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Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh Passes Away in Chennai

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Vilasrao Deshmukh - Union Minister and former Maharashtra Chief Minister passes away at the Global Hospital, Chennai. He was 67. Deshmukh, who was put on life-support systems, was undergoing treatment for serious liver ailment. Vilasrao Deshmukh, who previously held the posts of Minister of Rural Development and Minister of Panchayati Raj and Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, was a Maratha leader from Latur, Maharashtra. Deshmukh ...

Cosmopolitan's Editor-in-chief Helen Gurley Brown Passes Away

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Cosmopolitan magazine's editor-in-chief Helen Gurley Brown dies at 90, reports source. Hired by magazine publisher Hearst to turn around Cosmopolitan three years after her 1962 best-selling book 'Sex and the Single Girl,' she edited the magazine for 32 years, the BBC reported. Under her, the magazine became famous for encouraging women to have sex, regardless of marital status. Brown said her aim was to tell readers "how to get everything ...

Impact of Shift Work on Vascular Ailments

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Shift work disturbs the body's natural clock (circadian rhythm), which in turn affects the work life equilibrium. This can result in a variety of health problems such as increased cholesterol and high blood pressure. Vascular ailments are caused by hardening of arteries (atherosclerosis) due to plaque deposition. Recently, Manav and colleagues conducted a systemic review to assess the link between shift work and vascular events. For the review 34 observational ...

Telomere Shortening And Ageing

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Telomeres are cap- like structures at chromosome ends that play an important role in ageing and in the initiation and progression of various diseases.

Usain Bolt Tops Facebook Olympic Charts

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Sprint legend Usain Bolt wins most Olympic mentions on Facebook, states report. According to Facebook's 'mention' charts, Bolt was the most talked about athlete on the social site, after he broke a Twitter Olympic record last week, with more than 80,000 tweets per minute following his 200m victory in the Games. U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps took second place on charts, while Gabby Douglas, an American gymnast came in third, The Telegraph reports. ...

For Young Women, Looks Matter More Than Health

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Young women place looks and counting calories above health, say US researchers. Maria Len-Rios, associate professor of strategic communication, Suzanne Burgoyne, professor of theater, and undergraduates from the University of Missouri (UM) studied how such women view their bodies and how they feel about ads aimed at women. "During our focus group conversations, we learned that young people don't think about nutrition when it comes to eating," Len-Rios said. ...

46.9 Million Mosquito Nets Distributed: Nigeria

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Nigeria distributes 46.9 million Long Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets (LLITN), say officials. National Coordinator for the Malaria Eradication Program Chioma Amajoh told reporters Monday that the number showed that the country had distributed over 70 percent of all the nets needed in the western African nation. She said in order to sustain the programme, the country would need a pool of experts in the states to monitor the use of the nets after distribution, ...

New Technology Produces Electricity from Wastewater

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Engineers have developed a new technology that produces electricity directly from wastewater. This new technology opens the door to a future in which waste treatment plants not only will power themselves, but will sell excess electricity. Researchers say this could eventually change the way that wastewater is treated all over the world, replacing the widely used "activated sludge" process that has been in use for almost a century. The new approach ...

Alcohol may Lower Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Risk

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The risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is lower among consumers of alcohol, states study. However, surprisingly, the risk of ALS was found to be markedly lower among consumers of alcohol than among abstainers. Forum reviewers thought that this was a well-done and important paper, as it is a population-based analysis, with almost 500 cases of ALS, a very large number of cases for this rare disease. They were especially struck ...

Roche to Sell Diabetes Eye Drug

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Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche gets US green light to sell a drug that treats a diabetes-related illness linked to blindness. The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision means that Roche can take Lucentis to the US to treat diabetic macular oedema (DME), a condition that causes swelling, blurred vision and blindness in people with diabetes. In a statement Roche called the development the "first major treatment advance in more than 25 years ...

Researchers Discover New Drug Target for Schizophrenia

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Novel drug target for schizophrenia - devastating mental illness has been identified by researchers. The study will pave the way for a new class of drugs to help treat this devastating mental illness, which impacts one percent of the world's population, 30 percent of whom do not respond to currently available treatments. A team of researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine set out to discover what epigenetic factors, or external factors that ...

Cellular Basis for How Anti-aging Cosmetics Work Identified

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The mechanism that explains how alpha hydroxyl acids (AHAs) - the key ingredient in cosmetic chemical peels and wrinkle-reducing creams - work to enhance skin appearance has been discovered by researchers. An understanding of the underlying process may lead to better cosmetic formulations as well as have medical applications. The findings were published in the iJournal of Biological Chemistry/i in an article entitled "Intracellular proton-mediated activation ...

Comparing Natural and Commercial Carbohydrate Supplements in Endurance Running Performance

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Carbohydrate (CHO) foods taken prior to, and while exercising, enhance long-lasting ( 1 hour) performance by sustaining blood glucose levels. However, it is unclear which amount, type and form of CHO increases endurance. The current study investigated the effects of a natural food product such as raisins in comparison with commercial sport chews. The CHO supplement effects, on the metabolism, gastrointestinal (GI) tolerance and endurance performance, ...

Tamil Nadu Prison Health Care System Reforms Lives

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Prison aptly termed as Correctional Facility, is an establishment whose fundamental mission is to reform people who are at discord to the point of posing a threat to themselves, their neighbours and their community at large. Mr. S.K. Dogra, IPS, Head of the Tamil Nadu Prison Department, elaborates to Medindia on the comprehensive health care facilities available to prison inmates in the correctional institutions. Q. How is the health care system in prisons ...

New Targeted Approach Promising for Treatment of Parasitic Infections

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A novel approach to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease shows promise in test tube and animal studies, say researchers. When tested in newly infected mice, it reduced the number of viable parasites by more than 90 percent, researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine report in the iProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. /iThis precisely focused therapy combines short strands of "antisense" nucleic acid-like material with a small peptide ...

Nepal Tourists Warned Over Cholera Outbreak

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Nepal urges tourists to take precautions against cholera. 13 people died in an outbreak in the remote west of the country. Visitors were urged by GD Thakur, director of the Himalayan nation's epidemiology and disease control department, to drink boiled or mineral water and "pay attention to their personal care and hygiene". "There have been 13 deaths in two months in Doti district in western Nepal but now the situation is under control," Thakur ...

Blood Test may Predict Kidney Cancer

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Blood test could guide treatment for late-stage kidney cancer, say researchers. The finding, published online Monday, Aug. 13, 2012, in the iJournal of Clinical Oncology/i, could lead to the first blood test to determine the best treatment for late-stage kidney cancer. "Being able to direct these patients to a treatment we know will help them would be a major advancement in their care," said Andrew Armstrong, M.D., ScM, associate professor of ...

Cocoa may Boost Brain Function

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In a recent study it was found that cocoa flavanols can improve mild cognitive impairment. The study has been published in the American Heart Association's journal iHypertension/i. Each year, more than six percent of people aged 70 years or older develop mild cognitive impairment, a condition involving memory loss that can progress to dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Flavanols can be found in tea, grapes, red wine, apples and cocoa products ...

Touch Houseplants to Change Your TV Channel Soon: Researchers

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An emerging technology that lets users control electronic devices by touching their plants in different ways has been unveiled by scientists. Dubbed "Botanicus Interacticus", the system is the brainchild of a group of digital media experts led by Ivan Poupyrev, a senior research scientist at Disney Research in Pittsburgh, Discovery News reported. Poupyrev and his colleagues were seeking new ways to interact with plants, and even give them a voice. ...

Revelation Of Being 'Scared of Sea' By British Silver Medalist Sailor

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British sailor Hannah Mills has revealed that she suffers from a sea phobia. She recently won the silver medal at the London Olympics along with Saskia Clark. Mills only began preparing for the London Games 18 months ago after teaming up with Clark, when the latter's sailing partner retired from the sport. The Welsh sailor has also had to deal with a phobia that would put many people off ever setting foot in a boat. "I'm scared of the water ...

Wave of Marriage Proposals Sparked By 2012 Olympics

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Robotic Plane That Dodges Obstacles and Flies Without GPS Coming Soon: Researchers

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The tough challenge of developing autonomous-control algorithms for the indoor flight of GPS-denied airplanes is being taken up by a team of researchers. At the 2011 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), a team of researchers from MIT's Robust Robotics Group described an algorithm for calculating a plane's trajectory. in 2012, at the same conference, they presented an algorithm for determining its "state" - its location, physical ...

'Counterfeit Products' Being Sold In 95 Percent of Shops in Chinese City

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It has emerged that almost 95 percent of shops in the Chinese city of Shenyang are making or selling counterfeit products. All shops in Shenyang were shut after it was falsely reported that authorities were about to launch a crackdown on stores keeping fake products. Officials in Shenyang have now asked store owners to reopen after 95 percent of shops remain closed in the wake of the online rumour. The rumour sparked fears that the local ...

'Lost' Egyptian Pyramid Located With the Help Of Google Earth

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Revelation of two possible pyramid complexes in Egypt by Google Earth satellite imagery survey. Satellite archaeology researcher Angela Micol of Maiden, N.C said that the complexes were located about 90 miles apart, and contained unusual grouping of mounds with intriguing features and orientations. One site located in Upper Egypt, just 12 miles from the city of Abu Sidhum along the Nile, features four mounds each with a larger, triangular-shaped plateau. ...

Olympic Synchronized Swimmer Reveals Method Behind Looking Impeccable Under Water

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Team U.S.A.'s synchronised swimmer Mariya Koroleva has revealed what has baffled many spectators watching the Olympics competition. She reveals how they manage to keep their hair and makeup perfect in the water. Koroleva and Mary Killman, competed in the duet competition, had bright mascara, stylish headpieces and impeccable hair, despite being soaked. Koroleva has revealed that gelatin is the secret ingredient that kept their hair faultless at the ...

Language Gene May Uncover Origins of 'Singing Mouse': Research

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To gain insights into the genes that contribute to the unique singing behaviour researchers are examining singing mice. The information they obtain could help them understand and identify genes that affect language in humans. Singing mice (scotinomys teguina) are not your average lab rats. Their fur is tawny brown instead of the common white albino strain; they hail from the tropical cloud forests in the mountains of Costa Rica; and, as their name hints, they use ...

Agricultural Society Linked To Development Of Woodworking Tools

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A direct link between the development of an agricultural society and the development of woodworking tools during the Neolithic Age was suggested by a Tel Aviv University research. During the Neolithic Age (approximately 10000-6000 BCE), early man evolved from hunter-gatherer to farmer and agriculturalist, living in larger, permanent settlements with a variety of domesticated animals and plant life. This transition brought about significant changes in terms of the ...

Human Chain Formed By Bihar Students to Spread Environmental Awareness

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To spread awareness about the need for protecting the environment and conservation of natural resources students from different schools and colleges formed a human chain here. Bihar Earth Day was organised as part of their effort to generate awareness among masses to protect the environment. One of the participants, Radha, said: "The main aim behind this campaign is to spread awareness among the masses about the cutting of trees and only 7 percent of ...

On The Brink of Becoming 'World's Most Valuable Club' Is Manchester United

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As they prepare to reveal the pricing of their initial public offering (IPO), Manchester United are on the verge of being rated the world's most valuable sports club. According to data compiled by the financial media groups Bloomberg and Forbes, a successful float by the club in New York would see United worth around three billion dollars, about twice the value of Spain's Real Madrid, once debts are factored in. The offer would also make United about ...

Men With Beautiful Teeth 'Most Attractive': Bar Rafaeli

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Want to know what supermodel Bar Rafaeli finds most attractive in the opposite sex? She reveals that she finds a nice grin "with a beautiful set of teeth the most attractive thing" in the opposite sex. "Teeth are the first thing I look at," People magazine quoted the Israeli supermodel, ranked at the very top of Maxim's Hot 100, as saying. "With today's orthodontists, I don't understand why people wouldn't fix them," she said. With pearly ...

Mutations in the HDAC8 Gene Disrupt the Biology of Proteins

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Genetics researchers have identified a key gene that, when mutated, causes the rare multisystem disorder Cornelia deLange syndrome (CdLS). By revealing how mutations in the HDAC8 gene disrupt the biology of proteins that control both gene expression and cell division, the research sheds light on this disease, which causes intellectual disability, limb deformations and other disabilities resulting from impairments in early development. "As we better understand how ...

New Drug may Help Prevent Diabetes

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Researchers led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have uncovered a new key player in amplifying stress in the earliest stages of diabetes: a molecule called thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP). At its most fundamental level, diabetes is a disease characterized by stress-microscopic stress that causes inflammation and the loss of insulin production in the pancreas, and system-wide stress due to the loss of that blood-sugar-regulating ...

Laura Fights Anorexia and Dedicates Her Life to Her Miracle Baby Boy

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Laura was weighing just six stone on her wedding day and she looked tired and gaunt on the most important day of her life. Guests were shocked to see a painfully frail and thin bride walk down the aisle. She was suffering from anorexia, the infamous eating disorder.. That was five years ago, now she is healthy and owes everything to the birth of her miracle boy, Matthew, who is 14-months old. She believes her son is a miracle baby and is a gift from ...

For the First Time Ever in Asia, 350 Kg Woman Goes Under the Scalpel to Cut Flab

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It is the first time in Asia, that a 40-year-old woman from Indore weighing 350 kg gets a breather from all that excess flab, after she underwent a bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgeon, Dr Mohit Bhandari, and his team performed a laparoscopic surgery on the patient at Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences. This was a chronic case where the lady's excess weight led to a whole lot of health problems - sleep apnea, hypertension and diabetes. Prior to surgery, ...

Diabetes Drugs Raise Risk of Bladder Cancer

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According to a recent study, a popular class of diabetes drugs ups patients' risk of bladder cancer. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that patients taking thiazolidinedione (TZDs) drugs - which account for up to 20 percent of the drugs prescribed to diabetics in the United States -- are two to three times more likely to develop bladder cancer than those who took a sulfonylurea drug, another common class of medications ...

Dog Bites are a Cause of Concern in England

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There has been a 55% increase in the number of hospital admissions in England due to dog bites, and some of them have been serious enough to need surgery. Data summarized by USEC show that number of bites from dogs, which were serious enough to require hospital treatment, have risen from 6,130 (2010-2011) to 6, 450 (2011-2012). Nearly 1000 children below the age of 10 were bitten by dogs, and 75% of them needed surgery. "Through further analysis, ...

Ready Pac Foods Recalls Items Containing Packaged Apple Slices After Listeria Contamination Reports

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Packaged sliced apples sold to McDonald's and Burger King and grocery chains such as Wegmans Food Markets are being recalled by its manufacturer following reports that they could be contaminated with bacterium listeria. Ready Pac Foods revealed that it has voluntarily recalled more than 290,000 cases and over 296,000 individual packs of fruit, vegetable and sandwich products in which the contaminated apples were used. The company said that it initiated the ...

Pfizer to Shell Out (Dollar) 60 Million to Settle Bribe Allegations

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American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced that it will be paying over (Dollar) 60 million to the US government as part of the settlement over allegations that it had paid bribes to doctors in Asia and Europe to boost sales. Pfizer's settlement comes just over a year after Johnson (and) Johnson had agreed to pay (Dollar) 70 million following similar allegations. According to Securities and Exchange Commission, Pfizer had paid bribes to doctors and health care officials in ...

Count the Number of Hugs and Kisses to Know If Your Partner Loves You!

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A new study conducted by researchers at University of Texas reveals that the best way to know whether your wife or partner loves you would be by counting the number of hugs and kisses. The researchers said that women express their love by cutting down on nagging and giving more hugs and kisses to their husbands while men express their love by taking part in household chores and being proactive in the bedroom. Around 168 couples took part in the long term study ...

Treat Gun Violence as a Social Disease, Say Experts

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Health experts in the United States have claimed that the best way to reduce gun violence is to treat it as a social disease even as analysts said that there was no "simple formula" for preventing gun-related crimes. Gun control laws in the US are firmly in focus following a spate of violence over the last month including the Colorado theatre shooting where 12 people lost their lives and the Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin which left six people dead. A ...

Concept of Competition is Present in Frontal Region of Brain

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Competition is all in the brain after researchers at University of Otago in New Zealand found that neurons present in the frontal cortex region of the brain became active when making decisions that involved competitive effort. According to the study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, information regarding actions involving competitive effort is stored in neurons present in the anterior cingulate cortex of the brain and this region decides whether it is ...

Britons Not Sure Whether London Olympics was Worth Spending 9 Billion Pounds

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The verdict among the common man in Britain is split over the London Olympics with just 40 percent believing that it was worth spending more than 9 billion pounds to host the event. The Sunday Express poll revealed that the public purse has chipped in to the tune of 9.3 billion pound to stage London 2012, while 39 per cent disagree that it has been value for money. According to the Daily Express, only 28 per cent felt more confident that Britain's economy ...

Thousands March Against Female Foeticide in Pune Marathon

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Thousands of people took part in a marathon in Pune creating awareness against female foeticide even as an international survey revealed India to be the worst country among the top economies with regards to discrimination against women. Another aim of the marathon was to bring out the interest of children in sporting activities. The marathon witnessed the participation of at least 5000 people, including former military cadres. Legislator ...

Report Sheds Light on How Jessica Ennis Got Her Gold Medal Body

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The secrets behind Jessica Ennis' perfect body have been revealed by the people behind her success. The Olympic motto 'faster, higher, stronger' had been exemplified by her every move over the two days of competition, and the girl they call 'The Flea' can jump so prodigiously above her own height - just 5ft 4in. "She's not only the best athlete, but the best looked-after athlete of anyone in the GB athletic team," the Daily Mail quoted her coach Toni ...

Peanuts and Scrambled Eggs are the Staple of Luck for NASA Missions

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Even the brightest of minds can take shelter in superstitions under pressure as a new study revealed that NASA scientists were busy eating peanuts in the control room of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as they nervously watched Mars rover Curiosity's descent on to the red planet on August 5. It's just one of a slew of superstitious NASA traditions, according to Wired Science. The peanut tradition started in the 1960s during JPL's Ranger missions, ...

American Researchers Hoping to Bring Super Soldiers Out of Science Fiction

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A popular facet of science fiction may soon become a reality with American military researchers currently looking to create "super soldiers" who can live without food and sleep and regrow their limbs thanks to genetic manipulation. "It may be seen as blue-sky thinking but it has teeth and plenty of money behind it," the Daily Express quoted Novelist Simon Conway, who was given unprecedented access to Washington's Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), ...

Olympic Athletes Urge David Cameron to Tackle Child Malnutrition

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Even as the London Olympics draws to a close, athletes taking part in the event have urged the British Prime Minister to launch a campaign against child malnutrition in poor countries. According to the BBC, the athletes, including Britain's Greg Rutherford and Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba, have written an open letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of a 'hunger summit' at Downing Street. They have urged him to make the issue the top priority ...

New Genetic Regions Associated With Glucose and Insulin Levels Found

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The number of genetic regions linked with glucose and insulin levels has increased to 53 after British researchers found 38 new genetic regions, more than half of which are linked with type 2 diabetes. The researchers used a technology that is 100 times more powerful than previous techniques used to follow-up on genome-wide association results. This technology, Metabochip, was designed as a cost-effective way to find and map genomic regions for a range of cardiovascular ...

Brain Makes Sure Our Sense of Smell Does Not Deteriorate During a Cold Spell

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Even as we lose our sense of smell during a bout of summer cold or mold allergy, our brain is hard at work to make sure that once we recover; our sense of smell remains as sharp as it was before the illness. That dependability is no accident. It turns out the brain is working overtime behind the scenes to make sure the sense of smell is just as sharp after the nose recovers. A new Northwestern Medicine study shows that after the human nose is experimentally ...

Discrimination Against Women Hampers Poverty Battle

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Sex discrimination hampers progress in alleviating world poverty, says United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "Gender discrimination blocks progress. Equality makes it possible to achieve huge breakthroughs," Ban told an international meeting for young female leaders during a visit to his native South Korea. Women make up a fraction of all chief executives of the world's biggest companies, fewer than one in ten national leaders are female ...

Sun Effects Booth App Shows a Futuristic Peek of Sunlight Damage to the Face

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A new app developed by the Queensland government in Australia can reveal how excess sunlight may damage your face in the future. The free iPhone app Sun Effects Booth highlights the potential ageing and damage done to your skin. The app asks a series of questions about how you protect yourself in the sun, including choice of hat, sunscreen and sunglasses, the Courier Mail reported. It also analyses a photo of your face and gives a prediction ...