Karnataka minister takes on Pawar on endosulfan |  |
- Karnataka minister takes on Pawar on endosulfan
- Three weeks in hospital, Sai Baba remains critical
- U of M scientist gets 5-year, $10 million grant to direct innovative HIV research program
| Karnataka minister takes on Pawar on endosulfan Posted: 18 Apr 2011 08:14 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bangalore, April 18 - Karnataka Energy Minister Shobha Karandlage Monday accused Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar of supporting the controversial insecticide endosulfan manufacturers and not farmers. 'He is speaking in support of endosulfan manufacturers,' Karandlage, who has vigorously campaigned for a ban on the insecticide, told reporters here. She said the Karnataka government would re-impose the ban on the insecticide which, she asserted, was causing immense harm to farmers. The state had imposed the ban for 60 days Feb 17. Karandlaje said she had urged Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to decide soon on re-imposing the ban till the central government accedes to the demand for a permanent ban. Taking on Pawar for his reported statement that endosulfan cannot be banned permanently, the lone woman minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party government said: 'He is speaking for the manufacturers.' She said farmers in Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Assam and Kerala besides Karnataka have suffered because of insecticide. 'Let Pawar get a study done on the ill-effects of endosulfan. The health of over 6,000 people have been severely affected in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada alone,' the minister said. Endosulfan has been extensively used in Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi districts on the west coast to protect cashew crop from diseases. Karandlage hails from Udupi. While imposing the 60-day ban Feb 17, the Karnataka cabinet had said that aerial spraying of the insecticide had resulted in various health problems such as children suffering physical deformities and mental retardation, skin cancer and epilepsy. http://www.rxpgnews.com    |
| Three weeks in hospital, Sai Baba remains critical Posted: 18 Apr 2011 04:52 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Hyderabad, April 18 - The overall condition of spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba continues to be critical, doctors attending on him said Monday. A medical bulletin issued by the Sathya Sai super speciality hospital in Puttaparthi said the condition of Baba's liver and occasional spells of low blood pressure continue to worry doctors treating him. The 85-year-old spiritual leader, who is suffering from multi-organ dysfunction, has completed three weeks of treatment and continues to be on life support system. Doctors are monitoring his health round-the-clock. Baba remained hooked to a ventilator to maintain his respiratory function and on CRRT - to support his kidney function. 'Most of the indices of the functioning of the organs and vital parameters continue to be nearly normal. However, the condition of liver and occasional spells of low blood pressure continue to worry the treating doctors,' said a statement issued by hospital director A.N. Safaya. 'Overall condition of Bhagawan Baba still continues to be critical, however, the panel of doctors treating him are watching his health round the clock and are satisfied with the response, although slow, shown by him to the treatment,' added the statement. The doctors had Sunday said Baba's condition had somewhat worsened during last three days. They also denied reports that there was a plan to shift Baba to his residence Prashanti Nilayam. Safaya said it was not possible considering his critical condition. Baba, who has millions of devotees in India and abroad, was admitted to the hospital March 28 with a heart problem. Doctors implanted a pacemaker to regulate his heart beat. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| U of M scientist gets 5-year, $10 million grant to direct innovative HIV research program Posted: 18 Apr 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Reuben Harris, professor in the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences, has been awarded a five-year, $10 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to direct a large-scale research effort to study a human antiviral protein with potential for treating HIV and other viral diseases. The goal of the study will be to produce atomic resolution images of the protein (APOBEC3G) to better understand how it interacts with other proteins in human cells and with HIV to prevent the virus from attaching to and entering cells. This fundamental knowledge could lead to novel methods to alter this protein to make it more effective. You have to understand the nuts and bolts of the system before you can make alterations to interfere with the process, says Harris, an associate professor of biochemistry, molecular biology and biophysics. I'm very optimistic that this will research will enable us to use this novel protein against HIV and other diseases. The approach represents a paradigm shift in treating viral diseases. While most other strategies focus on the virus itself, this is among the first to focus on the host. Conventional methods focusing on HIV are susceptible to the inevitable emergence of drug resistant virus isolates, whereas drugs that target stable cellular proteins may be much less prone to this problem says Harris. Human cells produce a family of antiviral proteins (called APOBECs) that have the ability to destroy HIV. But HIV has evolved a way to overcome them using an accessory protein called Vif (virion infectivity factor) to degrade the APOBEC proteins and allow the virus to spread. In a previous study, researchers in Harris's lab showed how HIV binds to and destroys one of the APOBEC proteins. This suggests that a simple change in the chemical structure of the APOBEC proteins could convert the human proteins to more effective antiviral agents. A better understanding of the interaction at molecular... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
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