• 'Next, to find origin of new bacteria'
• 21st century belongs to India: Mukesh Ambani
• Kerala to give mobile phones to 40000 police personnel

• Study finds clues to sudden death of healthy people
• 100 Steps to healthy heart
• Indian American scientist tracks turmeric's curative element

An Indian-born, Kolkata-educated scientist at Johns Hopkins University and his fellow researchers have found an answer to sudden death of healthy people, including athletes. Describing it as sudden cardiac death, they say it is caused by abrupt stopping of the heart due to an abnormality in its electrical impulses. In a study published in Nature Genetics, Aravinda Chakravarti of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and fellow scientists say that in such cases, the heartbeat becomes very irregular - either very fast or very slow - leading to fatal results. They say their research has linked sudden cardiac death to congenital problems with the heart. One such congenital problem is called 'long QT syndrome' (LQTS). People with this problem are prone to have either a prolonged or shortened QT interval - which is the time it takes for the heart to contract and then get ready for the next beat. Scientists say when people with this syndrome suddenly become stressed or undertake strenuous physical activity, their heart simply snaps as it is not able to speed up properly. This results in sudden cardiac death, they say. In their ground-breaking research, Chakravarti and colleagues have identified 10 common variants of genes that modify the QT interval or heart beat. As part of their research, they used DNA samples previously collected for epidemiological studies to analyse the genomes of 15,842 individuals whose QT intervals had been measured by electrocardiogram. Calling it a major breakthrough in heart biology, Chakravarti said: "The reason people die from this cardiovascular disorder is because we know nothing about the antecedents." "It's like a truck barrelling down a slope: there's no way to stop it. The only way out is to understand the science of this in a deep, meaningful way. If we know, we can begin to intervene." The professor added: "I have no doubt, absolutely no doubt, that everything we discovered will have clinical benefit, but what I can't tell you is when, I can't tell you how." Till now, Chakravarti said, identifying who has "long QT syndrome" has been difficult because people exhibit no sign of the disorder till their heart suddenly stops beating.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, March 23, 2009

Back to Index

Eminent astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar said on Tuesday that the focus next would be on determining the origin as well as the nuclear characteristics of the three new species of bacteria, which have been discovered during balloon experiments in the upper stratosphere by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). The discovery was announced in Bangalore on Monday by Isro, which has been carrying out the balloon experiments since 2001 as part of its quest to explore the origin of life. As principal investigator, Narlikar headed the team of scientists from Isro as well as biology experts from leading research labs like the National Centre for Cell Sciences, Pune and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad. The new bacteria, which are highly resistant to ultra-violet (UV) radiation, have been named 'Janibacter hoylei', after the distinguished astrophysicist Fred Hoyle; 'Bacillus isronensis', in recognition of Isro's contribution which led to its discovery; and Bacillus aryabhat, after India's celebrated ancient astronomer Aryabhata. "Our purpose behind the present experiment was to look for microorganisms at a height several kilometres above the earth's surface," Narlikar said, adding, "We succeeded in doing so at a height of 41 km, which is the maximum height the balloon could go." "We now have an interesting situation in that the new bacteria found are resistant to UV radiation, compared to the bacteria that exist on the earth," he said. "This leads us to the next mission to see whether the new bacteria came from outside earth or got tossed up from the earth," he added.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, March 18, 2009

Back to Index

Counting 100 steps a minute may be an easy way to maintain pace during brisk walks, burning calories and reducing the risk of diabetes or cardiovascular disease, a study suggests. The study by researchers at the San Diego State University in the US has shown that 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise translates into 3,000 steps on a pedometer, a device that helps count steps. Doctors typically prescribe 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise each day for at least five days a week as a means to check obesity, improve blood pressure readings and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. In the new study, Simon Marshall at the department of exercise and nutritional sciences and his colleagues at the San Diego university monitored oxygen uptake and heart rates of 58 women and 39 men walking a treadmill at different speeds. They found moderate-intensity exercise was achieved by women at counts between 91 and 115 steps per minute and by men at 92 to 102 steps per minute. The study will appear shortly in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. "This data supports the general recommendation of walking at more than 100 steps per minute on level terrain," said Marshall, who is investigating the use of step counts in the promotion of physical activity.

Preventive medicine specialists believe many people who exercise routinely don't derive full benefits because they don't push their hearts to required activity levels. "To achieve moderate-intensity exercise, the heart rate has to touch 60 to 70 per cent of the maximum rate, which is linked to the age of a person," said Dorairajan Prabhakaran, a cardiologist at the Centre for Chronic Diseases in New Delhi. The maximum heart rate is computed by subtracting the age from 220. A 40-year-old would thus have a maximum heart rate of 180, and moderate-intensity exercise at that age would mean pushing the rate to 108 beats a minute. The difference in the counts of women and men emerge because of stride lengths - men are taller and take fewer steps in 30 minutes, Marshall said. Step counts would be a simple method to help people gauge exercise intensity, Prabhakaran told The Telegraph. But doctors warn that the 100-steps-a-minute target may not be appropriate for all. "People above 40 who may have undetected cardiovascular risk or who have previous heart disease should ideally consult doctors before they embark on an exercise plan that is appropriate for them," said Prabkaharan. For otherwise healthy people, while the target should be 3,000 steps in 30 minutes, doctors say it may be approached gradually - starting with 1,000 steps in 10 minutes and increasing it steadily to reach 3,000 steps in 30 minutes. The actual calories burnt depend on several factors, including the pace of exercise, body mass, the proportion of muscle mass, age and gender. But the burn-up rate is about 3kcal per kg per hour. A 70kg man will, therefore, expend 105 kcal during a 30-minute walk.

Courtesy: www.thetelegraph.com, March 17, 2009

Back to Index

Demonstrating confidence in India's youth, Reliance Industries (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani said India has a huge demographic advantage, emphasising that the 21st century is destined to be India's century. "India will become richer before it gets older and the Chinese will become older before they get richer," Mr Ambani said at the International Bar Association (IBA), while addressing a conference on "Taking India to the next millennium" in Mumbai on Friday. Talking of poverty, Mr Ambani said the responsibility of eradicating poverty lies "with all of us", adding it's not fair to hold only the government or the industry responsible for it. When asked about social responsibility of corporates and corporate governance issues, Mr Ambani said, "In the past few decades, we did a pretty good job in terms of poverty alleviation. Going forward, the responsibility lies with civil society, which means all of us... Everybody should get an equal opportunity, quality of life, health and education. I think it's the responsibility for all of us. It's not government, it's not corporation, it's all of us."

Courtesy: www.economictimes.indiatimes.com, March 9, 2009

Back to Index

Researchers led by an Indian American scientist have discovered how the main curative ingredient of turmeric - used for centuries to treat wounds, infections and other health problems - works to increase the human body's resistance to disease. Lately, turmeric's astonishing array of antioxidant, anti-cancer, antibiotic, antiviral and other properties have spurred a flurry of research into curcumin, its main curative ingredient. Yet little was known about how exactly it works in the body. Now, researchers led by Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy, Professor of Biophysics at the University of Michigan (U-M), have discovered that curcumin acts as a disciplinarian, inserting itself into cell membranes and improving their resistance to infection and malignancy. "The membrane goes from being crazy and floppy to being more disciplined and ordered, so that information flow through it can be controlled," said Dr. Ramamoorthy, who has a doctorate from the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur. The research project melds Dr. Ramamoorthy's past with his current scientific interests. As a child in India, he was given turmeric-laced milk to drink when he had a cold. He inhaled steam infused with turmeric to relieve congestion.

Now, as researcher, he is fascinated with proteins that are associated with biological membranes and he uses a technique called solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to reveal atom-level details of these important molecules and the membranous milieu in which they operate. "Probing high-resolution intermolecular interactions in the messy membrane environment has been a major challenge to commonly-used biophysical techniques," Dr. Ramamoorthy said. His research group developed the two-dimensional NMR technique that it used to probe curcumin-membrane communication in this study. Scientists have speculated that curcumin does its health-promoting work by interacting directly with membrane proteins, but the new findings challenge that notion. Instead, the researchers found that curcumin regulates the action of membrane proteins indirectly, by changing the physical properties of the membrane. Dr. Ramamoorthy's group now is collaborating with Chemistry Professor Masato Koreeda and U-M's Life Sciences Institute researcher Jason Gestwicki to study a variety of curcumin derivatives, some of which have enhanced potency, a university statement said. "We want to see how these various derivatives interact with the membrane, to see if the interactions are the same as what we have observed in the current study," Dr. Ramamoorthy said. "Such a comparative study could lead to the development of potent compounds to treat infection and other diseases," he added. The findings were published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Courtesy: www.hindu.com, March 7, 2009

Back to Index

Thiruvananthapuram, March 3, 2009: Kerala government is all set to give mobile phones to 40000 police personnel in the state. This is one of the most important steps that the state government has taken to modernize its police force. Most police personnel even in Naxal infested states don't have mobile phones. In a few instances the cops cannot keep even their personnel mobile phones while on duty. It comes after a significant step taken by Chandigarh government to provide its cops with latest gadgets. Police officers in the state have welcomed the state government move to connect its employees with mobile handsets. It has entered into an alliance with state run BSNL to provide cell phones to cops and internet broadband services in all police stations across the state.

Courtesy: www.khabrein.info, March 3, 2009

Back to Index