Gene that could lead to new therapies for bone marrow disease identified

They believe that the new gene called RhoB could prove to be a therapeutic target for late-stage MDS.

"Using our genetic models, we've been able to provide a better understanding of underlying molecular defects that drive the malignant progression of MDS," said VARI Distinguished Scientific Investigator Dr Art Alberts.

"The genes that we've focused on in this study might have a role not only in leukemia, but in solid tumours as well," said Alberts.

The researchers had previously found that the Drf1 gene is crucial to the development of MDS.

In the new study, the lab found that the RhoB gene is important as well, lack of the proteins that are the product of the gene accelerates the disease's progression.

The researchers believe examining RhoB levels in samples from patients with advanced MDS could help direct them to better treatment options.

"Our goal is to identify novel therapeutic targets and develop new drugs that affect their activity, but also to find ways to improve upon existing therapeutic strategies that are often associated with deleterious side effects," said Alberts.

The findings are published in the journal PLoS ONE.

UN climate chief says time running out for climate pact

BANGKOK: The UN climate chief warned Monday that time was running out to break a deadlock on a global warming pact, telling delegates in Bangkok

that failure to do so by December would threaten future generations.

The talks are the next to last before a showdown in Copenhagen at the end of the year, when the 192 countries must agree on a treaty for tackling greenhouse gases beyond 2010, after the current Kyoto Protocol expires.

"Time is not just pressing, it has almost run out," said UN climate head Yvo de Boer, who broke down in tears of frustration at talks in Bali two years ago, when world governments drew up the "road map" to the Copenhagen deadline.

After two years of haggling, the world is still trying to thrash out a draft text for December's talks, with major disagreements on the two key issues of cutting carbon emissions and meeting the associated costs.

"There is no plan B, and if we do not realise plan A the future will hold us to account for it," de Boer said in his opening speech to around 2,500 government delegates and representatives from business and environment groups.

De Boer said that devastating floods in the Philippines at the weekend which have killed at least 140 people further highlighted the need for action.

"One of the reasons why countries have gathered here is to ensure the frequency and severity of those kinds of extreme weather events decreases as a result of ambitious climate change policy," de Boer said.

The Bangkok talks, part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), run until October 9. The final talks before Copenhagen are in Barcelona from November 2-6.

The meeting in the Thai capital follows last week's UN climate summit in New York and a G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, both of which failed to break the deadlock on either of the two biggest issues.

"Our children and grandchildren will never forgive us unless action is taken. Time is running out, we have two months before Copenhagen," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in his opening speech on Monday.

De Boer said on the eve of the Bangkok talks that they had a 280-page negotiating text which is "basically impossible to work with."

The US on Monday reaffirmed its commitment to signing the treaty.

"We want to be part of a new agreement," said Jonathan Pershing, the US head of delegation in Bangkok.

The US, which signed the Kyoto deal but later saw it rejected by Congress, is due to introduce its new climate change and energy bill in the Senate this week and there are fears the bill will not pass ahead of Copenhagen. Pershing said the United States was "working quite aggressively trying to promote action in the Congress."

While the European Union, pegged to a 1990 benchmark, has set a 20 per cent target for emissions cuts by 2020, and Japan 25 per cent if others follow suit, the US so far has only set the equivalent of four per cent as a target.

Experts warn that global temperatures must rise no more than two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100 over pre-industrial times, a target embraced by the leaders of the G8 nations in July.

Scientists also say emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases should peak just six years from now.

Without drastic action they fear drought, floods and rising sea levels could grip the world by the end of the century causing famine, homelessness and strife.

On emissions, developed economies including the US have acknowledged a historical responsibility for global warming. Most have put numbers on the table for slashing their carbon pollution by 2020 and by 2050.

But they say that developing nations - especially China, India and Brazil and other major emitters of tomorrow - should also pledge to curb output of greenhouse gases.

Poor and emerging economies refuse to take on their own hard targets but call for rich nations to make higher cuts.

Durables eye a cracking Diwali

Going by the fervour, dealers and retailers are hopeful that this season would bring in strong double-digit growth. The confidence is backed by good numbers delivered by the industry consistently in the preceding five months.

Croma, the large-format electronics chain from the House of Tata, expects a growth of over 30% this time around. Vijay Sales, one of the oldest retail chains in consumer durables, too hopes to register more than twice the growth this Diwali. Enthused by the demand across the country, Vijay Sales is also chalking out an expansion plan to mark its presence in the north through a store in Delhi.

Whirlpool India, the local arm of the world’s leading home appliances-maker hopes to rake in around Rs 600 crore this Diwali — a growth of 35% over last year. ‘‘The preceding five months has been quite good for home appliances and we expect the trend to continue during the festive season too,’’ said Whirlpool India V-P (corporate affairs & strategy) Shantanu Dasgupta.

According to George Menezes, COO, Godrej Appliances, the propellors for this year’s growth are many. One major reason is that prices of durables have not been revised upwards since October 2008, thanks to the benign commodity (mainly metals and polymers for durables) cycle. This has resulted in better-than-expected consumer demand. The excise sops rolled out by the government too have helped the industry and the end consumer.

‘‘Growth so far in the overall white goods market has been around 8-10%. We are growing at 27%,’’ said Menezes. Croma MD & CEO, Ajit Joshi, said: ‘‘While there was not much buoyancy during the shraadh period, we expect this to change during Diwali. We are expecting 30-40% growth in footfalls as compared to last Diwali.’’

New trends in consumer purchasing behaviour have emerged and are adding a new dimension to the growth story. The industry believes this Diwali will witness more purchases of technologically-driven products like playstation. The launch of Apple Nano is said to have triggered this reaction. There is also an expectation that sales of high-end LED TVs would do well. In gifting too activity seems to be better than last year. Croma has received orders from companies in the pharmaceutical, FMCG and banking arena for consumer durables for their employees, triggering a chain reaction in gifting.

In the gifting space, microwave ovens seem to have gained popularity as the cheapest product in the segment comes at a more affordable level of Rs 3,000.

RIL diverting crores of govt revenue from mktg margin: ADAG

NEW DELHI: An Anil Ambani group company has asked the oil ministry to stop RIL from charging marketing margin on gas, alleging that the Mukesh

Ambani-led firm was not sharing the revenue and "diverting" crores of rupees of the government's share.

In a letter to Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey, Reliance Infrastructure also sought to know whether RIL was entitled to charge the marketing margin despite the fact that "RIL is not sharing this part of sales consideration with the government.

"Thus, several crores of rupees that would belong to the government are being diverted by RIL".

Demanding an early resolution to the issue that whether Reliance Industries was justified to charge the marketing margin, R-Infra Vice-President Kamal Kant said in the letter - "You are requested to advise RIL to act in terms of the Bombay High Court order and continue to supply the gas on payment of 4.2 per mmBtu."

The letter coincided with the Power Secretary H S Brahma and state-run NTPC also questioning the marketing margin, which R-Infra has termed as "illegal" and declined to pay, prompting RIL to issue a notice for suspension of fuel to ADAG's power plant in Andhra Pradesh for payment default.

"The marketing margin being charged by RIL on sale of K-G D6 gas is fair and justified consideration for the risks and costs undertaken in the GSPA including such risks and costs beyond the delivery point," RIL President (Gas Business) wrote to Power Secretary H S Brahma.

L&T bags Rs 2,000 cr order from GMR group

Engineering firm Larsen & Toubro on Thursday said it has received an order worth over Rs 2,000 crore from GMR Energy for setting up a gas-based power plant in Andhra Pradesh.

Under the scope of the order, L&T would set up the gas-based power plant at Vemagiri, near Rajamundry in Andhra Pradesh, Larsen & Toubro said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The project is expected to be completed in the 11th plan.

L&T's subsidiary L&T-Sargent and Lundy would carry out the plant integration and detailed engineering. The construction, installation, commissioning and project management would be done by L&T.

As part of the order, L&T would design and manufacture critical equipment for the plant like heat recovery steam generators, switchgear and cooling towers among other things.

Shares of the company were trading at Rs 1,645.75, up 0.61 per cent on the BSE in morning trade. Earlier, L&T had set up a similar plant of 388.5 MW for the GMR group at the same location that was commissioned in 2006.

Not right time for protectionism or ending stimulus, PM tells west

PITTSBURGH: With a blow-out over Iran's nuclear programme threatening to upstage G-20 confabulations on the world economy, it's doubtful whether any leaders had an ear for the prescriptions from India's economist-turned-prime minister on how to ride out the economic crisis that has shaken the world.

But for what it is worth, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh listed out a series of measures that he felt would ensure the quickest possible return to normalcy in the global economy. Among them, replacing lost export demand - which has hurt India badly - by expanding investment in infrastructure, including energy, transport and other public services.

The Prime Minister asked the World Bank and other multilateral institutions to step up to fulfill this role, in effect asking richer nations to commit additional resources to fund them. And in a snarky aside to his rich colleagues who may hesitate to commit additional public resources for such recapitalization, the normally soft-spoken had this to say: We must keep in mind what is needed for these institutions is small compared
to the massive scale of public money used to stabilize the private financial system in industrialized countries.

No one said 'ouch' but you could feel it.

Singh also warned against the dangers of growing protectionism amid collapse of exports, an issue that has marred ties between U.S and China in the backdrop of the G-20 summit. (In an episode that has generated a few chicken crossing the road jokes, Washington has imposed hefty tariffs on China-made tyres, and Beijing has retaliated with taxes on American chicken feet)

"I recognize that when growth is low, and unemployment is high, it is inevitable that protectionist pressures will arise," Singh told the G-20 college. "It will be a test of the collective political leadership of this group whether we are able to resist these pressures in our countries." The Prime Minister's remarks came even as India has been increasingly persuaded to open its market, from allowing import of goods and foods California almonds (promoted by Karishma Kapoor, no less) to Washington apples.

Appreciating some of the steps taken so far, Singh said tackling the economic crisis "requires a commitment that we will not undertake any premature withdrawal of stimulus. We must plan for an orderly 'exit" when the time is right, but that time is not now."

In a capacious David Lawrence Convention Center in a downtown Pittsburgh rendered a ghost town because of security concerns and protests by anarchists, Singh warned that if the downturn was not arrested "social and political tensions could increase, undermining the national consensus in support of much needed structural reforms."

Sundry groups protesting everything from Ethiopian President's coup to US ties with Israel roamed the back allies of the city where there were more men in uniform on Friday than denizens of the city.

Earlier in the day, the economic summit was rocked by a political-diplomatic bombshell when President Obama led a severe reprimand of Iran after it was disclosed that Teheran was hiding an undisclosed enrichment plan. In language that was harsh and unsparing, Obama, flanked by French President Nicholas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned Iran of sanctions if it did not cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons. China and Russia were conspicuously absent at the podium during the dressing down.

Brain can quickly learn a forgotten language again

Our subjective impression is often that the neglected language completely fades away from our memory. But does "use it or lose it" apply to foreign languages?

Although it may seem we have absolutely no memory of the neglected language, new research suggests this "forgotten" language may be more deeply engraved in our minds than we realise.

Psychologists Jeffrey Bowers, Sven L Mattys and Suzanne Gage from the University of Bristol recruited volunteers who were native English speakers but who had learned either Hindi or Zulu as children when living abroad.

The researchers focused on Hindi and Zulu because these languages contain certain phonemes that are difficult for native English speakers to recognise. A phoneme is the smallest sound in a language-a group of phonemes forms a word.

Scientists asked volunteers to complete a background vocabulary test to see if they remembered any words from the neglected language. They then trained the participants to distinguish between pairs of phonemes that started Hindi or Zulu words.

As it turned out, even though the volunteers showed no memory of the second language in the vocabulary test, they were able to quickly relearn and correctly identify phonemes that were spoken in the neglected language.

These findings suggest that exposing young children to foreign languages even if they do not continue to speak them can have a lasting impact on speech perception, says a Bristol release.

The study authors conclude-"Even if the language is forgotten (or feels this way) after many years of disuse, leftover traces of the early exposure can manifest themselves as an improved ability to relearn the language."

These findings were published in Psychological Science.

'Breakthrough' as vaccine cuts AIDS infection risk

BANGKOK: An experimental AIDS vaccine has for the first time cut the risk of infection in a medical "breakthrough", researchers said Thursday

after the world's largest ever HIV vaccine trial.

The announcement came after a joint US-Thai study that was sponsored by the US Army and conducted by the Thailand Ministry of Public Health.

"The vaccine has a 31.2% efficacy in reducing the risk of HIV infection," said a statement released by the researchers at a press conference in Bangkok.

"The outcome represents a breakthrough in HIV vaccine development because for the first time ever there is evidence that HIV vaccine has preventative efficacy.

Diamonds may be ultimate MRI probre

An international team, led by scientists from Harvard University, has carried out the study and found that diamond, formed of pure carbon, occasionally has minute imperfections within its crystalline lattice.

A common impurity is a "nitrogen vacancy", in which two carbon atoms are replaced by a single atom of nitrogen, leaving the other carbon atom space vacant. Nitrogen vacancies are in part responsible for diamond's famed luster, for they are actually fluorescent.

According to the scientists, the slight variations in this fluorescence can be used to determine the magnetic spin of a single electron in the nitrogen. Spin's quantum property that has a value of either "up" or "down", and therefore could represent one or zero in binary computation.

The team's recent achievement was to transfer this quantum information repeatedly between the nitrogen electron and the nuclei of adjacent carbon atoms, forming a small circuit capable of logic operations.

Scientists map how white blood cells repair wounds

The white blood cells are called regulatory T-cells, or Tregs for short, and their best known function is to keep the body's immune system from attacking its own healthy tissues.

"Our study results are the critical first leads in finding treatments for a clinical condition that until now has had none, despite its high mortality," says study senior investigator Landon King, Johns Hopkins University.

"When a patient develops acute lung injury, we want the critical care medicine team to be able to do more than just stabilize the patient on a ventilator," said King.

King says the study opens the door to a new field in research and development of drugs that either speeds up the post-injury activation of Tregs, or supplements levels of Tregs in people who may be relatively lymphocyte deficient from either lung disease or chemotherapy. Lymphocyte is the technical term for a type of white blood cell.

Some 200,000 Americans suffer some form of sudden, acute lung injury (ALI) each year, in which inflammation spreads across both lungs, making breathing difficult and starving the body of much-needed oxygen.

Among them are people with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by infection, the most severe form of ALI. Also included are burn victims, people with chest injuries from car accidents, and cancer patients who have had adverse reactions to donated platelets from blood transfusion.

Almost all people with ALI require breathing assistance from mechanical ventilators, and nearly 75,000 die each year.

The study was published online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Scientists map how white blood cells repair wounds

Scientists map how white blood cells repair wounds

Based on more than 50 experiments with mice, scientists have mapped out the basic steps taken by a particular set of white blood cells

in setting the pace for recovery after serious lung injury The white blood cells are called regulatory T-cells, or Tregs for short, and their best known function is to keep the body's immune system from attacking its own healthy tissues.

"Our study results are the critical first leads in finding treatments for a clinical condition that until now has had none, despite its high mortality," says study senior investigator Landon King, Johns Hopkins University.

"When a patient develops acute lung injury, we want the critical care medicine team to be able to do more than just stabilize the patient on a ventilator," said King.

King says the study opens the door to a new field in research and development of drugs that either speeds up the post-injury activation of Tregs, or supplements levels of Tregs in people who may be relatively lymphocyte deficient from either lung disease or chemotherapy. Lymphocyte is the technical term for a type of white blood cell.

Mars turned red due to grinding rocks, not water

Mars turned red due to grinding rocks, not water
Recent laboratory studies have shown that Mars is not red due to the rocks being rusted by the water that once flooded the planet, but due to the ongoing grinding of surface rocks, which forms the red dust.
These findings, which open up the debate about the history of water on Mars and whether it has ever been habitable, have been presented at the European Planetary Science Congress by Dr Jonathan Merrison.
"Mars should really look blackish, between its white polar caps, because most of the rocks at mid-latitudes are basalt. For decades, we assumed that the reddish regions on Mars are related to the water-rich early history of the planet and that, at least in some areas, water-bearing heavily oxidized iron minerals are present," said Dr Merrison, of the Aarhus Mars Simulation Laboratory, Denmark.

Coldest spot in solar system? It's on the Moon

WASHINGTON: Astronomers have found the coldest spot in our solar system and it may be a little close for comfort. It’s on our moon, right nearby.
Nasa’s new Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is making the first complete temperature map of the moon. It found that at the moon’s south pole, it’s colder than far away Pluto. The area is inside craters that are permanently shadowed so they never see sun.

“It’s sort of like a faint glow and that’s your only source of heat,” said David Paige, who is part of the Nasa team. “Right here in our own backyard are definitely the coldest things we’ve seen in real measurements.”

Temperatures there were measured at 397 degrees below zero. That’s just 62 degrees higher than the lowest temperature possible. That ultra-cold temperature is important because it can trap volatile chemicals, such as water and methane, said Nasa probe project scientist Richard Vondrak.

New method to produce drinking water from storm water

This is an exciting demonstration of the value of storm water and the drinking water that can be produced from it by using a combination of natural treatment processes and engineered methods," Dr Peter Dillon, who led an international team, said.

The water was captured in the City of Salisbury, on the Northern Adelaide Plains in South Australia. It was stored under Salisbury in a porous limestone aquifer some 160 metres below ground. When recovered, it was found to meet drinking water health standards.

"The storm water was first treated by passing it via a reed bed or wetland. This allows particles to settle. It was then injected via wells into a limestone aquifer for storage and months of natural slow filtration through the aquifer," Dr Dillon of CSIRO said.

After recovery, the water was rigorously tested in National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accredited laboratories. For extra safeguard and aesthetic quality, the water was aerated, filtered through an activated carbon filter and it underwent microfiltration and ultraviolet disinfection.

Researchers find molecular support for Darwin's theory

Trevor Lithgow, Monash University's professor, said the breakthrough provides a blueprint for a general understanding of the evolution of the "machinery" of our cells. The study has been funded by the Australian Research Council.

"Our cells, and the cells of all organisms, are composed of molecular machines. These machines are built of component parts, each of which contributes a partial function or structural element to the machine."

How such sophisticated, multi-component machines could evolve has been somewhat mysterious, and highly controversial," Lithgow said.

A non-Darwinian explanation, from believers of Intelligent Design, proposed these complex machines to be "irreducibly complex".

In other words they are so neatly complex and complete that they couldn't have evolved but rather must have been designed by an intelligent entity.

"Our research shows that these machines although complete and complex, were a result of evolution," said Lithgow, according to a Monash University release.

"Simple 'core' machines were established in the first eukaryotes by drawing on pre-existing proteins that had previously provided distinct, simplistic functions," he added.

"A eukaryote is an organism whose cells are organised into complex structures enclosed within membranes. They therefore stand as proof that Darwin's theory of evolution breaks down at the molecular level," Lithgow

EARTH LIKE ROCKYPLANET FOUND OUT SIDE THE SOLAR SYSTEM

WASHINGTON: Astronomers have finally found a place outside our solar system where there's a firm place to stand - if only it weren't so broiling
hot.

As scientists search the skies for life elsewhere, they have found more than 300 planets outside our solar system. But they all have been gas balls or can't be proven to be solid. Now a team of European astronomers has confirmed the first rocky extra solar planet.

Scientists have long figured that if life begins on a planet, it needs a solid surface to rest on, so finding one elsewhere is a big deal.

"We basically live on a rock ourselves,"' said co-discoverer Artie Hartzes, director of the Thuringer observatory in Germany. "It's as close to something like the Earth that we've found so far. It's just a little too close to its sun."

So close that its surface temperature is more than 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit, too toasty to sustain life. It circles its star in just 20 hours, zipping around at 466,000 mph. By comparison, Mercury, the planet nearest our sun, completes its solar orbit in 88 days.

"It's hot, they're calling it the lava planet," Hartzes said. This is a major discovery in the field of trying to find life elsewhere in the universe, said outside expert Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution. It was the buzz of a conference on finding an Earth-like planet outside our solar system, held in Barcelona, Spain, where the discovery was presented on Wednesday morning. The find is also being published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The planet is called Corot-7b. It was first discovered earlier this year. European scientists then watched it dozens of times to measure its density to prove that it is rocky like Earth. It's in our general neighborhood, circling a star in the winter sky about 500 light-years away. Each light-year is about 6 trillion miles.

Four planets in our solar system are rocky: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

In addition, the planet is about as close to Earth in size as any other planet found outside our solar system. Its radius is only one-and-a-half times bigger than Earth's and it has a mass about five times the Earth's.

Now that another rocky planet has been found so close to its own star, it gives scientists more confidence that they'll find more Earth-like planets farther away, where the conditions could be more favorable to life, Boss said.

"The evidence is becoming overwhelming that we live in a crowded universe,"

Indian scientist develops fastest encryption disk system

KOLKATA: An Indian scientist has claimed to have developed the fastest internationally known method to encrypt hard disk of a computer so that data remains secure even from attack by hackers.

The new algorithm developed by Palash Sarkar, a professor at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, is reportedly 30 to 40% faster than the previous ones.

From a practical point of view, the requirement is actually to achieve both speed and security. Otherwise, encryption and decryption may take so much time that softwares which run on computers become unacceptably slow, Sarkar said.

"And, in the current state of the art, this work provides the fastest known algorithm for disk encryption," Sarkar claimed.

The results of the research will appear in October 2009 issue of the 'IEEE Transactions on Information Theory', one of the top research journals in the field of transmission, processing and utilization of information.

Asked how he claims his algorithm to be the 'fastest', he replied, "One has to see this in the context of the anonymous and strict review process of the journal 'IEEE Transactions on Information Theory.'

"The reviewers allowed this claim to stand because I could scientifically justify it in the paper. A hollow claim would have been struck down by the reviewers," he added.

Bacteria helps turn waste to power

Bacteria helps turn waste to power

Bacteria that generate power could be used in microbial fuel cells to convert waste into electricity. University of Massachusetts researchers isolated bacteria with large numbers of tiny projections called pili which transfer electrons to generate power in fuel cells, more efficiently than counterparts with a smooth surface.
The researchers isolated a strain of Geobacter sulfurreducens which they called KN400 that grew prolifically on the graphite anodes of fuel cells.
The bacteria formed a thick bio-film on the anode surface, which conducted electricity. The researchers found large quantities of pilin, a protein that makes the tiny fibres that conduct electricity through the sticky bio-film.

CPM leader Brinda Karat arrested in TN

MADURAI: CPM Politburo member Brinda Karat was on Saturday arrested with some All India Democratic Women's Association activists when they were

on their way to a village in Madurai district, which was hit by a clash between upper-caste Hindus and Dalits last year.

Along with Karat, AIDWA General Secretary Vasuki, Treasurer Jhansi Rani, State Secretary Thirumalli Rani and six others were arrested by Thirulparankundram police, preventing their visit to Uthaopuram village.

A Dalit had died in police firing in the village last year following a clash over a dispute related to a local temple.

Police gave no reason immediately for the arrest. Speaking over phone, Karat said she had not committed any illegal act by visiting the village as she was going there only for a private function.

"My car was blocked in the middle of the road without any reason. I asked them (police) under what order they are detaining us. They said they expect trouble in the village. I told the police that if there is trouble, you should arrest trouble-makers, not me," Karat said.

She said she would complain to higher officials. The Madras High Court had ordered an inquiry by a retired judge into last year's clash and passed interim orders for paying compensation to Dalits affected in the police action.

OW STUDY EXPOSES BACTERIA RESIST antiviruses

Scientists have discovered how bacteria fend off a wide range of antibiotics, and blocking that defense mechanism could give existing

antibiotics more power to fight dangerous infections. Researchers at New York University said on Thursday that bacteria produce certain nitric oxide-producing enzymes to resist antibiotics. Drugs that inhibit these enzymes can make antibiotics much more potent, making even deadly superbugs like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA succumb, they said. "Developing new medications to fight antibiotic resistant bacteria like MRSA is a huge hurdle, associated with great cost and countless safety issues," said Evgeny Nudler of NYU Langone Medical Center, whose study appears in the journal Science. "Here, we have a short cut, where we don't have to invent new antibiotics. Instead, we can enhance the activity of well-established ones, making them more effective at lower doses," he said in a statement. Drug-resistant bacteria such as MRSA are a growing problem in hospitals worldwide, killing about 19,000 people a year in the United States. Nudler's team found that many antibiotics kill bacteria through the production of harmful charged particles known as reactive oxygen species, otherwise called oxidative stress. "Antibiotics cause bacteria to produce a lot of reactive oxygen species. Those damage DNA, and bacteria cannot survive. They eventually die," Nudler said in a telephone interview. "We found nitric oxide can protect bacteria against oxidative stress." He said bacteria produce nitric oxide to resist antibiotics. The defense mechanism appears to apply broadly to many different types of antibiotics, he said. Nudler said many companies are testing various nitric oxide-lowering compounds called nitric oxide synthase inhibitors for use as anti-inflammatory drugs.

Onus on Pakistan to unveil Mumbai attack conspiracy: India

India on Thursday put on Pakistan the onus of unveiling the conspiracy behind the Mumbai attacks and ruled out meaningful dialogue till concrete action is taken against those responsible.

The firm message was sent out by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna ahead of his meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi in New York later this month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

On the eve of the ministerial meeting, Foreign Secretaries Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir will meet to discuss the progress on investigation of the 26/11 attacks and prosecution of those arrested in connection with it.

"It is in our vital interest to normalise our relations with Pakistan. However, we are at a stage where it is for Pakistan to determine the kind of relationship that it wants to have with India," Krishna said while addressing the Editors Guild in New Delhi.

Talking about the Mumbai attacks, he said it was launched from Pakistan and the conspiracy was hatched there. "Clearly, the onus is on Pakistan to unveil the conspiracy," he said, adding India had sought to "assist" them in that task by providing vital evidence.

Speed up aiims revamp: PM tells Azad

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written a letter to Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, asking him to speed up the pace of restructuring of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

He has been given a month’s time to submit a detailed report on AIIMS revamp to the PM.

“The time has come for us to think about a radical reform of the institution so that it becomes not just a model for the establishment of other similar institutions in the country but also achieves levels of excellence on par with the best medical institutions in the world,” Singh wrote.

He also asked Azad to examine the recommendations of the Prof MS Valiathan Committee, set up in 2004 and which has suggested infrastructural improvements and other developments in AIIMS.

“I would request you to expeditiously examine all the recommendations and finalise, after due consultation, the legislative, the administrative and other decisions that are required to be taken...”

Monkey malaria: Is it the next virus?

The study, financed by UK charity the Wellcome Trust, examined the clinical and laboratory features of the P. knowlesi strain of malaria, which until recently was thought to predominantly infect monkeys in Southeast Asia.

Researchers led by professors Balbir Singh and Janet Cox-Singh of the University Malaysia Sarawak found that the malaria strain was widespread among humans in Malaysia and neighboring countries. Their research confirmed that P. knowlesi is a fifth strain of malaria that can prove fatal in humans, unlike a similar but usually benign strain called P. malariae.

"P. knowlesi malaria can easily be confused with P. malariae since these two parasites look similar by microscopy," Singh said. "In fact, because the P. knowlesi parasites reproduce every 24 hours in the blood, the disease can be potentially fatal."

"Understanding the most common features of the disease will be important in helping make this diagnosis and in planning appropriate clinical management."

The researchers collected data for the study from a group of 150 patients admitted to the Kapit hospital in Sarawak who tested positive for malaria. Using molecular detection methods, the team found P. knowlesi was the most common form of malaria, accounting for more than two-thirds of the cases. Most of those infected with the strain were easily treated with chloroquine and primaquine, two common anti-malarials, but one in ten of the patients developed complications, and two died, the study said.

Overall, the researchers measured a fatality rate of just under two percent, making P. knowlesi as deadly as the P. falciparum malaria strain -- considered the most dangerous form of malaria. But the researchers stressed it was hard to determine the accuracy of their recorded fatality rate because of the relatively small number of cases studied so far.

The study also found that patients infected with the P. knowlesi strain had consistently and significantly lower blood platelet counts than is usually the case among malaria victims.
Malaria kills more than one million people a year worldwide, and Singh warned that the P. knowlesi strain could become more prevalent as Western tourists visit Southeast Asian countries.

"Clinicians assessing a patient who has visited an area with known or possible P. knowlesi transmission should be aware of the diagnosis, clinical manifestations, and rapid and potentially serious course of P. knowlesi malaria," he said.

NEW PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT TECHONOLOGY AT AIIMS

At AIIMS the department of medical sience has acquired the latest treatment research technology repetitive Trascranial Magnetic Brain Stimulation (rTMS) to treat
several psychiatric and neuro psychiatric condition not responding to standard tretment.
AIIMS is one of the few Govt. hospital in the country to launch rTMS tecnology for psychiatric disoders as a tretment and research tool.

NEW CURE FOR GENE DEFECT

Four baby monkeys created laboratory in US could hold the key to eradication of a class of incurable genetic diseases Scintists revealed Spindler,spindly and twins MINTO and Tracker were born through one fourth technique that should make possible prevent women who carry genetic disoders of the mitochondria from passing them
on to their children.

Managing director & C.E.O

MANAGING DIRECTOR AND C.E.O OF LEADING COMPANIES OF INDIA

TCS --- CEO & M.D Subramanian Ramadorai

Infosys technologies --- CEO & M.D S.Gopalkrishnan

ICICI Bank --- M.D Chanda Kochhar

TATA Motors --- M.D Ravi kant

ICICI PRUDENTIAL LIFE INSURANCE --- M.D Shikha Sharma

H.D.F.C Bank --- M.D Aditya Puri

State bank Of India --- M.D S.Sridhran

Subhiksha trading service --- C.E.O R.Subramaniam

Britannia --- Chairman Nusli Wadia

Walmart`s India --- President Raj Jain

welcome

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