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Planck spacecraft obtains first peek of big bang’s ‘afterglow’

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 18 (ANI): European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Planck spacecraft has obtained its first peek at the afterglow of the big bang, revealing it in unprecedented detail.

The ESA spacecraft was launched into space on May 14 this year. It is observing the glow of hot gas from just 380,000 years after the big bang, called the cosmic microwave background (CMB).

According to a report in New Scientist, the detailed properties of this background may contain hints of hidden extra dimensions or multiple universes, as well as providing clues to what caused a brief, early period of incredibly rapid cosmic expansion.

Planck began surveying the microwave background on August 13, a few weeks after reaching its planned perch 1.5 million kilometres from Earth at a point called L2 and cooling its detectors to within 0.1 degrees Celsius above absolute zero.

Now, the Planck team has released the probe’s first image, an observational strip covering about 5 per cent of the sky.

Slight variations in temperature from place to place in the early universe give the image its mottled appearance.

“With a few per cent of the data in, you can see it’s working well and delivering good stuff,” said team member George Efstathiou of the University of Cambridge.

Planck is expected to provide the most detailed all-sky map of the cosmic microwave background yet, improving on the best current map, obtained by NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), which launched in 2001.

Planck’s detectors have more than 10 times the sensitivity of WMAP’s, and about 2.5 times the angular resolution.

“Every strip that Planck scans, we’re getting data that is many, many times more sensitive than WMAP,” Efstathiou told New Scientist.

Although Planck was only designed to observe the sky for 15 months, the team believes it could last for more than 30 months, based on new estimates of how long its coolant will last.

The extra time will allow Planck to measure the radiation with even greater precision, since it will scan the entire sky four times – two more than originally planned. (ANI)

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Natalizumab drug improves quality of life of MS patients

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 13 (ANI): A new study has found that multiple sclerosis patients taking Tysabri (Natalizumab) experienced a significant improvement in both their physical function and psychological well-being.

“The symptoms that an MS patient deals with on a daily basis result in significant psychological and physical effects that can adversely impact their quality of life,” said Dr William Stuart, medical director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Atlanta.

“In a previous pivotal trial, TYSABRI not only showed a reduction in relapse rates and disability progression, but also improved quality of life.

“Results from this observational study further demonstrate the impact of TYSABRI on improving MS patients’ well-being as reported by patients who live with this disease every day,” he added.

The study assessed the health outcomes from patients’ perspectives before starting TYSABRI and after the third, sixth and 12th infusions of TYSABRI.

After six TYSABRI infusions, patients reported statistically significant improvement in disease-specific quality of life (QoL), which measures the physical impact of MS in terms of mobility and self care, as well as the psychological impact of MS in terms of anxiety/depression.

The participants also scored higher in general health-related quality of life.

The findings were presented at the 25th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). (ANI)

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Aspirin ‘cuts colorectal cancer death risk’

August 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 12 (ANI): Taking aspirin on a regular basis after being diagnosed with colon cancer has been found to reduce the chances of dying from the disease, reveals a new study.

Numerous prospective, observational studies have shown that regular aspirin use is linked to a lower risk of colorectal adenoma (a benign tumour) or cancer.

However, the influence of aspirin on survival after diagnosis of colorectal cancer has been unknown.

Dr. Andrew Chan of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues studied aspirin use in 1,279 men and women with colorectal cancer that had not spread to other parts of the body.

They found that people who took aspirin regularly after their diagnosis were nearly 29 percent less likely to die from their cancer than people who did not take aspirin. These people also were 21 percent less likely to die for any reason while they were in the study lasting more than two decades.

“These results suggest that aspirin may influence the biology of established colorectal tumours in addition to preventing their occurrence,” Chan said.

Aspirin is likely, at least in part, to prevent colorectal neoplasia (tumour growth) through inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2; an enzyme), which promotes inflammation and cell proliferation, and is overexpressed in the majority of human colorectal cancers, according to background information in the article.

The study has been published in the August 12 issue of JAMA. (ANI)

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Why male and female lemurs are of same size

July 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 15 (ANI): Rice University biologist Amy Dunham has put forward a new theory for one of primatology’s long-standing mysteries-why are male and female lemurs the same size?

In most primate species, males have evolved to be much larger than females, but this has not been found to be true in case of lemurs.

Some theories have suggested that environment played a role or that lemur social development was altered due to the extinction of predatory birds.
“Scientifically, this is quite a big question that researchers have debated for over 20 years. I actually started doing research on lemurs as an undergraduate, working in Ranomafana (National Park in Madgascar), and the question about size monomorphism has bugged me since then,” said Dunham.
In the new study, Dunham has offered one of the first new theories on lemur monomorphism in more than a decade.
After conducting an exhaustive review of the observational work done on lemurs, Dunham concluded that male lemurs do guard their mates, just like other primates.

But unlike gorillas and other primates that fight for mating rights with females, male lemurs have evolved to passively guard their mates.
They do this by depositing a solid plug inside the female’s reproductive tract just as they finish mating. The plug is deposited as a liquid protein but quickly hardens and stays in place for a day or two.

Since many female lemurs are sexually responsive to males for only one day out of the entire year, the plug serves the purpose of preventing other males from mating with the female, while also freeing the male to mate with other females during the brief time they are available.
“If the female has a short receptivity period, as most lemurs do, then we hypothesize that this is likely to be an advantageous strategy,” said Dunham.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers examined 62 primate species and found that copulatory plugs were most likely to occur in species where female sexual receptivity was very brief and where males and females were the same size.

This was true both for lemur species and for a few other species, like South American squirrel monkeys.
The study has been published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. (ANI

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What makes good teachers even better

July 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 8 (ANI): The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in the UK has made some findings as to what makes good teachers even better.

Professor Christopher Day, Professor Pam Sammons and Dr Alison Kington at the School of Education University of Nottingham carried out the two-year Effective Classroom Practice (ECP) at the School of Education University of Nottingham from 2006-2008.

Lead researcher Prof. Day believes that the research provides a unique picture of the more effective teacher.

“More effective teachers create a positive climate for learning by challenging pupils’ ideas, inspiring them, being more innovative in their practice and differentiating amongst pupils according to their abilities and interests where appropriate,” says Prof. Day.

That, according to the researcher, means: “Pupils have more control over and engagement in their learning and more opportunities for success.”

Based on their findings, the researchers have come to the conclusion that the best teachers are not necessarily those with the most experience.

They say that the best teachers are the ones with enthusiasm for their work, high aspirations for the success of every pupil, positive relations, high motivation, commitment and resilience.

They further say that combining good knowledge of their subject and teaching practice and providing support tailored to the individual needs of each child, these teachers focus on building self esteem, engendering trust and maintaining respect.

The two-year study involved 81 teachers (45 primary and 36 secondary), 38 head teachers and 3,000 pupils and included a series of teacher and pupil questionnaires, observations of classroom practice and post-observation tools to allow in-depth probing of issues relating to data strands, such as teacher effectiveness, leadership issues, teacher identity, professional life phase and teacher efficacy.

“By including the collection and analysis of different kinds of observational data it was possible to get below the surface to reveal the interactions between classroom practice, teacher characteristics, professional life phase, school contexts and effectiveness as defined by pupils’ context value added scores which take account of prior learning and a range of socio economic factors, together with teacher and pupil perceptions of effectiveness,” Prof. Day explained.

The main impact relating to teaching practice has been for training and development purposes. The research points to the importance of providing teachers in service with structured, regular opportunities to reflect on their roles and classroom practices and learn from examples of best practice in a variety of school and classroom settings.

It points to the value of classroom observation and feedback as part of this process. (ANI)

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Astronomers obtain first detection of magnetic field on bright star Vega

June 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Paris, June 24 (ANI): Astronomers, using the NARVAL spectropolarimeter of the Bernard-Lyot telescope in France, have obtained the first detection of a magnetic field on the bright star Vega.

According to an article in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, astronomers clearly observe the magnetically-induced effect in the spectrum of Vega, thereby showing that the star possesses a magnetic field, something unknown so far.

Using the high-sensitivity NARVAL spectropolarimeter installed at the Bernard-Lyot telescope at the Pic du Midi Observatory in France, a team of astronomers detected the effect of a magnetic field (known as the Zeeman effect) in the light emitted by Vega.

Vega is a famous star among amateur and professional astronomers. Located at only 25 light years from Earth in the Lyra constellation, it is the fifth brightest star in the sky. It has been used as a reference star for brightness comparisons.

Vega is twice as massive as the Sun and has only one-tenth its age.

Because it is both bright and nearby, Vega has been often studied but it is still revealing new aspects when it is observed with more powerful instruments.

Vega rotates in less than a day, while the Sun’s rotation period is 27 days.

The intense centrifugal force induced by this rapid rotation flattens its poles and generates temperature variations of more than 1000 degrees Celsius between the polar (warmer) and the equatorial regions of its surface.

Astronomers analyzed the polarization of light emitted by Vega and detected a weak magnetic field at its surface.

This is really not a big surprise because one knows that the charged particle motions inside stars can generate magnetic fields, and this is how solar and terrestrial magnetic fields are produced.

However, for more massive stars than the Sun, such as Vega, theoretical models cannot predict the intensity and the structure of the magnetic field, so that astronomers had no clue to the strength of the signal they were looking for.

After many unsuccessful attempts in past decades, both the high sensitivity of NARVAL and the full dedication of an observing campaign to Vega have made this first detection possible.

he strength of Vega magnetic field is about 50 micro-tesla, which is close to that of the mean field on Earth and on the Sun.

This first observational constraint opens the way to in-depth theoretical studies about the origin of magnetic fields in massive stars.

Astronomers believe that this discovery will be a key step in understanding stellar magnetic fields and their influence on stellar evolution. (ANI)

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Pacifiers don’t interfere with breastfeeding success

May 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 30 (ANI): Giving an infant a pacifier does not interfere with breastfeeding success, say researchers.

The team led by Dr Fern Hauck, researcher and associate professor of family medicine and public health sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine has found no adverse relationship between the two.

“Physicians, nurses and others who advise parents on infant care issues do need to be educated about the potential benefit of using a pacifier for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) prevention, and further, now need to be reassured that using the pacifier should not interfere with breastfeeding,” said Hauck.

The researchers reviewed 29 studies, of which four were randomized control studies (RCT), 20 were cohort studies and five were cross sectional studies.

The results from the four RCTs showed no difference in breastfeeding outcomes with different pacifier interventions, such as use with tube feedings, use after delivery or educational programs promoting non-use of pacifiers.

Most of the observational studies- cross-sectional and cohort – reported an association between pacifier use and shortened duration of breastfeeding.

According to Hauck, this association was likely due to other factors such as breastfeeding difficulties or desire to wean.

“Mothers who breastfeed are often advised not to use a pacifier. This recommendation needs to be corrected. However, if a baby refuses a pacifier, it should not be forced upon him or her,” she said.

Hauck added that the best time to introduce a pacifier is usually when the baby is three to four weeks old, after breastfeeding is well established. Most of all, mothers who choose to breast-feed need lots of support.

The results appear in Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine. (ANI)

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No link between osteoporosis drugs, irregular heartbeat

April 7, 2009 By admin 2 Comments

Washington, Apr 7 (ANI): Commonly used osteoporosis drugs have not been found to increase the risk of irregular heartbeat, say research team led by Indian-origin scientist from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Bisphosphonates, found in prescription drugs reduces the risk of fractures, especially those of the spine and hips in older patients, however studies have revealed that they might cause problems with heart rhythm, thereby increasing the risk of stroke or heart attack.

“Some trials show there could be a potential link between the use of bisphosphonates and the development of serious heart rhythm problems, but in our study the link wasn’t conclusive,” said Sonal Singh from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and lead investigator for the study.

“So we urge that additional investigations be conducted,” she added.

During the study, the researchers analyzed the data from previous observational studies and clinical trials to determine the link between bisphosphonate therapy and irregular heart beat.

Although bisphosphonate use was associated with a significant increase in the incidence of “serious” heart rhythm disturbances, but when they included “non-serious” cases in their analysis, they found no overall increased risk of atrial fibrillation.

“We found no risk of stroke and cardiovascular mortality in the trials. That was very reassuring,” said Singh.

The study appears in Drug Safety. (ANI)

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Drew Barrymore to star in ‘Going the Distance’ opposite Justin Long

April 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 31 (ANI): Drew Barrymore has signed on to star in New Line’s romantic comedy ‘Going the Distance’ opposite Justin Long.

‘Going the Distance’, to be directed by Nanette Burstein, is an observational comedy about a young couple navigating their way through the perils of a long distance relationship who quickly discover that “going the distance” might cost them everything they have, including one another.

The film is being produced by Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot via their Offspring Entertainment shingle, reports Variety.

‘Going the Distance’, penned by tyro writer Geoff LaTulippe, reunites Barrymore and Long, who starred in New Line’s ‘He’s Just Not That Into You.’ (ANI)

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Aspirin ‘improves survival in postmenopausal women with heart disease’

March 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 13 (ANI): Aspirin may reduce the risk of death in postmenopausal women who have heart disease or who have had a stroke, according to a new study.

The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study also provides new insight into aspirin dosing for women, suggesting that a lower dose of aspirin (81 milligrams, or mg) is as effective as a higher dose (325 mg).

This is good news for women who might be concerned with internal bleeding, a well-known risk of aspirin that may be more likely with higher doses of aspirin, according to other studies. However, randomized clinical trials are needed to determine the optimal doses of aspirin in women with cardiovascular disease.

Scientific evidence indicates that, in general, aspirin lowers the risk of death and incidence of heart attack and stroke in patients with a history of cardiovascular disease; however, the benefits of aspirin in women with stable cardiovascular disease in particular are unknown.

In this study, researchers analyzed data from 8,928 postmenopausal women who had previously had a heart attack, stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA, or mini-stroke), angina, or angioplasty or coronary bypass surgery to improve blood flow. Participants were followed for an average of 6.5 years.

The researchers found that as compared to those who did not report taking aspirin, regular aspirin users had a 25 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 14 percent lower risk of death from any cause.

They found that overall, aspirin use did not significantly decrease the risk of heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular events, except among women in their seventies.

There were no significant differences in death rates or other outcomes between women taking 81 mg of aspirin compared to those taking 325 mg.

The study appears in the March issue of the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes and was published online March 5, 2009. (ANI)

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Women’s long-term fertility linked to reduced Parkinson’s risk

February 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Feb 26 (ANI): Women who are fertile for more than 39 years and have natural menopause are at a lower risk of contracting Parkinson’s disease, says a new study.

The study, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 to May 2, 2009, provides evidence that longer exposure to the body’s own hormones may protect women from the disease.

According to the study’s results, women who have more years of fertile lifespan (number of years from first menstruation to menopause) had a lower risk of developing the disease than women with fewer years of fertile lifespan.

The fertile lifespan is a marker for the body’s own sex hormone levels.

In addition, women with four or more pregnancies were at greater risk of developing the disease than women with fewer pregnancies.

Separately, the risk of Parkinson’s disease was increased in women who had hysterectomies and had also previously taken hormone replacement therapy compared to those who never took hormone therapy, but it was not increased in women who took the hormones but had not had hysterectomies.

“This study does not support a role for treatment with hormone therapy in Parkinson’s, but there are still many unanswered questions,” said study author Rachel Saunders-Pullman, MD, MPH, MS, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY, and Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, NY, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

For the study, researchers analyzed the records of the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study to determine who developed Parkinson’s disease. The study involved about 74,000 women who underwent natural menopause and about 7,800 women who underwent surgical menopause. (ANI)

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Multivitamin may not cut postmenopausal women’s cancer risk

February 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Feb 10 (ANI): Multivitamins may offer no benefit in reducing the risk of common cancers, cardiovascular disease or overall mortality in postmenopausal women, according to a new study.

The study also revealed that multivitamins do not increase the risk for these conditions.

The research was conducted as part of the Women’s Health Initiative Clinical Trials and the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study.

Combined, the two studies include data from 161,808 postmenopausal women ages 50 to 79. Of that group, 41.5 percent used multivitamins over 15 study years.

This latest study, led by Marian L. Neuhouser, Ph.D., R.D., of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, in collaboration with others from national WHI clinical centers, including Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology and population health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Dr. Wassertheil-Smoller is the principal investigator of the WHI study at Einstein, found no overall associations between multivitamin use and breast, colorectal, endometrial, kidney, bladder, stomach, ovary, or lung cancer.

Researchers also found no association between multivitamin use and cardiovascular disease and death.

Researchers collected data for the multivitamin study during participants’ clinic visits.

Clinic staff transcribed the ingredients for each supplement, and then grouped them according to three classifications.

The most common category (35 percent) was multivitamins with minerals, followed by multivitamins alone (3.5 percent) and stress multivitamins (2.3 percent).

“Based on our results, if you fall into the category of the women described here, and you do in fact have an adequate diet, there really is no reason to take a multivitamin,” said Dr. Wassertheil-Smoller.

The authors, however, acknowledge the potential limitations of their study, and caution against extrapolating their results to the general public.

The study is published in Archives of Internal Medicine. (ANI)

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Omega-6 fatty acids boost heart health

January 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Jan 27 (ANI): Omega-6 fatty acids found in vegetable oils, nuts and seeds are good for your heart, says a new study.

The research has been published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The association has recommended that people aim for at least 5 percent to 10 percent of calories from omega-6 fatty acids.

Recommended daily servings of omega-6 depend on physical activity level, age and gender, but range from 12 to 22 grams per day.

Omega-6, and the similarly-named omega-3 fatty acids (found in fattier fish such as tuna, mackerel and salmon), are called polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and can have health benefits when consumed in the recommended amounts, especially when used to replace saturated fats or trans fats in the diet. Omega-6 and omega-3 PUFA play a crucial role in heart and brain function and in normal growth and development.

PUFA are “essential” fats that your body needs but can’t produce, so you must get them from food.

“Of course, as with any news about a single nutrient, it’s important to remember to focus on an overall healthy dietary pattern – one nutrient or one type of food isn’t a cure-all,” said William Harris, Ph.D., lead author of the advisory.

To reach the conclusion, the advisory reviewed a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials, and more than two dozen observational, cohort, case/control and ecological reports.

Observational studies showed that people who ate the most omega-6 fatty acids usually had the least heart disease. Other studies examined blood levels of omega-6 in heart patients compared with healthy people and found that patients with heart disease had lower levels of omega-6 in their blood.

In controlled trials in which researchers randomly assigned people to consume diets containing high versus low levels of omega-6 and then recorded the number of heart attacks over several years, those assigned to the higher omega-6 diets had less heart disease.

A meta-analysis of several trials indicated that replacing saturated fats with PUFA lowered risk for heart disease events by 24 percent.

“When saturated fat in the diet is replaced by omega-6 PUFA, the blood cholesterol levels go down. This may be part of the reason why higher omega-6 diets are heart-healthy,” Harris said. (ANI)

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