Nanostructures lend cutting edge to antibiotics |  |
- Nanostructures lend cutting edge to antibiotics
- Working 11 hours can up heart attack risk by 67 percent
- Nanoparticles could offer relief from rashes
- Indian docs remove kidney stones from Iraqi man
- After cigarettes, government to crack down on chewing tobacco use
- After cigarettes, health ministry targets other tobacco
- After cigarettes, health ministry targets other tobacco
- Russian Tanya Rautian to be honored with top seismology prize, the Reid Medal
- System aims to improve teachers and teacher training programs
| Nanostructures lend cutting edge to antibiotics Posted: 05 Apr 2011 04:25 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) London, April 4 - Arming antibiotic drugs with nanostructures would make them much more effective in targeting infected cells. These tiny particles would zoom in on infected cells but leave the healthy ones unharmed, according to a study by IBM Research. James Hedrick, advanced organic materials scientist at IBM Research, said: 'The number of bacteria in the palm of a hand outnumbers the entire human population,' reports the journal Nature Chemistry. 'With this discovery, we've been able to leverage decades of materials development traditionally used for semiconductor technologies to create an entirely new delivery mechanism that could make drugs more specific and effective,' said Hedrick, according to the Telegraph. 'Using our novel nanostructures, we can offer a viable therapeutic solution for the treatment of MRSA - and other infectious diseases,' added Yiyan Yang, group leader at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore, who also worked on the project. 'This exciting discovery effectively integrates our capabilities in biomedical sciences and materials research to address key issues in conventional drug delivery,' Yang added. The nanoparticles are physically attracted to infected cells like a magnet, which means they can eradicate bacteria without destroying healthy cells. They also act in a different way to traditional antibiotics as they have been designed by the researchers to break through the membranes and walls in bacterial cells, which is hope will prevent the bacteria developing resistance to drugs. http://www.rxpgnews.com    |
| Working 11 hours can up heart attack risk by 67 percent Posted: 05 Apr 2011 12:58 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) London, April 5 - People who spend more than 11 hours a day at work increase their chances of having a heart attack by 67 percent, a study has found. A team from University College London looked at more than 7,000 civil servants over a period of 11 years and established how many hours they worked on an average a day. They also collected information, including the condition of their heart, from medical records and health checks. Over the period, 192 had suffered a heart attack, reports the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. The study found that those who worked more than 11 hours a day were 67 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those who had a 'nine to five' job, according to the Daily Mail. Said Mika Kivimaki, who led the study: 'We have shown that working long days is associated with a remarkable increase in the risk of heart disease.' The researchers say their findings could potentially prevent thousands of heart attacks a year as they would help physicians get a better idea of how likely a patient was to have one. Patients already at high risk - by being obese or smoking, for example - could be encouraged to cut down on their working hours. Around 2.6 million in Britain alone have heart disease, in which the organ's blood supply is blocked by the build-up of fatty deposits in the coronary arteries. It claims 101,000 lives every year in the country. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Nanoparticles could offer relief from rashes Posted: 05 Apr 2011 12:56 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Nanoparticles, so tiny that 2,000 would fit across the thickness of a human hair, could prevent the itchy, red rash millions suffer because of allergy to nickel in jewellery, coins and cell phones. Over 30 to 45 million people in the US alone and many more worldwide, are allergic to the nickel found in many everyday objects. However, even though some countries regulate the amount of the metal in certain products to limit exposure, there is no good solution to the problem, the journal Nature Nanotechnology reports. 'There have been approaches to developing creams with agents that bind the nickel before it can penetrate the skin, but these are not effective in most patients and can even be toxic when the agents themselves penetrate the skin, as most do,' says Jeffrey Karp, who led the study at Brigham and Women's Hospital, according to its statement. 'People also sometimes coat their jewellery with nail polish to create a barrier between the skin and nickel ions, but this won't prevent all exposures, such as handling coins or wearing a watch,' he adds. Karp, who also holds appointments through Harvard Medical School, Harvard Stem Cell Institute - and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology -, is himself allergic to nickel. When applied to the skin in a cream, the nanoparticles efficiently capture the nickel, preventing it from making its way into the body. Further, the nanoparticles themselves were designed so that they could not penetrate the skin. The cream with its nickel can then be easily washed off with water. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Indian docs remove kidney stones from Iraqi man Posted: 05 Apr 2011 11:39 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, April 5 - Iraqi shopkeeper Naeem Musa had braced for a long, painful treatment for stones in both kidneys, as two earlier operations were not of much help. He had not imagined that a minimally invasive surgery at a private hospital in Delhi will cure his decade-old ailment. Musa, 46, was told to go for a third major surgery by doctors back home. After a shooting pain, his family decided to bring him to Delhi, where doctors removed the multiple stones by a surgical technique called Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy -. 'When the patient came to us, we observed it was a serious stag-horn case where there are multiple stones in the entire kidney. One of his kidneys was damaged, while there were cuts on both the kidneys as they had already gone through two open surgeries in Iraq,' Anshuman Agarwal, senior consultant urologist at Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj, told IANS. 'It required a bilateral stone surgery. The kidneys had been operated upon before also, and any major surgery could have been fatal,' he added. PCNL, a minimally invasive endoscopic treatment, makes a small incision in the back, opposite the kidney, to make way for a nephroscope that locates the exact position of the stones. Agarwal explains: 'Three small incisions were made in this case. A nephroscope was then used to locate the existing stones that were 1-12 cm in radius. There were some residual stones that could not be taken out in the previous surgery.' PCNL, believe experts, minimises the hospital stay of the patient with quick recovery, and is preferable to open surgery. Musa, who was admitted to the hospital March 23, was discharged in just five days and went back to his hometown of Kirkuk. The surgery costs around Rs.1 lakh - in India, 10 times less than the cost in the US and European nations, said Agarwal. According to health experts, the technique, common in metros, will help an increasing number of patients in Tier-II and III cities in the... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| After cigarettes, government to crack down on chewing tobacco use Posted: 04 Apr 2011 07:46 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, April 4 - It comes in small pouches, is easy to slip into the pocket and cheap - and also a killer. Chewing tobacco, or gutkha, is a known cause of oral cancer in India which has the largest recorded incidence of the disease. The government is now seriously planning to crack down on chewing tobacco use. The health ministry is planning measures to curb the use of chewing tobacco - the most widespread form of tobacco use in India and will soon call a meeting of state ministers to discuss the issue of 'smokeless tobacco', an official said Monday. Talking to reporters after a meeting on chewing tobacco, gutka, paan masala etc. - the health ministry's Additional Secretary Keshav Desiraju said that consultations will be carried out to formulate policies to inform the people on the ill-effects of tobacco. 'Most of our work so far has focused on smoking. The users of smokeless tobacco are usually from the weakest sections of the society, and different approach is needed to reach them,' he said. 'We will discuss it with all state governments. Smokeless tobacco is being increasingly used in university campuses and urban areas,' he said. India has the world's highest incidence of mouth cancer in the world according to a study by the British Journal of Cancer. 'The risk of oral cancer is up to 50 times greater for the person who chews tobacco. It also increases the risk of throat and pharynx cancer,' the European Commission has said. According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey, 206 million people chew tobacco in India and of these 42.3 percent are also cigarette users. According to Public Health Foundation of India president K. Srinath Reddy, the use of smokeless tobacco is increasing among youth and women. 'There is a social stigma related to use of cigarettes by women and youth, so they find it convenient to use smokeless tobacco. It also comes in small pouches, which can be easily hidden. Being economic is the factor which... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| After cigarettes, health ministry targets other tobacco Posted: 04 Apr 2011 06:15 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, April 4 - After coming down on smoking, the health ministry is planning measures to curb the use of chewing tobacco - the most widespread form of tobacco use in India and responsible for India recording the highest incidence of mouth cancer - and will soon call a meeting of state ministers to discuss the issue, an official said Monday. Talking to reporters after a meeting on what he called 'smokeless tobacco' - that is, chewing tobacco, gutka, paan masala etc. - the health ministry's Additional Secretary Keshav Desiraju said that consultations will be carried out to formulate policies to inform the masses on the ill-effects of tobacco. 'Most of our work so far has focused on smoking. The users of smokeless tobacco are usually from the weakest sections of the society, and different approach is needed to reach them,' he said. 'We will discuss it with all state governments. Smokeless tobacco is being increasingly used in university campuses and urban areas,' he said. According to Public Health Foundation of India president K. Srinath Reddy, the use of smokeless tobacco use is increasing among youth and women. 'There is a social stigma related to use of cigarettes by women and youth, so they find it convenient to use smokeless tobacco. It also comes in small pouches, which can be easily hidden. Being economic is the factor which makes it popular among the economically weaker sections,' Reddy said. According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, out of 35 percent adults using tobacco in India, 26 percent adults use chewing tobacco in some form or another. Studies have shown that 12.5 percent of all teenagers use tobacco in some form or another. It has been found responsible for 50 percent of all cancers in men and 25 percent of all cancers in women, besides being responsible for 90 percent of all oral cancers, according to a study by the Indian Council of Medical Research -. India has the world's highest incidence of... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| After cigarettes, health ministry targets other tobacco Posted: 04 Apr 2011 05:44 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, April 4 - After coming down on smoking, the health ministry is planning measures to curb the use of chewing tobacco - the most widespread form of tobacco use in India - and will soon call a meeting of state ministers to discuss the issue, an official said Monday. Talking to reporters after a meeting on what he called 'smokeless tobacco' - that is chewing tobacco, gutka, paan masala etc. - the health ministry's Additional Secretary Keshav Desiraju said that consultations will be carried out to formulate policies to inform the masses on the ill-effects of tobacco. 'Most of our work so far has focused on smoking. The users of smokeless tobacco are usually from the weakest sections of the society, and different approach is needed to reach them,' he said. 'We will discuss it with all state governments. Smokeless tobacco is being increasingly used in university campuses and urban areas,' he said. According to Public Health Foundation of India president K. Srinath Reddy, the use of smokeless tobacco use is increasing among youth and women. 'There is a social stigma related to use of cigarettes by women and youth, so they find it convenient to use smokeless tobacco. It also comes in small pouches, which can be easily hidden. Being economic is the factor which makes it popular among the economically weaker sections,' Reddy said. According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, out of 35 percent adults using tobacco in India, 26 percent adults use chewing tobacco in some form or another. India has world's highest incidents of mouth cancer, according to a study by British Journal of Cancer. Studies have shown that 12.5 percent of all teenagers use tobacco in some form or another. It has been found responsible for 50 percent of all cancers in men and 25 percent of all cancers in women, besides being responsible for 90 percent of all oral cancers, according to a study by the Indian Council of Medical Research -. India has... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Russian Tanya Rautian to be honored with top seismology prize, the Reid Medal Posted: 04 Apr 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) San Francisco, April 5, 2011 -- A heavyweight in the field of seismology who drove research efforts in the former Soviet Union, Tanya Glebovna Rautian will be honored with the Seismological Society of America's Reid Medal, which recognizes contributions to science and society, at the organization's annual meeting held April 13-15 in Memphis, Tennessee. Often called The Charles Richter of the former Soviet Union and generator of ideas, Rautian has dedicated her life to the development of seismology and science in central Asia. She is widely recognized as a pioneer in the study of earthquake source, in the quantification of the seismic coda and in the discrimination of nuclear explosions from earthquakes. Rautian studied physics at the University of Leningrad in the late 1940s and early 1950s. She turned her attention to seismology in 1951 when she and her husband, Vitaly I. Khalturin, left the urban research centers of Moscow and Leningrad behind to establish a seismograph station near Garm in the mountains of Tajikistan. Establishing the research station wasn't easy. In those days, roads were nearly impassable, electricity was only produced by private generators and modern plumbing had yet to appear. Over the 35 years they spent there, Rautian and Khalturin raised five daughters, helped build a seismological observatory that was the world center of earthquake prediction research in the 1960s and 1970s, and worked to train an entire generation of seismologists studying the seismically active areas of Soviet Central Asia. Isolated from modern technology and seismological literature published in the west, Rautian presented her energy scale, which estimated the energy radiated by an earthquake, and in contrast to the Richter scale, sought to link magnitude value directly to the energy radiated by the earthquake. The theoretical work was accompanied by the development of a practical set of nomograms used by Soviet scientists for... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| System aims to improve teachers and teacher training programs Posted: 04 Apr 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) -- A system that aims to compare, assess and improve teacher candidates and teacher training programs will be the subject of three papers presented by the University of California, Riverside's director of teacher education at a national education conference during the next week. Anne Jones, director of teacher education at UC Riverside, and Peter Jones, the assessment and evaluation coordinator at UC Irvine's department of education, will discuss the Teacher Education Integrated Information System (TEISS) at the American Educational Research Association meeting April 8 to 12 in New Orleans. There is a big push for teacher accountability right now, said Anne Jones, who is also associate dean for academic programs and student affairs. Our system creates the backbone to help ensure teachers are prepared to enter the classroom and have the support once they get there. Using data-driven data to improve student performance has dominated national headlines the past year. The Obama administration has made it a centerpiece of its education reform agenda. The Los Angeles Times started a national debate when it published a database of third- through fifth-grade teachers that shows how their students' test scores changed. The former chancellor of Washington, DC schools generated buzz when she fired several hundred teachers who performed poorly according to a new system that holds teachers accountable for students' standardized test scores. The TEIIS system, which was developed by UC Irvine in partnership with UC Riverside, is a platform for campuses to integrate and systematize common record keeping needs of teacher education programs with data collection mandated by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The potential power lies in the partnerships across campuses because the common framework can improve program quality, Peter Jones said. Teaching and teacher education are under... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
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