• Fish Oil gives babies head start: Study
• Eat Mushrooms to Prevent Breast Cancer
• India bikers on mission to spread Education Awarness
• Alka Pande wins French Award
• Tea may help Heal Skin Damage by Radiation

• Stop Drinking, Save Your Brian!!
• Haldi to take the sting out Malaria
• A School's Experiment with Honesty
• Indian American Wins Perstigious Siemens Scholarship

Toddlers born to women who consume fish oil during pregnancy know more words and longer phrases than other children, a study has found. New Australian research also found that these children have better hand-to-eye coordination than their peers, adding more strength to support the use of supplements. Fish oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, special fats found to protect the heart and improve neurological function in adults. To see whether they can also benefit unborn children, University of Western Australia researchers enlisted about 80 pregnant women and fed half a daily four-gram dose of fish oil in the 20 weeks before birth. The other half were given olive oil capsules as a dummy substitute. Tests at two-and-a-half years old found that toddlers in the fish oil group scored more highly on measures of comprehension, average phrase length and vocabulary. And children whose mothers had taken fish oil supplements scored significantly higher in hand-eye coordination than those whose mothers had taken the olive oil supplements. This finding held true even after taking into account other potentially influential factors, such as the mother's age and duration of breast feeding. Previous research has shown that infants with high levels of omega-3 in their umbilical cord blood have better visual abilities. But this research, published in the British journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, is the first to prove the benefits go further. "These preliminary data indicate that supplementation with a relatively high-dose fish oil during the last 20 weeks of pregnancy is not only safe but also seems to have potential beneficial effects that need to be explored further," the authors wrote. Omega-3 fats are found naturally in oily fish like salmon and mackerel. But the authors say concerns about mercury content in certain types of seafood has prompted more people to consume the oil in supplement form.

Courtesy: www.theage.com.au, December 21, 2006

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Long-term drinking is not to be treated lightly - not when your brain can be seriously affected by the excessive ingested alcohol. Research has shown that the human brain can partly regenerate itself, but this becomes more and more difficult as the drinking period is prolonged. Long-term alcoholics might very well face permanent brain damage. A team of researchers from the UK, Switzerland and Italy found that the brain does recover when drinking is stopped. The scientists used scanning technology and computer software to analyze how the form, function and size of brains in 15 alcohol-dependent patients changed over a period of six to seven weeks after they gave up alcohol. Brain volume increased by an average of almost 2 per cent 38 days after the start of the study. Levels of chemicals that indicate how intact the brain's nerve cells and sheaths are also rose significantly, by around 10 per cent to 20 per cent. The increase of the nerve cell marker correlated with the patients performing better in a test of attention and concentration. The one patient that did not show improvement was the one who had been drinking the longest, for 25 years, the study found. Dr Andreas Bartsch, from the University of Wuerzburg in Germany, who led the research, said: "The core message from this study is that, for alcoholics, abstention pays off and enables the brain to regain some substance and to perform better." He added, "However, our research also provides evidence that the longer you drink excessively, the more you risk losing the capacity for regeneration." Dr Bartsch stressed that the brain is truly capable of regeneration: "Instead, the adult human brain, and particularly its white matter [where nerve fibers are], seems to possess genuine capabilities for regrowth." Bottom-line: "The sooner they do it, the better," referring to putting a stop to drinking. The research is published in the online edition of the journal Brain.

Courtesy: www.playfuls.com/, December 21, 2006

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Including mushrooms in the daily diet might have a preventive effect against breast cancer. Researchers from the Beckman Research Institute, California, USA found that eating mushrooms every day could prevent new breast cancers. It has been shown that extracts of the fungi interfere with the action of aromatase, an enzyme that helps the body to make oestrogen and most breast tumours require oestrogen to grow. The researchers tested seven vegetable extracts for their aromatase-blocking activity, and found that white button mushroom had the strongest effect. The researchers evaluated 10 other types of mushrooms, and found stuffing mushrooms, portobello, crimini, shiitake and baby button mushrooms also inhibited aromatase activity. White button mushrooms are the most commonly eaten type, and the researchers tested extracts of the mushrooms in a series of laboratory and animal experiments. The extract reduced the proliferation of breast cancer cells in a lab dish, while feeding the extract to mice implanted with breast cancer cells suppressed the tumour growth. Further experiments showed that linoleic acid, a fatty acid usually found in meat and dairy products, was probably responsible for the extract's anti-cancer effects. Based on the amount of extract used in the experiments in mice, it was found that eating 100 grams of mushrooms daily would be enough to prevent breast cancer growth. The findings support the hypothesis that white button mushrooms in the diet are an important part of reducing breast cancer in women. Since mushrooms are readily available, affordable, and acceptable to the general public, they could be effective in preventing breast cancer.

Courtesy: www.ndtv.com, December 19, 2006

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They are known to have anti-oxidant, anti-infectious and anti-inflammatory properties. Now, curcumin, the active ingredient of turmeric (haldi) - that has proved effective in lowering cholesterol, glucose and combating cancer - will join in India's fight against malaria. Top scientists from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and National Institute of Malarial Research, Delhi, are embarking on human trials to see the effectiveness of a combination therapy that uses curcumin with artemisinin derivative artesunate, the most potent compound against malaria. Studies on mice have shown this new combination therapy to be highly effective. The Rs 1 crore human phase II trials, being funded by the Department of Biotechnology, will take place in four centres - IIS, Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, NIMR and ISPAT General Hospital, Rourkela. A team of scientists is meeting in Rourkela on December 23 to finalise the size, duration and protocols of the study. The trial is expected to begin next month. According to an IIS study, the combination will prove superior from several perspectives. Both are from natural sources and no resistance is known to curcumin. Artemisinin runs the risk of resistance development when used widely as monotherapy while curcumin can be tolerated at very high doses, as much as 8 g/day. This will decrease the dose of artemisinin and lower the cost of therapy. Each year, between 300 and 500 million people become infected with malaria in Africa and Asia.

Courtesy: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, December 17, 2006

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Indian bikers on mission to spread Education Awareness

Two men from Bangalore have embarked on an adventurous bike tour of South and Southeast Asia to spread awareness on the lack of quality education for deprived children. Srinidhi Raghavendra (32) and Kishore Patwardhan (34) are in Maharashtra's Jalgaon town after having made it to Pune Monday. They left Bangalore Dec 3, and their five-month journey will end in the same city May 1 next year, by when the pair would have gone around Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka. In all, the young men expect to cover 62 cities, covering over 25,000 km, armed only with pencil and notebook, cameras packed up in panniers and backpacks. Basic camping gear will supplement their housing needs in countryside. 'We would like to create awareness that millions do odd jobs to eke out a living due to abysmal poverty and lack of education,' Raghavendra, a journalist with the Bangalore-based magazine Education World, told IANS. From India the two men will enter Pakistan via Lahore, return to India, travel to Nepal, then to Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand before sailing to Sri Lanka and returning to India. Among the cities they will pass through are Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Ajmer, Jaipur, Agra, New Delhi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Jammu, Shimla, Lucknow and Kathmandu. Providing quality education right from the beginning is the only way to rescue children from a vicious poverty-illiteracy-poverty cycle, Raghavendra said.

'We have already met children in four schools. Some NGOs adopted slums and villages and talked to more than 250 villagers, especially women, to take a vow to send their children to schools. 'We interacted with over 125 college boys and girls in Pune and impressed them that travelling to various parts of the country and meeting people in villages was one of the most educating experiences,' he said. According to the UN, South Asia is the world's most densely populated (305 per sq km, seven times the world average), impoverished ($350 per capita income, over 25.5 percent people live below poverty line) and illiterate (53.3 percent literacy) region. 'South Asia hosts the largest illiterate population (850 million). We want to spread this message among the common people, especially in small towns where awareness of this reality is very less,' said Patwardhan, a realty entrepreneur. 'We are riding motorcycles because they give a great sense of adventure and freedom. Most importantly, it helps break barriers between people and induce friendship,' he added. 'It is also the cheapest means of transport and offers the facility to stop anywhere, travel over rough terrains and be part of the landscape,' added Raghavendra, who has gone cycling across the country covering 4,502 km. The self-styled 'Borderless Bikers' are also keen to promote tourism.'Though India has vast tracts of lush green forests, long beaches, snow-capped mountains, rivers, yoga and spirituality centres, we attract only two to three million international tourists annually,' Raghavendra said. The trip, costing about Rs.1.1 million, is partly sponsored by corporates, NGOs and motorcycle clubs. The pair bagged a national record in long-distance, non-stop scooter ride from Bangalore to Mumbai in 2000, covering a distance of 1,053 km in 15 hours and 20 minutes. They also took the Delhi-Leh-Delhi route in July-August 2002, covering 3,500 km and over 10 high-altitude passes.

Courtesy: www.yahoo.com, December 14, 2006

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When 28 boys of class XII from a Darjeeling school pass their board examinations in 2007, they will be given a unique certificate of merit - that of "honesty". The reason: they desisted from cheating, even in the face of temptation, for two whole years. St Joseph's, Darjeeling, better known as North Point, considered to be one of the elite residential schools in India, will continue giving the example of this class for years to come. School principal, Father Kinley Tshering, had challenged senior students two years ago, asking if they could promise to write their exams without invigilation. If they accepted the challenge they would not talk or cheat in the examination hall, though they would not be monitored by the faculty. No class was allowed to take up the challenge, unless every boy had agreed to assume responsibility for himself and his class. It took a long while for any class to come up to the principal and say it was ready for the test and for a while Tshering thought the idea, which was basically his way of teaching value education to kids, had fizzled out.

"Finally boys of class XI commerce section, who are now in class XII, came up to me and said they were ready. I asked them if every boy had agreed to the experiment, because even if a single boy had not been taken into confidence, he would be under no obligation to comply and that would defeat my purpose," said Tshering. Even the relatively weaker boys agreed and said they were ready. This was just ahead of the terminal examination and teachers were told not to invigilate any of the exams that class XI commerce boys wrote, he added. Since then the class has been writing all their exams, including annual examinations, without any supervision from teachers. The boys themselves collect question papers from the staff room, distribute these among the examinees, take responsibility of finishing the paper on time, collect the scripts and give them back to teachers for assessment. "It's not that we have just left it to the boys and have not bothered to keep a vigil, but we have done it without the boys' knowledge. Every time we found the boys seriously writing. We have even purposely given tricky papers at times just by way of a bait, but even then the boys did not talk or try to cheat. "I was happy to see that while the bright ones, about six of them, scored beyond 90%, the marks of the average boys or the weaker ones did not change dramatically, which is proof enough of the boys' honesty," Tshering said. The Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations, Delhi, which conducts the ISC examinations, is aware of this experiment. "Though we will not be able to let the boys write their ISC examination without invigilators, it sure is a commendable effort," said an official from Delhi. But what is better news is that the boys in general are so excited that now even class XI science and class X have met the principal and pledged that they are ready for the challenge.

Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com, December 13, 2006

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Author and academician Alka Pande received this year's coveted Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres - Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters - award bequeathed by the French government. The French government instituted the award in 1957 to recognise significant contributions in the fields of art and literature. The award was bestowed upon Pande by the French ambassador to India, Dominique Girard, late Tuesday at the French embassy here. "Alka has done immense work in the field of art and literature and has brought many laurels for the country. Her work is a true reflection of how rich the Indian culture is," Girard told the audience, which comprised of stalwarts from the art, political and corporate world. The glittering event also saw the launch of Pande's latest book - "The New-Age Kamasutra for Women" - by the ambassador. "This award and the fact that I received it from the ambassador is a big thing for me. This day marks a very special moment in my life," said Pande, also a consultant art advisor and curator of the Visual Art Gallery at the India Habitat Centre here. "I have been asked time and again by many as to why I write on a subject like Kamasutra and the intricacies of a relationship between man and woman. It's because when I started research on the subject, I felt that this is the beginning of creativity and the world," said Pande, who is also a reader in the department of fine arts, Punjab University. The art historian has also written "Ardhanarishvara - The Androgyne" that dealt with the intricacies of both genders. Other Indians who received the French honour include film critic Aruna Vasudev and Dhruv Sawhney, the Triveni Industries' chairman.

Courtesy: www.teluguportal.net, December 13, 2006

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An Indian American student from Long Islands has shared a $30,000 annual scholarship sponsored by Siemens, the German electronics conglomerate. Vijay Jain, a senior at Herricks High School in New Hyde Park, New York and Jinju Yi, a senior at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School, New York shared the scholarship for fourth-place in the team category for their unique project in creating a biosensor, which uses molecular-imprinting technology to detect viruses and cancer at their earliest stages. The Siemens competition in math, science and technology is a signature programme of the Siemens Foundation, which provides nearly $2 million in scholarships and awards annually. Both Jain and Yi said they decided this summer to work together."We became close friends," said Jain. "We both knew we wanted to work together," added Yi. They merged divergent interests: Yi was focused on cancer-related research, while Jain was drawn to fighting bioterrorism. "We found detection technology would definitely be the strongest link," said Jain, according to Newsday newspaper. More than 1,600 students entered the competition, from which 345 semi-finalists were named, including 89 from New York. Six regional finals were held around the country, producing the 20 national finalists. Richard Quan, Herricks High's science research teacher, said he was proud as he watched the project move from "idea, to theory, to practical protoype." Of Yi and Jain, he added, "This is only the beginning."

Courtesy: www.teluguportal.net, December 5, 2006

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Tea extracts can help heal skin damage caused by radiation treatment in cancer patients, say researchers. Frank Pajonk from the University of California in Los Angeles and his colleagues from the University of Freiburg, Germany, studied the effects of green and black tea extracts on patients who had been treated with radiotherapy, which can damage the skin. The researchers then analysed the effect of the same tea extracts on human and mice white blood cells in culture, which showed that tea acts at the cellular level by inhibiting inflammatory pathways to reduce inflammation, reported science portal EurekAlert. This might partly be due to the anti-inflammatory properties of tea, the researchers said in the latest issue of the journal BMC Medicine. They also found that tea extracts reduce the duration of skin toxicity following radiotherapy of five to 10 days. Both black and green teas inhibit a major inflammatory pathway in a mouse's white blood cells. However, green tea extracts are more effective than black tea extracts in some patients, they added.

Courtesy: www.teluguportal.net, December 1, 2006

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