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How to stay fit in flu season

September 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 20 (ANI): As cold and flu season approaches, giving up junk food for more healthy options would help maintain a strong immune system.

Dr Ara DerMarderosian, professor of pharmacognosy for University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and an expert in nutraceuticals and natural foods, have provided guidance to change how you eat and break habits that pack on the pounds and compromise immunity.

? Don’t play “food police”

Be conscious of what and how much you eat, but don’t overdo self-monitoring to the point that a healthy lifestyle shifts from being a choice to becoming overwhelming, pushing other activities away and interfering with relationships.

? Pay attention to true hunger

Listen to your hunger signals and refrain from eating when you’re not hungry. Eating when your body doesn’t need food can cause you to overindulge.

? Eat slowly

Eat like a gourmet – enjoy each bite to have, chewing methodically, and truly enjoy the taste of your food. Eating slowly gives your body time to break down the food, which can prevent post-meal indigestion and feeling bloated.

? Focus on eating

Do not watch television, read or work while you eat. When you’re not focused on eating, it’s unlikely you’ll notice how much is going in your mouth.

? Avoid eating when stressed

Stress is a well-known cause of overeating and digestive issues, such as heartburn. A relaxing atmosphere, enjoyable company and conversation, and not feeling rushed for time makes for a healthy meal.

? Everything in moderation

Eating food is pleasurable, so enjoy a few morsels of candy, but limit the quantity. (ANI)

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New blast-proof glass would be less vulnerable to small-scale explosions

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 11 (ANI): University of Missouri (MU) researchers are developing and testing a new type of blast-proof glass that will be thinner, lighter and less vulnerable to small-scale explosions.

“Currently, blast-resistant window glass is more than 1 inch thick, which is much thicker than standard window glass that is only one-fourth of an inch thick and hurricane-protected window glass that is one-half of an inch thick,” said Sanjeev Khanna, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the MU College of Engineering.

“The glass we are developing is less than one-half of an inch thick. Because the glass panel will be thinner, it will use less material and be cheaper than what is currently being used,” he added.

Conventional blast-resistant glass is made with laminated glass that has a plastic layer between two sheets of glass.

MU researchers are now replacing the plastic layer with a transparent composite material made of glass fibers that are embedded in plastic.

The glass fibers add strength because, unlike plastic, they are only about 25 microns thick, which is about half the thickness of a typical human hair, and leave little room for defects in the glass that could lead to cracking.

“The use of a transparent composite interlayer provides us the flexibility to change the strength of the layer by changing the glass fiber quantity and its orientation,” Khanna said.

In tests, researchers are observing how the glass reacts to small-scale explosions caused by a grenade or hand-delivered bomb.

They tested the glass by exploding a small bomb within close proximity of the window panel.

After the blast, the glass panel was cracked, but had no holes in the composite layer.

“The new multilayered transparent glass could have a wide range of potential uses if it can be made strong enough to resist small-scale explosions,” Khanna said.

“The super-strong glass also may protect residential windows from hurricane winds and debris or earthquakes,” he added.

Future tests will be done on larger pieces of glass that are equivalent to standard window size, and researchers could potentially test the glass on large-scale explosions. (ANI)

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Newly developed thin films show promise for solar applications

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 9 (ANI): Researchers at Ben-Gurion University (BGU) of the Negev in Israel have developed thin films that exhibit carrier multiplication (CM), which shows promise future solar applications.

The films were synthesized at BGU by Professor Yuval Golan and PhD student Anna Osherov of the Department of Materials Engineering and the Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology.

One of the important factors limiting solar-cell efficiency is that incident photons generate only one electron-hole pair, irrespective of the photon energy.

Any excess photon energy is lost as heat.

Carrier Multiplication (CM) has been thought to be enhanced significantly in nanocrystalline materials such as quantum dots, owing to their discrete energy levels and enhanced Coulomb interactions.

The BGU team demonstrated that contrary to this expectation, for a given photon energy, carrier multiplication occurs more efficiently in bulk PbS and PbSe films than in nanocrystalline films of the same materials.

“Films developed at BGU show CM, in which each incoming photon (tiny quantity of sunlight) creates more than one electron-hole pair,” Golan explained.

“This can potentially be used for making more efficient solar cells. The new physics behind this work are that while CM has been mostly demonstrated in nanocrystalline materials (“quantum dots”), we now show that CM can be obtained also in single crystal (‘bulk’) films of lead sulfide and lead selenide,” he said.

Notably, the films were prepared using chemical solution deposition, an attractive, inexpensive deposition technique for which the Golan group at BGU has received considerable recognition. (ANI)

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How females control sperm storage to pick the best dad

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 9 (ANI): University of Exeter researchers have found new evidence to explain how female insects can influence the father of their offspring, even after mating with up to ten males.

In the study, boffins found that female crickets are able to control the amount of sperm that they store from each mate to select the best father for their young.

According to researchers, the females may be using their abdominal muscles to control the amount of sperm stored from each mate.

The study has been published in the journal Molecular Ecology.

Female crickets mate with several different males, including their closest relatives. In general, offspring produced with close relatives are more likely to have genetic disorders.

Different animals employ a range of behaviours to avoid this, such as not mating other animals from the group they grow up in. Crickets do not avoid mating with relatives, but this research shows that they produce more offspring fathered by males that are unrelated to them.

In order to reach the conclusion, researchers bred field crickets in the laboratory. They used new DNA-based techniques to determine the quantity stored by each the female. hey found that the females stored a higher content of sperm from unrelated males. They then tested young crickets to determine their paternity.

The results showed that, regardless of the order in which they had mated, an unrelated mate was more likely to become a father. This must have been under female control, because the methods the team used meant that males could not influence the amount of sperm they passed to the female.

Though the study focused on field crickets, the findings are likely to be relevant in other insect species and possibly other sections of the animal kingdom.

Lead author Dr Amanda Bretman of the University of Exeter said: “Our study shows that even after mating, female insects control who fathers their offspring. We’re only really just beginning to understand the reasons for the different mating strategies in the insect world and that is thanks to new techniques.” (ANI)

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Need to prevent periodontitis to cut head and neck cancer risk

September 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 8 (ANI): Researchers at the University of Buffalo have stressed on the need for increased efforts to prevent and treat chronic periodontitis, a form of gum disease, to reduce the risk for head and neck cancer.

Led by Dr. Mine Tezal at Buffalo, periodontitis is an independent risk factor for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

“Prevent periodontitis; if you have it already, get treatment and maintain good oral hygiene,” said Tezal.

Chronic periodontitis is characterized by progressive loss of the bone and soft tissue attachment that surround the teeth.

The researchers assessed the role of chronic periodontitis on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, as well as the individual roles on three subsites: oral cavity, oropharyngeal and laryngeal.

They used radiographic measurement of bone loss to measure periodontitis among 463 patients, 207 of whom were controls.

The results of the study revealed that chronic periodontitis might represent a clinical high-risk profile for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

The strength of the association was greatest in the oral cavity, followed by the oropharynx and larynx, according to Tezal.

When they stratified the relationship by tobacco use, they found that the association persisted in those patients who never used tobacco.

The researchers did not expect the periodontitis-head and neck squamous cell carcinoma association to be weaker in current smokers compared to former and never smokers, according to Tezal.

However, this interaction, although statistically significant, was not very strong.

“Confirmatory studies with more comprehensive assessment of smoking, such as duration, quantity and patterns of use, as well as smokeless tobacco history are needed,” said Tezal.

“Our study also suggests that chronic periodontitis may be associated with poorly differentiated tumor status in the oral cavity. Continuous stimulation of cellular proliferation by chronic inflammation may be responsible for this histological type. However, grading is subjective and we only observed this association in the oral cavity. Therefore, this association may be due to chance and needs further exploration,” she added.

Andrew Olshan, Ph.D., said these results lend further support to the potential importance of poor oral health in this form of cancer.

Olshan said, “Although the study is comparatively small, the researchers were able to also see an association between bone loss and the risk of head and neck cancer.”

The results of the study have been published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. (ANI)

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Scientists propose new mechanism for dune formation on Saturn’s largest moon

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 26 (ANI): A new research paper has proposed a possible new mechanism for the development of very large linear dunes formed on the surface of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

The paper, authored by LSU (Louisiana State University) Department of Geography and Anthropology Chair Patrick Hesp and United States Geological Survey scientist David Rubin, is titled – “Multiple origins of linear dunes on Earth and Titan.”

The authors examined the linear – or longitudinal – dunes that stretch across the surface of China’s Qaidam Basin, finding them composed of sand and some salt and silt.

The latter two elements make the dunes cohesive or sticky.

According to the study, this leads to a complete change in dune form from transverse dunes to linear dunes, even though the wind speed and direction does not change.

Typically, transverse dunes are formed by winds from a narrow directional range while longitudinal or linear dunes are formed by winds from two obliquely opposing directions.

These findings offer an alternative interpretation of similar dunes found on Titan.

Hesp and Rubin suggest that if the giant linear dunes found on the surface of Titan are also formed from cohesive sediment, then they too could be formed by single-direction winds.

This is in sharp contrast to earlier studies, which assumed that the sediments were loose and interpreted the dune shape as evidence of winds coming from alternating directions.

The alternative hypothesis that Titan’s linear dunes are formed in cohesive sediment has significant implications for studies on Titan.

If the Hesp and Rubin alternative is correct, new hypotheses regarding the composition, origin, evolution, grain size, stickiness, quantity, global transport patterns and suitability for wind transport of Titan’s sediment; the velocities, directions and seasonal patterns of Titan’s winds; and overall surface wetness will all have to be completely reassessed. (ANI)

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Holding of elections in Afghanistan important for both Pakistan, US: Expert

August 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug.21 (ANI): An expert on South and Central Asia has welcomed the holding of the second presidential elections in Afghanistan, saying it is an important sign-if not of progress, not only for Afghanistan, but also for Pakistan and the United States.

According to Daniel Markey of the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR), in the near term, interested parties can hope for less disruption and propaganda, some changes in terms of political leadership that will ultimately work well.

Markey, a Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia, further says during an interview with the CFR web site, that the August 20 presidential elections in Afghanistan is a crucial step forward in what U.S. President Barack Obama has dubbed a “war of necessity.”

He says that as far as Pakistan is concerned, it would like a friendly government in Kabul that allows Islamabad to project its influence in Afghanistan.

Markey also says Pakistanis tend to see incumbent President Hamid Karzai as the best option “simply because he’s a known quantity.”

In so far as to what is at stake for Pakistan, he says Islamabad’s concern has to do with basic political and military stability in Afghanistan.

“From a Pakistan perspective, an Afghanistan that returns to deep instability as it has in the past, specifically in the 1990s, would be a cause for concern for Pakistan because it would probably bring greater instability inside Pakistan. An election that works and yields a legitimate government of some kind are basic interests from a Pakistan perspective,” he says.

However, he said, Pakistan is preoccupied with its own politics and security situation, both of which have been precarious in recent years.

“For many Pakistanis, the Afghan election is a bit of a sideshow and much less relevant or exciting than it was the last time around,” he says.

He also said that for the US, the elections in Afghanistan are very significant because the United States, the international community, and to some degree a significant proportion of the Afghan people have staked a bet on the idea that a new democratic Afghanistan is a project worth pursuing. (ANI)

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Bollywood actor Salman Khan prays for success of upcoming film

August 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Mumbai, Aug 19 (ANI): Bollywood actor Salman Khan is keeping his finger crossed for success of upcoming film ‘Wanted’.

Produced by Boney Kapoor and directed by Prabhu Deva, the film features Ayesha Takia Azmi opposite Salman Khan apart from actors like Mahesh Manjrekar, Asseem Merchant.

“I have done lot of love stories, lot of comedies, many of them were not appreciated enough. In this film, I had the zest to work hard. I have done that. So, let’s see if it works and if it doesn’t,” he said.

The film is about Radhe, played by Salman Khan, who is a hardcore gangster, a sharpshooter and works for a dreaded Mafia.

He then finds love when the young and pretty Jhanvi, played by Ayesha Takia Azmi, professes her love for him.

Khan said the film is a combination of all the ingredients in good quantity and they all had to undergo good deal of training for it.

“Our films are usually a combination of all things in small proportions. Little bit dance, little bit romance and little bit comedy. But this film has everything in huge proportions, so had to train hard,” said Khan.

Khan has lent his voice to the title track of the film, composed by composer duo Sajid-Wajid.

He had last sung for the film, Pyaar Kiya to Darna Kya in 1998. (ANI)

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Archaeologists discover third century mansion in City of David excavations

August 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Jerusalem, August 18 (ANI): An Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) excavation in the City of David, Israel, has revealed a large third century CE building, which is apparently a large mansion.

The spacious edifice from the Roman period (third century CE) – apparently a mansion that belonged to a wealthy individual, was uncovered in excavations carried out in the ‘Givati Car Park’ at the City of David, in the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park.

According to Dr. Doron Ben-Ami, the excavation director on behalf of the IAA, together with Yana Tchekhanovets, “Although we do not have the complete dimensions of the structure, we can cautiously estimate that the building covered an area of approximately 1,000 square meters. In the center of it was a large open courtyard surrounded by columns.”

“Galleries were spread out between the rows of columns and the rooms that flanked the courtyard. The wings of the building rose to a height of two stories and were covered with tile roofs,” he said.

A large quantity of fresco fragments was discovered in the collapsed ruins from which the excavators deduced that some of the walls of the rooms were treated with plaster and decorated with colorful paintings.

The painted designs that adorned the plastered walls consisted mostly of geometric and floral motifs.

Its architectural richness, plan and particularly the artifacts that were discovered among its ruins bear witness to the unequivocal Roman character of the building.

The most outstanding of these finds are a marble figurine in the image of a boxer and a gold earring inlaid with precious stones.

The building, which was constructed during the third century CE, was shaken by a tremor in the fourth century, the results of which are clearly apparently in the excavation area: the walls of the rooms caved-in and their stone collapse, which was piled high, covered the walls of the bottom floor, some of which still stand to a considerable height.

Architectural elements such as columns and capitals, as well as mosaics and the large amount of fresco fragments that were used in the rooms of the second story were discovered inside the collapsed ruins.

The coins that were discovered among the collapse and on the floors indicated the building’s ruins should be dated to circa 360 CE.

According to Dr. Ben-Ami, “Edifices such as these are ‘urban mansions’ from the Roman period that were discovered in Antioch, Apamea and Palmyra. If this parallel is correct, then in spite of its size and opulence, it seems that this building was used originally as a private residence.” (ANI)

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Nanotechnology used for developing new DNA cancer test

August 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 18 (ANI): Johns Hopkins University researchers have developed a highly sensitive test to look for DNA attachments that are believed to be the early warning symptoms of cancer.

The research may make the detection and treatment of cancer much easier.

To reach the conclusion, scientists used tiny crystals called quantum dots.

The test, which detects both the presence and the quantity of certain DNA changes, could alert people who are at risk of developing the disease and could tell doctors how well a particular cancer treatment is working.

The development has been reported in a paper called “MS-qFRET: a quantum dot-based method for analysis of DNA methylation,” published in the August issue of the journal Genome Research. The work also was presented at a conference of the American Association of Cancer Research.

“If it leads to early detection of cancer, this test could have huge clinical implications,” said Jeff Tza-Huei Wang, an associate professor of mechanical engineering whose lab team played a leading role in developing the technique.

“Doctors usually have the greatest success in fighting cancer if they can treat it in its early stage,” the expert added.

To make the scientific breakthrough, Wang and his students developed the test over the past three years with colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. (ANI)

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College students less likely to drink if they know peers’ actual habits

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 10 (ANI): While peer pressure is known to play a vital role in alcohol misuse among college students, a new study has shown that when the students learn that they are mistaken about the actual normal drinking habits of their peers, they tend to drink less often.

The study has shown that much of that peer influence is the result of incorrect perceptions.

“In the UK, young people are drinking earlier and heavier than ever before,” said co-author David Foxcroft of Oxford Brookes University, in England.

“Levels of alcohol consumption amongst 11- to 13 year-olds have almost doubled in the last 10 years or so,” he added.

The researchers say if a student believes that his or her peers drink heavily, it would likely influence the amount of alcohol the student personally drinks.

During the study, they placed students into either intervention or control groups.

Those in the intervention groups received personalized feedback about actual college students’ normal drinking habits, their own personal drinking profiles – quantity of alcohol consumed, calorie intake and money spent on alcohol – as well as the health risk factors involved in heavy drinking.

The interventions occurred in different ways: alone, either by mail or via the Web; or together with individual face-to-face or group counselling.

Interventions that occurred electronically reduced the students’ alcohol-related problems, drinking frequency, peak blood-alcohol content and drinking quantity.

The study showed that 62 percent of the students reported a reduction in alcohol-related problems.

In addition, 65 percent of the students reported that they were drinking less frequently.

“There were only a small number of good quality studies that we could draw on to make this somewhat tentative conclusion,” said Foxcroft.

“More research is definitely needed, especially in different settings. We don’t know, for example, how well Web feedback would work in the UK, where the drinking context and culture is quite different,” he added. (ANI)

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Males’ sperm travel faster when females are attractive

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, July 10 (ANI): A new piece of research on red junglefowl, an ancestor of chickens, has shown that males can adjust the speed and effectiveness of their sperm, based on whether they find their mate attractive.

Published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study adds to the growing body of evidence that males from promiscuous species, including humans, increase the chances of fertilisation when the female is deemed to be attractive.

“Female attractiveness is determined by the expression of a sexual ornament – the comb – which is phenotypically and genetically correlated to the number and mass of eggs females lay,” ABC Science quoted co-authors Dr. Charlie Cornwallis, of the University of Oxford, and Dr Emily O’Connor, of the Royal Veterinary College, as saying.

For their study, the researchers collected natural ejaculates from dominate and subordinate red junglefowl males housed at the University of Stockholm.

They reveal that the males had either just mated with attractive or unattractive females.

The researchers later separated the sperm from the seminal fluid, and analysed the quantity and characteristics of both.

“There was a strong relationship between sperm velocity and the volume of the ejaculate sperm came from,” write Cornwallis and O’Connor, adding that males allocated “larger ejaculates to attractive females”.

Although the researchers have yet to unravel the mystery behind it, they have an have an intriguing theory.

“Males may alter the velocity of sperm they allocate to copulations by strategically firing their left and right ejaculatory ducts, which can operate independently,” they say.

Thus, according to them, stimulation from sexy, attractive females leads to the double firing.

“Furthermore, differential firing of left and right ejaculatory ducts may contribute to how males strategically change the number of sperm in their ejaculates, a phenomenon that is widespread, but for which the mechanism remains unknown,” they say.

The researchers now hope that future studies will better identify how males adjust the sperm and seminal fluid in their ejaculates, and how this affects fertility rates. (ANI)

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Gargantuan dinos the ‘couch potatoes’ of prehistoric world

July 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 7 (ANI): A new research has determined that due to their huge sizes, dinosaurs were the ‘couch potatoes’ of the prehistoric world.

According to a report in the Telegraph, the research was done by Dr McNab from the University of Florida.

Having easy access to food, coupled with their sedentary lifestyle when not hunting, helped the creatures grow into the biggest beasts to have ever walked the earth, according to Dr McNab.

Paleontologists have argued that dinosaurs’ size was in some way due to the way they regulated the temperature of their blood.

Dr McNab believes that the availability of food resources was more important, however.

Using a model based on a vertebrate’s energy expenditure, mass and eating habits, Dr McNab explained the body size of existing and extinct mammals, including baleen whales, an ancient rhinoceros and modern elephants.

He used the example of the larger mass found in some marine mammals which reflect greater resources in their environment.

While Dr McNab said that thermal biology differences are easily seen in small organisms, he suggested dinosaurs were neither cold nor warm blooded but maintained an intermediate temperature between mammals and reptiles, thanks to their size.

Some dinosaurs ate lizards, turtles or eggs, while others hunted other dinosaurs. The majority ate plants however.

Many of these plants, which can be seen in fossils, had edible leaves, including evergreen conifers such as pine trees, redwoods and their relatives, ferns, mosses and in the latter stages of the dinosaur age, flowering fruit plants.

According to Dr McNab, “Like couch potatoes sitting within easy reach of high calorie foods, the gargantuan size of dinosaurs most likely stems from the abundance of resources available, coupled with low energy expenditures.”

“Some dinosaurs reached masses that were at least eight times those of the largest, ecologically equivalent terrestrial mammals,” he said.

“The factors most responsible for setting the maximal body size of vertebrates are resource quality and quantity, as modified by the mobility of the consumer, and the vertebrate’s rate of energy expenditure,” he added. (ANI)

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Cockroaches, too, get fat eating unhealthy diet

July 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 4 (ANI): Just like humans, cockroaches too can get fat on an unhealthy diet, says a British researcher.

Patricia Moore, of the University of Exeter, came to this conclusion after studying how female cockroaches change their mating behaviour in response to their diet, specifically what they eat when they are young, as part of a decade’s worth of research.

“We already knew that what they eat as adults influences reproductive decisions,” Live Science quoted Moore as saying.

However, it was not known how the food consumed by the eternal pests in life shaped these decisions.

To find out, Moore’s team picked young female cockroach nymphs, and divided them into two dietary groups.

She revealed that the cockroaches in one group were fed a good-quality balanced diet of protein-rich fish food and high-carbohydrate oatmeal, while the rest were raised on fish food only.

She further revealed that both groups could eat as much as they wanted.

The difference in diets “was not quantity but variety,” Moore said.

When the nymphs became adults, the researchers switched the diets of some of them.

Half of the cockroaches raised with good quality diet lost their oatmeal, while half of the bugs fed poorly were promoted to a good-quality diet.

Moore said that 18 days after the switch, the diet control ended. While some of the surviving cockroaches were dissected, she said, the rest were allowed to live on and reproduce.

The researchers observed that while the lifespan of the members of both groups was about the same, the cockroaches on the poor diet were fatter and took longer to mature.

Moore said that the poorly fed bugs were storing up excess fat at the expense of their growth in case their dietary options got even worse.

“This was a surprising result, but it shows the importance of a balanced diet for healthy development,” she said

According to her, the effects of unbalanced meals continued throughout the cockroaches’ lives, even for the few that were switched to good-quality food.

She and her colleagues observed that females fed on a poor-quality diet were less willing to mate, and less likely to produce offspring.

Such females were also more picky, and spent more time considering possible mates, said the researchers.

Based on the study’s findings, Moore concluded: “Poor diets (during early life) have an effect on the way cockroaches respond to their environment and cannot be reset later on.”

A research article describing the study has been published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. (ANI)

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PCB fines Asif for Dubai drugs detention

July 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Lahore, July 2 (ANI): Pakistani cricket authorities on Thursday fined Mohammad Asif one million rupees (12,500 dollars) over the fast bowler’s 19-day detention at Dubai airport for alleged drug possession.

Asif, 26, was detained last June on his way back home after playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

A three-member Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) committee headed by former captain and PCB director Wasim Bari investigated the matter.

“On recommendation of the committee we have fined Asif one million rupees,” the PCB said in a press release.

Dubai authorities found opium in Asif’s possession, but a prosecutor determined that the quantity was small and deported the bowler, The News reports.

Asif is also banned from playing international cricket until September after testing positive for the banned anabolic steroid Nandrolone last year.

“Asif will be available for selection once he completes the IPL ban,” said the release.

The fast bowler also tested positive for Nandrolone during tests conducted by the PCB in 2006. He and fellow bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who failed the test too, were banned for one and two years respectively. (ANI)

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CBI recovers walkie-talkie from NCP MP’s house

June 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Mumbai June 19(ANI): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from the south Mumbai residence of NCP MP Padamsinha Patil, who was arrested under the charges of murdering his cousin and Congress leader, Pawan Raje Nimbalkar.

The CBI team led by Western Region Joint Director Rishi Raj Singh sealed the two apartments belonging to Patil in Colaba, and conducted intensive searches.

According to CBI sources, two rifles, one revolver, one pistol, two swords and a large quantity of ammunition and cash worth Rs 7.5 lakh and nine high frequency walkie-talkie sets, which are usually used by the police force, computers and CDs were recovered from Patil’s residence.

The CBI has also recovered the documents pertaining to Terna Sugar factory, where a multimillion-rupee scandal was alleged to be made by the NCP leader.

The recovered documents also include the details of Pawan Raje Nimbalkar and noted social activist Anna Hazare.

The CBI sources said the firearms would be sent to forensic tests to find out whether the same was used to gun down Nimbalkar and his driver Samad Quazi on June 3, 2006 in Navi Mumbai.

Patil along with six others will be in CBI custody till Saturday.

The investigation has also revealed Padamsinha Patil’s plot to kill social activist Anna Hazare, who raised voice against corruption in Terna Sugar Factory.

Padamsinha who was elected to Loksabha from Osmanabad, was suspended by the NCP following his arrest on June 7. (ANI)

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Novel vaccine strategy may offer protection against flu viruses

May 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 19 (ANI): Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh suggest that vaccines made up of virus-like particles (VLPs) could provide stronger and longer-lasting protection against flu viruses than conventional vaccines.

VLP vaccines can be developed and produced twice as quickly as conventional vaccines, the researchers said.

In early clinical trials, VLP vaccines appear to provide complete protection against both the H5N1 avian influenza virus and the 1918 Spanish influenza virus, said Ted Ross, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Vaccine Research.

Adopting the new vaccine strategy may allow public health officials to respond more quickly to emerging influenza pandemics, say researchers.

The current injectable vaccine for seasonal influenza is a trivalent, inactivated vaccine. It consists of three different influenza strains that are grown in eggs and then inactivated, or killed, by chemicals that break them into tiny pieces.

Because they no longer look like the circulating virus, conventionally made vaccines strains do not elicit as strong an immune response as VLP vaccines.

VLPs can be quickly and easily produced in several ways, including growing them in cell cultures or in plants.

Also, if the genes in the disease virus are identified, then researchers can generate particles for a vaccine without an actual sample of the agent.

“The sequence for the recent H1N1 ‘swine flu’ virus was online and available to scientists long before physical samples could be delivered,” r. Ross said.

“It would have been possible to produce VLPs in quantity in as little as 12 weeks while conventional vaccines require physical samples of the virus and production can take approximately nine months,” he added.

The study has been presented at the 109th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Philadelphia. (ANI)

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Why some pregnant women find it difficult to quit smoking

May 15, 2009 By admin 2 Comments

Washington, May 15 (ANI): Scientists from Peninsula Medical School and the University of Bristol have discovered a common genetic variant that might make it difficult for women to quit smoking during pregnancy.

They found that variation in 15q24 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene receptor cluster is associated with a reduced ability of women to quit smoking in pregnancy.

For the study, the researchers looked at 7,845 women of European descent from the South West of England.

Using 2,474 women who smoked regularly immediately before they became pregnant, the association between the variant and smoking cessation and smoking quantity during pregnancy was analysed.

When asked about smoking in the first trimester of pregnancy, 28 pct of the women said they had given up.

However, this figure was only 21pct in the group of women with two copies of the smoking addiction gene, whereas in women with two copies of the non-addictive gene, 31pct said they had quit.

In the third trimester, 47pct of women with two copies of the non-addictive gene had stopped smoking, compared with only 34pct of women with two copies of the smoking addiction gene.

“Pregnant women are under considerable health and social pressure to stop smoking, and quitting in such circumstances is influenced by a number of factors including the age of the expectant mother, their education and whether or not their partners smoke,” said Dr. Rachel Freathy from the Peninsula Medical School.

“However, we were keen to investigate whether the genetic variant that influences increased cigarette consumption also had a role to play as an extra hurdle to quitting smoking during pregnancy, and our study suggests that it does,” she added.

The study is published in Human Molecular Genetics. (ANI)

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Hong Kong pop star Vidal arrives home after heroin sentence

May 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Hong Kong – Hong Kong pop star Jill Vidal, given a suspended two-year jail sentence in Japan for heroin possession, arrived home to a media scrum Saturday. Around
100 reporters and photographers were at Hong Kong International Airport to see Vidal, 26, also known as Wei Si, arrive home after two months in custody.

In chaotic scenes, she smiled at journalists and posed briefly for photographers but did not respond to questions shouted at her as she walked through the arrivals hall.

At a court hearing in Tokyo on Friday, Vidal was given a two-year jail term, suspended for three years, after pleading guilty to possession of heroin.

Vidal was arrested with fellow Hong Kong pop star Kelvin Kwan, who was later released without being charged, on suspicion of possessing cannabis. Police later found packets of heroin in her hotel room.

The two performers were arrested in a Tokyo shopping centre on February 24 when shopkeepers claimed a foreign man was shoplifting.

A police search allegedly found a small quantity of cannabis in a packet of cigarettes Kwan, 25, was carrying and the two were taken into custody.

Ironically, before their arrest in Tokyo, both stars took part in anti-drug campaigns in Hong Kong aimed at stopping youngsters from using drug.

Kwan, who holds a Canadian passport, told Tokyo police he brought the cannabis with him from Hong Kong for his own personal use. He was released without charge and returned to Hong Kong.

The pair are among a host of young pop stars from Hong Kong whose Canto-pop music is hugely popular with audiences in mainland China, Taiwan and overseas Chinese communities. (dpa)

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Five militants gunned down in Assam

April 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Guwahati, April 20 (IANS) Five separatist guerrillas were killed in a gunbattle with army soldiers in Assam early Monday. A large quantity of weapons and explosives were recovered from the militants, a defence spokesperson said.

The gunbattle began Sunday midnight and continued for about three hours near Akabasti village near Tezpur town, about 185 km north of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.

‘A group of about five militants were camping in a house in the village with a specific mission to kidnap a well-known businessman for ransom,’ defence spokesperson R. Kalia told IANS.

Security forces got wind of the plan and laid an ambush.

‘There was a firefight for about three hours in which five militants were killed,’ the official said.

Three of the dead rebels belonged to the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), while the other two were from the Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Asom (MULTA).

‘It was a collective plan by the NDFB and the MULTA to kidnap the businessman,’ Kalia said.

The NDFB is a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland for the Bodo tribe in Assam although the group is now operating a ceasefire with New Delhi, while the MULTA is a rag-tag Islamist separatist group active in certain pockets of Assam since 1996.

‘Five kilograms of explosives, 10 detonators and some other arms and ammunition were recovered from the dead militants,’ the army official said.
Indo Asian News Service

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