chest.' But that's the art and science of putting in pectoral implants. You've got to match them to the body.'

Even today, men form a tiny minority of plastic surgery patients. In 2006, there were 11.5 million cosmetic procedures performed in the United States, 1 million of which were on men. Nose reshaping was the most popular procedure for men in 2006, followed by eyelid surgery, liposuction, hair transplant and gynecoplastia - the removal of breast tissue caused by an estrogen imbalance.

So why, given the obsession for the perfect chest, haven't pec implants been more popular? One reason is that pectoral muscles are large, and with diligent workouts they can usually be developed. Women, by contrast, don't have that option when larger breasts are the goal.

Aiache of Beverly Hills thinks homophobia is also a factor.

'A lot of people with pectoral implants are gay, and many physicians don't want to take care of the gay population in general,' he says. In his own practice, Aiache says, 80 percent of pectoral implant recipients are gay.

'Pec implants have much more shame attached to them than, say, breast implants,' says Durante. 'Breast implants are so widely known that even though they are 'spotted' or 'suspected,' they are part of the cultural landscape. There is also a vanity attached to pec implants: They may be considered a character flaw (in the man). He's seen as weak.'

San Francisco plastic surgeon James Anthony doesn't perform pec implants surgery, in part because of the risks. 'It's possible to have malpositioning of the implant, where it's in the wrong spot and one's a little higher than the other. It also has a chance of infection, but any foreign body has a chance of infection. And then the other thing you have to be careful of is not to damage the nerve that goes to the nipple. Because otherwise you get numbness, which is a consideration for some men.'

Opinions differ on the attractiveness of pec implants. Durante says the majority look obvious 'because they don't match their shoulder and arm development - not unlike a woman whose breast implants are too big.' Hayes said he finds implants 'rigid and plasticky.'

Maura Armstrong Morgan, an echocardiographer with Golden Gate Radiology in San Francisco, has her own problem with implants, pectoral or breast alike. 'You can't see through them with sonar. They block the sound waves, so you're unable to obtain useable images,'she said. 'Normally, you shoot between the ribs and get this wonderful image of a beating heart.'

With implants, 'you get this big, egg-shaped void. ... So I have to shoot obliquely. I had one patient doing everything but standing on their head to get a picture of their heart.'

Source-Medindia
GPL/M

Cranberry Juice may Prevent Recurrent Urinary Infections in Women

Cranberry juice not only makes a tasty drink, but as it turns out, it may also help reduce recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women, says a Cochrane Systematic Review.


UTIs are one of the most common reasons why people seek outpatient medical treatment.

Cranberries, and particularly cranberry juice, have been used for decades as a means of preventing or treating UTIs.

Although the mechanism of action is unsure, one theory states that molecules in the juice may make it harder for bacteria such as E. coli to stick to surfaces, and therefore make it difficult for an infection to build up.

As a part of the study a team of Cochrane Researchers reviewed 10 studies that included a total of 1,049 participants. The trials of these chosen researches compared various combinations of cranberry products, placebos and water.

The researchers noted that there was some proof that cranberry juice and capsules could prevent recurrent infections in women.

However, no such proof of benefit was seen in elderly men or elderly women as well as people using catheters.

“It’s worth noting that many people in the trials stopped drinking the juice, suggesting that it may not suit everyone’s taste, or it may be too burdensome and costly to drink the two recommended glasses a day,” says lead researcher Ruth Jepson who works at the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Stirling, UK.

“We now need to discover how much a person needs to drink, and how long it needs to be used before the juice starts to have an effect,” says Jepson.

Source-ANI
KAR/M

Breast Cancer in China on an Upward Swing

A growing number of Chinese women contract breast cancer as a result of a more Westernised diet and more stressful lifestyles, state media reported Tuesday.


Out of China's 630 million women, 200,000 get the disease every year, and 40,000 eventually lose their lives, the China Daily said, citing the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association and the Breast Cancer Prevention Fund.

The rising trend is particularly pronounced in China's largest city Shanghai, where 60 out of every 100,000 women now have the disease, up from 17 per 100,000 in 1972, the paper said.

Although nutrition for millions of Chinese has improved as incomes have risen, diet-related health problems also have spiked due to increasingly sedentary lifestyles and growing consumption of western-style fatty foods.

Source-AFP
SRM/M

Ovarian Cancer Risk Cut by Caffeine and Not Affected by Smoking and Alcohol

Researchers have shown that consumption of caffeine lowers the chances of developing ovarian cancer. The study has also shown that smoking and alcohol has no effect on the cancer’s risk.


The team at the Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health found that the chance of getting the disease was 25 percent lower in women who consumed the most caffeine, compared with those who drank little or no caffeine.

The report comes after another study found pregnant women who consume the caffeine equivalent of two or more cups of coffee daily were twice as likely to miscarry as those who avoided the stimulant.

“Pending further research, there's a suggestion that higher caffeine intake may lower your risk of ovarian cancer, especially among women who aren't taking hormones,'' said lead author Shelley Tworoger.

“For women who are at high risk, it may be one possible way for them to avoid ovarian cancer,” she added.

Dr. Tworoger and her co-investigators prospectively examined associations between smoking and ovarian cancer risk among 110,454 women and between alcohol or caffeine and ovarian cancer risk among 80,253 women, all followed between June 1, 1976 and June 1, 2004.

For the smoking analyses, they identified 737 confirmed cases of epithelial ovarian cancer, and for the dietary analyses, they identified 507 cases.

They found no association between current or past smoking and ovarian cancer risk, however smoking status, duration, and pack-years were significantly associated with risk of mucinous tumors, a rare form of ovarian cancer.

The authors also found no link between alcohol consumption and ovarian cancer risk. However they observed an inverse trend of risk with total caffeine and caffeinated coffee intake, but no association with decaffeinated coffee.


The potential reduction in risk with higher caffeine intake appeared to be strongest for women who had never used oral contraceptives or postmenopausal hormones.

The authors concluded, “reducing alcohol intake and cessation of smoking is not likely to have a substantial impact on risk of ovarian cancer.”

They add that “the possibility that caffeine may reduce ovarian cancer risk, particularly for women who have not previously used exogenous hormones, is intriguing and warrants further study, including an evaluation of possible biological mechanisms.”

The study is published in the March 1, 2008 issue of Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Source-ANI
KAR/M

Promoting Hand Washing Cuts Diarrhoea Episodes in Developing Countries

A new study has suggested that hand washing can significantly reduce episodes of diarrhoea.


The study, led by Dr Regina Ejemot from The Cochrane Library, assesses the strength of evidence for the benefits of hand washing in case of diarrhoea.

In the study, the researchers reviewed data in 14 randomised controlled trials, eight of which had been conducted in day-care centres and schools mainly in high-income countries; five had been community-based trials in low- and middle-income countries, and one looked at a specific high-risk group of HIV-infected adults living in the USA.

The data showed that interventions promoting hand washing could reduce diarrhoea episodes by 29 percent in day-care centres in high-income countries and by 31 percent in communities in low- or middle- income countries.

“This is a huge benefit. For people in low-income areas this effect is comparable to providing clean water,” said Ejemot.

“The challenge is to find ways of promoting hand washing, as well as to set up long term trials that test whether good practice has become part of a person’s way of life,” added Ejemot.

Source-ANI
KAR /J

Punjab Telemedicine Project Enters Grand Second Phase

The Punjab health minister, Lakshmi Kanta Chawla recently inaugurated a digital link between Mohali Civil Hospital, PGI Chandigarh, Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC) and C-DAC


The telemedicine project in Mohali provides medical facilities and expert medical opinions of specialists in remote locations.

The second phase of the expansion of the telemedicine project in Punjab facilitates

medical professionals sitting at distant places to receive data from the civil hospital related with diagnostic test reports, X-rays and other information.

Sub-Divisional Hospital Ajnala, Amritsar, Government Mata Kaushalya Hospital Patiala, Sub-Divisional Hospital, Dasuya, Hoshiarpur are government hospitals which are connected to PGI Chandigarh with the help of V-SAT technology under Phase I.

Chawla said that it was for the first time that the telemedicine concept has been implemented in Punjab through Broad Band VPN technology.

The minister assured that the up gradation work of the Mohali hospital to a 200-bed hospital will be taken up at the earliest.

The minister further added that trials of video conferencing and transfer of patient data have been successful and data can be transferred using the software called E-Sanjeevani, which has been developed by C-DAC Mohali."

To enhance the telemedicine concept in Punja a total outlay of Rs 414 lakh has been sanctioned for the project by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Department of IT (Medical Electronic and Telemedicine Division).

Three medical colleges and 20 hospitals are covered under the project and will be connected to PGI and other medical colleges in Punjab. This platform will provide discussions with the patients in district hospitals.

Medical institutions will also provide medical education to doctors through this project.

Source-Medindia
SPH/M

One million newborn die every year in India

India contributes to nearly a quarter of the four million newborn deaths across the world every year, according to the UNICEF report ‘The State of The World’s Children 2008’.

The report that was released on Tuesday in Geneva reveals that the country also has approximately 43 per cent underweight children under age five.

No wonder that the report suggests that, “The success of low cost solutions to under nutrition in the high-priority states of this country will have a global impact.”

The latest evidence is that four million babies die each year in their first month of life, and up to half of these die in their first 24 hours – a child is about 500 times more likely to die in the first day of life than at one month of age.

Neonatal mortality accounts for almost 40 per cent of all under-five deaths and for nearly 60 per cent of infant (under-one) deaths. “The largest absolute number of newborn deaths occurs in South Asia—India contributes a quarter of the world total—but the highest national rates of neonatal mortality occur in sub-Saharan Africa,” the report said.

A common factor in these deaths, according to UNICEF, is the health of the mother—each year more than 500,000 women die in childbirth or from complications during pregnancy. The babies whose mothers have died during childbirth have a much greater chance of dying in their first year than those whose mothers remain alive.

Even these figures understate the vast scale of the problems that affect child health during the neonatal period, with more than a million children who survive birth asphyxia each year go on to suffer such problems as cerebral palsy, learning difficulties and other disabilities.

For every newborn baby who dies, another 20 suffer birth injury, complications arising from preterm birth or other neonatal conditions, the report adds. According to UNICEF, significant improvements in the early neonatal period will depend on essential interventions for mothers and babies before, during and immediately after birth.

According to the latest estimates for 2000–2006, one quarter of pregnant women in the developing nations do not receive even a single visit from skilled health personnel –doctor, nurse or midwife.

Worse, only 59 per cent of births take place with the assistance of a skilled attendant; and just over half take place in a health facility.

However, data compiled by the Interagency Group for Child Mortality Estimation reveals that progress has been made in countries in every region of the world.

While China’s under-five mortality rate has declined from 45 deaths for every 1,000 live births in 1990 to 24 per 1,000, a reduction of 47 per cent, India’s under-five mortality rate has declined by 34 per cent.

The rates in six countries—Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bolivia, Eritrea, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Nepal—were reduced by 50 per cent or more since 1990, although under-five mortality rates in these countries still remain considerably high.

Interestingly, Ethiopia has achieved a nearly 40 per cent reduction since 1990.

Of the 62 countries making no progress or insufficient progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on child survival, nearly 75 per cent are in Africa.

In some countries in southern Africa, the prevalence of HIV and AIDS has reversed previously recorded declines in child mortality.

The report also highlights the strategies that can help reduce the number of children who die before their fifth birthday.

“Community-level integration of essential services for mothers, newborns and young children, and sustainable improvements in national health systems can save the lives of many of the more than 26,000 children under five who die each day,” UNICEF Executive Director Ann M Veneman said.

The report describes the impact of simple, affordable life-saving measures, such as exclusive breastfeeding, immunization, insecticide-treated bed nets and vitamin A supplementation, all of which have helped to reduce child deaths in recent years.

The report’s analysis also reveals that far more needs to be done to increase access to treatments and means of prevention, so the devastating impact of pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, severe acute malnutrition and HIV can be better addressed.

“The challenge is to ensure children have access to a continuum of health care, backed by strong national health systems,” it said.

While suggesting that stepping up investment in health systems will be crucial to meet the child health targets set by the United Nations, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Margaret Chan said that progress can be made even when health systems are weak.

“Innovative programs in many countries show that an integrated approach where each child is reached with a package of interventions at one time can bring immediate benefits,” Chan said.

The approach to child survival that the report advocates would see the best disease-specific initiatives combined with investment in strong national health systems to create a continuum of care for mothers, newborns and young children that extends from the household, to the local clinic, to the district hospital and beyond.

The report emphasises the need to involve local communities. These communities generate necessary demand for quality health care and their engagement is vital if marginalized and remote populations are to be reached.

The report also says that while impressive progress has been made in improving the survival rates and health of children, even in some of the poorest countries, achieving the Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4), which aims to reduce the global under-five mortality rate by two thirds between 1990 and 2015, will require additional effort.

“Attaining the goal is still possible, but the challenge is formidable,” the reports says adding that, reaching the target would mean reducing the number of child deaths from 9.7 million in 2006 to around four million by 2015.

Accomplishing this will require accelerated action on multiple fronts: reducing poverty and hunger (MDG 1), improving maternal health (MDG 5), combating HIV and AIDS, malaria and other major diseases (MDG 6), increasing the usage of improved water and sanitation (MDG 7) and providing affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis (MDG 8).

“It will also require a re-examination of strategies to reach the poorest, most marginalised communities,” the report argues.

Hungary plans email alerts for citizen document renewals

The Hungarian Central Office for Administration and Electronic Public Services has announced a new service to provide citizens with free e-mail alerts reminding them of deadlines for the renewal of official documents.

According to Epractice, by the end of January, clients of the government’s central portal or ‘Client Gate’ will start receiving free e-mail alerts about their expiring documents—from ID cards to driving licences and passports.

The new facility will send three e-mails at different intervals before and on the expiry date. While all citizens registered with the ‘Client Gate’ account will receive the e-mail alerts automatically, the system provides facility for unsubscribing and re-subscribing the service at a later date.

Client Gate is a standard e-Government citizen portal and identification system that went online in April 2005.

According to the Hungarian Government sources, there were over 570,000 registered users with the Client Gate as of early January 2008, with around 5,000 to 7,000 accounts being added to the system every week.

The Client Gate also offers services like taxation, customs and excise, state pension and health funds, besides nearly 30 different services offered by municipalities.

Enrolment forms for higher education institutions can also be submitted electronically using the system.

The service will be provided by KEKKH, a new government agency set up in 2007. The KEKKH is presently streamlining the Client Gate website to make it more user-friendly and to enable it to introduce a whole new range of eForms and secure electronic payment facility by end 2008.

Microsoft announces new e-Government platform

Microsoft has announced a new strategy that will make it easier for governments to interact with citizens, streamline processes and, as a result, save time and taxpayer’s money.

The company unveiled its Citizen Service Platform (CSP), an approach to help governments of all sizes more responsively deliver services to citizens via the Internet, at the Government Leaders Forum in Berlin on Tuesday.

From London to Stockholm, from Porto, Portugal, to Aalter, Belgium, governments of all sizes are communicating with citizens in a variety of new and innovative ways.

Even with the diverse needs of these cities, many of their government agencies deliver a common set of services to citizens.

Initial offerings include a suite of online services that will be available for customisation and integration into existing government solutions for their citizens later this year.

“Governments need to respond to the growing needs of their constituencies and modernise the way they conduct business and engage with their stakeholders,” Microsoft International President Jean-Philippe Courtois said.

According to him, while technology can help local and regional governments increase efficiency levels and offer modernised services, many countries are ill-equipped to meet citizens’ needs due to a lack of funding, technical expertise or other resources.

“CSP arose from a series of projects among Microsoft, our partners, and local and regional governments. By incorporating past lessons and achievements, we will be able to provide these governments with technologies they can cost-effectively and easily deploy for the direct benefit of their citizens,” Courtois said.

CSP is Microsoft’s strategy to support governments as they develop sustainable, flexible and extendable IT infrastructures with citizen service in mind.

A recent report conducted by Capgemini, on behalf of Microsoft, found that although 80 per cent of services to the public happen at the local level, the governments responsible for delivering those services have found it difficult to keep up with effectively increasing the efficiency with which they respond to citizen needs.

The goal of the CSP is to close that gap through rapid solution development, customisable applications and the industry knowledge to keep pace with the sophisticated expectations of citizens in a technology-driven world.

Besides, the CSP will also provide tools that allow small and medium-sized governments to create and manage their own online services and content designed around Microsoft Office SharePoint Server.

The CSP will include templates built around Microsoft Dynamics CRM to ensure a consistent view of the citizen’s information, whether accessed over the Internet, by telephone or at the town hall.

Monkey Business

Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for Rs10. The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at Rs10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.

He further announced that he would now buy at Rs20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer rate increased to Rs25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at Rs50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him. In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at Rs35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell it to him for Rs50."

The villagers squeezed up with all their savings and bought all the
monkeys. Then they never saw the man nor his assistant, only monkeys everywhere!!!

Welcome to the "Stock" Market!!!!!

Book your rail ticket 90 days in advance

In its bid to improve customer service and enable people to make their travel plans in advance, the Indian Railways has decided to allow commuters to book tickets 90 days in advance.

According to the Railways, the Ministry of Railways has decided to increase the advance reservation period from 60 to 90 days—excluding the date of journey from February 2008.

However, there will be no change in the case of certain day time Express trains like Taj Express and Gomti Express, where lower time limits for advance reservations are at present in force.

The Ministry also informed that there will also be no change in the case of the limit of 360 days for foreign tourists.

Tamil Nadu in Primary Education

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 654 FOR 26.11.2007 BY DR. GYAN PRAKASH PILANIA REGARDING “NUEPA SURVEY ON PRIMARY EDUCATION”

Composite (Primary & Upper Primary Level) Index

State / UT	EDI	Rank
A & N Islands	0.566	20
Andhra Pradesh	0.654	8
Arunachal Pradesh	0.458	33
Assam	0.490	30
Bihar	0.327	35
Chandigarh	0.690	5
Chhattisgarh	0.559	22
Dadra & Nagar Haveli	0.538	24
Daman & Diu	0.592	17
Delhi	0.707	2
Goa	0.586	18
Gujarat	0.630	13
Haryana	0.556	23
Himachal Pradesh	0.668	7
Jammu & Kashmir	0.597	16
Jharkhand	0.435	34
Karnataka	0.674	6
Kerala	0.708	1
Lakshadweep	0.650	10
Madhya Pradesh	0.512	29
Maharashtra	0.635	12
Manipur	0.564	21
Meghalaya	0.534	26
Mizoram	0.650	9
Nagaland	0.533	27
Orissa	0.512	28
Pondicherry	0.700	4
Punjab	0.608	14
Rajasthan	0.583	19
Sikkim	0.635	11
Tamil Nadu	0.701	3
Tripura	0.535	25
Uttar Pradesh	0.482	31
Uttaranchal	0.605	15
West Bengal	0.467	32

*****

Source http://164.100.24.219/annex/212/AU654.htm

Question : http://164.100.24.219/rsq/quest.asp?qref=131608

Google announces $25 mn philanthropy initiatives

Google has announced grants and investment of more than US $25 million over the next five to ten years, including that to two Indian organisations—Pratham, an NGO and the Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, a Bangalore-based analysis group.

According to the company, it’s philanthropic arm Google.org is also planning to partner with institutions like Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disasters (InSTEDD), Global Health and Security Initiative (GHSI), Clark University, TechnoServe, and eSolar.

Besides, it is also looking at investing between US $500,000 to two million in selected for-profit companies whose innovative approach, team and technologies will enable widespread commercialization of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid solutions.

Google will also continue its philanthropic work through programs to leverage its products for non-profits, including Google Grants that donates free ads and Google Apps, which provides free, web-based services to non-profit organisations.

IT is also keen on contributions from departments including Google Earth to offer mapping solutions for monitoring events such as the crisis in Darfur.

The grant and investment has been focused on five core initiatives—predict and prevent, improve public services, SME, developing renewable energy, and adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the company said.

According to the company it has earmarked a grant of US $2 million to Pratham, a non-governmental organization in India, to create an independent institute that will conduct the Nationwide Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) as well as large scale assessments in the education sector.

Google will also grant US $765,000 to the Centre for Budget and Policy Studies for creating a budget information service for local governments to facilitate better district and municipal-level level planning in India.

According to Google, it is planning for a US $5 million grant to InSTEDD to improve early detection, preparedness, and response capabilities for global health threats and humanitarian crises.

Acting as an innovation laboratory, InSTEDD aims to support the humanitarian community in preparing for and responding to global public health emergencies, working together towards a safer world.

GHSI will get US $2.5 million to prevent, detect, and respond to biological threats. It will also help GHSI to strengthen national and sub-regional disease surveillance systems through workforce training and better laboratory capacity in the Mekong Basin area—Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Yunnan province and China.

Besides, it has sanctioned US $600,000 grant to Clark University, with equal funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, for Clark Labs to develop a system to improve monitoring, analysis and prediction of the impacts of climate variability and change on ecosystems, food and health in Africa and the Amazon.

The company further said that Google.org will also grant US $660,000 to the Center for Policy Research to increase the debate and discourse on issues of urban local governance and urban service delivery.

TechnoServe will get a grant of US $4.7 million to provide general support to expand the company’s efforts to support enterprises, spur job creation, and strengthen poverty alleviation programs globally, and to develop and implement a business plan competition to support entrepreneurs in Ghana and Tanzania.

San Francisco Zoo’s Killer Tiger Paid The Price For Being Itself

Tatiana , a 4-year-old Siberian tiger fatally attacked one zoo visitor and injured two others at the San Francisco Zoo last Christmas afternoon. She had to be killed by police officers . "She was everything that a tiger is supposed to be," says big-cat expert Ronald Tilson. "She was essentially shot and killed for being a tiger."

Yet , this was not a one-off incident. An year ago, Tatiana mauled her keeper, devouring the flesh from her arm. Should Tatiana have been put down at that time , is what is haunting zoo officials now.

"There was no reason whatsoever," says Tilson, director of conservation at the Minnesota Zoo. Since 1987 , he has been overseeing the tiger species survival plan of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Louis Dorfman, an animal behaviorist with the International Exotic Feline Sanctuary in Boyd, Texas, supports the idea that Tatiana posed no greater danger than she had before Dec. 22, 2006 . Then, she had reached under the bars of her cage and seized the arms of zoo employee Lori Komejan as dozens of people watched.

"We have 60 cats here," Dorfman says . "Any one of them would have done the same thing. But they would forget about it 15 minutes later. They don't dwell on things. The only thing they dwell on is if someone mistreated them."


Manuel Mollinedo, executive director of the San Francisco Zoo, says :"There was never any consideration for putting her down - the tiger was acting like a normal tiger."


Tatiana was born in the Denver Zoo on June 27, 2003, and donated to San Francisco in December 2005 .

Tilson, who is responsible for the 147 Siberians, or Amurs, that live in more than 60 AZA-accredited zoos in North America, says :"I'm the one who made the recommendation for her to be born in Denver. I'm the one who made a recommendation to send her to San Francisco. I feel personally involved with all of this. To me, it's very disconcerting and very upsetting."

Tilson says he cannot recall a tiger ever getting out of its enclosure and killing a zoo visitor. He adds that Tatiana's behavior, once she escaped, was very much in keeping with her species. "She was an alpha predator in her environment . She was killing mammals and eating meat."

Tilson says any loose zoo animal would want to return to its habitat and would become upset, disoriented, frightened - and potentially dangerous.

"Once the animal is out of its primary enclosure, it's pretty much shoot to kill . You don't have a discussion - you kill it. A tranquilizer gun would take too long and you might miss”, he says.

Dorfman described the Christmas carnage as extraordinarily rare.

"Anything they perceive as a danger they're going to strike at," he notes. "That's their instinct. If everyone would stand perfectly still and not make any movement, the cat wouldn't hurt anybody."

Tilson says the AZA's accreditation committee will now look at how the big cats are housed at the San Francisco Zoo.

It is recommended that a tiger moat should be a minimum of 7 meters (almost 23 feet) wide at the top and a minimum of 5 meters high (16.4 feet) on the visitors' side, with a fence at least 5 meters high.

Mollinedo, who took over in early 2004, says that he asked staff members after the Christmas attack whether any big cat had ever jumped the moat or escaped the grotto, and no one could recall anything like that happening.



Source-Medindia
ANN/S

The ‘rise’ and ‘fall’ of Rubber Gloves at Johns Hopkins

William Stewart Halsted, The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s first surgeon in chief, is widely credited as the first to develop and introduce rubber surgical gloves in the United States. That was in 1894, five years after the institution opened.


Now, in an effort to make medical care safer for patients and health care workers, The Johns Hopkins Hospital has become the first major medical institution to become “latex safe” by ending all use of latex gloves and almost all medical latex products.

“Latex hospital gloves were invented here, so it’s only fitting that Johns Hopkins takes the initiative to promoting alternatives,” says Johns Hopkins anesthesiologist Robert H. Brown, M.D., M.P.H., the chair of the John Hopkins Hospital Latex Task Force and one of many Hopkins faculty and staff members who have contributed to making the hospital latex-safe.

It was at Hopkins that immunologists Robert Hamilton, Ph.D., and Franklin Adkinson, M.D., conducted early key research related to the problems of natural rubber latex as an allergen. Furthermore, Brown points out, the nurses and other frontline hospital workers have been instrumental in implementing the latex-safe policy and educating the staff. Studies show that roughly 6 percent of the general population and up to 15 percent of health care works are allergic to latex, with the higher rate among medical personnel due to longer periods of contact with natural rubber.

In addition to surgical gloves, latex is used in numerous medical devices such as tourniquets, blood pressure cuffs and stethoscope tubes. The anaphylactic reactions, similar to those caused by foods such as peanuts or by bee sting allergies, can include a drop in blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat, swelling in the hands and feet and constriction of the airways. In extreme cases, anaphylactic shock, which can occur minutes after the exposure, can lead to death.


Allergic reactions generally result from exposure to natural proteins, in this case proteins specific to natural rubber latex, a product from rubber trees. Currently available replacement gloves are made of one of three synthetic products -- neoprene, polyisoprene or vinyl, none of which contain natural plant proteins.


Johns Hopkins is now using sterile neoprene and polyisoprene gloves in the operating room because they have a more sensitive feel. “The sensitivity and fit of the new gloves are the same as what you get with latex gloves,” says Julie Freischlag, M.D., professor and chair of surgery. “Unless someone told you, you wouldn’t know the difference. The only down side is that they are a little more expensive.”

Sterile neoprene and polyisoprene gloves cost 30 percent to 50 percent more than latex gloves. Nonsterile neoprene and vinyl examine gloves cost approximately the same as those made from latex. Johns Hopkins uses mostly neoprene gloves for all nonsterile procedures that require glove protection.

Dr. Brown says the risk of developing an allergic reaction to latex is higher if contact is made with broken skin or mucous membranes - such as when hands are raw from multiple scrubbings or when health care workers breathe in the powder that makes the gloves easier to put on. Patients for whom latex medical products are commonly used for treatment - such as children with conditions such as bladder exstrophy or spinal bifida - can have as high as an 80 percent chance of developing an allergic reaction to the natural rubber latex.

Halsted is reported to have developed the latex glove to protect the hands of his scrub nurse from the harsh antiseptics in widespread use as disinfectants. By 1966, disposable latex gloves were the norm in operating rooms nationwide, and in the 1980s, the need for “universal precautions,” prompted by the AIDS epidemic, increased their use outside the operating room and among health care workers everywhere. As glove use proliferated, so did the rate of allergic reactions, and by the mid-1990s, latex allergies were considered a major health issue. Dr. Brown says he prefers the term “latex safe” to “latex free” because removing all sources of natural rubber remains a bit of a challenge.

“We are still searching the hospital for the few remaining medical latex products that we might have overlooked, although we can safely say that all major latex products that are a clear risk to health care workers and patients have been eliminated,” he says.

Source-John Hopkins
LIN/V

Virus Associated to Deadly Skin Cancer Discovered

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute have found a previously unknown virus that seems to have a strong association with a rare but deadly skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma. The Merkel cell polyomavirus was identified after almost a decade long, painstaking screening of DNA sequencing data. The report is being published in this week’s issue of the journal Science. The paper also talks about the cause of Kaposi’s sarcoma.


“This is the first polyomavirus to be strongly associated with a particular type of human tumor,” said Dr. Moore, professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and leader of the molecular virology program at UPCI. “Although polyomaviruses have been studied in relation to cancer development for years, the weight of scientific evidence had been leaning toward the view that these viruses do not cause human cancers.”

Polyomaviruses are a group of viruses that have been shown to cause cancers in animals for more than 50 years. But Dr. Moore noted that additional research is needed to determine what role, if any, MCV plays in human cancer development.

A rare but extremely aggressive cancer that spreads rapidly into other tissues and organs, Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) develops from specialized nerve cells that respond to touch or pressure. The incidence of MCC has tripled over the past 20 years to about 1,500 cases a year, especially among people whose immune systems are compromised by AIDS or transplant-related immunosuppressant drugs. About half of patients with advanced MCC live nine months or less, and some two-thirds of MCC patients die within five years.
“If these findings are confirmed, we can look at how this new virus contributes to a very bad cancer with high mortality, and, just as importantly, use it as a model to understand how cancers occur and the cell pathways that are targeted,” added Dr. Moore. “Information that we gain could possibly lead to a blood test or vaccine that improves disease management and aids in prevention.”


For example, vaccines are now available against human papillomavirus (HPV) to prevent cervical cancer, noted Dr. Chang, professor of pathology. “MCV is another model that may increase our understanding of how cancers arise, with possibly important implications for non-viral cancers like prostate or breast cancer.”

MCV has additional similarities to HPV since both viruses integrate into the tumor cell genome but not the genome of healthy cells. This integration destroys the virus’s ability to replicate normally and may be the first critical step in MCC development.

The Pittsburgh team analyzed nearly 400,000 messenger RNA genetic sequences from four samples of MCC tumor tissue using a technique refined in their lab called digital transcriptome subtraction (DTS). Comparing the sequences expressed by the tumor genome to gene sequences mapped by the Human Genome Project, the researchers systematically subtracted known human sequences, leaving a group of genetic transcripts that might be from a foreign organism.

One sequence was similar to but distinct from all known viruses. The team went on to show that this sequence belonged to a new polyomavirus present in eight of 10 (80 percent) Merkel cell tumors they tested but only five of 59 (8 percent) control tissues from various body sites and four of 25 (16 percent) control skin tissues.

Although MCV is most commonly found in Merkel cell tumors, it also can be found in healthy people. The most important distinguishing feature is that MCV integrates into tumor cells in what is known as a monoclonal pattern, indicating that it infects the cell before the cell becomes cancerous. Tests on six of the eight MCV-positive tumors confirmed that viral DNA was integrated within the tumor genome in this monoclonal pattern, suggesting that infection with MCV could be a trigger for tumor formation. The Pittsburgh team subsequently has confirmed these results with additional tumor specimens.

Clues from elsewhere in the biomedical literature point to the existence of MCV, which has a genetic structure that is closely related to an African green monkey virus found in Germany in the 1970s. Researchers have found antibody evidence from blood tests that indicates some 15 percent to 25 percent of adults are infected with the still undiscovered human relative of this monkey virus. If MCV turns out to be this long-sought infection, then more than 1 billion people worldwide could already be infected.

“But again, look to the example of HPV,” said Dr. Moore. “Although up to 50 percent of sexually active young women are infected with HPV, a small proportion may actually get cervical cancer.”

Even if MCV is proven to play a role in MCC, Dr. Chang also cautioned that the virus is likely to be just a part of a much larger picture.

“Now we need to find out how it works,” she said. “Once the virus integrates, it could express an oncoprotein, or it could knock out a gene that suppresses tumor growth. Either way, the results are bound to be interesting.”

This is the second tumor-associated virus discovered by Drs. Moore and Chang, a husband-and-wife research team who also discovered Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) in 1993. KSHV, which causes Kaposi’s sarcoma, is the most common malignancy in AIDS patients and the most common cancer in Africa. To find KSHV, Drs. Moore and Chang used a different method to physically subtract human genetic sequences from Kaposi’s sarcoma tumors, leaving fragments of viral DNA.

Viruses, and some bacteria and parasites, are estimated to cause at least 20 percent of cancers worldwide. Over the past 40 years, few cancer-causing viruses have been confirmed in humans, including KSHV. Most of these viruses express cancer-causing proteins, called oncoproteins, in infected cells. Polyomaviruses, including MCV, possess an oncoprotein that has been shown to cause cancer after infection in animals. If MCV is confirmed to play a role in human cancer, it will be the eighth human tumor virus discovered.

Source-Eurekalert
LIN/S

Kaposi 's Sarcoma Virus Now Linked To Merkel Cell Carcinoma

According to new research, a virus previously implicated in the onset of Kaposi's sarcoma has now been linked to the development of Merkel cell carcinoma, a dangerous skin cancer.


Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute have developed a way of isolating the virus, named Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV).

Polyomaviruses have been linked to cancer in animal studies.

"This is the first polyomavirus to be strongly associated with a particular type of human tumor," says Dr. Moore, professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and leader of the molecular virology program at UPCI, in a release.

"Although polyomaviruses have been studied in relation to cancer development for years, the weight of scientific evidence had been leaning toward the view that these viruses do not cause human cancers."

Merkel cell carcinoma is a fast progressing skin cancer that develops from nerve cells and quickly invades other tissues and organs in the body. This type of cancer has increased dramatically over the 20 years and now averages 1,500 cases per year.

Those vulnerable to this form of cancer are immune-suppressed individuals — such as those taking drugs to prevent the rejection of a transplant — and AIDS patients.

The survival rate is not high. About 50 per cent of patients succumb to the disease within nine months.

In the study, researchers discovered that many people carry MCV, though in many it never develops into cancer.


Says Moore “Information that we gain could possibly lead to a blood test or vaccine that improves disease management and aids in prevention.”


He likens the possible future treatments to the HPV vaccine that protects against certain strains of cervical cancer.



Source-Medindia
ANN/V

Study Finds Eye Cancer Gene’s Role in Retinal Development

A genetic discovery led by scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital helps answer a long-standing mystery about the eyes of vertebrates, and may translate into a deeper understanding of how genes coordinate the complex process of eye formation and how a rare pediatric eye cancer progresses.


“A series of complex developmental processes must be carefully orchestrated for the eye to form correctly,” said Michael Dyer, Ph.D., associate member in the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology. “One important aspect of this coordination is that retinal thickness be the same, irrespective of eye size. For example, the mouse eye is about 5,000 times smaller than that of the elephant eye, but the retinal thickness in these two species is comparable.”

Working with mice, the researchers found that a gene called N-myc coordinates the growth of the retina and other eye structures to ensure the retina has the proper thickness necessary to convert light from the lens into nerve impulses that the brain transforms into images. Until their study, reported in the Jan. 15 issue of Genes & Development, almost nothing was known about the molecular mechanisms responsible for properly sizing the retina. Dyer is the paper’s senior author.

“This represents the first example of a role for a Myc gene in retinal development,” Dyer said. “On the basis of our data, we propose that N-myc plays a central role in coordinating retinal proliferation with eye growth during development.”


Genes in the Myc family carry out vital roles during prenatal development by regulating the proliferation, size, differentiation and survival of cells. Myc genes are also proto-oncogenes—genes in which a mutation enables them to transform normal cells into cancerous ones. Malfunctioning N-myc genes are often associated with pediatric neural cancers, including neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma and retinoblastoma.


Recently, Dyer and his team identified the specific type of cell that gives rise to retinoblastoma, a potentially fatal malignant tumor in the retina that affects about 300 children in the United States annually. “The determination of N-myc target genes during retinal development may also contribute to the current understanding of retinoblastoma progression,” he said.

In the course of their study, the researchers discovered that N-myc is not involved in regulating cell survival or neuronal differentiation in the developing retina. However, the gene is crucial for the proper proliferation of retinal cells. In mice in which the scientists inactivated N-myc, the volume of the retina was significantly smaller than in mice with normally functioning N-myc.

The team found no evidence of an increase in progenitor cell deaths between normal and N-myc-deficient retinas. The investigators then concluded the smaller retinas likely resulted from an N-myc-related proliferation defect in the progenitor retinal cells.

The researchers hypothesize that N-myc’s activity occurs early in the cascade of reactions that control development of the retina and other eye components. Therefore, when something inactivates the gene, the result is both a reduction in retinal progenitor cell proliferation and a reduction in the signaling cues that coordinate the growth of the eye and retina.

“Importantly, for retinas to maintain nearly constant thickness across species that have different sizes of eyes, the total number of retinal cells must change several-fold,” Dyer said. “The identification of N-myc as a key regulator of these processes allows us to begin to understand the coordination of complex developmental programs in the developing eye and how these processes have evolved.”

Source-Newswise
LIN/V

Cancer can Be Combated by Extra Virgin Olive Oil

C@MPUS DIGITAL In the 1960s, Ancer Keys, a US expert on nutrition, studied the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet for the first time. Since then many studies on the benefits of olive oil have been conducted. According to several studies performed in Italy, Spain and Greece (the main olive-oil-producing countries), the incidence of diseases is lower in these countries than in Northern Europe.


The Environmental, Biochemical and Nutritional Analytical-Control Research Group, directed by Professors Alberto Fernández Gutiérrez and Antonio Segura Carretero, used the most advanced analytical techniques for a precise study on the antioxidant properties of olive oil, characterized by its polyphenolic composition and its potential to combat degenerative diseases.

The study was completed with the collaboration of the Institut of Nutrition and Food Technology of the Universidad de Granada and the Nutrition Team of the Hospital Virgen de las Nieves (Granada). Together with the Research Group, they have determined that consumption of olive oil rich in polyphenols (natural antioxidants) improves the lives of people suffering from oxidative stress, and is also highly beneficial for the prevention of cell aging and osteoporosis.

This research has stirred the interest of the Control Board of the Designation of Origin Sierra Segura. After analysing samples from 15 olive oil mills, researchers have demonstrated that olive oil is very rich in polyphenols. According to Professors Alberto Fernández and Antonio Segura, “as preventive substances, polyphenols help to combat any oxidative disease associated with the degenerative process.”


The Environmental, Biochemical and Nutritional Analytical-Control Research Group of the Universidad de Granada has carried out several related studies, such as the creation of a system aimed at guaranteeing the quality of bee honey and determining its geographical origin, or the polyphenolic characterization of food products such as honey, beer and propolis.


Source-Eurekalert
LIN/S

Study Shed Light on Why Diet Plans Promote Weight Loss

Health gurus give out many diet plans based on the proportion of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats one ingests as a method to promote weight loss, but the effectiveness of these diet charts have never been brought into light.


Now, a study, led by Dr. Karen Foster-Schubert of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, Washington, has shed light on potential mechanisms by which various diets promote weight loss.

The study examined the relative ability of different nutrient types to suppress ghrelin, which is secreted by the stomach and is the only known appetite-stimulating hormone.

Circulating ghrelin levels increase shortly before meals and then decrease promptly after ingestion of food.

“We found that when fat is consumed, levels of ghrelin remain relatively high, which could in turn stimulate hunger. Protein consumption resulted in the greatest suppression of ghrelin over a long period and, interestingly, consumption of carbohydrates resulted in a strong ghrelin suppression initially, although subsequent ghrelin levels rebounded well above baseline,” Foster-Schubert said.

In the study, subjects were given three beverages with widely varying compositions of macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, and proteins). Blood samples were taken before the first beverage was ingested and every 20 minutes for six hours thereafter.

Researchers then measured the ghrelin levels in each sample.

“These findings open the door to future research on the effectiveness of varying methods of dieting. Improving our understanding of the regulation of ghrelin by ingested macronutrients could facilitate rational design of weight-reducing diets,” Foster-Schubert said.

The study is published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Superhuman Vision Made Possible With Contact Lens

Movie characters from the Terminator to the Bionic Woman use bionic eyes to zoom in on far-off scenes, have useful facts pop into their field of view, or create virtual crosshairs. Off the screen, virtual displays have been proposed for more practical purposes -- visual aids to help vision-impaired people, holographic driving control panels and even as a way to surf the Web on the go.


The device to make this happen may be familiar. Engineers at the University of Washington have for the first time used manufacturing techniques at microscopic scales to combine a flexible, biologically safe contact lens with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights.

"Looking through a completed lens, you would see what the display is generating superimposed on the world outside," said Babak Parviz, a UW assistant professor of electrical engineering. "This is a very small step toward that goal, but I think it's extremely promising." The results were presented today at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' international conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems by Harvey Ho, a former graduate student of Parviz's now working at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, Calif. Other co-authors are Ehsan Saeedi and Samuel Kim in the UW's electrical engineering department and Tueng Shen in the UW Medical Center's ophthalmology department.

There are many possible uses for virtual displays. Drivers or pilots could see a vehicle's speed projected onto the windshield. Video-game companies could use the contact lenses to completely immerse players in a virtual world without restricting their range of motion. And for communications, people on the go could surf the Internet on a midair virtual display screen that only they would be able to see.


"People may find all sorts of applications for it that we have not thought about. Our goal is to demonstrate the basic technology and make sure it works and that it's safe," said Parviz, who heads a multi-disciplinary UW group that is developing electronics for contact lenses.


The prototype device contains an electric circuit as well as red light-emitting diodes for a display, though it does not yet light up. The lenses were tested on rabbits for up to 20 minutes and the animals showed no adverse effects. Ideally, installing or removing the bionic eye would be as easy as popping a contact lens in or out, and once installed the wearer would barely know the gadget was there, Parviz said.

Building the lenses was a challenge because materials that are safe for use in the body, such as the flexible organic materials used in contact lenses, are delicate. Manufacturing electrical circuits, however, involves inorganic materials, scorching temperatures and toxic chemicals. Researchers built the circuits from layers of metal only a few nanometers thick, about one thousandth the width of a human hair, and constructed light-emitting diodes one third of a millimeter across. They then sprinkled the grayish powder of electrical components onto a sheet of flexible plastic. The shape of each tiny component dictates which piece it can attach to, a microfabrication technique known as self-assembly. Capillary forces -- the same type of forces that make water move up a plant's roots, and that cause the edge of a glass of water to curve upward -- pull the pieces into position.

The prototype contact lens does not correct the wearer's vision, but the technique could be used on a corrective lens, Parviz said. And all the gadgetry won't obstruct a person's view. "There is a large area outside of the transparent part of the eye that we can use for placing instrumentation," Parviz said. Future improvements will add wireless communication to and from the lens. The researchers hope to power the whole system using a combination of radio-frequency power and solar cells placed on the lens, Parviz said.

A full-fledged display won't be available for a while, but a version that has a basic display with just a few pixels could be operational "fairly quickly," according to Parviz.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and a Technology Gap Innovation Fund from the University of Washington.

Source-Eurekalert
LIN/S

Indian Herbal Acanthus Effective in Preventing Liver Cancer Cure

Indian researchers at Jadavpur University in Kolkata have discovered that the Indian medicinal plant Acanthus or Harkach Kanta can effectively combat liver cancer.


Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the world and about three quarters of the cases of liver cancer are found in Southeast Asia, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and India.

The study led by Prof. Malay Chatterjee from Jadavpur University was conducted in an in vivo tumour-transplanted murine model where they examined the primary chemopreventive mechanisms of Acanthus.

The findings revealed that aqueous leaf extract (ALE) of the plant could effectively prevent hepatic DNA alterations and chromosomal damage in the mice.

The study further established that ALE treatment was substantially effective in elongating the mean survival of animals to a large extent by restraining the liver metallothionein expression, a potential marker for cell proliferation.

They also found that the Acanthus could be used as a potential chemoprotector against abnormal proliferation of cells in the liver.

The researchers believe if these studies are found to be really functional, it can open up the possibility of cancer chemoprevention with the use of indigenous plants herbal plants.

Acanthus plant is widely found throughout the mangroves of India, including Sunderbans in West Bengal, west coasts, and the Andamans, and in other Asian countries like Singhal, Burma, China, Thailand etc.

The study appears in December 28, 2007 World Journal of Gastroenterology.

Source-ANI
SRM/V

Playing Games Before Surgery Help Trainee Surgeons to Perform Better

Scientists have given trainee surgeons a new way to perform better operations - Nintendo Wii games.


The research team at the Banner Medical Center, Arizona, has revealed that playing Nintendo Wii games helps student surgeons perform better at surgeries.

For the study, the researchers asked eight surgical residents to play games on a Wii for an hour before their performed virtual surgery using a training tool called ProMIS, which simulates a patient's body in 3D and tracks the surgeon's movements as they operate.

Those who warmed up using the console scored 48 per cent better for tool control and performance than those who did not.

Certain games, such as Marble Mania, in which players guide a marble through a 3D obstacle course, were found to be particularly good because they involved small, precise movements of the controller.

"The whole point about surgery is to execute small, finely controlled movements with your hands, and that is exactly what you get playing,” New Scientist quoted study leader Dr Kanav Kohel, as saying.

Impressed with the results, the team is now designing software that will allow doctors to carry out simulated surgery using the console's novel control system.

The motion sensors in the wireless "Wiimote", a controller the size and shape of a television remote control, permit game players to direct on-screen action by waving it about and pointing it at the screen.

The researchers believe the software could help surgeons improve their skills by practicing at home, and play a significant role in the medical education in the poor countries where there is less access to expensive training tools.

Source-ANI
KAR/V

Nanopolitan's Pongal Kolam Explained...

Professor Abi had a beautiful Kolam at his blog nanopolitan: Pongal ...

But since he has not explained the theme of it, I have tried to explain....
Advance apologies for lifting the image without permission



The Kolam depicts

1. Sun - சூரியன்
2. Pot with "Pongal" - பானையில் பொங்கும் பொங்கல்
3. Sugarcane - கரும்பு
4. Cow / Buffalow / Ox - மாடு (Just a simple word in Tamil )
5. Sickle - கதிர் அரிவாள்

The importance of each one of these is as follows

SUN : Pongal Coincides with the first day of first month of Tamil Calendar - Thai (தை) when the sun starts to change direction. Also Sun is the giver of life and the most important factor for harvest

Pot with Pongal : Pongal in Tamil means "boiling over or spill over." The act of boiling over of milk in the clay pot is considered to denote future prosperity for the family. Traditionally celebrated at harvest time, it is a celebration of the prosperity associated with the harvest by thanking the rain, sun and the farm animals that have helped in the harvest.

Sugarcane : Crop of the Season

Cow / Buffalow / Ox : The faithful companion for a farmer

Sickle : Denoting Harvest

Method for arriving at IIT JEE cut offs decided AFTER EXAMS without mathematical or scientific basis

It seems that the method for arriving at IIT JEE cut offs are decided AFTER EXAMS without mathematical or scientific basis

This is a follow up of my previous post
"Reflections" - Doctor Bruno's Blog: IIT JEE marks do not play a part in Student Selection

More information can be seen at http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/2440-explain-jee-cut-offs-cic-warns-iit.html

CONFLICTING VERSIONS

How the two official versions of calculating the cut-off marks for IIT JEE 2006 submitted consecutively before CIC were found to be conflicting and erroneous

The cut-off marks were stated to be 37, 48 and 55 for Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry respectively.

The first version of the procedure given in May 2007 for arriving at those figures was given as “mean marks minus one standard deduction.” But the cut-off marks by this method work out to 24, 18 and 22, respectively.

When those discrepancies were pointed out, IIT came up with the second version in August 2007 claiming that for this computation, “only scores of those candidates who have secured minimum one mark in each of the three subjects have been considered.”

But it was found that even this method of calculation led to some other cut-off marks — 24, 22 and 26, respectively. This puts a question mark on the credibility of the famed IIT-JEE as the administration has yet not been able to provide a scientific explanation for why the cut-off marks in the 2006 examination for Mathematics, for instance, was as low as 37 while they were as high as 55 in the case of Chemistry

Here comes another version at http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/1270-iit-math-one-query-4-answers.html and http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070808/asp/nation/story_8164542.asp by CHARU SUDAN KASTURI

IIT math: one query, 4 answers - Institutes fail to explain 2006 admission criteria

New Delhi, Aug. 7: The Indian Institutes of Technology still cannot explain the method they followed in setting the admission criteria in 2006 — a whole year after the process.

They have so far given four answers, some contradictory and some impossible to verify.

The Telegraph had on Monday reported an allegation by some candidates’ parents that the IITs had flouted their stated procedure — divulged under the Right to Information Act (RTI) — for setting the cut-off marks for physics, chemistry and math.

That procedure was one of two contradictory explanations the IITs have given the parents. They have now given a third explanation to Calcutta High Court, where one parent has challenged the 2006 admissions.

An IIT administrator involved with the 2006 Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) took position No. 4 when contacted by The Telegraph. He said “some fixed process had to exist” but had no idea what it was.

Replying to the parents’ RTI application last December, five months after the exam was over, the IITs had said there was “no fixed procedure” to determine cut-off marks. That reply was issued by D. Gunasekaran, registrar of IIT Kharagpur, the institute that oversaw the implementation of JEE 2006.

The second answer came five months later after the Central Information Commission (CIC) intervened. The parents were given a definite formula, explained in this newspaper on Monday.

Calculations based on that formula — and checked by this newspaper — show the cut-offs for physics, chemistry and math should have been 22, 26 and 24. But the cut-offs the IITs had actually used were 48, 55 and 37. They had also set an aggregate cut-off of 154.

The explanation to the high court tries to address this problem by offering a slightly amended version: formula II.

According to this, the marks of students who scored zero or less in any subject — the JEE awards negative marks for wrong answers — were not considered while determining the subject cut-offs. This would raise the cut-offs.

But one cannot verify if formula II exactly explains the gap between the official cut-offs and the parents’ cut-offs unless the IITs reveal the marks scored in each subject by all two lakh candidates.

The institutes had flatly refused to do so when the parents asked for it under RTI, later releasing only the marks of the top 32,000 under CIC pressure.

Several independent statisticians told this newspaper that neither formula I (the one provided under CIC pressure) nor formula II “seems feasible”. Both methods could —and probably would — allow the majority of candidates who sat the exam to qualify.

This is because either formula would let in “nearly 70 per cent” of the candidates considered while calculating the subject cut-offs, said Anish Sarkar, who teaches at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.

Ravindra Bapat, who heads ISI Delhi, and his Chennai-based colleague B.L.S. Prakash Rao gave a slightly different figure: “definitely over 50 per cent”.

Since the first formula considers all two lakh who sat the exam (as explained in Monday’s report), this means up to 1.40 lakh students could make the subject cut-offs. The second formula only leaves out those with negative scores, and unless their number runs into several tens of thousands, even this amended procedure would not help.

Since the IITs cannot have known in advance how many students would end up with negative marks, why would they choose this method prior to the exam, the experts asked.

With such huge numbers clearing the subject cut-offs, it would be the aggregate cut-off — based on the around 6,000 seats available — that alone would make the difference.

Why should the IITs then set subject cut-offs at all, saddling themselves with a useless and cumbersome intermediate process, the statisticians asked.

A selection process that initially weeds out less than 50 per cent seems incongruent with the objective of choosing 6,000 students, which is just 3 per cent, they said.

Shishir Dube, who headed the Joint Admission Board that decided the policies for JEE 2006, initially said the cut-offs were set by another body, the Joint Implementation Committee.

When told that all policy matters are decided by the board, the former IIT Kharagpur director agreed that a definite procedure “must” exist.

“But that must have been set before my time (as board chief). We didn’t decide any procedure,” said Dube, now a faculty member at IIT Delhi.

Gunasekaran declined comment.

Why there is so much confusion. The only reason I can think of (with my limited mental acumen) is that they decide the cut-off marks after deciding who they want to select.... That is students are not selected based on marks, but marks are made to select the students they want....

For example, Am I wrong in imagining that they should have had a candidate who got only 38 marks in Mathematics and 56 in Chemistry... .If not the institute should have given the basis by now.

TN govt set to weed out quacks in state with TNMC database

The Tamil Nadu State Medical Council (TNSMC) is also implementing a strict revised code of ethics for doctors

Netherlands moves 65% government services online

The Government of Netherlands has announced that it has been able to meet the target of providing over 65 per cent of the country’s government to citizen services electronically or through online.

A programme ‘Government Answers’ under the Ministry of Internal Affairs has released a report ‘Public service 65 per cent electronic’, which indicated that the digital service level in 2007 has risen by six per cent as compared to 2006, reports ePractice.

The 65 per cent goal, set in 2004, was achieved with hard work and dedicated efforts of governmental organisations at all levels.

As per the initiative, public products for citizens and companies had to be offered online in 2007, in which 66 per cent are offered to citizens, while that for companies is 68 per cent.

The government has started this initiative of providing online access to government products and services to lessen administrative burden for citizens and companies, apart from improving overall governmental service.

MCD makes thrice a day biometric attendance must for sweepers

Admitting that it has failed to deal with growing absenteeism amongst the sweepers (safai karamcharis), the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to use Biometrics to replace the age old attendance register from February 2008.

What’s more the safai karamcharis will have to put their thumb impressions thrice a day to ensure that they are marked present for the day.

According to Delhi Mayor Arti Mehra, the new practice is being implemented to ensure that 46,000 safai karamcharis report for duty every day.

“About 50 per cent of such employees remain absent from their routine cleaning work and use proxy to puts in their signature for attendance,” she said adding that the new biometrics system is being introduced to ensure that no body can tamper with the attendance record and to make sure that 100 per cent attendance is recorded.

Mehra further said that the MCD would henceforth provide gloves, appron, footwear and other necessary items to 46,000 safai karamacharis to help them carry out their duty of cleaning the Delhi roads properly.

“We want to ensure that the city acquires international standards and host Commonwealth Games with all glares,” she said.

The Mayor also announced that Rs 170 crore worth of investment planning has been worked out by the MCD for removal and segregation of municipal solid waste that will also help the Metro generate power on the lines of Bangalore.

HCL launches low cost ultra portable laptops

The year 2008 seems to emerge clearly as the year of ‘common man’ and ‘Nanos’ in India. While last week saw Tata Motors Chairman Ratan Tata unveil the dream Rs one lakh small people’s car, HCL Infosystems on Tuesday ultra portable range of laptops, promising true mobile Internet computing experience at a cost half the normal laptops.

MiLeap, short for My Internet Leap, would be available in two series—X and Y—priced at Rs 13,990 and Rs 29,990 respectively.

Announcing this at New Delhi, HCL Infosystems (HCL-I) Chairman and CEO Ajai Chowdhry said that the new range of Leaptops are sleek, light weight (less than a kilogram) and have a very low energy footprint design.

The new HCL-I products also come with a take back scheme that enables the company to collect and dispose off the products in an environment friendly manner after the user decides to discard it.

“It is fully complies with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) directives on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment and hence is a very clean, green product,” Chowdhry said.

Commonly referred to as the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive, RoHS that became operational within the European Union from July 1, 2006 restricts the use of six hazardous materials—Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Hexavalent chromium, Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) in electronic and electrical equipment.

Giving further details of the products, Chowdhry said that both the models have been designed using the Intel processor A110 and Intel 945GU express chipset. The energy-efficient lower power silicon design consumes less power, reduces thermal impact and gives an extended battery life.

While the X series would have both the options of flash-based and disk-based storage version with a Linux-based operating system, the high-end Y series has multiple navigational features such as touch screen, thumboard, stylus, keyboard and touch buttons with Windows Vista as operating system.

Offering a full PC functionality with true Internet experience, ‘MiLeap’ is targeted at consumer who needs to stay connected, informed, entertained and productive—anytime and anywhere.

Both models have network ports, are Wi-Fi ready, have the option for data card and have sturdy design to make it dustproof, shock-proof and more durable.

Besides, the HCL ‘MiLeap’ Y Series ultra portable Leaptop comes with a Swivel 7 inch touch screen, 80GB HDD, wireless connectivity, blue tooth and Ethernet network port offering full PC functionality.

“This revolutionary new range of Ultra Portable MiLeap Leaptops will herald in a new category of computing devices, opening up a wide range of new usage scenarios and application areas,” Chowdhry said,

He further added that this new category, backed by HCL’s reach through its nation wide distribution, service and support network will revolutionise the PC penetration in India and brings the company a step closer to the vision of empowering the nation through the adoption of IT at all levels.

Speaking at the launch of the new product, Intel’s South Asia Sales and Marketing MD Ramamurthy Sivakumar said that affordable access to information via broadband Internet is the key to keep India growing fast and competitive in the new global economy, and the new product is an excellent step forward in that direction.

According to the company, in today’s networked world, where Internet connectivity is increasingly available on the move, more and more applications are exploiting the Internet to increase productivity, offer value added services, deliver entertainment and enable people to stay connected.

Marking the occasion as HCL’s tribute to the nation, the company announced that the new range of HCL Leaptops will start shipping on January 26, coinciding with the Indian Republic day celebrations.

For Adults Only

Daytime Affair

A woman was having a daytime affair while her husband was at work.

One wet and lusty day she was in bed with her boyfriend when, to her horror, she heard her husband's car pull into the driveway.

"Oh my God - Hurry! Grab your clothes and jump out the window. My husband's home early!"
"I can't jump out the window ~ It's raining out there!"
"If my husband catches us in here, he'll kill us both!" she replied. He's got a hot temper and a gun, so the rain is the least of your problems!"
So the boyfriend scoots out of bed, grabs his clothes and jumps out the window! As he ran down the street in the pouring rain, he quickly discovered he had run right into the middle of the town's annual marathon, so he started running along beside the others, about 300 of them.

Being naked, with his clothes tucked under his arm, he tried to blend in as best he could.
After a little while a small group of runners who had been watching him with some curiosity, jogged closer.
"Do you always run in the nude?" one asked. "Oh yes!" he replied, gasping for air. "It feels so wonderfully free!"

Another runner moved alongside him. "Do you always run carrying your clothes with you under your arm?"
"Oh , yes" our friend answered breathlessly. "That way I can get dressed right at the end of the run and get in my car to go home!

Then a third runner cast his eyes a little lower and queried, " Do you always wear a condom when you run? "

"Nope......... Just when it's raining".

Gum / Tooth disease can lead to Heart attacks / Preeclampsia

Researchers have found that people with a bad tooth had an increased chance of getting cardiovascular diseases. Dr. Barbara Taylor, Dentist and Geoffrey Tofler, Cardiologist with colloboration with scientists from University of Oslo, Norway have found that gum disease is linked to occurrence of heart diseases such as strokes and heart attacks. Gum disease occurs due to non-maintenance of tooth surface, which requires daily brushing and rinsing after food which clears the bacteria which covers the tooth surface, if this bacteria is not cleared it causes gum inflammation and gum diseases. The study results found that people with worst gum disease had severe heart problems and early treatment of gum diseases reduced the risk of heart attack incidence. Scientists have found that inflammation in gums related to occurrence of clotting risk factors in bloods and suggests that having a healthy tooth check up and cleaning can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.


A new study published in the February issue of the Journal of Periodontology, says that chronic periodontal infection does raise the risk of developing preeclampsia in pregnancy. The results of the study also indicate that preeclamptic mothers have low birth weight babies as compared to women who do not have preeclampsia.


"We found that chronic periodontitis was more prevalent in the preeclamptic group by almost 64 percent than the non-preeclamptic group at 36 percent," said Dr. Adolfo Contreras from the School of Dentistry, University of Valle, Cali-Columbia. "Women in the preeclamptic group had more clinical attachment loss than the healthy women group. Moreover, mothers having preeclampsia showed greater periodontal destruction." It was also found that the presence of common periodontal microorganisms like Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.gingivalis); Tannerella forsythia (T. forsythia); and Eikenella corrodens (E.corrodens) increased the risk of preeclampsia in pregnant women. This fact could be an indictor that these bacteria find a way into the bloodstream of pregnant individuals. The levels of these bacteria are significantly increased in gum disease or periodontitis. "P. gingivalis has not only been found in the blood circulation but also in atherosclerotic plaques, which has been linked to periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease," said. Contreras. The study examined 130 preeclamptic and 243 non-preeclamptic women in 26-36 weeks of pregnancy.

Commenting on these findings, Kenneth A. Krebs, DMD and AAP president. said, "Pregnancy-associated gingivitis is a preventable and easy to treat disease. It is still not known what is the precise mechanisms involved are in the association between periodontal infections and preterm birth. To date, no harmful damaging effect caused by periodontal intervention in pregnant women has been reported." Contact Information: Amy Duff The American Academy of Periodontology Phone: 312.573.3244 Fax: 312.573.3234 http:www.perio.org

Immune Cells Destroy Bone In Gum Disease

Immune cells play a big role in the bone loss that results due to periodontal or gum disease, according to researchers at The Forsyth Institute. Earlier researchers had speculated that the immune system was involved in destruction of bone in periodontal disease, but this is the first time it has been confirmed in human gum tissue. Forsyth researchers hope that the finding would help create new ways to stop bone loss in gum disease.


The study, led by Toshihisa Kawai, D.D.S., Ph.D., examined whether immune response to periodontal bacteria is protective or pathogenic in the context of gum disease. Periodontal disease is an infection of the teeth, and their supporting structures, which results in soft tissue and bone destruction, leading to tooth loss. Dr. Kawai and his colleagues had found that B cells (B and T lymphocytes are immune cells) can contribute to increased periodontal bone loss coordinating with activated T-cells. Both cell types had previously been found to manifest a host immune response to the bacteria causing bone loss in animal models, by his group.

"This research validates our hypothesis that immune cells are harmful in gum disease," said Dr. Kawai. "It's a groundbreaking discovery because it truly gives a new understanding of periodontal disease, while also raising interesting questions about immune cells. We hope this work will help us save people's teeth in the future."

Research Overview

RANKL is a protein that is a major factor in the regulation of osteoclasts (cells that destroy bone). Dr. Kawai's research examined the receptor activator of NF-kB ligand, (RANKL)-mediated osteoclastogeneis, and the pivotal role it plays in inflammatory bone resorption. The aim of this study, which will be published in the September issue of the American Journal of Pathology, was to identify the cellular source of RANKL in the bone resorptive lesions of periodontal disease. An active periodontal lesion is characterized by the prominent infiltration of B cells and T cells, both of which are major immune lymphocytes. Specifically, the occupancy of 50-60% of such cellular infiltrates by plasma cells (ultimately, differentiated B cells) makes periodontal disease very distinct from other chronic infectious diseases. B cells are known to produce a weapon (antibody) that normally attacks bacteria and protects our body from bacterial infection. As a consequence of dense infiltration of B cells found in the gum, periodontally diseased patients mount significantly elevated antibody levels to bacteria colonizing around gum tissues. However, the fact that periodontal disease continues to progress, even though B cells produce a weapon to fight off the bacteria, raised an important and interesting question. To answer this question, Dr. Kawai's group found that RANKL expressed on the T and B cells in the patient's gingival tissues were functionally sufficiently potent to induce bone destructive cells (osteoclasts) in a laboratory culture system, in spite of the elevated presence of B and T lymphocytes. Since it has never been reported that any bacteria per se invade and resorb bone independent of osteoclast activation, RANKL expression by T cells and B cells proves to be one of the major stimuli of osteoclast precursor cells and, hence, bone loss through periodontal disease. Source: Eurekalert

Molecular Switch That may Treat Chronic Autoimmune Disorders Identified

A research has discovered a new and powerful molecular switch that manages the inflammatory response of the immune system, and may also lead to the discovery of a treatment for lupus.


The findings may be used to develop methods to shut down uncontrolled inflammation, restore immune system regulation, and treat chronic autoimmune disorders such as lupus.

The research was led by Greg Lemke, PhD, professor of Molecular Neurobiology at the Salk Institute and he was funded by the Lupus Research Institute (LRI).

By autoimmunity, it is meant that the immune system which is designed to repel outside invaders by mistake builds up an incontrollable destructive inflammatory attack against the body’s own tissues and organs.

“We have found an essential switch that controls immune inflammation,’ said Dr Lemke.

In this study, Dr. Lemke mounts on findings that he and his team previously reported, when he noticed that mice genetically engineered to be born without a tiny family of three receptors—TAM receptor tyrosine kinases—developed an autoimmune illness similar to lupus in humans.

Dr. Lemke illustrated how under normal circumstances, these “TAM” receptors, are pivotal in stopping the immune system from building up an incontrollable inflammatory response against invading viruses and bacteria.

He also explained that when immune cells are prompted by chemical messengers (cytokines) to attack, they also activate TAM receptors, which then alert the cells to no longer react to the cytokines. This keeps the immune system orderly as well as relatively quiet.
However, in people with lupus and certain other autoimmune illnesses, the TAM signalling network may be seriously compromised.


The switch to restrain inflammation on this network may be absent thus resulting in immune system chaos.

Those who are affected by lupus tend to have low levels of a blood factor (proteins S) that TAM receptors require to carry out their job.

Administering modified versions of protein S, or its related TAM activator Gas6, to people with lupus may signify a way of stopping the immune system destruction of precious organs and tissues.

“This is definitely something we intend to investigate,” said Dr. Lemke.

This finding is reported in the recent issue of the journal Cell.

Source-ANI
SRM/P

New Breakthrough In Micro-Imaging

A researcher in the United States has devised a technique to make tiny compound eye structures that self assemble, which he believes may revolutionise micro-imaging by providing an accurate field of view of up to 90 degrees, just like flies have.


Compound eyes are formed from a large number of honeycomb-like tubes that guide light towards a sensor.

Luke Lee, a bioengineer at the University of California, Berkeley, says that he first creates a honeycomb pattern of micro-lenses by placing droplets of a polymer onto a sheet and allowing them to form lens shapes under their own surface tension.

The sheet of hexagonal lenses is later deformed into a dome shape, he says.

The whole process eventually leads to a tiny compound eye structure that Lee believes provide an accurate fly's-eye view of the world for the first time, reports New Scientist magazine.

Source-ANI
ANN/C

Cancer Among Children Rising in Australia

Childhood cancer is increasing in Australia, figures released by the country’s Cancer Council reveal.


Dr Anna Williamson, general manager of research, advocacy and patient care at the Leukemia Foundation, said children had a better chance of surviving than adults.

She attributed a rise in blood cancers to an ageing population, but noted "unexplained increases'' in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and myeloma. Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymph nodes and myeloma of the bone marrow.

"There has been a doubling of the rate of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma over the past 20 years and we don't know why - it seems to be a trend that is associated with a Western lifestyle, but it's difficult to say exactly what,'' Williamson said.

More than 500 children a year are diagnosed with cancer in Australia and the figure rises with the population, according to Dr Lesley Ashton, group leader of molecular epidemiology at the Children's Cancer Institute of Australia.

She said long-term, follow-up clinics were an important way to maintain the health of survivors and keep them informed.

"We don't know how much, but lifestyle factors such as smoking and obesity may have higher effects on survivors of childhood cancer than the rest of the population,'' she said.

Doctors believe childhood cancer leaves a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, secondary cancers and fertility problems because of the chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Leukemia remains the most common childhood cancer (38 per cent), followed by deadlier brain tumours (15 per cent) and lymphomas (9 per
cent).


But about 80 per cent of children recover from leukemia, compared with only 30 per cent two decades ago.

Dr David Ziegler, pediatric oncologist at Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, hopes new treatments will boost brain cancer survival significantly within the next 10 years.



And as things stand only one in 200 young adults diagnosed would survive by 2010. But with medical advances, the proportion of childhood survivors is expected to rise by 50 per cent in two years.

Now clinics have been set up across Australia to provide the new generation of survivors with specialised health checks.

Source-Medindia
GPL /J

Unwanted ‘Ambulance Response’ Of Immune Cells Can Be Blocked

A collaborative study has found a new way to selectively block the ability of white blood cells to ‘crawl’ toward the sites of injury and infection when such mobility drives disease.


According to researchers, the findings suggest a new treatment approach for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis, and for conditions made worse by misplaced inflammation, like atherosclerosis, stroke and transplant rejection.

Human cells migrate as part of complex bodily functions like immunity. For instance, disease fighting cells for instance move toward bacteria and cells infected with viruses, which they target for destruction.

Unfortunately, the same cells can mistakenly attack the body’s own cells or drive inflammation too far, worsening the problem they rushed in to solve.

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have been studying proteins called integrins that enable T cells, a major subset of immune cells, to migrate.

The integrin-related mechanisms suggest a way to shut down only those T cells currently in the act of disease-related migration, while leaving in place reserves needed in the likely event that another infection occurs during treatment.

Making the mechanistic discoveries possible was a successful effort by the researchers to capture on video the first detailed images of fast-migrating T cells and the behaviour of key proteins related to migration, which had been tagged with fluorescence.

“There are many cases where it would be incredibly useful to precisely block integrin activation, and thus T cell migration,” said Minsoo Kim, Ph.D., assistant professor of Microbiology and Immunology within the David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology at the Medical Center, and lead author of the article.
There are two mechanisms that make cell migration, or programmed directional movement, possible.


The first migratory mechanism is chemotaxis, which tells the T cells, named after the thymus (T) where they mature, which direction to move in.

The second is propulsion. In between infections and injuries, inactive T cells ride along with the bloodstream. T cells ‘realize’ when they pass by part of a blood vessel wall close to the site of an injury or infection.

The study is published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Source-ANI
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Calcium Channels Crucial In Asthma Onset

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have found that calcium channels have a crucial role to play in the onset of asthma and other allergic reactions.


They also explained that calcium ion channels called ‘calcium-release-activated calcium’ (CRAC) currents, play a pivotal role in activating mast cells.

The study was led by Monika Vig, PhD, an investigator in the Department of Pathology at BIDMC and Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, who said that earlier mast cells were the only factor, that were known for their role in allergic reactions.

“Mast cells store inflammatory cytokines and compounds [including histamine and heparin] in sacs called granules. When the mast cells encounter an allergen – pollen, for example – they ‘degranuate,’ releasing their contents and triggering allergic reactions,” Nature immunology quoted her, as explaining.

But now, mast cells are also known to play a key role in a number of biological processes and are involved in diseases ranging from multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis to cancer and atherosclerosis. To function, they require a biological signal, specifically, calcium.

Calcium moves in and out of the cells by way of CRAC currents. In fact, Last year, many researchers identified that CRACM1 gene was encoding for this calcium channel.

“With the identification of this long-elusive gene, we were able to create a knockout mouse that lacked CRACM1, and [as predicted] these animals proved to be resistant to various stimuli that usually cause severe allergic reactions,” she explained.

Later the experiments revealed that mast cells removed from the CRACM1 knockouts were not able to take in calcium, and thus they could not trigger allergic responses when exposed to allergens.


“These findings provide the genetic demonstration that CRAC channels are essential in mast-cell activation. This provides the proof of concept that an inhibitor of the CRAC channel should be able to impact mast-cell related diseases, including asthma and allergic diseases,” notes senior author Jean-Pierre Kinet, MD, BIDMC Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School.

“Since mast cells are also known to contribute to the progression of several other debilitating diseases, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer, an inhibitor of the CRAC channel could, in the future, help in slowing the progression of these diseases as well as alleviate disease symptoms,” she added.

The findings of this study appeared in the recent issue of Nature Immunology

Source-ANI
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A Simple Ankle Sprain Could Offset A Serious Blood Clot

Minor leg injuries like ankle sprains and muscle ruptures may increase the risk of blood clots in the legs or lungs.


Previous studies revealed that major injuries increased the risk for venous thrombosis. The disorder included deep vein thrombosis, or blood clots in the leg, and pulmonary embolism, or a blood clot that has travelled to the lungs.

“However, apart from the injury itself, other risk factors for venous thrombosis will be present because of the major injury, such as surgery, a plaster cast, hospitalization and extended bed rest,” the authors write.

“The risk of so-called minor injuries that do not lead to these additional factors is unknown.”

A study led by Karlijn J. van Stralen at Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, the Netherlands, examined 2,471 patients who developed venous thrombosis between 1999 and 2004.

They were asked to complete a questionnaire about any injuries, surgical procedures, plaster casts or immobilizations they had within one year of developing blood clots, as well as their height, weight, family history and sports participation.

The patients were then compared to 3,534 controls that did not have venous thrombosis.

A total of 289 patients had a minor injury in the three months prior to developing venous thrombosis, while 154 controls had a minor injury in the three months before completing the questionnaire.

“Minor injuries that do not require surgery, a plaster cast or extended bed rest were associated with a three-fold greater relative risk of venous thrombosis,” wrote authors.
“The association appeared local because injuries in the leg were associated strongly with thrombosis, while injuries in other locations were not associated with thrombosis. The association was strongest for injuries that occurred in the month before the venous thrombosis, suggesting a transient effect,” they added.


According to the authors, because minor injuries are common, they can be major contributors to the occurrence of venous thrombosis

“Many individuals with minor injuries will have contacted the general practitioner first. Therefore, there may be an important task for general practitioners to identify subjects who are at high risk of developing venous thrombosis and subsequently to provide prophylactic measures,” they concluded.

The report appears in Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA journal.

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Health Hazards of Modern Gadgets & Gizmos

A gadget is a device or appliance having a unique purpose and function. At the time of invention, a gadget is often way ahead of its peers in terms of novelty and uniqueness. This is what makes them, so desirable and ‘cool’!


The top ten gadgets that changed the world are debatable. Nevertheless, popular choices would be the television, telephone, camera, movie camera, microwave oven, video cassette player and recorder, video gaming consoles, Sony’s Walkman, IBM’s personal computer or PC and the first cell phone released in 1996, by Motorola. The latest gadgets include superior versions of DVDs, smart phones, camcorders, laptops, iPods, iPhones, the Blackberry, PCs, computer notebooks, pedometers etc.

That modern gadgets have changed the world, is a gross understatement. No one wants to go back to the days of no television, no washing machines and certainly, no cell phone. Hi-tech gadgets are proliferating by the dozen, as companies vie with each other to catch the eyes of gadget freaks or just time-pinched consumers.

Yet, rising from the din of MP3 players, DVD film premiers and podcasts is an ever increasing evidence, braced by scientific work, of the ill-health effects of modern gadgets.

The study done by Carnegie Mellon University found that spending one hour a week on the Net led to an average increase of 1 percent on depression scale, a loss of 2.7 members of the Net users social circle and increase of 0.4% on the loneliness scale.

Intel Apple computer along with Hawlett Packard has kick-started US 1.5 million US dollar- study on the effects of Internet on society. According to a spokesperson of the companies, 'People who use the Net lose more of their friends, are lonelier and more inclined to depression than non-Net users. Greater use of the Net is associated with a decline in size of the social circle, social contact and family communication'.

A brief outline of how these gadgets and their hazards to health are described below:

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs)

Almost all modern gadgets produce electromagnetic fields or EMFs, be they powered by electric, electronic or battery sources.

Method

According to scientists, EMR (electromagnetic radiation) from EMFs, can be disruptive to the human body’s own natural energy fields. Like x-rays, these waves are not blocked or weakened by objects in their way. They pass into our bodies upsetting normal cellular function and biological processes. EMR can cause headaches, tiredness and even immune system disorders. Scientists believe that appliances such as electric hair dryers, shavers and bedside digital alarms are more dangerous due to their proximity to the human head.

According to the World Health Organization, ‘electronic smog’, created by electricity is 'one of the most common and fastest growing environmental influences'. New evidence has linked ‘electropollution’ with a rise in cancer, birth defects, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, depression, learning disabilities and even Sudden Infant Death

Syndrome.


Some persons like Kathleen Lucas, of Glasgow are so sensitive to electromagnetic fields that they are actually incapacitated by modern gadgets.

Lucas, 55, could not go anywhere near a microwave oven, cell phone, iPod, etc., without getting sick. Confined to her home for decades as a result of this, an EMF-shielding costume sold by an innovative company, Hitek, finally came to her rescue. The suit contained a silver thread, which helped conduct electricity away. For Lucas it was a lifeline from years of suffering with brain fog, digestive problems and extreme fatigue.
According to scientist and EMF expert, the late Dr. George Yao, the typical American is hit by electromagnetic radiation up to 200 million times more intense than what his ancestors absorbed from the sun, stars, and other natural sources.

Cell Phones- Can ‘Fry Your Brains’

For those who believe in the perils of the mobile phone, the fact that graver side-effects like cancer take years to show up after exposure to cell phone radiation, is solely responsible for the free run of these gadgets.

A recent study by Finnish scientists found a 40 percent increase in the risks of brain tumor for those who use these phones for more than 10 years. The brain tumor was most likely to be located on the side of the head where the phone was held. In addition, a Swedish study has found that brain cells could be destroyed by mobile phone radiation, which means that the present generation of teenagers run the risk of going senile before their middle-age!

In India and the US, clinical trials have raised the possibility that men who use mobile phones very frequently have reduced sperm counts.

Obviously there is also some media hype on some of these issues. However there is no question about the ill-effects of EMF and especially the radiation released by cell phones and their effects on the brain of children. The scientists are to some extent underplaying its ill-effects. At present most scientists are agreeable that children under eight should not be permitted to use mobile phones; a warning sidestepped by most lawmakers.

Stress at home, at work

Hi-tech gadgets created to supposedly reduce stress, often result in the opposite. Jarring ring tones, high-decibel tunes on iPods and headsets, as well as blaring music from the television’s pricey sound systems account for noise pollution, which in turn cause headaches and hearing loss.

Like the ear, the eye too gets hit badly by modern gadgets. Hours of computer work, or computer play such as games have created a boom time for optometrists and eye ware stores.

Slouching in front of the television or any screen for that matter, coupled with the continuous use of computer keyboards or phone keys for text messaging has brought about its own share of orthopedic problems.

All these problems result in bodies beginning to function less and less efficiently, in the process causing more stress. Meanwhile, manufacturers are trying to create ergonomically better-designed gadgets which cause less health problems and which can accomplish more functions in a lesser time. Sadly, this ultimately backfires in the form of more workload per worker. More work translates into more sedentary lifestyle, less recreation and exercise and ultimately, more stress.

Safety Hazards

Modern gadgets come with many risks. As most are electrical or electronic, there are chances of electricity leaking causing minor shocks, burns and even electrocution. Faulty appliances can even set off electric fires. Toddlers with their inane curiosity are especially vulnerable to electric hazards.

Battery-operated devices such as mobiles phones can also be dangerous. A battery can overheat or explode resulting in third-degree burns or even start a fire. Nokia has recalled 46 million of the BL-5C batteries manufactured between December 2005 and November 2006 by the Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd for this very reason. They recorded approximately 100 incidents of over heating globally but reported no serious injuries or property damage.

(For a list of phones with such recalls go to medindia blogs)

Modern gadgets can also compromise road safety. Hi-tech gadgets or gizmos like iPods, iPhones and cell phones etc come with multimedia facilities. This means that users can jive to their favorite tunes, watch movies or even browse the Internet all while answering a call or even, driving. Unfortunately the human body may not always be that efficient. This multitasking can translate into car accidents or even distracted pedestrians walking right into oncoming traffic.

Social Repercussions

Gadgets like the Internet-enabled PC, satellite TV and mobile phone have created a unified international audience. Though the benefits are many, technology has grabbed its pound of flesh too.

For one, it is now easier for anti-social elements and crime to spread its tentacles. Anti-social lyrics in popular songs, which spill out of ear phones and headsets can subtly bring about a rise in racial differences and hate-crimes. The young, impressionable mind can get influenced by the lyrics and this can lead to alteration in their outlook and lifestyle. The hard rock and metal music is often criticized for this very reason.

The television, Internet and gaming consoles can leave their addicts strapped to the screens for countless hours, creating a host of personal and social problems. One such is loss of communication in families. In addition to the wave of consumerism and materialism created by hi-tech gadgets, the obsessive desire to possess these gadgets has boosted the incidents of thefts and crimes.

Gadget Disposal

Hi-tech gadgets have come with the added burden of their disposal. Modern appliances such as PCs, laptops, mobile phones, fax machines, TVs etc., dumped into landfills are creating mountains of electronic waste or e-waste. Every year 2.2 million PCs, 3 million fax machines and over 6.5 million telephones, both fixed and mobile are
discarded


Most of these devices contain lead, platinum and other heavy metals. They pollute the environment and create the increased risk to the health of all living organism as most of the pollutants creep into drinking water, crops and affect the food pyramid.

The search for safe and eco-friendly methods of e-waste disposal and recycling still remain one of the major challenge of the millennium.

Hazards to the Ecosystem

Humans are not the only victims of hi-tech gadgets, which modernization has let loose.
One vivid example is the mysterious ‘colony collapse’ of honeybees rampant now in US and continental Europe.

According to concerned scientists, clinical trials with mobile phone handsets have proved their theory that the radiation given off by hi-tech gadgets and cell phones disrupt the navigation systems of the honeybees. This would prevent the inhabitants of the hive from being able to return to it.

Now, what makes this ill effect of the modern gadget so scary is that bees are indispensable to the pollination of crops, and hence the production of food for human consumption. Albert Einstein once quoted “If the bees disappear, man would have only four years of life left'.

Lifestyle Disorders

Modern gadgets have quietly taken away the ‘spring in our steps.’ For one we hardly need to step-out for any of our wants and a modern fully equipped apartment can do away with almost any chore mentionable.

As these gadgets lure us with more rest and less stress, we pay for it with lifestyle disorders such as obesity, diabetes, heart ailments, hypertension and infertility problems to name a few.

For in his attempt to create a more convenient world, man is unwittingly paying the highest price - his health.



Source-Medindia
ANN SAMUEL/M

Sexually Active Gays Vulnerable To Highly Potent Superbug

Sexually active gay men are at a very high-risk of acquiring a new, highly antibiotic-resistant strain of the so-called MRSA bacteria widely know as the ‘superbug’, reveals a new study.


MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

The bacteria appear to be transmitted most easily through intimate sexual contact, but can spread through casual skin-to-skin contact or contact with contaminated surfaces.

"These multi-drug resistant infections often affect gay men at body sites in which skin-to-skin contact occurs during sexual activities," said Binh Diep, PhD, UCSF postdoctoral scientist at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Centre and lead author of a report on the finding.

"But because the bacteria can be spread by more casual contact, we are also very concerned about a potential spread of this strain into the general population,” Diep added.

The researcher said that a good scrubbing with soap and water might be the most effective way to prevent skin-to-skin contact transmission, especially after sexual activities.

The study is based on review of medical records from outpatient clinics in San Francisco and Boston as well as nine of 10 medical centres serving San Francisco.

In a second part of the study based on patient medical charts, the scientists found that sexually active gay men in San Francisco are about 13 times more likely to be infected than the general population.

"The potential widespread dissemination of multi-resistant form of USA300 into the general population is alarming," Diep said


The microbe is known as "multidrug-resistant, community-associated MRSA USA300."


The scientists conclude that research should be undertaken to explore the link between MRSA and unsafe sexual risk behaviours.

The study is published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Source-ANI
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A Pen That Literally Shows How You Feel

Consumer electronics company Philips has developed a pen that can help reveal a writer’s true emotional state during writing.


Sensors in the pen help perform this task by detecting physiological factors like heartbeat, blood pressure, skin temperature, and finger pressure.

A small actuator has been installed in the pen, which can change the properties of the line it traces out by switching inks and modifying the shape of the writing tip.

The writer’s emotional state is then determined by a built-in chip, which changes the colour and quality of the trace accordingly.

"Signatures are currently always the same, yet some documents will be signed with enthusiasm, others possibly with hesitation. Having a recording of this could be useful for historical reasons," New Scientist magazine quoted Philips as saying.

Just in case, a writer does not want his/her true feelings expressed, an on-off switch on the pen may be used to inactivate this function.

Source-ANI
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Did Christopher Columbus Bring Syphilis From America To Europe?

Christopher Columbus and his men may have introduced syphilis into Renaissance Europe after contracting it during their voyage to the New World, a study suggests.


However, scientists from the Emory University, Atlanta, USA, say that it will take further research to solidify the conclusion.

Researchers involved in the study called it the most comprehensive genetic analysis yet done comparing treponemes members of the bacterial family that causes syphilis and related diseases such as yaws.

Debate has raged for centuries over whether Columbus’ voyages were responsible for introducing Europe to syphilis, a common venereal disease. At one time a major killer, untreated syphilis can lead to complications including mental illness and heart damage.

The first known epidemic on record of the disease then known as “evil pocks” occurred in 1495 in Europe, two years after Columbus returned from his first New World voyage.

Kristin Harper approached this centuries old debate by using phylogenetics, the study of the evolutionary relatedness between organisms, to study 26 geographically disparate strains of treponemes.

The venereal syphiliscausing strains originated most recently, and their closest relatives were strains collected in South America that cause the treponemal disease yaws.

“That supports the hypothesis that syphilis or some progenitor came from the New World,” Harper says.

While it is generally agreed that the first recorded epidemic of syphilis occurred in Europe in 1495, controversy has raged ever since over the origin of the pathogen. Most of the evidence in recent years has come from bones of past civilizations in both New World and Old World sites, since chronic syphilis causes skeletal lesions.


In many cases, however, skeletal analysis is inconclusive, due to problems with pinpointing the age of the bones and the lack of supporting epidemiological evidence.


Further complicating the research is the fact that the family of Treponema bacteria causes different diseases that share some symptoms but have different modes of transmission. Syphilis is sexually transmitted, but yaws and endemic syphilis are tropical diseases that are transmitted through skintoskin or oral contact.

One hypothesis is that a subspecies of Treponema from the warm, moist climate of the tropical New World mutated into the venereal, syphiliscausing subspecies to survive in the cooler and relatively more hygienic European environment.

The phylogenetic analysis indicated that yaws is an ancient infection in humans while venereal syphilis arose relatively recently.

The study results are especially significant due to the large number of different strains analyzed, including two neverbeforesequenced strains of yaws from isolated inhabitants of Guyana's interior.

At Harper's request, the Guyana samples were collected during a medical mission by Ve’ahavta, the Canadian Jewish Humanitarian and Relief Committee.

“Syphilis was a major killer in Europe during the Renaissance,” says coauthor George Armelagos, a skeletal biologist whose research put him at the forefront of the syphilis debate 30 years ago.

“Understanding its evolution is important not just for biology, but for understanding social and political history. It could be argued that syphilis is one of the important early examples of globalization and disease, and globalization remains an important factor in emerging diseases,” he added.

The study is published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases

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Carrots Found To Reduce Cancer Risk

Latest research reveals that a compound in carrots may reduce the risk of developing cancer. Researchers say they have found that falcarinol, a natural pesticide found in carrots, is the specific component that reduces the risk of developing cancer.


Falcarinol protects carrots from fungal diseases, such as licorice rot, which causes black spots on the roots during storage. Researchers suspected falcarinol is effective because it stimulates mechanisms in the body that fight cancer hence researchers investigated the compound after a previous study suggested it could prevent the development of cancer.

Researchers divided 24 rats with pre-cancerous tumors into three groups and fed them different diets. After 18 weeks, rats who consumed carrots with their ordinary feed as well as rats who consumed falcarinol with their feed -- the same amount as contained in the carrots -- were one-third less likely to develop full-scale tumors than the rats in the control group.

In conclusion researchers say results of their research allows them to make a more qualitative assessment of the vegetables , rather than quantitative. However they say that they have to now find out how much falcarinol is actually needed to prevent the development of cancer .

Carrots That Help Your Teeth And Bones Too

It is a well known fact that carrots are good for our eyesight, but a new study has found that when properly modified, the vegetable can benefit our bones, too.


Researchers at Texas A&M AgriLife's Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center, in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, have developed a carrot that helps people absorb 41 per cent more calcium than consuming a regular carrot.

The carrot is higher in bioavailable calcium, indicating that the body can more readily absorb it.

“If you eat a serving of the modified carrot, you’d absorb 41 percent more calcium than from a regular carrot,” said Dr. Jay Morris, lead author on the paper, a post doctorate researcher at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

“The primary goal was to increase the calcium in fruit and vegetables to benefit human health and nutrition. Fruit and vegetables are good for you for many reasons, but they have not been a good source of calcium in the past,” he added.

Morris further said that adding the genetically modified carrots to the diet could help prevent such diseases as osteoporosis.

“We believe that if this technology is applied to a large number of different fruits and vegetables, that would have an even greater impact on preventing osteoporosis,” he said.

For this study, the researchers provided the carrots to a group of 15 men and 15 women. The people were fed either the modified carrots, called sCAX1, or regular carrots in the week one. On a second visit two weeks later, they were fed the other type of carrot.


Urine samples were collected 24 hours after each feeding study to determine the amount of specially marked calcium absorbed, Morris explained.


The study group also was evaluated for their normal absorption rate to compare with the rate of absorption from the calciumenhanced carrots, he said.

He added both men and women absorbed higher amounts of calcium from the modified carrots. But the technology needs to be available in a wide range of fruits and vegetables so that people can get the calcium benefit.

“The daily requirement for calcium is 1,000 milligrams, and a 100 gram serving of these carrots provides only 60 milligrams, about 42 percent of which is absorbable. A person could not eat enough of them to get the daily requirement,” he said.

But if vegetables and fruits could be bred to contain more calcium, then a diet that includes a variety of these produce might come closer to providing necessary calcium, Morris explained.

“Increased fruits and vegetables (in the diet) are better for a myriad of reasons,” he said.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Renuka Chowdhary To Review Mumbai Molestation Case

Union Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhary is likely to review the Mumbai’s New Year Day molestation case here today, at a meeting expected to be attended by concerned authorities.


The Ministry will review the report prepared by the Mumbai Police to take further action into the case.

A mob of 70-80 men had molested two NRI girls after they came out of JW Marriot Hotel on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1.

Two photojournalists, who had taken photographs of the accused, had later identified 14 people accused of being involved in the incident.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Amarjeet Singh, who had reached the spot at that time, also identified the accused.

The 14 accused in the case filed by the Mumbai Police after the photographs generated a public outcry, have been charged with outraging modesty of women and unlawful assembly, and could face imprisonment up to a year.

The case made a first breakthrough when two of the accused - Ravi Shukla and Nilesh - surrendered at the Juhu Police Station, which later led to a chain of arrests in the city.

Later, the 14 youths were granted bail by a local court at Andheri.

Source-ANI
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Chocolate and sex can boost brain

Forget crosswords. If you really want to boost your brain power, eat dark chocolate, consume cold meat and have plenty of sex, if possible every day.

A team of international researchers has carried out a study and found that while dark chocolate and plenty of cold meat for breakfast boost grey matter, sex keeps the brain fit in later life, the Daily Mail reported.

According to the study, those wishing to improve their mental ability should also avoid smoking cannabis, watching soap operas and hanging out with those who moan.

Instead, cuddling a baby, cheating at homework, reading out loud and doing a business degree can boost their mind power. The theories of the researchers are contained in the book Teach Yourself: Training Your Brain.

"What we eat and drink, how we learn at school and what type of moods we have are all crucial. People can make lifestyle choices that will constantly increase our cognitive capacity throughout our adult lives. Mix with people who make you laugh, have a good sense of humour or who share the same interests as you, and avoid people who whinge, whine and complain, as people who are negative will make you depressed," the book's author and one of the researchers, Terry Horne, was quoted as saying.

The book also contains mental exercises and radical thinking on how diet, the environment, stress and other aspects of modern life affect our mental capacity.

The researchers have claimed that sex has a very positive impact, listing seven chemical reactions the brain undergoes during intercourse which actually helps in improving its functioning ability.

The books says that sex raises levels of oxytocin or the 'trust' hormone which increases a person's readiness to think of novel or risky solutions to a problem.

Elements in dark chocolate also prove to be beneficial. Magnesium and antioxidant chemicals increase the supply of oxygen to the brain and reduce the chances of brain damage through a stroke.

Ditching a low-fat diet is also recommended to boost performance.

The book suggests a breakfast of eggs, fish or cold meat, a lunch of protein-based foods such as oily fish and dark green vegetables, and carbohydrates for dinner -- but not caffeine, alcohol or red meat. Children should not do homework on their own -- minds function better when working with parents or classmates, according to the researchers.

The book also says that speaking in front of a class helps pupils because of the repetition involved. And adults can boost memory by counting aloud to 99 in threes as fast as they can.

The researchers have recommended that readers should seek a concept known as BLISS -- Body-based pleasure, Laughter, Involvement, Satisfaction and Sex -- which all enable the mind to perform well.

SC lifts ban on bull fights in Tamil Nadu

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted conditional permission to the Tamil Nadu government for holding the event of Jallikattu involving bulls during the Pongal festival.

Hundreds of villagers in Madurai district of the state had been on a fast in protest against the apex court's ban on the traditional bull fight.

Fifteen villagers in Alanganallur tonsured their heads as a mark of protest. Most shops in these areas remained closed and black flags were hoisted atop houses.

Monkey and Lizard

A monkey was sitting in a gum tree...... smoking a joint when a little lizard walked past, looked up and said, 'Hey Monkey! What are you doing?' The monkey said, 'Smoking a joint, come up and have some.'

So the little lizard climbed up and sat next to the monkey where they enjoyed a few joints. After a while the little lizard said that his mouth was 'dry' and that he was going to get a drink from the river. The little lizard was so stoned that he leaned too far over and fell into the river.

A crocodile saw this and swam over to the little lizard and helped him to the side. Then he asked the little lizard, 'What's the matter with you?' The little lizard explained to the crocodile that he was sitting smoking a joint with the monkey in the tree, got too stoned and then fell into the river while taking a drink.

The crocodile said that he had to check this out and walked into the rain forest, found the tree where the monkey was sitting finishing a joint. The crocodile looked up and said, 'Hey you!'

So the monkey looked down at him and said, 'Shiiiiiiiiiiit dude...... How much water did you drink?'

Tamil Nadu restructures agricultural department

In an effort to push second Green Revolution by making technical information available to farmers easily in the block level under one roof, the Government of Tamil Nadu has announced restructuring of the Agricultural Department in the state.

According to the Tamil Nadu Minister for Agriculture Veerapandi S Arumugam, the restructuring includes converting the existing three-tier system at the district level to a two-tier structure with direct interaction between the District and Block Level.

This is aimed at enhancing the function of all the departments in the block level, which will boost the agricultural production in the state.

As per the new structure, under the control of Director of Agriculture, all the hierarchy level of posts have been abolished and only two cadres of officer will function for easy and quick disposal of technical matters in future.

Accordingly, the Joint Director of Agriculture will function in the district and the Assistant Director of Agriculture will function in the block level.

The function of the Assistant Director of Agriculture and his team of officers working in the block will assess the area of major crops, irrigated or rainfed crops grown in their block, apart from giving all the technical information to the farmers from land preparation up to the level of harvest.

Agriculture, Horticulture, Agricultural Marketing, Seed Certification, Agricultural Engineering and Soil Testing Lab will function in the block level at the Agricultural Extension Centre, where the farmers can get all the technical informations of various departments of agriculture in one place.

The Assistant Director of Horticulture and his team will assess the area under horticultural crops in the block and they will study the scope of expanding these crops based on the climate and soil suitability.

They will encouraging the farmers for doing the precision farming and work for the upliftment of farmers by growing some commercial crops in their farmland.

The Agricultural Officer (Marketing) in the block level will give information to the farmers to adopt the crop cultivation based on the market intelligence report given by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.

The middlemen in the agricultural business may be avoided by selling the agricultural produce in the Regulated Agricultural Marketing Centres functioning in their respective blocks.

The Agricultural Officer (Seed) working in the block level will take care of the distribution of certified seeds to the farmers in the block by replace the certified seeds once in three years, besides developing seed village concept among the farmers in the block for the replacement of certified seeds.

The new structure also makes the Agricultural Officer (soil testing) responsible for analysing about 500 soil samples per month and issue the analytical report along with the fertilizer recommendations to crops to the farmers, besides analysing about 6,000 soil samples per year and will complete all the soil analysis in a period of three years in all the farm holdings of the block.

Apart from hiring the tractors for ploughing, rice transplanters for transplanting, seedling and weeding to the needy farmers, the Agricultural Engineering Department will also hire the combined harvester for paddy harvesting, bulldozers, rock drills and bore well equipments by motivating the farmers to promote mechanisation in agriculture.

Bihar DM fined for non-compliance under RTI

The District Magistrate (DM) of West Champaran in Bettiah has been fined by the Bihar Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Justice Shashank Kumar Singh for not providing complete information to a petitioner in the state, despite the direction of the commission.

In an order on the petition of one Ravindra Pal Singh Chawla, the CIC has imposed a penalty of Rs 250 per day on the West Champaran DM with effect from January 7, 2008.

Besides, the Chief Information Commissioner has also directed the District Magistrate to be personally present with explanation on February 4, 2008.

A copy of the order has also been sent to the Bihar Chief Secretary and Secretary Personnel for compliance.

Himachal to accept job application on plain paper

The Government of Himachal Pradesh has decided to do away with the existing cumbersome application procedure for recruitments in government departments enabling them to accept applications on plain paper.

The new simplified process will also allow the candidates to submit self certified applications and does away with the need of attaching any other document, that are traditionally required to be submitted along with the application.

Informing this at a public meeting in Hamirpur district, the Chief Minister Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal said that recruitment for Anganwari workers and helpers would also be carried out from among deserving candidates of villages so that most deserving candidates were selected and provided employment in the Anganwari Centres.

He also assured that transparency would be maintained while carrying out recruitment by authorities and best efforts would be made to generate maximum employment avenues in government and public sectors, besides employment and self-employment avenues would be explored in private sector as well.

After Nano, Ratan Tata Looks Towards Thirsty India

Ratan Tata, father of Nano, dream car of the less- affluent, has another cause close to his heart- lack of access to safe drinking water for millions of Indians. For some years, Tata and his team have been striving to find a low-cost solution to this problem, via a water purification system.


Group company TCS developed a rice husk ash-based water filter at the Pune-based Tata Research Development and Design Centre. Asia’s largest software services firm has also introduced these filters in India’s thirsty areas, like Maharashtra. The product was patented by TCS in 2005-06.

Here, a simple method to provide potable water, making use of commonly available materials like rice husk ash, cement and pebbles is the modus operandi. The filtering medium is made up of rice husk ash, which contains activated silica and carbon. This helps remove color, odor and microorganisms. The system costs less than Rs 200.

Tata Industries has identified opportunities in water, which includes making seawater drinkable and purifying sewage into potable water. Tata Projects is also setting up drinking water plants to treat subterranean water polluted by fluoride (defloridation units) in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. This is as part of a community initiative.

Similar to Jusco, a part of Tata Steel which oversees water operations in Jamshedpur, Tata Chemicals too is viewing similar projects in areas with chronic water shortage. It also plans to develop water purification systems.


Not lately, Tata Tea entered the packaged water business by acquiring the Himalaya water brand.


The water purification market is of late proving exciting to multinationals. Hindustan Unilever launched Pureit in 2005, while Philips India launched Philips Intelligent Water Purifier in 2007. Currently, Aquaguard –a previous Tata enterprise is the leader in this category, where the penetration of water purifiers is a mere 2.5 %.

Source-Medindia
ANN/M

UK Inmates to Be Served Vitamins and Minerals to Reduce Prison Violence

In a move to improve the behaviour of inmates and cut violence in UK prisons, authorities have decided to provide them with vitamins and mineral supplements.


According to the Daily Telegraph, a research to find the connection between the diet of young offenders and their behaviour will be funded by The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), where a cross-party group of MPs and peers will be publishing a study to show the benefits of nutritional supplements in improving the education and criminal justice systems.

The study will be led by Bernard Gesch, a scientist at Oxford University's Laboratory of Physiology.

According to some scientists, a diet low in important nutrients encourages violent and disruptive behaviour in children and young adults.

The MoJ is planning to test that theory at two young offenders' institutions later this year by using vitamin and mineral supplements.

While the inmates at one institution will be given pills containing vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, the subjects at the other will be given placebos.

Gesch argues that a potential factor in crime and anti-social behaviour is the modern diet, which is heavy in sugars and additives but poor in key minerals.

Source-ANI
KAR/M

Study Warns Against Using Vitamin Supplements Indiscriminately

Are you in the habit using vitamin supplements or herbal remedies? With a whole range available in the market, you may not be making informed choices.


A new study suggests that those using supplements -- including sportspersons -- frequently have them without realising the potential side effects, or even benefits.

The findings of the study, by researchers at Kingston University here, were published in the online edition of the Nutrition Journal.

The study, which focussed on top athletes, found some 60 percent of those surveyed took nutritional supplements, but the reasons the sportspersons gave for taking them did not match the supplements' actual effects.

In fact, the study found that few users appeared to be taking supplements on medical advice.

This is worrying, the study notes, as high doses of some supplements may damage health and contaminated products may even cause athletes to fail drug-screening tests.

To help remedy this, the study says, education about the use of supplements should be a part of the accreditation process for sports coaches.

"Incongruence regarding nutritional supplements and their effects is alarming," said Andrea Petróczi, who led the study.

"Athletes seem to take supplements without an understanding of the benefits they can offer, or their side effects, suggesting that supplements may be used by high-performing athletes without a clear, coherent plan," Petróczi said.

Source-IANS
VEN/C

Nigeria Up in Arms Against Tobacco Firms

Three multinational tobacco firms being sued by the Nigerian government for targeting youth.

More at http://www.medindia.net/news/Nigeria-Up-in-Arms-Against-Tobacco-Firms-31802-1.htm

Five of World Bank Aided Indian Healthcare Projects Found Corrupted

In an effort to fight fraud, corruption and systemic deficiencies in India’s health sector, the Government of India and the World Bank Group have joined forces and announced immediate steps to investigate indicators of wrongdoing and to implement further safeguards.

The government has announced its intention to re-examine all ongoing and future projects to ensure that they incorporate the lessons from a Detailed Implementation Review (DIR), which is an instrument used by the World Bank to help assess the risk of fraud and corruption.

The five projects covered by the DIR include the US $114 million Malaria Control Project, the US $82.1 million Orissa Health Systems Development Project, the ongoing US $54 million Food and Drug Capacity Building Project, the US $193.7 million Second National HIV/AIDS Control Project and the US $124.8 million Tuberculosis Control Project.

The DIR launched by the World Bank in 2006 and supported by the Government of India has found serious incidents of fraud and corruption in five health projects, which began implementation between 1997 and 2003, financed by the government and the World Bank and other donors.

The detailed review was prompted by a World Bank investigation in 2005 into a Reproductive and Child Health (RCH1) project, where it found corrupt practices by two pharmaceutical companies which were subsequently disbarred by the bank and the government.

Both of them have introduced detailed anti-corruption plans into all new health projects in view of the findings of the RCH1 investigation.

Mentioning that the probe has revealed unacceptable indicators of fraud and corruption, World Bank Group President Robert B Zoellick said that the government and the World Bank are committed to getting to the bottom of how these problems occurred.

He further added that, on the bank’s side, there were weaknesses in project design, supervision and evaluation and there are also systemic flaws.

Zoellick expressed his determination in fixing these problems with the help of Volcker Report which points the way towards what has to be done.

Both the government and the bank have committed themselves to tighten oversight of the entire bank-supported health portfolio, currently nine projects.

They would also ensure that all new health sector projects include measures to counter the risks identified in the DIR such as comprehensive audits and performance reviews by independent third-party agents.

Zoellick said the Bank’s governance and anti-corruption work from now on would be placed before the scrutiny of independent and external reviewers to ensure that the institution was making tangible progress in its fight against corruption.

The bank and the government have already sought to address a number of the risks identified now in the DIR through new project design over the past two years, taking guidance from the RCH1 investigation.

Some of these remedial measures already being built into new projects in health and other sectors include enhanced transparency, building on India’s recent Right to Information Act, to include Web publication of all procurement processes, bidding and contract awards.

Besides implementing oversight by project beneficiaries, citizens and civil society, using community score cards and social audits, tightening oversight and recruitment of NGOs (for example the National AIDS Control Organization has terminated 163 NGO contracts out of 952) are also suggested.

Other measures includes tightening quality control to ensure the quality of pharmaceuticals procured, including independent validation of World Health Organisation (WHO) good manufacturing practice certificates and disclosing full results on government websites.

It also suggested procurement audits for 100 per cent of projects annually and aggressive tightening of procurement controls to catch collusive bidding, including designing new software detectors, besides aggressive acceleration of complaints processing and action.

In lieu of the mission to curb fraud and corruption, the Ministry of Finance said that necessary action under the relevant laws, rules and regulations would be taken against those suspected of wrongdoing and, if found guilty, they will be visited with exemplary punishment.

The World Bank will also be continuing its probe, which may lead to further sanctions such as debarment of companies and appropriate action under the rules against any bank staff if found negligent.

The World Bank has exposed serious fraud in Indian healthcare programmes it has funded and said New Delhi had agreed to help stamp out corruption, officials said Saturday.

Serious lapses in auditing, malpractice and corruption were found in five healthcare programmes launched between 1997 and 2003, it said, adding that the projects were jointly funded by donors, India and the World Bank.

A "detailed implementation review launched by the World Bank and the Indian government in 2006 found serious incidents of fraud and corruption in the five health projects," it said.

Four of the projects under investigation have already been completed while the fifth is ongoing and was facing an in-depth review, the Bank said in a statement.

An Indian health ministry spokesman said the projects that received overseas funds dealt with tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS control.

The World Bank said the in-house review was prompted by an internal investigation in 2005 into a reproductive and child health project in India.

"It found corrupt practices by two pharmaceutical companies which were subsequently disbarred by the Bank and the (Indian) government," it said.

World Bank president Robert Zoellick lashed out at random corruption in India, where state-run hospitals and clinics are seen as incapable of caring for the nation's billion-plus population.

"The probe has revealed unacceptable indicators of fraud and corruption," Zoellick said in a statement issued in India.

"The government of India and the World Bank are committed to getting to the bottom of how these problems occurred and I appreciate the resolute commitment of the government, which will be in the lead in pursuing criminal wrongdoing," he said.


Zoellick also blamed administrative lapses by the Bank for the fraud.


"On the Bank side, there were weaknesses in project design, supervision and evaluation. There are also systemic flaws. I'm determined to fix these problems," he said.

The government and the Bank have committed to improving oversight of the total nine health projects supported by the organisation, Zoellick added.

World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who visited New Delhi for talks with top officials Friday, said the Bank would invite external auditors to help fight corruption in the future.

India also warned it would take speedy action. Health Secretary Naresh Dayal said four teams of people from the finance and health ministries would be set up to "probe the irregularities" and action would be taken against those found guilty.

The government has already decided that procurement for Bank-funded health projects should be done through the United Nations Organisations of Procurement, Dayal said.

India's finance ministry also promised "exemplary punishment" for those found guilty, a ministry spokesman said.

Source-AFP
LIN

Plastic Surgery Patches Up Uganda War Victims' Mutilated Lips, Face

The first time a knife was put to Anna Alwoch's face, her lips were hacked off by rebels. The next two times, sharp blades were used by surgeons to rebuild her mouth -- and the process is almost done.


Alwoch, 55, is on a list of candidates for plastic surgery to repair her face, along with other victims who were mutilated by members of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda.

The LRA massacred thousands and abducted over 10,000 children to be soldiers and sex slaves during its 20-year rebellion against the central government. More than two million people were uprooted in the conflict between the rebels and Kampala's troops before a ceasefire was declared in July 2006.

The group became notorious for extreme brutality, including cutting the lips, ears and noses of civilians, chopping off villagers' body parts and beating victims to death.

Alwoch and her two children, one only seven months old at the time, were captured on a clear afternoon after a nearby clash between government and rebel forces. After being raped, she and the children were moved to a secluded shed for torture.

"The rebel commander ordered for my lips to be cut off. But he said that if I made any noise of pain, I and my kids were to be killed," Alwoch says, sitting on a straw mat in a bright blue dress, a cross on a pearl necklace hanging around her neck.


A breeze sweeps through the quiet cement compound where tiny, grass-thatched huts mingle with robust mango trees. As baby chicks and children scamper about, Alwoch describes how a rebel used a rusted piece of tin to slice into her mouth.


After he finished cutting, the rebel then ripped her lips off -- and Alwoch promptly fainted from the pain. When she woke up, her children were gone.

She later found them hiding near her home, but recalling the event that occurred in 1992 still brings Alwoch to tears.

In the late 1990's, a nearby hospital offered to perform reconstructive surgery on this housewife and broom-maker. She jumped at the chance.

"I thought I could be made the way I was before," Alwoch says, scooping up little children as they wander by.

And she was, to an extent. Her bottom lip was completely restored.

But Alwoch says that the painful surgeries have made her wary of undergoing another procedure.

In November, the Catholic charity Caritas arranged corrective plastic surgeries for 16 war victims in Gulu, a town at the epicentre of the conflict.

"Many people from the community were coming for counseling because of trauma related to their deformities," says John Komakech, deputy director of Caritas Uganda. Counselors thought the surgery could aid in helping victims fit back into society.

Komakech said that some patients have said that they already feel psychologically better after the procedures. "That, to me, is success," he says.

The 16 awaiting surgery were selected out of a massive list of nearly 3,000, a number that continues to grow as more victims find out about the programme and register.

"We are trying to organise with Mulago Hospital (a hospital in the Ugandan capital Kampala) a way to operate on the other victims," says Richard Todwong, special presidential advisor on northern Uganda.

Thick books filled with grim pictures and files on disfigured war survivors crowd the shelves of Todwong's office. The list of needed procedures ranges from minor facial corrections to full limb replacements.

Todwong said that most mutilation victims have suffered some level of ostracisation upon return to their communities, adding to the trauma of torture by the LRA.

This was Alwoch's case, who said some neighbors mocked her or made disparaging remarks about her disfiguration.

Though she still has difficulty performing certain simple tasks like blowing out a candle, she has not decided whether she will undergo the knife again.

Alwoch feels she does not need more surgery to feel comfortable.

"I accept the way I am. Once you have a scar, you have a scar."

Source-AFP
LIN/M

Rape Fast Growing Crime in India, Govt. Calls for Consultations to Protect Tourists

Rape is the fastest growing crime in India. Reports of molesting of foreign tourists keep pouring in from various corners of the country.


Alarmed, the federal government has called for consultations with states to review safety and security measures for visitors from abroad.

There have been at least a dozen cases of molestation and rape of foreigners in the first couple of weeks of 2008.

The latest such incident has been reported from Kumarakom in ‘God’s own country’ Kerala in southern India, where two minor girls from Canada on a holiday were molested by a security guard of a hotel.

In other very recent cases, a British journalist was allegedly raped by the owner of a guest house in Udaipur and an American tourist was molested at a temple in Pushkar, both being major tourist destinations in Rajasthan.

These incidents have raised serious concern in the Union tourism ministry, which is apprehensive that its high-profile ‘Incredible India’ campaign abroad would be adversely affected by the bad publicity resulting from such cases.

Tourism Minister Ambika Soni is said to have taken serious note of the incidents and called for a consultation with state governments on the measures to be adopted to counter such trends.

Already travel advisories issued by many western nations like US,UK, Canada and France include warnings on the law and order situation in India.

They have specifically warned women tourists about the possibility of physical harassment and molestation in major tourism destinations like Delhi, Agra ,Goa and Himachal

In Kerala the shocked Canadian family chose to leave the Kumarakom resort after the assault on their girls, aged 12 and 14.

On the New Year’s Eve, two native girls were molested on the Fort Kochi beach.

The nation is yet to recover from the new year eve molestation of two women in the commercial metropolis of Mumbai.

A 58-year-old principal was arrested on Saturday on charges of molesting a minor girl in a school in the national capital of New Delhi.

Indeed, the latest crime statistics, pertaining to 2006, released by the Home Ministry’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that every hour 18 women become victims of crime.

The number of rapes a day has increased nearly 700 per cent since 1971 — when such cases were first recorded by NCRB. It has grown from seven cases a day to 53.

The figure grew 5.5 per cent over the number of cases registered in 2005.

In comparison, all other crimes have grown by 300 per cent since 1953 when the NCRB started keeping records.

And these are just the cases that have been reported; the number of unreported cases is far higher.

According to NCRB figures, among 35 cities with a population of more than a million, Delhi topped the list of crimes against women with 4,134 cases (nearly one-fifth of the total crimes against women). One-third of the rapes and a fifth of the molestations took place in the city. Hyderabad was second most dangerous for women with 1,755 cases.

Among the states, Andhra Pradesh had the highest number of crimes committed against women — 21,484 cases or 13 per cent of the total cases in 2006. Uttar Pradesh was a close second, with 9.9 per cent of such crimes. Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of rape cases, at 2,900, and also molestation cases.

Records reveal that 7,618 women were killed for dowry in 2006, an increase of 12.2 per cent over 2005. Uttar Pradesh with 1,798 cases had the highest number of such deaths, followed by Bihar with 1,188 cases.

According to official sources, Union Tourism Secretary S.Banerjee has written to tourism secretaries of all states regarding the recent media reports about harassment of women tourists. Reminding them about the Centre’s concern for the safety of foreign as well as domestic tourists, he recalled that the ministry had earlier asked them to deploy special police at popular tourist sites. Only 10 states have acted on the recommendation so far, reports the Hindustan Times.

Source-Medindia
GPL/M

Shy Mums can Breastfeed in Public With ‘Peek a Boob’ Bib on

For women who feel shy while breastfeeding their babies in public, there’s a smart solution – the ‘Peek a Boob’ bib.


Invented by Sydney mum Cassandra James-Killer, ‘Peek a Boob’ is an adult size bib for women who feel embarrassed while breastfeeding in public.

Aimed at women who feel uncomfortable exposing their breast in public, the fashionable adult-size bib has just been launched on the internet.

However, the bib has been deemed “unnecessary” by the Australian Breastfeeding Association.

James-Killer, 29, hairdresser by profession, was given a similar bib that her friends discovered in the US when she used to feel uncomfortable while feeding her 20 months old daughter Lilly, in the streets of Bondi.

"It gave me the confidence to feed in public . . . it can be hard at first and I didn't want people to see me when something went wrong," the Daily Telegraph quoted here, as saying.

She then redesigned the bib to suit the Australian market.

The bib has adjustable straps and sits over the mum and baby. With a rigid neck, it allows the mum and baby to see each other while providing a full cover from passers-by, who can only see a cloth.

Last year, changes to the law by the State Government, made it illegal to discriminate against women breastfeeding in public.

Source-ANI
SRM/M

HIV Positive Bodybuilder Wins Mr. Manipur Title

Khundrakpam Pradipkumar, an HIV positive bodybuilder, has recently won the title of Mr. Manipur for the 60 Kg Category.


"I want to prove the worth of an HIV positive person," he said adding that a victory of a dream with the support of a strong will power.

37-year-old, Pradipkumar won the coveted title which is the dream of many young men.

Pradipkumar came to know about his HIV status only in 2000 but did not lose the hope, even when most of his friends who shared the needles with him, died long back.

"Every person believes that once you are infected by HIV, you will die. But this is not a fact. If you will continue to consume the medicine on time and have healthy food, than you can spend your life in a normal way. This is what I wanted to show to the people. That's why I began to play," he said.

Acting as a role model for the many in Manipur, which is among the top rankers in the list of HIV, induced by injections.

Unfortunately, during his growing up days only, he started using heroin and by 1987 he started injecting them, which pushed him in the clutches of deadly HIV.

"My happiness is beyond the words. I am very proud of my son. He is very brave and courageous but with only one mistake that he committed. He has been rendered helpless like an accident like an accident victim. But despite all odds, he has made it so far, for which as a mother my happiness knows no bounds," said Kh. Memma Devi, Pradipkumar's mother.


Pardipkumar got third position in state level wrestling championship in 1985 and gold medal in the state level power lifting in 1987.


Now, he is targeting to take part in the Mr. India competition, to be held in Meerut at Uttar Pradesh in March 2008, to cover another stair of success.

Source-ANI
SRM/M

Flirting is an Art: Philosophy Professor

Clueless on how to woo your partner? Fear not for Philosophy professor has come to the rescue.


Gettysburg College philosophy researcher Steve Gimbel has offered some ethical and practical advice on flirting to those of the faint of heart.

"Flirting is an art form. The accomplished flirt knows when to be subtle and when to be blunt. But the game can be dangerous, especially if you are involved with someone. Does your lover have a right to be pissed at you for flirting? Like so much in ethics, the answer is it depends,” Gimbel said.

Gimbel defined flirting as the first steps of courtship without the intent of it going beyond that point. It is good-natured play and added that neither person will get hurt because both parties know that it is going nowhere.

"Flirting is different from engaged, friendly conversation. It is also different from hitting on or teasing someone. There's an edge to flirting because both of you know it isn't real. Flirting is for playing around, hitting on is for players,” Gimbel said.

Gimbel said that nothing is intrinsically wrong with being a flirt. Exclusive relationships require fidelity and that means not sharing one's most intimate side with anyone else, either physically or emotionally, he added.

"Flirts, like married actors who perform love scenes, are playing a part, only this one is not pre-scripted. The depth of true romantic involvement is something completely different from the shallowness of flirting," Gimbel said.


"A flirt is perfectly capable of enjoying a fulfilling and exclusive relationship. Of course, that requires a certain sort of partner,” he said.


Gimbel explained that generally partners in a relationship come in two flavours: confident and secure or insecure and seeking approval.

"Being with a flirt is a constant reminder that the person attracted to you is found attractive by those around you, and some people are comfortable with that but most people are not," Gimbel said.

Source-ANI
LIN/M

Cholesterol Genes Mapped

New genes have been found that influences blood cholesterol levels. The study of 20,000 people across the world found seven new genes and 11 already known genes that control blood cholesterol levels. The international study led by researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health set out to identify or confirm genetic variants that influence lipid levels, and secondly, to see if those variants were linked to the decreased or increased risk of heart disease. The findings will be published online in the journal Nature Genetics on Jan. 13.


The results may lead the medical community to rethink the role of HDL (good cholesterol) and LDL (bad cholesterol) in heart disease, said Goncalo Abecasis, associate professor in the U-M School of Public Health. Abecasis co-directed the study with Karen Mohlke, assistant professor of genetics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

"It was surprising that while genetic variants that increase your bad cholesterol are also associated with increased risk of heart disease, we did not find that variants influencing your good cholesterol were associated with decreased risk of coronary artery disease. Perhaps that result will lead us to reexamine the roles of good and bad cholesterol in susceptibility to heart disease," Abecasis said.

Coronary artery disease, a condition where plaque accumulates on the walls of coronary arteries, is the most common type of heart disease and a leading cause of death in industrialized countries. The type and amount of cholesterol and other lipids in the bloodstream contribute to the risk of coronary artery disease, which can cause heart attack, stroke, angina and other heart conditions. Both genetic and environmental factors influence a person's cholesterol and blood lipid levels.

"Finding new gene regions associated with cholesterol levels may bring us one step closer to developing better treatments, said Cristen Willer, co-first author and a research fellow in the Department of Biostatistics. "Nearly all of the gene regions that we found to be involved in higher LDL levels were also involved in coronary artery disease risk. This is a remarkable result and suggests that new drug therapies that target the genes in these regions will also help prevent coronary artery disease and allow people to live longer and healthier lives." Serena Sanna, who worked on the paper as a post-doctoral student in Abecasis' group and who is now at the National Research Council di Cagliari in Italy, is co-first author.


Of the seven new variants, two influenced HDL, one influenced LDL, and three influenced triglycerides, which are found in fat and in the bloodstream and like LDL, are associated with increased risk of heart disease. One variant influenced triglycerides and LDL.

Scientists initially examined 2 million genetic variants in 8,800 individuals and ended up focusing on a total of 25 genetic variants on 18 genes. Altogether the variations reported are responsible for less than a quarter of the genetic contributions to lipid levels.

The completion of the map of human genetic variation, or HapMap, has fueled a surge in this type of genome-wide association study, with most of the growth coming in the past 10 months. Researchers around the globe have now associated more than 60 common DNA variants with the risk of more than 20 common diseases or related traits.

Source-Eurekalert
LIN/M

Is Britney Suffering from Stockholm Syndrome?

Patricia Arquette has warned Britney Spears that she should think again about her friendship with the paparazzi - referring to her alleged whirlwind romance with snapper Adnan Ghalib.

The actress is confused about the Britney's relationship with the photogs, who follow her everywhere.

According to Arquette, the singer is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, which is common among hostages and abuse victims, who show loyalty towards their captor/abuser.

"When you see her seeming like she's friends with the paparazzi, she's got, like, Stockholm Syndrome," Contactmusic quoted Arquette, as saying.

"I mean she's becoming friends with her captors. She's being torn apart by this business," she added.

Spears is reportedly dating Ghalib, who was once among the photographers keeping a track of the singer's every step.

Source-ANI
SRM/M

Indian doctors among many attacked on duty in Britain

Indian and Indian-origin doctors working in the National Health Service - are among thousands of doctors in Britain who were physically or verbally attacked by patients last year but most choose not to report the abuse, according to a report.

More at http://www.rxpgnews.com/doctors-uk/Indian-doctors-among-many-attacked-on-duty-in-Britain_82655.shtml

Indian stem cell scientists find clues to birth defects

By Papri Sri Raman,Chennai, Jan 10 - In a discovery that could have a far-reaching impact on the development of drugs, scientists in Karnataka's Manipal town have for the first time found clues to how defects occur during foetal growth.

Researchers from the Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine have discovered that the presence of very low amounts of an endotoxin, a potentially toxic natural compound, in the foetal environment can cause defects in the development of tissues in a growing foetus.

Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccahrides - are the main antigenic components of the cell wall of harmful bacteria that cause vaginosis, which is a common bacterial infection of the maternal genital tract.

LPS, which is harmful for foetuses, is regularly shed in the environment where the embryo grows when the mother is suffering from vaginosis.

Silent infections of gram-negative bacteria like Chlamydia trachomatis can also cause birth defects with poorly developed tissues and organs of the foetus.

An understanding of the molecular mechanisms of such pathogenesis remains obscure owing to ethical issues dogging the use of human embryos in research.

'We have, therefore, used embryoid bodies as a tool to understand the effect of endotoxins on the induction of lineages in a developing foetus,' Kaushik Deb, principal scientist of the Manipal Institute's embryonic stem cell programme and chief researcher of the team, told IANS.

Embryonic stem cells provide a reliable source for studying the formation of all the 220 different tissues of the human body.

Scientists said these cells could be grown as cultures in petri dishes to produce early embryo-like entities, known as embryoid bodies -, which consist of a differentiated population of cells representing all the germ layers - ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm.

These EBs closely mimic a growing embryo in a mother's womb.

During their one and a half years of research work, the Manipal team found that 'a molecular analysis of the EBs from the mesoderm region exposed to LPS indicated the complete silencing of expression for eight kinds of tissue markers', Deb explained.

'These EBs were then tested for their ability to produce bone tissues of mesoderm origin. As expected, these EBs could not be differentiated to primary bone tissue. They had lost their ability to form functional bone cells due to LPS exposure,' he said.

How LPS affects different kinds of tissue formation was then studied in greater detail.

Based on their findings, the researchers have suggested that LPS induced HMGB1 protein is involved in the specific silencing of tissue differentiation in stem cells.

'Human embryonic stem cells are the gold standard for studying tissue formation and enable us to predict the effect of various pharmaceuticals and natural toxins that the growing foetus may accidentally get exposed to while inside the womb,' Deb added.

Satish Totey, chief scientific officer of Stempeutics Research Pvt. Ltd - a stem cell research company that has supported and partially funded the research work, said: 'These findings have significant implications for birth defect research and evaluation of developmental toxicity during drug screening.'

The findings of the Indian scientists have been published in the January 2008 edition of Regenerative Medicine journal.

Stephen Minger, chief editor of the journal and director of the stem cell laboratory of King's College, London, said: 'Trace amounts of LPS in the embryo culture media used during in-vitro fertilisation - can lead to poor pregnancy outcome.

'Also, if the embryos are transferred to a mother with bacterial vaginosis, the pregnancy could lead to a child with weak formation of bone, blood or even heart tissues.'

Evolution of the sexes: What a fungus can tell us

By Duke University Medical Center, DURHAM, N.C. -- Fungi don't exactly come in boy and girl varieties, but they do have sex differences. In fact, a new finding from Duke University Medical Center shows that some of the earliest evolved forms of fungus contain clues to how the sexes evolved in higher animals, including that distant cousin of fungus, the human.

A team lead by Joseph Heitman, M.D. has isolated sex-determining genes from one of the oldest known types of fungi, Phycomyces blakesleeanus, findings which appear in the Jan. 10 issue of Nature.

Fungi do not have entire sex chromosomes, like the familiar X and Y chromosomes that determine sexual identity in humans. Instead, they have sex determining sequences of DNA called mating-type loci.

Mating-type loci have been found in a number of higher-level fungal species, and exhibit an unusual amount of diversity. These differences occur even among similar fungal species leading scientists to wonder how they evolved.

Heitman's group hypothesized that the sex-determining arrangement found in one of earliest forms of fungi might reveal the ancestral structure of mating-type loci, serving as a sort of molecular fossil.

Fungi are good model systems for the evolution of human sexual differentiation because the genetic sequences responsible for sex are smaller versions of chromosomal sex-determining regions in people, Heitman said.

To identify the mating-type loci in Phycomyces, the researchers used a computer search to compare known mating-type loci in the genomes of other fungal lineages and then genetic mapping. We employed a usual-suspects approach, comparing proteins between fungal types before identifying a candidate that appeared related in all lineages, says Heitman.

Within this stretch of DNA, they were able to isolate two versions of a gene that regulates mating, which they dubbed sexM, (sex minus) and sexP (sex plus). Strains of fungi with opposite versions of the sex genes are able to mate with each other.

Both versions of the gene, sexM and sexP, encode for a single protein called a high mobility group (HMG)-domain protein that leads to sex differentiation through an unknown process. This protein is very similar to one encoded by the human Y chromosome, called SRY, that when turned on leads a developing fetus to exhibit male characteristics. Heitman said this similarity suggests that HMG-domain proteins may mark the evolutionary beginnings of sex determination in both fungi and humans.

Heitman's team proposes that sexM and sexP were once the same gene that went through a mutation process called inversion. The new versions then evolved into two separate sex genes. The same process is most likely responsible for the evolution of the male Y chromosome, Heitman suggests.

Heitman hopes to next identify the sex region in another fungus, Rhizopus oryzae in order to better understand how HMG-domain proteins control sex determination in fungi. Rhizopus' genes can be cultured and chemically altered in a way that Phycomyces' sex genes can not.

Rhizopus can be used to understand the influences of certain genes in lesser studied fungi much in the way we use mice to understand genetic effects in humans, explained Alexander Idnurm, Ph.D., the primary author on the study and recently appointed assistant professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Another troubling mystery for Heitman is that certain younger fungal species lack HMG-domain proteins. He proposes that these proteins have been replaced with alternative transcription factors, which are proteins that turn genes on and off.

Remembering uncle - the man behind Jaipur Foot

Uncle's enormous contribution will continue to bring cheer to millions of physically challenged across the world.

More at http://www.rxpgnews.com/medicalnews/Remembering-uncle---the-man-behind-Jaipur-Foot_82396.shtml

RNA Shown To Silence Cancer Suppressor Gene

One way cancer arises is when tumor suppressor genes that normally keep cell growth in check are mysteriously turned off. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that at least one tumor suppressor gene is in fact turned off by a “noncoding” single stranded RNA nucleic acid similar to its double-stranded DNA cousin.


The so-called antisense RNA is made by a gene on a neighboring strand of DNA. Most genes in the human genome have associated with them nearby antisense RNAs, which, as their name implies, are complementary to the amino acid sequences in a “sense” RNA to which they may bind and switch off.

Reporting on the discovery in the Jan. 10 issue of Nature, the Johns Hopkins team says an absolute key to fighting cancer is to figure out why and how tumor suppressor genes get silenced and identifying means of switching them back on chemically.

“This is the first time we’ve seen an antisense RNA silencing a tumor suppressor through the means of epigenetic changes,” says Hengmi Cui, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular medicine at Hopkins. Epigenetic changes refer to heritable changes in genetic material that are not changes in the sequence of the DNA; these could include the addition of chemical tags onto DNA or otherwise altering how compressed the DNA is in a cell.

The Johns Hopkins team notes that a similar phenomenon occurs in plants but until now has not been seen in any type of animal, including humans. “We’re really excited to see if this is a general mechanism for all tumor suppressor genes,” says Cui.


Andrew Feinberg, M.D., M.P.H., professor of medicine, oncology and molecular biology and genetics and director of the Epigenetics Center at Hopkins, says the results of the team’s experiments “bring us closer to solving two outstanding mysteries in biology, namely what all those noncoding RNAs do in cells and how tumor suppressor genes get turned off.” It turns out, he adds “that many of those noncoding RNAs may be silencing tumor suppressor genes.”


Following clues that suggested such a role for antisense RNA, the researchers first surveyed computer databases for tumor suppressor genes with known neighboring antisense RNAs. They found antisense counterparts to 21 well-known tumor suppressor genes and decided to further study one of them, p15. That gene is deleted or silenced in several types of human cancer, including melanomas, gliomas, lung and bladder carcinomas and up to 60 percent of leukemias.

The research team first analyzed leukemia cells for the presence of antisense p15. Of 16 patient samples, 11 showed an increase in antisense p15 and decreased p15. The researchers confirmed in other experiments that the more antisense p15 a cell contained the less sense p15 it was likely to have, strong evidence that the antisense was somehow turning down the normal, sense version.

Chemically turning on the antisense gene, the team found, turned off the sense p15 gene. When they looked at the DNA around the p15 gene in cells, they found that the DNA was more compact and tightly packaged, which generally shuts off genes.

“Somehow, the presence of the antisense RNA leads to the formation of this tightening of the chromosome to make heterochromatin around the p15 gene, turning it off,” says Feinberg. “We’re now looking at other tumor suppressor genes to figure out how this happens and how general this phenomenon is.”

Further characterization of the antisense RNAs, according to Feinberg, could lead to their use as markers for certain types of cancer as well as targets for cancer-specific drugs and therapies.

“This initial laboratory study gives us some excellent clues of how to proceed with possible clinical studies to determine whether antisense RNAs could be used to guide therapy,” says David Gius, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute’s Radiation Oncology branch.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Source-Kaiser Family Foundation
LIN/M

Soon Dentists can Detect Breast Cancer by a Simple Saliva Test

US researchers are conducting a study to identify and quantify specific protein markers in human saliva, which will help in the early, non-invasive diagnosis of breast cancer.


The study, led by Charles Streckfus, D.D.S., a University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston professor of diagnostic sciences with an expertise in salivary function and molecular epidemiology, demonstrates how the onset of breast cancer produces a change in the normal type and amount of proteins in glandular secretions from the salivary glands.

The protein profile in a healthy person is altered by the presence of cancer.

“Why not the dentist? Most folks, especially women and children, visit the dental office way more often than they ever see the physician. Saliva is a non-invasive, quicker way for detection,” Streckfus said.

In the study, the research team reviewed saliva samples from 30 patients.

They analysis revealed, 49 proteins that differentiated healthy patients from those with benign breast tumours and those with malignant breast tumours.

These findings suggest that patients can be tested for breast cancer by examining certain protein markers in their saliva during a visit to a dentist’s office or other health care facilities.

The objective of the study is to bring a type of diagnostic test, which is capable of detecting the presence of cancer before a tumor forms, into the dental office or other health care facilities.

The technology aims to improve the ease and effectiveness with which dental professionals and other health care providers can provide quick, accurate diagnostic information and physician referrals to their patients.

The study is published in the journal Cancer Investigation.

Source-ANI
KAR/M

Physician-Owned Specialty Hospitals Ill-equipped to Meet Emergencies

Physician-owned specialty hospitals are poorly equipped to handle emergency care, according to an HHS Office of Inspector General report released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports. HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson in the report wrote that of 109 physician-owned hospitals reviewed, 55% had emergency departments and the majority of those hospitals had only one ED bed. The report also found that 7% of physician-owned hospitals do not meet Medicare requirements that a registered nurse be present at all times and that a physician be on call if none are on site.


In addition, the report found:

• 22% of the hospitals did not address in written policies how emergency situations should be evaluated and handled, which is required by CMS;

• 34% of the hospitals rely on dialing 911 to obtain emergency care for patients; and

• Fewer than one-third of hospitals had a physician on site at all times.

The report recommended that CMS identify and track all physician-owned hospitals to ensure they can handle emergency situations and meet requirements. Acting CMS Administrator Kerry Weems in a letter to Levinson agreed with the report's findings and said most of the recommendations are being pursued by the agency.

Molly Sandvig, executive director of Physician Hospitals of America, said that the report is flawed because it provides no comparison between emergency care at physician-owned hospitals and other kinds of hospitals. She said that CMS should take action against any hospital that does not meet the agency's requirements.

Source-Kaiser Family Foundation
LIN/M

Mumbai New Year Molesters Not To Be Let Off Easily

s India’s city of dreams ; Mumbai still reels under the shame of rampant female molestation on New Year’s Eve, the home department, headed by Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil, is making moves to dub molestation a ‘ non-bailable offence’.


Two women were molested outside JW Marriott hotel in Juhu on New Year. The incident which was caught on video by Hindustan Times photographers set off a nationwide outrage .

The state government is expected to forward the home department’s proposal to the Centre later this week. “This issue has been on my mind for some time and we even got the proposal cleared a month back,” Patil was quoted.

“Now, we will ensure it is forwarded to the Centre for speedy clearance”, he added. Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule, who called on Patil seeking stern action in the molestation case, commended the move.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has also blamed “outsiders’ for the Juhu molestation. “These boys (the accused) are from good families. They tried to rescue women in distress”, he vouches.

Yesterday a Mumbai court had directed the police to issue notices to all the 14 accused. This follows a revision application filed against the granting of bail to them.
Prosecutor RR Kini pleaded the police be given a chance for investigation as they had not been given custody of the accused, released from the jail on January 8.


On January 3, a Metropolitan Magistrate's Court had granted bail to the accused hours after they were arrested in connection with the molestation of two NRI women by a mob of around 50 people outside the five-star hotel in suburban Juhu . The photographers filmed the incident and then called the police.


According to media persons, even film celebrities are not given the slip by eve-teasers. Stars such as Bipasha Basu , Kim Sharma, Koena Mitra and Esha Deol have had to deal with such elements.



Source-Medindia
ANN/M

HP intros solution for medical image archiving

Hewlett-Packard (HP) on Thursday introduced a specialised platform that would enable healthcare providers, hospitals and imaging clinics meet their rapidly expanding archiving and retention requirements for medical images.

Acording to the company the Medical Archive Solution (MAS) 3.0 is also aimed at strengthen healthcare providers’ focus on improving patient care, while adhering to strict compliance regulations by ensuring that medical image data is securely indexed, preserved and accessed.

It delivers factory-integrated HP ProLiant servers, HP StorageWorks SAN and MSA disk storage with indexing, policy management and search software to provide long-term retention of medical fixed content.

The grid architecture of MAS satisfies the scalability and performance requirements of healthcare providers at an affordable price, besides its tiered storage ensures healthcare providers align the business value of images with appropriate retention policies.

“Healthcare organisations prioritise patient safety in the face of increasing costs, labour shortages and reduced reimbursements for procedures,” HP said in a press release. It furthe added that the medical imaging storage market is doubling every 24 months due to growing volumes of diagnostic images, medical documents and lab reports.

HP Information Management, Software VP and GM Robin Purohit said that by bringing MAS to the masses—small and large customers alike—the company has dramatically increased the number of organisations that can benefit from having easy access to the right patient information at the right time.

“The new platform offers high availability gateway that provides always-on grid access to medical images, documents and lab reports, even in the event of multiple site failures,” he said.

The new solution features an image management layer support and certifications with more than 30 picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) vendors, which makes it easier for physicians within a hospital or across a group of hospitals to access patient information and share diagnostic.
It also has the ability to create and manage multiple tiers of storage within the MAS grid, including SAN, SCSI, SATA and tape and enables alignment of storage costs and retention policies with clinical value of images.

Besides, it comes with a Linux operating environment that enables use of standard system management tools to simplify operations to enhance operational efficiency and regulatory compliance.

Australia’s GPS-based speed control system may have solution to Blueline ills

For the Government of NCT Delhi that has so far failed to rein the killer Blueline busses, here is a lesson straight from Western Australia’s Office of Road Safety and Main Roads, which is set to trial an Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) system that will automatically slow a speeding car using satellite technology.

The ISA system would use global positioning system (GPS) to track a vehicle and the speed limit for its location, and if the vehicle is exceeding the speed limit, the unit gives an audible warning.

More at http://www.igovernment.in/site/australias-gps-based-speed-control-system-may-have-solution-to-blueline-ills/

Gas6 Improves RBC Number

Anemia is a deficiency of Red Blood Cells (RBCs) caused by their insufficient production, excessive destruction, or excessive loss. Recombinant Erythropoietin (Epo) is commonly administered to treat anemia. But many patients do not respond to Epo. However a new study by Anne Angelillo-Scherrer and her colleagues at the University Hospital Center and University of Lausanne, Switzerland, have seen that the protein Gas6 might augment or replace Epo in the treatment of patients who are hyporesponsive or resistant to Epo, respectively.


It was shown that following treatment with Epo, mouse rbc precursors released Gas6, which increased cell signaling in response to Epo treatment. In addition, mice deficient in Gas6 had decreased sensitivity to Epo and a reduced ability to recover from anemia. Administration of Gas6, either alone or in combination with Epo, was successful at treating both chronic and acute anemia in mice. The authors therefore concluded that Gas6 has a role in rbc formation and might have valuable therapeutic potential for the treatment of individuals with anemia who fail to respond to treatment with Epo.

Source-ANI
KAR/M

How to make the same change in All Excel Worksheets

Have you ever had an MS Excel workbook that you're constantly working in, making the same changes to several different worksheets?

Here is the trick...

The first thing you need to do is go to the first worksheet to be changed/edited. Next, you need to select the sheet tabs of all the worksheets that need the same changes. To select a series of tabs, hold down the Shift key and click on the last sheet tab in the series. You should see that the first, last and all tabs in between are selected simultaneously.

If you have non-consecutive sheets to change, hold down the Ctrl key and click on the tab for each sheet to be changed. Once you have all the tabs selected, you're ready to begin your changes. So, go ahead and make those changes, only on the visible sheet. Be sure not to click out of that sheet or you will deselect all of the sheets. Are your changes all done? If so, click on another sheet tab. But make sure that the multiple tabs are no longer highlighted. Now, it's time to notice something way more exciting! Take a look at all the sheets you had selected to change.

Long Words Give You The Creeps ? You Have Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

Do you steer clear of medical dictionaries and high-scoring Scrabble players? Well, then you might be suffering from hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia – the fear of very long words.


This is just one of the most curious phobias, catalogued by readers of New Scientist magazine, who learnt about their fears through counselling companies guaranteeing a cure.

The readers’ inquisitiveness brought out a whole dictionary of phobias, including nucleomituphobia - the fear of nuclear weapons, odontophobia - the fear of dentists, and Francophobia - the fear of the French.

The dictionary of phobias emerged out of the website of a US company selling alternative treatments.

ChangeThatsRightNow.com points out 1,500 phobias, including paraskavedekatriaphobia, the fear of Friday the 13th, and offers “one-to-one help” for about 1200 pounds.

Other phobias in the dictionary include Rhytiphobia, the fear of wrinkles, and pentheraphobia, the fear of mothers-in-law.

However, New Scientist was unconvinced, noting that “phobias conspicuous by their absence included “fear of silly marketing” and “fear of repetitive websites”.

Numerous British psychologists are of the view that phobias existed for almost anything.

“It’s not unusual for people to have unusual phobias. Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns, is surprisingly common,” Times Online quoted Robert Endelmann, a chartered psychologist and a patron of the National Phobics Society, as saying.

Among the fears treated by psychologists are learned phobias that sufferers may have “caught” from friends or family, and phobias that may have a deep-rooted biological trigger.

“Fear of the dark, fear of high places and fear of things that move quickly, such as spiders or snakes – it would have been useful for our ancestors to be afraid of such things,” Professor Endelmann said.


He added that he is not convinced that phobias are proliferating.

However, he did believe that “we have become probably more ready to apply a label to things. However, from a therapeutic point of view, if someone has a problem with their life it probably doesn’t help to apply a label to it.”

Philip Durkin, principle etymologist for the Oxford English Dictionary, gave insight into the roots of hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, identifying “sesquipedalian” (having many syllables) as the main component.

“The hippopotomonstro part is clearly someone adding hippopotamus and monstrous. It doesn’t really follow linguistic rules. It’s sort of a joke. The label mocks the sufferer,” he said.

Source-ANI
KAR/M

Ponting's finest hour turns bitter

From http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/jan/10prem.htm
It should have been Ricky Ponting's finest hour -- he had led his team to a 16th straight win, equaling a world record set by his predecessor Steve Waugh.

Instead, he woke on the morning after to find himself notorious: India was in ferment over the conduct of the Sydney Test; in Australia, former greats and large sections of the media condemned the behavior of the home team, and the captain's own statements about his integrity were mocked by widely circulated video clips that clearly indicated he had claimed a catch that was not fair.

The Herald Sun reports that wife Rianna was shaken by the stories appearing in the media, and called up her husband to ask if he was okay. Ponting, then appearing at a charity golf game, indicated that all was well, then spoke to Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland who, reportedly, assured him that he had the full backing of the board.

The fires continue to rage, however. The Herald Sun reports that Ponting's parents had to change their home number following a deluge of threatening calls, while back in India, straw merchants are