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Scientists explain evolutionary mystery behind bizarre eyed flatfish
11.07.2008 02:26
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Scientists have explained the evolutionary mystery behind the asymmetrical arrangement of eyes on one side of the head of the flatfish. All adult flatfishes, including the gastronomically familiar flounder, plaice, sole, turbot, and halibut, have asymmetrical skulls, with both eyes located on one side of the head. Because these fish lay on their sides at the ocean bottom, this arrangement enhances their vision, with both eyes constantly in play, peering up into the water. This remarkable arrangement arises during the youth of every flatfish, where the symmetrical larva undergoes a metamorphosis to produce an asymmetrical juvenile. One eye ''migrates'' up and over the top of the head before coming to rest in the adult position on the opposite side of the skull. Opponents of evolution, however, insisted that this curious anatomy could not have evolved gradually through natural selection because there would be no apparent evolutionary advantage to a fish with a slightly asymmetrical skull, but which retained eyes on opposite sides of the head. No fish-fossil or living-had ever been discovered with such an intermediate condition. But, Matt Friedman, a member of the Department of Geology at the Field Museum in the US, has drawn attention to several examples of such transitional forms that he uncovered in museum collections of underwater fossilized creatures from the Eocene epoch - about 50 million years ago. The fossils, which Friedman found in museums in England, France, Italy, and Austria, came from limestone quarries in Northern Italy and underneath modern-day Paris. Friedman examined multiple adult fossil remains of two primitive flatfishes, Amphistium and a new genus that he named Heteronectes. "Amphistium has been known for quite some time," he said. "The first specimen was described more than 200 years ago, but its placement in the fish evolutionary tree has been uncertain ever since. Close examination of these fossils yield clues that they are indeed early flatfishes," he added. The most primitive flatfishes known, both Amphistium and Heteronectes, have many characteristics that are no longer found in modern flatfish. But the one that caught Friedman''s attention was the partial displacement of one eye, evident even in the first Amphistium fossil discovered over two centuries ago. "Most remarkably, orbital migration, the movement of one eye from one side of the skull to the other during the larval stage, was present but incomplete in both of these primitive flatfishes," said Friedman. "What we found was an intermediate stage between living flatfishes and the arrangement found in other fishes," he added. These two fossil fishes indicate that the evolution of the profound cranial asymmetry of extant flatfishes was gradual in nature. (ANI)
India
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Two common drugs may combat premature ageing in kids
11.07.2008 02:26
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A new study has found that two common drugs - statins, used to reduce cholesterol, and bisphosphonates, used to curb osteoporosis - can offer a treatment option for premature ageing in kids. Progeria is a rare genetic disease that causes premature ageing and is usually fatal before puberty. Premature ageing is caused by gene mutations that affects the production of a protein called prelamin A, critical for the disease. The protein then ties to molecular fragments in the body called farnesyls, which in turn bind to the nuclear membrane, leading to protein accumulation, reports New Scinetist. In the study conducted over mice with progeria, lead researcher Carlos Lopez-Otin of the University of Oviedo, Spain found that combination of two drugs reduced ageing symptoms and increased survival rates. The researchers are now seeking permission to conduct human trails to understand whether statins and bisphosphonates would help them. The study appears in Nature Medicine. (ANI)
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Gender plays key role in kidney transplant success
11.07.2008 02:26
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A new study from University of Basel and University of Heidelberg has revealed that gender plays a key role in the success of kidney transplants. Women are at an increased risk of rejecting a male donor kidney. Moreover, female donor kidneys do not function as well in men as they are smaller in size. While analysing the data from nearly 200,000 kidney transplant patients, the team found that female donor kidneys were less successful due to small size and it has fewer nephrons, the active components of the kidneys that that filter urine. Women, who received male kidney, were at 11 pct-increased risk of rejecting the transplants in first year after the operation. Even two to ten years, later women were still at 10 percent greater risk of rejecting the transplants, than other groups. "The higher rate of rejection is most likely caused by the gender-specific Y chromosome in men,” The Lancet quoted Professor Dr. Gerhard Opelz, Medical Director of the Department of Transplantation Immunology at the Institute of Immunology of Heidelberg University Hospital. Researchers have suggested that in the future, gender should be one of the key factors to be considered while organ transplantation. The study is published in the medical journal ‘The Lancet’. (ANI)
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New drug candidate to protect against Alzheimer''s identified
11.07.2008 02:26
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A new drug candidate, called PBT2, has now been discovered to effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease, and improve cognitive function. Researchers from Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria in Australia have identified compounds that could stimulate rapid improvement in cognitive function in mice with Alzheimer’s disease. Ionophore, a compound that transports metal ions across cell membranes, can elicit rapid and pronounced improvement in neuropathology and cognitive function of transgenic mice. Recent studies had shown dysregulation of metal ions in the brain, particularly copper and zinc, in the pathogenesis of AD that also damages accumulation of amyloid beta (A?) protein, which is characteristic of this devastating disease. The ionophore clioquinol (CQ), an 8-hydroxyquinoline, has been shown to increase intracellular copper and zinc levels and decrease A? levels in cultured cells and in the brains of transgenic (Tg) AD mice. Researchers Dr. Ashley I. Bush with Dr. Paul A. Adlard and colleagues examined the therapeutic potential of PBT2, a second generation 8-hydroxyquinoline designed for easier synthesis, higher solubility and increased blood-brain barrier permeablility, in two well established Tg mouse models of AD. "Both types of Tg mice exhibit progressive spatial learning deficits that are accompanied by increasing A? levels and plaque formation,” said Bush “Demonstrating benefits of PBT2 treatment in the two separate models was both a stringency test, increasing confidence that PBT2 is more likely to show benefit in clinical trials, and also allowed us to determine whether specific forms of A? change in register with cognitive improvement in both strains. “This is significant as cognitive loss in AD is not just a simple product of rising A? levels," he added. PBT2 was shown to be a superior ionophore when compared to CQ and the researchers went on to test A? levels and cognitive outcomes after oral treatment with PBT2. "We found that oral treatment with PBT2 induced a dramatic improvement in learning and memory in both Tg models of AD, accompanied by a marked inhibition of AD-like neuropathology,” said Bush “These outcomes were rapid, with reduction of soluble interstitial A? occurring within hours, and significant cognitive benefits seen within days of first administration of the compound," he added. Recent clinical trials in AD patients taking oral PBT2 have been promising and support PBT2 as a viable treatment for AD. The study has been published by Cell Press in the July 10th issue of the journal Neuron. (ANI)
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Ramadoss, Nitish Kumar to review National Rural Health Mission in Bihar
11.07.2008 01:27
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Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will review the progress of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in Bihar today. Dr. Ramadoss is visiting Bihar in connection with a function to celebrate World Population Day. Bihar is one of the 18 high focus States to be covered under NRHM. Before NRHM, Bihar was part of Empowered Action Group (EAG) States. Under NRHM, a manifold increase in the allocation for the health sector in Bihar has taken place. The State has shown significant improvement in outpatient load in government facilities, sterilization cases, immunization and institutional delivery. The State has recruited 2300 doctors, 4504 ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwives) and 2900 staff nurses under NRHM. Despite this progress, the State confronts issues of huge infrastructure and human resource gap and poor resource utilization and extremely poor health indicators. The Total Fertility Rate of the State is 4.3. The Infant Mortality Rate is 60 and Maternal Mortality Ratio is 371 (SRS 2001 - 03), which are higher than the National average. The Sex Ratio in the State is 919 (as compared to 933 for the country). AIIMS Patna is one of the sixth AIIMS like institutions being set up under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). The State Government has made available the land for the institution and formalities for the construction have started. Dr. Ramadoss will also visit Bodh Gaya on invitation of the Chief Minister. (ANI)
India
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PM visits ITBP personnel injured in Kabul terror attack
11.07.2008 01:27
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Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has sanctioned Rs. five lakh per family to the families of the two Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel, Ajai Pathania and Roop Singh and an Afghan national who were killed in the bomb attack at the Indian Embassy in Kabul. The Prime Minister went to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to call on the two injured ITBP personnel and a sum of Rs. two lakh per person has been sanctioned to them from the Prime Minister''s National Relief Fund. The Prime Minister will be calling on the families of Brigadier Mehta and B.V. Rao on 11th July. Financial and other support for the families of the two deceased is being provided by the Government of India. Detailed information will be announced by the concerned Ministries. (ANI)
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Envoys present credentials to President Patil
11.07.2008 01:27
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Four envoys presented their credentials to the President Pratibha Devisingh Patil at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan here today. The Envoys who presented their credentials were: Khaled Salman, the Ambassador of Lebanon; Lieutenant General (Retired) Andi Muhammad Ghalib, the Ambassador of Indonesia; Voroshilov Enkhbold, the Ambassador of Mongolia and Manuel Ernesto Picasso Botto. The President, during her interaction with the Heads of Mission, said that India looked forward to the intensification of its bilateral relations with these countries. While noting that all the Ambassadors who had presented their credentials were from developing countries, the President stated that the main challenge confronting the developing countries was eradication of poverty and development. The President added that the developing countries were the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and needed financial resources and technologies to meet the challenge. Referring to the attack on the Embassy of India in Kabul, the President emphasized the need to strengthen international co-operation to fight terrorism which was a major challenge confronting the world. The credential presentation ceremony was attended by the senior members of the diplomatic missions, senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and of Rashtrapati Bhavan. (ANI)
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PM meets President, UPA to seek vote of trust
11.07.2008 01:26
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Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Thursday evening called on President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, and stated that he and his Cabinet colleagues are keen to seek a vote of confidence as early as possible. The precise date on which the Lok Sabha will be summoned for this purpose will be communicated to the President by the Prime Minister by tomorrow evening. The meeting called in the wake of withdrawal of support by the Left Parties to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government and reiteration of Samajwadi Party''s support to it lasted 25 minutes. (ANI)
India
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Now, bike your way through the Beijing Olympics
11.07.2008 01:26
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Concerns over pollution and traffic congestion has prompted the Chinese Government to encourage people to bike their way through the mega event, which commences on August 8. It should not surprise anyone, thus, to find not just local residents but foreign tourists travelling on their bicycles from one Olympic stop to another. This step is likely to benefit Beijing residents who have given up using bikes lately. Beijing has a population of nearly 17.5 million, as per 2007 statistics. According to a report, the pollution-level around Olympic venues could be five times worse than the level considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO). To counter pollution and congestion, the government has ordered its officials and Beijing residents use public transport for the sake of a greener Olympics. A majority of the locals have complied with the directive to pedal-their-way to their workplaces. According to available reports, the Government has ordered the closure of 40 factories in the eastern port city of Tianjin to minimize air-pollution at places close to Beijing during the Olympic Games. In the early 1990s, people used bikes to reach their workplaces. Broad bike lanes then would be full of bicycles, recalled the 70-year-old Wang. “With industrialization taking place and people are getting more income, they have started spending money on buying cars and other automobiles for their convenience. But such inclination is at the cost of their health,” Wan warns. Eight years ago, nearly 80 per cent of the people used bicycles in urban areas. Now, there are over three million fuel-driven vehicles on the Beijing''s roads. The local government has banned motorbikes on Beijing roads due to its adverse effect on public health and on riding habits. Appreciating the government''s move to promote bike rides, Li Bingxin, the Division chief of the All China Journalist Association, said the need of the hour was for everyone to understand his or her responsibility to make the environment clean and pollution-free. While admitting that he had given up riding bicycle a few years ago, Li said he would take up the habit again soon. To get his body in shape, not to speak of parking space. He said that he had noticed that after leaving a bicycle ride for using cars, most people d complained of high blood pressure, liver and overweight problems. Several bicycle companies are also planning to introduce low-rental schemes for locals and foreign visitors to promote riding bicycles during the Olympics. There are a number of bicycle companies like Forever, Jiant, Gama, Finex, Flyin and others that have introduced new bike models in the market. One can buy a good bike for between 300 Yuan to 700 Yuan (43.83 to 102.28 dollars). Besides one can get one on rent for a year. It may cost anywhere between 20 Yuan (about three dollars) for a day or 100 Yuan (14.61 dollars) for a Year after depositing 400 Yuan (48.44 dollars) as security. Over a million bicycles would be required during the Beijing Olympics. For the moment the similarities between urban and rural areas in China and India in so far as commuting is concerned, can’t be ignored. The Olympics may usher in a welcoming change. (ANI)
India
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Smart contact lens could help monitor glaucoma
11.07.2008 01:26
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Researchers at the University of California, Davis, US, have developed a contact lens with a built-in pressure sensor that could help monitor conditions such as glaucoma. The device is based on a new technique, which can embed conducting circuits in the organic polymer traditionally used to make contact lenses. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is an elastic, transparent and gas-permeable organic polymer that can be cast-moulded into a range simple shapes. It is widely used in everything from contact lenses to breast implants but the process of cast moulding severely limits the kinds of structures that can be made with the material. Now, Hailin Cong and Tingrui Pan from the university have come up with a simple method to produce PDMS components without the need for casting moulds and their process can also make the material conduct electricity. Researchers added a chemical to a liquid PDMS solution that causes the mixture to set, or polymerise, when zapped with UV light. Then, they exposed the mixture to UV light through a mask containing a circuit pattern. Only the areas hit by the light polymerise and any remaining liquid can be washed away, leaving an imprint of the circuit. The technique can be used to create features just 10 micrometers in size. Researchers have also developed a technique to give the polymer another property - electrical conductivity. They did this by adding a solution of silver to the mix. The silver then becomes trapped in the material when it polymerises, creating a path along which electrons can pass. Since the resistance of the path changes as the material is stretched, the modified PDMS is suitable for a range of microelectromechanical systems. "This new way of manufacturing PDMS can significantly extend [its] use for biological sensing systems," New Scientist quoted Pan, as saying. One of the first devices that researchers have produced is a tiny pressure sensor, which they bent into the shape of a contact lens. Pan said that such a device could measure the stress on the cornea surface, and the fluid pressure within the eye to monitor glaucoma and ocular hypertension. "The eye always has a certain pressure, which is why the eyeball is a sphere," Pan said. In glaucoma patients, that pressure rises and changes the shape of the eye, which would deform the contact lens sensor. "The change in configuration will alter the resistance and give a different electrical reading," Pan said. Their prototype has an opaque sensor that would impair vision and so would be worn only briefly, but researchers are designing transparent equivalents that could be worn for long periods to give a continuous pressure read-out. They said that to read the data wirelessly, they would use a tiny RFID tag. (ANI)
India
Health & Beauty
Ringing in the ears may soon be history
11.07.2008 01:26
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A new study by researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has shown potential to markedly reduce tinnitus, commonly known as ''ringing in the ears.'' Tinnitus is defined as the perception of sound in the absence of external sound and can manifest itself in variety of ways. "The phantom sounds of tinnitus may sound like ringing, clicking or hissing. The sounds can change with the time of day and often cause sleep problems and emotional distress," Mennemeier said. Mark Mennemeier, Ph.D., associate professor of neurobiology and director of the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Laboratory in the Center for Translational Neuroscience (CTN) at UAMS, collaborated with John Dornhoffer, M.D., professor of otology/neurotology at UAMS and a clinician/scientist in the CTN, to design the treatment study. A single patient was tested to examine the safety and feasibility of using maintenance sessions of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to reduce tinnitus loudness and prevent its return over time. TMS involves the placement of a coil on the scalp that creates a magnetic field over the brain''s surface. The magnetic field penetrates up to two or three centimeters from the surface of the coil. An electric current is induced by the magnetic field that either activates or inhibits neural activity. The goal of the study was to inhibit excessive neural activity believed to cause tinnitus. "We use a PET scan of the patient''s brain to look for excessive neural activity with increased blood flow in the temporal lobe. Then we target that area with low-frequency TMS to inhibit the neural activity and decrease the tinnitus," Mennemeier said. While TMS has previously shown short-term effectiveness in European studies, the UAMS team was the first to introduce it as maintenance therapy in which patients receive an initial course of treatment and follow-ups as symptoms persist. "The patient in our case study reported his tinnitus to be unobtrusive in his daily life when he was assessed four months after his final round of maintenance therapy," Mennemeier said. No side effects were reported by the patient or detected in formal assessments after three rounds of maintenance therapy. The study was published in the July issue of The Laryngoscope. (ANI)
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Prescription drugs that up the risk of elderly patients falling enlisted
11.07.2008 01:26
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Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have enlisted prescription drugs that raise the risk of elderly patients taking a tumble. "Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for adults 65 and older, and research suggests that those taking four or more medications are at an even greater risk than those who don''t – perhaps two to three times greater," said Dr. Susan Blalock, an associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She revealed that the enlisting of such prescription drugs was done as part of an ongoing study of a falls-prevention program, which her team had developed for pharmacists to implement. "What we''ve done as part of our study is to identify specific prescription drugs that are most likely to contribute to the falls," she said. The researcher revealed that the list included a wide range of common prescription antidepressants, seizure medications, painkillers and more. She even revealed that all the drugs on the list work to depress the central nervous system, which can make patients less alert and slower to react. Stefanie Ferreri, lead author of the paper, suggests that patients better understand that other over-the-counter medications may also contribute to falls. "Some allergy medications, sleep aids and some cold and cough remedies can have the same effects as prescription drugs. Always let your doctor know what over-the-counter medications you are taking and be sure to read the labels. Anything that can cause drowsiness can put you at increased risk of falling," Ferreri said. The researchers, however, also suggest that patients do not stop taking a medicine just because it is on their list. It would be better that they talk to their doctor about the risk of falling as well as possible alternative medicines, they say. The researcher also recommend doctors to look for medications that have been proven safe and effective in older adults, and for medicines that have less of a sedating effect. Doctors should especially be wary of anticholinergics, a class of drugs that affect nerve cells used to treat a wide range of conditions, they add. According to the researchers, pharmacists should be alert for patients 65 and older who are taking four or more drugs, and be sure the patients know about the additional risk of falling created by their medications. Both the list of prescription drugs and some of the study''s finding were published in the American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy. (ANI)
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Jupiters third giant red spot chewed up by collision with siblings
11.07.2008 01:26
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Jupiter’s third giant red storm has been chewed up by a collision with the planet’s other two red spots and may not survive. Jupiter’s spots are actually massive, hurricane-like storms. The Great Red Spot, which is three times the diameter of Earth, has been raging for at least 340 years. Red Spot Jr, also known as Oval BA, turned red in 2006. The third spot first appeared around May 9 this year when a white storm turned scarlet. According to a report in New Scientist, astronomers are still scrambling to capture pictures of the aftermath, but it appears Jupiter’s third spot was torn up last week when it squeezed between its larger cousins, the Great Red Spot and Red Spot Junior. “While some traces of clumpy red material remain, it’s not really a spot any more”, said Glenn Orton at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, US. “It’s just sort of scrambled. It’s a blob,” he added. The spot’s encounter with its big brothers began around July 3 and seems to have been drawn out for several days. The third red spot had been moving toward the Great Red Spot, but its ill-fated positioning between the two other spots came as a surprise. “I didn’t think it would get mashed between two of the largest storms in the solar system,” Orton told New Scientist. “That’s not something anyone anticipated,” he added. The ultimate fate of the newborn spot is unclear. Parts or all of it might be pulled into the Great Red Spot. But remnants might survive to reform into a smaller spot. Watching the spot’s behaviour in the coming days could give astronomers an indication of the power of the storms’ vortices and reveal more about how far down into the atmosphere these storms reach. (ANI)
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Targeting malarias sticky proteins could put an end to the disease
11.07.2008 01:26
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A team of Australian researchers have identified a key mechanism that enables malaria-infected red blood cells to stick to the walls of blood vessels and avoid being destroyed by the body''s immune system. The discovery highlights an important potential new target for anti-malarial drugs. Malaria is caused by the malaria parasite, which is injected into the bloodstream from the salivary glands of infected mosquitoes. There are a number of different species of parasite, but the deadliest is the Plasmodium falciparum parasite. The malaria parasite infects healthy red blood cells, where it reproduces, producing up to thirty-two new daughter parasites. The parasite secretes a ‘glue’, known as PfEMP1, which travels to the surface of the infected red blood cells, leading to the formation of the knobs on the surface of the cells. The cells become sticky and adhere to the walls of the blood vessels. This prevents the cells being flushed through the spleen, where the parasites would be destroyed by the body''s immune system, but also restricts blood supply to vital organs. Now, researchers, led by Professor Alan Cowman from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, have identified eight new proteins that transport the P. falciparum parasite''s ‘glue’ to the surface of the infected red blood cells. They have shown that removing just one of these proteins prevents the infected red blood cells from sticking to the walls of the blood vessels. "These findings greatly enhance our understanding of how the malaria parasite commandeers the red blood cell for its own survival and avoids our immune defences," Cowman said. "They also suggest that a drug that targets the ''stickiness'' proteins could be an effective treatment for malaria," he added. The study is published in the journal Cell. (ANI)
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