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Oral saline spray may keep SARS at bay London:
Saline sprays may now ward off air borne infections like SARS and
influenza as scientists have revealed that oral administration of a
safe saline spray every six hours might slashes the exhalation of germs
in individuals who exhale many more pathogen-laden droplets than others
in the course of ordinary breathing. The researchers, at Harvard University
and biotechnology firms Pulmatrix and Inamed, have revealed that this
oral administration of saline sprays might help in decreasing the spread
of bacteria and viruses responsible for airborne infectious diseases
such as influenza, tuberculosis, and SARS. "We found a sharp demarcation
between individuals who are 'high' and 'low' producers of bioaerosols,
small droplets of fluid exhaled from the lungs that may carry airborne
pathogens," lead author David A. Edwards, said. "Roughly half our subjects
exhaled tens of bioaerosol particles per liter, while the other half
exhaled thousands of these particles. The number of exhaled particles
varied dramatically over time and among subjects, ranging from a low
of one particle per liter to a high of more than 10,000," he added.
The researchers found that a six-minute inhalation of aerosolized salt-water
solution, often used in the treatment of asthma, can markedly reduce
the number of bioaerosol particles exhaled by these "high-producers"
for up to six hours. "Administration of nebulized saline to individuals
with viral or bacterial illnesses could dramatically reduce spread of
these pathogens without interfering with any other treatments.This work
could also point the way to new hygiene protocols in clinical settings
as well as enclosed spaces," Edwards added. Stem cells could repair your spinal cord (Go To Top) Washington: A team of researchers at the University of California Irvine Reeve-Irvine Research Centre, has indicated that human embryonic stem cells can be used to create new nerve insulation tissue that can aid spinal cord repair. The finding has potentially important implications for treatment of spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis. Researchers used human embryonic stem cells to create cells called oligodendrocytes, which are the building blocks of the myelin tissue that wraps around and insulates nerve fibers. This tissue is critical for maintenance of proper nerve signaling in the central nervous system, and, when it is stripped away through injury or disease, sensory and motor deficiencies and, in some cases, paralysis result. The study, which has been published in the online journal Glia, found that the oligodendrocyte cells form patches of myelin's basic protein, and compact myelin tissue wrapping around neurons in the spinal cord. This demonstrated that the oligodendrocytes derived from human embryonic stem cells can function in a living system. "What we plan to do next is see how these cells improve sensory and motor function, and hopefully it will lead to further tests with people who suffer from these debilitating illnesses and injuries," the researchers wrote in their study. Poor diet can turn kids into bullies (Go To Top) London:
Tired of your kid's rude behaviour? Blame it on the child's poor
diet as researchers have revealed that a poor diet can lead to teenagers
becoming bullies. Researchers from the University of Southern California
have found that children whose diet lacks in zinc, iron, vitamin B and
protein in the first three years , are most likely to develop into bullies
and have a anti-social behaviour. At eight-years-old, children fed poorly
were more likely to be irritable and pick fights than those fed healthily.
Aged 11, they swore, cheated and got into fights, and at 17, they stole,
bullied others and might resort to drugs. Report co-author Adrian Raine
has said that parents could prevent their children developing bad behaviour
by ensuring they get better diets. "Poor nutrition leads to low IQ,
which leads to later anti- social behaviour.At a societal level, should
parents be thinking more about what kids are eating?There's more to
anti-social behaviour than nutrition, but we argue that it is an important
missing link," Raine was quoted by the BBC, as saying. Stem cells can repair your decaying teeth (Go To Top) Sydney:
Researchers have now revealed that stem cells exist inside the teeth
and can be harnessed to allow the organ to repair itself. According
to the Sydney Morning Herald, biologist Stan Gronthos has found that
dental stem cells could be harvested and stored in liquid nitrogen,
which readies them to be used to repair damaged or diseased teeth. "It's
a complex organ and it's got many tissues associated with it so it's
going to take a lot of study to actually try and form a living tooth
in an animal,"Gronthos, was quoted by the paper as saying in an interview
to ABC radio. "At the moment technology is at the stage where we can
probably repair portions of the tooth," Gronthos added. Spine manipulation for backache (Go To Top) London:
According to a report in the British Medical Journal, researchers
claim to have found the most effective treatment for people suffering
from a bad back in spine manipulation which involves chiropractice,
osteopathy or manipulative physiotherapy. The research team from the
Medical Research Council has revealed that this therapy combined with
some exercise can keep the back ache at bay for long as this three-pronged
approach provides significant symptom relief. The researchers also examined
the cost of the treatments and found both spinal manipulation and the
combined package of spinal manipulation and exercise achieved similar
benefits to patients. "This trial has shown that physical treatments
- a combined package of spinal manipulation and exercise in particular
- may offer relief to the large numbers of patients whose back pain
persists after they've received best care from their GP,"Martin Underwood,
Professor of General Practice at Queen Mary, University of London, who
worked on the study,was quoted by the BBC as saying. Scientists find new underwater life forms near NZ (Go To Top) Wellington:
Scientists carrying on the first ever deep-sea exploration of underwater
volcanos abutting New Zealand claim to have discovered new species of
life forms previously unknown to mankind. According to the New Zealand
Herald, scientists and marine biologists from the Geological and Nuclear
Sciences Ltd (GNS) conducted the first ever probe of the Brothers volcano
situated 1800 metres below the sea at a distance of 400kms northeast
of White Island. During the 18-day expedition, conducted in a Japanese-operated
Shinkai 6500 submersible, in association with the Japanese government-owned,
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, the scientists
collected geological and marine life samples, including "colonies of
heat-loving micro-organisms" for further analysis and study. "We saw
scores of chimneys, some six metres tall, each containing thousands
of tonnes of metal. At one of the sites, 300degC fluids were pumping
out of chimneys forming dense plumes of black smoke. Minerals in the
chimneys included iron, copper, lead and zinc. Biological samples taken
included shrimp, scale worms, crabs, eel-fish, limpets, and tube worms
-- the first time the species had been recorded in New Zealand territorial
waters," the paper quoted GNS project leader Dr Cornel de Ronde as saying.
Dr Ronde and his colleagues are of the opinion that as much as 30 percent
of the creatures they have collected for study are unknown to man and
are of the opinion that they may have future potential applications
in pharmaceuticals as well as bio- remediation of contaminated sites.
"These colonies of heat-loving micro-organisms may have potential future
applications in pharmaceuticals, in bioremediation of contaminated sites,
and in biomining" the paper quoted a statement from GNS as saying. Breakthrough vaccine to prevent food allergies developed (Go To Top) Washington: Researchers have now developed a breakthrough vaccine which can benefit millions who suffer from food allergies , especially nut and milk allergies. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed vaccines that vastly reduce or eliminate dogs' allergic reactions to three major food allergens: peanuts, milk and wheat, with the benefits lasting for at least three months. The research, published in the Nov. 12 online edition of the journal Allergy ,is the first one to reverse pre-existing food allergies in an animal other than a mouse and provides a new hope to the millions of people who suffer from food allergies. "Food allergy is an important problem for which there is no good treatment.Developing a cure for this growing problem will help millions of people and save lives," Dale Umetsu, professor of pediatrics at Stanford and chief of the division of allergy and immunology at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, said. "This study takes us one step closer to finding a treatment that will allow people to live without fear of having a reaction that could kill them," Anne Munoz-Furlong, founder and CEO of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, said. Though the hopes are high, yet the researchers caution that some advanced testing is requird before the vaccine is tested on humans. -Nov 13, 2004 Australian scientists achieve spinal cure breakthrough (Go To Top) Melbourne:
It would certainly come as a breather for people like Shahrukh Khan
and Sunny Deol who have long suffered spinal problems as Melbourne University
researchers have discovered how to regrow nerves in the damaged spinal
cords , which is the most successful attempt yet at such surgery. The
doctors are touting it as a major step forward in repairing spinal cord
damage in humans who suffer from spinal problems and are left quadriplegic
or paraplegic, though its application might take come more years. The
researchers have said that they could reconstruct 70 per cent of each
mouse's spinal cord , which is far greater than other regrowth methods
being trialled. "Our recent findings are a major step forward.In the
past it was believed that adult nerves lacked the ability to regrow
but work over the last few years has shown that not to be true," Ann
Turnley the lead researcher at the Centre for Neuroscience,said. The
research focused on a molecule, EphA4, which helps spinal nerves to
fully develop,but inhibits nerve regrowth when there is spinal injury.
"The surprising result we found was that EphA4 plays a vital role in
activating cells called astrocytes, which are in turn responsible for
forming scarring in the damaged spinal cord, leading to inhibition of
nerve regrowth," she said. The team would now work on developing drugs
that could block EphA4, however, they say that putting this discovery
into application might take another decade. References: SARS saline spray, stem cell spinal cord teeth, spine backache, underwater life New Zealand, Science, Research, Science News, India, India News, Newspaper, Indian, News, Travel News, India Travel Times, Travel,Tourism, Tour, Tourist, India, Times, News, Hotels, Airlines, Ayurveda, Yoga, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Cuisine, Festival, Temple, Trekking, Hindu, Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Odissi, Dance, Shimla,Varanasi, Kullu, Manali, Dehra Dun, Mussourie, Mussoorie, Haridwar, Hardwar, Rishikesh, Nainital, Delhi, Goa, Kovalam, Darjeeling, Bodh Gaya, Kancheepuram, Kanchipuram, Thekkady, Badrinath, Amar Nath,Vaishno Devi, Tirupati, Sabarimala, Guruvayoor, Kanyakumari, Kodaikanal, Ooty, Chennai, |
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