ISSN 0970-6488 Science Service - IFCPAR/CEFIPRA · PTI Science Service April 1-15, 20172 FOR...

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Registration No.39337/81

ISSN 0970-6488

Vol 36 No. 07 (24 pages including cover)

CONTENTS

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NATIONAL SCIENCE BRIEFS:

*MANU’S FLOOD A REALITY, SAYS ARCHAEOLOGIST AT ICHR MEET *AINDIA TO TWEAK DEFINITION OFBLINDNESS TO MEET WHO STIPULATION*TULSI PLANT GIVES OUT OXYGEN DURING DAY, NIGHT: V K SINGH*RESEARCH LEADS TO REVIVAL OF RARE RICE VARIETY IN J&K* TEENAGE GIRL’S ADJUSTABLE WALKER BOONFOR ELDERLY, DISABLED * INDIA CAN LEAD IN GLOBAL LIFE SCIENCES SPACE: US-INDIA BIZ BODY*WHOLAUNCHES ETHICS GUIDANCE TO PROTECT RIGHTS OF TB PATIENTS*2ND REPORT ON INDIA’S GREEN HOUSEGAS EMISSIONS OUT SOON *MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT TB ON THE RISE IN INDIA* 25 PC OF GLOBAL TB CASES ININDIA: STUDY*SMOKING POPULATION DOWN BY OVER 2 PC POST GLOBAL TREATY* NEED TO IMPROVERESEARCH, CAPACITY BUILDING IN EDU SYSTEM* INDIA TO LAUNCH GSLV MARK-III IN ANOTHER TWOMONTHS: MURTHY*TATA TO OPEN CANCER RESEARCH CENTRE & HOSPITAL IN JHARKHAND* CAN’T ONLYBLAME GLOBAL WARMING FOR HIMALAYAN GLACIERS’ FASTER RETREAT: GOVT *25 NOBEL LAUREATESEXPECTED AT SCIENCE CONGRESS IN HYDERABAD* GOVT LOOKING INTO GENOMIC SCIENCE BASED DNAMAPPING: MINISTER*

INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE BRIEFS:

*CATS LIKE HUMAN INTERACTION MORE THAN FOOD: STUDY*CHEWING LIKE COWS HELPED EARLY MAMMALSSURVIVE MASS EXTINCTION* NUT ALLERGY TESTS MAY BE INACCURATE: STUDY* OVER 100 GENES LINKED TOMEMORY IN HUMANS IDENTIFIED*COOKING AT HOME, SKIPPING TV DUR*NEW TECH LETS HUMANS CONTROLTURTLES WITH THOUGHT*WORLD’S FIRST NANOCAR RACE TO TAKE PLACE NEXT MONTH* NEW TECH LETSHUMANS CONTROL TURTLES WITH THOUGHT*WORLD’S FIRST NANOCAR RACE TO TAKE PLACE NEXTMONTH*WORLD’S MOST DIVERSE SET OF DINOSAUR TRACKS DISCOVERED IN AUS*USING ‘YOU’ HELPS COPEWITH NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES: STUDY*CUTTING SALT INTAKE MAY LOWER NIGHT-TIME TOILET TRIPS:STUDY* ‘SLEEPLESS NIGHT MAY IMPAIR ABILITY TO RECOGNISE EXPRESSIONS’*IMPACT CRATER LINKED TOANCIENT MARTIAN TSUNAMIS IDENTIFIED* BRAIN SCANS MAY HELP CHOOSE RIGHT TREATMENT FORDEPRESSION*HUMANS, SMARTPHONES OFTEN FAIL TO DETECT FACE MORPH PHOTOS*

GLOBE SCAN:

* ATHEISTS, HIGHLY RELIGIOUS PEOPLE LEAST AFRAID OF DEATH: STUDY* STASH OF LIQUOR BOTTLES FROMWORLD WAR I DISCOVERED IN ISRAEL* NASA TO LAUNCH NEW PROBE TO *FOUR-LEGGED ROBOT CAN CHANGEGAIT WITH SPEED*SPIRITUAL RETREATS BOOST BRAIN’S ‘FEEL GOOD’ CHEMICALS*CHILDREN WITH AUTISMMAY BENEFIT FROM FAECAL TRANSPLANT*NEW ALGORITHM CAN TELL WHEN YOU’LL GET BORED OFMOBILE GAME*STEM CELL THERAPY MAY HELP REPAIR LUNG DAMAGE: STUDY*CHILDHOOD BRAIN CANCERSURVIVORS AT HIGHER HEART DISEASE RISK*’10 MINS OF VIGOROUS EXERCISE MAY CUT DIABETES RISK INKIDS’*

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MANU’S FLOOD A REALITY, SAYSARCHAEOLOGIST AT ICHR MEET

Controversial archaeologist BB Lal, known for hisworks on Ayodhya, has come up with a research paperwhich claims that Manu’s flood, widely believed to be amythological phenomenon, was a real event.

The research paper of the former director generalof Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the findings ofwhich were arrived at by linking Manu’s flood to thedisappearance of the Saraswati river througharchaeological evidence, was presented today at a seminarorganised by the Indian Council of Historical Research(ICHR).

“Archaeologically, the deluge of the Saraswati tookplace around 2000-1,900 Before Common Era (BCE)or broadly, in the first quarter of the second millenniumBCE. This was exactly the time of Manu’s flood, whichoccurred after the Rigveda, but before the beginning ofthe second millennium BCE. Should we still call Manu’sFlood a myth,” the paper read.

Lal, a Padma Bhushan awardee, is also working on abook on the same subject. His book ‘Rama, His Historicity,Mandir and Setu: Evidence of Literature, Archaeologyand Other Sciences’ had created an uproar as it talkedabout the possible presence of a Hindu temple structurebeneath the Babri Masjid.

ICHR is a flagship research-based institutionfunctioning under the Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment.

The three-day seminar on ‘Antiquity, Continuity andDevelopment of Civilisation and Culture in Bharat (India) up to 1st Millennium BC’ was slated to be inauguratedtoday by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar. He,however, could not make it to the event.

ICHR Chairman Sudarshan Rao said the seminaraimed to find a connection among the various civilisationsthat spanned between 4th millennium BC and 1stmillennium BC.

The 1st millennium BC, spanning from 1,000 BC to1 BC and encompassing the Iron Age, saw the rise ofvarious empires.

Rao claimed that the ancient civilisations between 4thmillennium BC and 1st millennium BC were correlatedand added that the seminar will seek to delve into this

connection.Twenty-six research papers would be presented

during the seminar, which marks the 45th anniversary ofICHR which was founded on March 27, 1972.

David Frawley, the Director of the American Instituteof Vedic Studies in the US, is taking part in the seminar,along with other noted scholars.

INDIA TO TWEAK DEFINITION OFBLINDNESS TO MEET WHO STIPULATION

The government is set to change a four-decade-old definition of blindness to bring it in line with theWHO criteria and ensure the Indian data on blindnessmeets the global estimates.

As defined under the National Programme forControl of Blindness (NPCB), a person unable to countfingers from a distance of six metres is categorised as“blind” in India, against the WHO’s stipulation of threemetres.

“We will bring the definition of blindness at par withthe WHO’s criteria. Because of the current definition, weproject a higher figure of blind people from India at anyinternational forum. Thus India gets presented in a poorlight compared to other countries,” said Promila Gupta,NPCB Deputy Director General.

Also, she said, the data “we generate under theprogramme cannot be compared with the global estimatesas other countries are following the WHO criteria”.

Uniformity in the definition across various regionsof the world is a pre-requisite for facilitating collectionof population-based data on prevalence of blindnessand estimating its global burden, Gupta said.

Further, India has to achieve the goal set by WHOwhich recommends reducing the blindness prevalence ofthe country to 0.3 per cent of the total population by2020.

“The Vision 2020 recommends reducing theprevalence of blindness to 0.3 per cent by the year 2020to achieve the elimination of avoidable blindness.

“It will be extremely difficult to achieve the WHOgoal using the NPCB definition since we will be addressingan extra 4 million individuals, blind due to refractive errors.By adopting the blindness criteria of WHO, India canachieve the goal,” said Praveen Vashist, in-charge,Community Ophthalmology at Dr R P Centre for


Ophthalmic Sciences at AIIMS.The Health Ministry is also planning to change

the nomenclature of NPCB to the National Programmefor Control of Visual Impairment and Blindness.

“The idea is to further strengthen the programme byfocusing not only on the blind persons but also those withsome kind of visual impairment.

“It urges the member states to strengthen nationalefforts to prevent avoidable visual impairment throughbetter integration of eye health into national eye healthplans and service delivery,” Gupta added.

She said India currently has around 12 million blindpeople against 39 million globally— which makes Indiahome to one-third of the world’s blind population.

The current definition of blindness was adopted atthe time of the inception of the NPCB in 1976.

“The probable reason for keeping 6 meters as cut-off for defining blindness in India was to includeeconomic blindness cases which referred to a level ofblindness which prevents an individual to earn his or herwages.

“In contrast, the WHO definition adopts a criteriafor blindness that is which hampers the routine socialinteraction of a person (social blindness),” Gupta said.

TULSI PLANT GIVES OUT OXYGENDURING DAY, NIGHT: V K SINGH

Tulsi, a medicinal plant revered by Hindus, givesout oxygen during the day as well in the night, Unionminister V S Singh said.

The Minister of State for External Affairs said thatHinduism is a philosophy and not a religion, and that is areason it remains relevant.

“It is a philosophy of way of living and it is based onscience. Whether it is Sanskrit, the mother language, or allthe rituals that we follow are also based on science. It wasdifficult to explain in a particular time frame at that timeso these became rituals.

“We have tulsi in households because it is a medicinalplant and gives out oxygen throughout day and night,”Singh said.

He was speaking at an event organised by the IndianCouncil for Cultural Relations (ICCR) where its fivealumnus from different countries were awarded.

The minister said Buddhism was propagated by

progenies of Emperor Ashoka and it remained dominantfor centuries. However, the revival of the “sanatandharma” was started by the Shankarcharya of the Kanchipeeth.

Referring to the activities of ICCR, Singh said Indiawa not an educational hub at one point of time in thehistory, but today it is progressing.

“We need to tell people that there is much morehappeningin India whether it is our InformationTechnology, our space programme, or various chairs ofphilosophy,” he said.

RESEARCH LEADS TO REVIVALOF RARE RICE VARIETY IN J&K

Ten years of hard work by the scientists in Kashmir’sAgricultural University has resulted in the revival ofMushkbudji, an aromatic variety of rice grown only inthe Valley.

The Jammu and Kashmir government is hand-holdingthe farmers to cultivate the rare variety on a large scale.

“The research of scientists led to the production ofthe pure line of Mushkbudji rice and the cooperation ofover 400 farmers resulted in a relatively large scaleproduction last year,” an official of Jammu and Kashmir’sAgro Industries Development Corporation (AIDC),which is providing marketing support to the farmerscultivating Mushkbudji, said.

He added that an area of 125 hectares was broughtunder cultivation of the rare variety of rice over the yearsand the yield last year was 900 tonnes.

The state Agriculture department provided seeds andfertilisers to the farmers for free as part of the scheme torevive the Mushkbudji variety.

To encourage the farmers to cultivate Mushkbudji,the state government felicitated some of them withcertificates for the preservation of the near extinct variety.

The farmers were also given cash prizes.The Mushkbudji revival programme was undertaken

by the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciencesand Technology (SKUAST) through its Mountain ResearchCentre for Field Crops, at Khudwani in south Kashmir in2007.

The main objective was to conserve the localbiodiversity through utilisation for the socio-economicdevelopment of rice growers which proved to be a huge


success, the official said.He said the scientists developed the purified version

of Mushkbudji after exercising the pure line selection fortrue to type plant architecture, grain and cooking quality.

Since Mushkbudji, the short bold aromatic rice, isgrown in the higher ridges of Kashmir, the governmenthas focused on roping in farmers from south Kashmir’sSagam Soaf Shali and Panzgam areas for its cultivation.

TEENAGE GIRL’S ADJUSTABLE WALKERBOON FOR ELDERLY, DISABLED

A 19-year-old has invented a special modifiedwalker with adjustable legs to help the elderly anddifferently-abled persons climb up and down the stairswith ease.

Shalini Kumari, a resident of Patna, is one of the 14persons including innovators, writers and artists who arecurrently living as guests of the President in the RashtrapatiBhavan as part of a two-week In-Residence Programme.

Shalini said the idea came to her mind when she sawher grandfather struggle while climbing stairs as traditionalwalkers were not apt for walking on an uneven surface.

“It is really difficult and sometimes impossible forthe elderly, differently-abled persons or those recuperatingfrom lower limb problems to climb up or down thestairs using conventional four-leg walkers,” she said.

Shalini observed that the four-leg walkers were notflexible enough to provide support for climbing stairs,and providing flexibility to them was the key.

“My grandfather enjoyed walking on the terrace, butfound it difficult to walk up the stairs. It was then I decidedto prepare a modified walker with adjustable legs,” Shalinisaid.

Shalini sent her proposal to make modified adjustablewalkers to the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), anautonomous body of the Department of Science andTechnology set up to provide institutional support toinnovators, and her idea was appreciated by officials whoassured her all possible help in making her dream projecta reality.

The walker with spring-loaded, self-locking front legswas finally prepared with the help of NIF, she said.

She has won a number of awards for her innovtionincluding IGNITE award of the National InnovationFoundation (NIF).

The modified walker, which costs nearly Rs 3,000,has an innovative self-locking mechanism through whichfront legs of walker can be raised while climbing up stairsand lowered while climbing down, Shalini said.

“It is very stable, light weight, adjustable to all sizesof stairs and can also be used while walking on inclinedsurface. This walker is useful for children, elderly peopleand specially abled persons,” Shalini said.

An ergonomically designed product, the walkerweighs four kg. It can be used regardless of a person’sheight and weight.

She hoped the product would soon be available inthe markets as a number of companies are showing interestin her innovation.

The participants of the In-Residence Programme saidthey were deeply thankful to the President as they got anopportunity to interact with prominent people, includingministers.

“It has been an amazing experience living here at theRashtrapati Bhavan. I met President Pranab Mukherjeeon Wednesday with the group. I feel encouraged andmotivated after meeting him,” she said.

The group includes artists Dheeraj Yadav and RahulShailendra Kokate, writers Dr Ashokkumar P Chavda andPrabal Kumar Basu, and innovators Surjeet Singh, MoaSubong, Girish Badragond, Mansukhabhai Prajapati,Subhash Ola, Paresh Panchal, Santosh Pachar, Ajay KumarSharma, Shalini Kumari and Akash Manoj.

They said that they were infused with fresh energyand enthusiasm after meeting the President and weredetermined to contribute to the welfare of the society intheir own way.

INDIA CAN LEAD IN GLOBAL LIFESCIENCES SPACE: US-INDIA BIZ BODY

India has the potential to rank higher in areas likedisease prevention and medical device manufacturing ifbarriers in research and innovation are removed, an officialof a US-India business body has said.

“India has proven to be a leader in global life sciencesspace,” president of US-India Business Council (USIBC),Mukesh Aghi, said.

“If the barriers to research and development andinnovation are removed, India has the potential to rankeven higher in areas of IPR, disease prevention, and drug


and medical device manufacturing,” he said.In partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs

and Invest India, USIBC brought together policymakers,global experts, industry leaders among others during thesecond annual conference on ‘Innovation DrivenExpansion of Healthcare Access in India’ held recently.

It was aimed at providing a substantive frameworkfor a candid and constructive interaction betweenpolicymakers, global experts and industry leaders.

Experts, including Frank Lichtenberg from ColumbiaUniversity and Ramanan Laxminarayan from PrincetonUniversity, presented their findings at the conference.

“Access begins with the awareness of need, ability toobtain medical advice, a prescription and finally medicinesrequired for treatment.

“Therefore, innovation to enhance access is not justabout innovative products or pricing but also innovativeways to strengthen each step of this access chain,” S Sridhar,Country Manager of Pfizer India, said.

Other participants, including Amitabh Kant, CEO ofNiti Aayog and Union health secretary C K Mishra, spokeabout the importance of India’s potential and status as amajor healthcare power, a statement by USIBC said.

The conference examined various facets of India’shealthcare system including areas ranging from intellectualproperty to using public–private partnership to reducecost and expand access, challenges with immunisation andpromoting innovation in healthcare.

WHO LAUNCHES ETHICS GUIDANCE TOPROTECT RIGHTS OF TB PATIENTS

The WHO launched an ethics guidance to helpnations like India in implementing the ‘End TB Strategy’and adhere to ethical standards in protecting the rights ofthose suffering from tuberculosis.

India is also among the six countries that account for60 per cent of the total TB cases globally, a recent studyhas said.

The new WHO ethics guidance addresses contentiousissues such as isolation of contagious patients, rights ofTB patients in prisons, discriminatory policies againstmigrants affected by tuberculosis, among others.

“The guidance we have released today aims to identifythe ethical predicaments faced in TB care delivery andhighlights key actions that can be taken to address those,”

Mario Raviglione, Director of WHO Global TBProgramme said.

It emphasises on five key ethical obligations forgovernments and caregivers, to provide patients with thesocial support they need to fulfil their responsibilities,refrain from isolating TB patients before exhausting alloptions to enable treatment adherence.

It also emphasises on enabling key population accesssa e standard of care offered to other citizens, ensuringthat all health workers operate in a safe environment andrapidly share evidence from researches to informgovernments about TB policy updates.

“TB strikes poor people the hardest. The WHOis determined to overcome the stigma, discrimination, andother barriers that prevent so many of these people fromobtaining the services they need so badly,” Margaret Chan,WHO Director-General said.

Tuberculosis, the world’s top infectious killer disease,claims 5,000 lives each day.

In 2015, there were an estimated 4.8 lakh cases ofmultidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) globally, withapproximately half of these cases being in India, China,and Russia.

In 2015, TB was estimated to have killed 1.8 millionpeople and six countries –- India, Indonesia, China,Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa — account for 60 percent of the total number of cases of tuberculosisworldwide, the study published in The Lancet RespiratoryMedicine has said.

2ND REPORT ON INDIA’S GREEN HOUSEGAS EMISSIONS OUT SOON

The second biennial report on India’s green housegas emissions will be released soon, a top EnvironmentMinistry official said.

India had submitted its first Biennial Update Report(BUR) in January last year to the United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

“The Ministry (Environment) would soon release thesecond Biennial Update Report (BUR) in 2017,” a FICCIstatement quoting Rajani Ranjan Rashmi, special secretaryof Environment Ministry said.

He was speaking at the 10th edition of the IndiaClimate Policy and Business Conclave organised by FICCIin partnership with the Environment Ministry, World Bank


Group and the German Federal Ministry for Environment,Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety(BMUB).

He said according to the government’s internalassessment, India is well on track to achieve its ambitiousclimate and green house gas mitigation goals and actionsby 2020.

Rashmi emphasised that “motivation which guideindustry for environmental actions should not only includeefficiency and cost but should also factor in matter ofsurvival and long term competitiveness.

He added that efficiency should be accompanied withsufficiency and should involve action from the privatesector.

India’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in 2010 wasmore than 2,000 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent withthe energy sector being the prime contributor, accordingto its first BUR.

The first BUR contained national GHG inventory ofIndia for the year 2010, prepared in accordance with theguidelines of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC).

According to the BUR report, “a reduction ofemission intensity of GDP by about 12 per cent between2005 and 2010 has been achieved against our voluntarypledge to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by20–25 per cent by 2020, compared with the 2005 level.”

As per the UNFCCC rules, BURs are subjected toan international process known as InternationalConsultation and

Analysis (ICA), a process that includes internationalscrutiny of BUR in a manner that is “non-intrusive, non-punitive and respectful of national sovereignty”.

India had submitted the first report to fulfill itsreporting obligation under the UNFCCC, which says,countries need to periodically provide information in theform of their national communication.

Wolfgang Lahr from the Embassy of the FederalRepublic of Germany said that the 22nd Conference ofthe Parties to the UNFCCC in Marrakesh built on themomentum of the Paris climate change agreement bypreparing states towards the implementation phase.

“In this light, countries now have to operationalizetheir communicated strategies through ground levelactions,” he said.

The 2017 UN climate change conference will take

place from November 6-17 at Bonn in Germany.Prodipto Ghosh, Chairman, FICCI Climate Change

Task Force and former secretary, Environment Ministrysaid that private sector needs to scale up efforts andinvestments in research and development particularly inrespect of mass transportation, power generation, energystorage, electric vehicles and sustainable habitat.

MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT TB ON THERISE IN INDIA

Rise of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis threatens toderail the progress made by nations, including India whichwas among the three countries that accounted for half ofover 4 lakh such cases globally in 2015.

India is also among the six countries that account for60 per cent of the total TB cases globally, a studypublished in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine said.

In 2015, there were an estimated 4.8 lakh cases ofmultidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) globally, withapproximately half of these cases being in India, China,and Russia, the study said.

“But, migration and travel mean that drug-resistantTB strains have emerged in almost every parts of theworld,” it said, adding, “New antibiotics are becomingavailable for the first time. But without accurate diagnostics,clear treatment guidelines and improved control efforts,their effectiveness could be rapidly lost.”

“The rise of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis threatens to derail decadesof progress in controlling the disease,” the new study said.

The study comes ahead of World TB day on March24.

Tuberculosis kills more people each year than any otherinfectious disease, including HIV/AIDS.

In 2015, TB was estimated to have killed 1.8 millionpeople and six countries –- India, Indonesia, China,Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa — account for 60 percent of the total number of cases of tuberculosisworldwide, the study said.

“Approximately 1 in 5 cases of TB are now resistantto at least one major anti-TB drug and approximately 5per cent of all cases of TB are classed as MDR (resistantto two essential first-line TB drugs, isoniazid andrifampicin) or XDR (also resistant to fluoroquinolonesand second-line injectable drugs),” the study said.


It said a small number of repurposed and newmedicines have recently become available to treat drug-resistant TB including bedaquiline, delamanid, andlinezolid.

However, the study warned that without accuratediagnosis, clear prescription on appropriate use andimproved control efforts to prevent transmission and well-functioning healthcare systems, the effectiveness of thenew drugs could be “rapidly lost”.

“Tuberculosis exists on an epic scale in India and casesof multidrug-resistant TB are an increasing concern.Access to drugs to treat tuberculosis, including drug resistantTB is a major concern,” co-author of the study, ZarirUdwadia from Hinduja Hospital and Research Center inMumbai, said.

“Despite some small scale programmes forcompassionate use of new life-saving drugs, such asbedaquiline and delamanid, there is no widespread accessof drugs to fight MDR-TB in India, meaning these drugsremain unavailable to patients who need them most,”Udwadia said.

25 PC OF GLOBAL TB CASES IN INDIA:STUDY

An urban tuberculosis case infects moreindividuals per year while a similar case in rural area remainsinfectious for longer period, a new research has found.

India bears the highest burden of tuberculosis (TB)globally, about 25 percent of all cases.

The new study from the Centre for Disease Dynamics,Economics and Policy (CDDEP) researchers havedeveloped an approach to estimate the extent of TB inIndia using previous estimates from nearby countries anda current understanding of the TB transmission.

The results of their study are published in TheInternational Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

“Results show differences in urban and rural TB. Whilean urban TB case infects more individuals per year, a ruralTB case remains infectious for appreciably longer,suggesting the need for interventions tailored to thesedifferent settings.

“Simple models of TB transmission, in conjunctionwith necessary data, can offer approaches to burdenestimation that complement those currently being used,”the study said.

An urban TB case will infect an average of 12 peopleper year and remains infectious for about one year, whilea rural case will infect an average of 4 people per year,but remains infectious for more than two years.

“We urgently need improved estimations of theburden of tuberculosis. To implement appropriate policiesand interventions, it is important to understand the currentextent of the disease, as well as transmission dynamics,”said study co-author and CDDEP Director RamananLaxminarayan.

The study has been released just before the WorldTuberculosis Day on March 24.

This is the second year of the two-year theme, ‘Uniteto End TB,’ with a focus on addressing stigma,discrimination, marginalization, and overcoming barriersto access care.

According to reports, the disease is estimated to kill4,80,000 Indians every year although it is now believedthat these numbers are under-represented and the mortalitycould be 5,00,000 a year.

SMOKING POPULATION DOWN BYOVER 2 PC POST GLOBAL TREATY

A global tobacco control treaty, which India is aparty to, has increased the adoption of tobacco reductionmeasures around the world and led to an over 2 per centreduction in global smoking rates, a study has said.

The study published in The Lancet Public Health saidthat despite worldwide progress since the WHOFramework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) came into effect in 2005, not all key demand-reduction measures have been fully implemented and doingso could reduce tobacco use even further.

The treaty obligates the 180 countries committed toit to implement strong evidence-based policies, includingfive key measures — high tobacco taxes, smoke-freepublic spaces, warning labels, comprehensive advertisingbans, and support for stop smoking services.

“On average, smoking rates across the 126 countrieswent down from 24.7 per cent in 2005 to 22.2 per cent in2015 -– a reduction of 2.5 per cent,” it said.

India signed the treaty in September 2003 and ratifiedin February 2004, according to the UN website.

The study was conducted by a team of researchersfrom the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation


Project, based at the University of Waterloo in Canadaand the World Health Organization in Geneva.

It noted that although progress in combating the globaltobacco epidemic has been substantial, this progress hasfallen short of the pace of global tobacco control actioncalled for by the treaty.

India is third among the countries with the largestpictorial warning on tobacco products, according toCigarette Package Health Warnings International StatusReport released earlier.

India has successfully implemented, from April 2016,the large pictorial health warnings occupying 85 per centof the principal display area of tobacco packs and on allforms of tobacco.

According to the WHO, tobacco use causes nearlysix million deaths a year globally. It also poses a hugeburden on the global economy through healthcare andlost productivity costs of more than USD 1 trillion eachyear.

The Seventh Session of Conference of Parties (COP7)to WHO FCTC was hosted by India for the first timeand the eighth edition will be held in Switzerland’s Genevaunder the presidency of India.

The report said by 2014, support for stop smokingservices had been adopted by 16 per cent of countries(20 of 126) and a quarter (25.4 per cent, 32 of 126) hadimplemented health warnings on cigarette packaging.

A fifth of countries (22.2 per cent, 28 of 126) hadimplemented high taxation on tobacco –- the mosteffective measure for reducing smoking, especially in low-and middle-income countries where smokers are moreprice sensitive, it said.

NEED TO IMPROVE RESEARCH,CAPACITY BUILDING IN EDU SYSTEM

There is an urgent need to improve the country’seducation system in terms of quality of instruction, faculty,research and capacity building, President Pranab Mukherjeesaid today as he observed that no Indian varsity figuresamong the world’s top 200.

Mukherjee also emphasised that the education systemshould take on the challenge of tapping the ‘demographicdividend’ while also pitching for a stronger industry-academia partnership.

Delivering his address after inaugurating a 3-day

international conference at the O P Jindal GlobalUniversity, here, Mukherjee said that unless we have strongfoundations of basic research, our futuristic Universityplans will be seriously jeopardised.

“Knowledge mobilization through quality highereducation is pivotal to the socio-economic developmentof a nation. Innovation and futuristic universities are thedriving force behind this.

“There is an urgent need to improve education systemin terms of the quality of instruction, faculty, researchand capacity building,” Mukherjee said.

The President said that no Indian university figures inthe top 200 universities of the world and transformingour varsities into centres of excellence is the key challengepolicy-maker and academic leaders face.

Educational institutions have to gear up to face thesocio-economic challenge the country is facing in termsof job creation, Mukherjee said.

“Quality, affordability and accessibility are the threecornerstones of higher education which need to beunderstood in the Indian context,” he said while advocatinglinkages with the best universities in the world to ensurestudent mobility, research and joint projects.

Mukherjee also emphasised on the linkages betweeneducation and industry. “Innovation should be linked tothe market. Through collaborative work and internationalknowledge exchange, educational institutes can build alarger influence in the international education arena,” hesaid.

He added that India’s education system will have totake on the challenge of tapping its ‘demographicdividend’. “We will also have to provide a competentskilled workforce,” he said.

The President said that interface between educationand industry should be established. “The requirement oftoday’s educational system is to focus on innovation andresearch,” he said.

INDIA TO LAUNCH GSLV MARK-III INANOTHER TWO MONTHS: MURTHY

India is going to launch GSLV Mark-III, thecountry’s most powerful launch vehicle, in another twomonths, senior space scientist and ex-Programme Directorof ISRO Prof T G K Murthy said.

“In another two months we are going to launch GSLV


Mark-III. We are going to launch four satellites fromthe Indian soil in the near future,” Murthy told PTI on thesidelines of a three-day international conference on‘Advances in Science and Technology’ here.

ISRO has been successful in testing the high thrustcryogenic technology for use in the launch vehicle, GSLVMark-III, the space scientist said.

The ISRO will also launch the SAARC satellite thismonth, to give member countries all the benefits asenvisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.

Besides, India will launch a satellite to study the sunand global climate change, Murthy said, adding it will benamed Aditya-L1 and weigh 400 kg, carrying one payload.

Pointing out that the Indian space mission has “wideranging applications and wide-ranging facilities”, he said,adding 90 per cent of the technology application materialsbeing used by ISRO have been made indigenously.

He said the space department in combination withacademics and industry start-ups was working to meetthe growing demand in several areas including weather.

“India is going to take 10-15 per cent share of theglobal space market”, and ISRO is having globalcustomers as our research occupy pre-eminence in theworld, he said.

Murthy also referred to India’s first private missionto the moon.

“We will have private rocket for the first time in themoon. Our scientists are working on challenges like capsulere-entry, safety conditions and it promises to be one forthe history books,” he said at the conference that washosted by a private engineering institute.

Addressing young scientists and researchers, DirectorGeneral of National Council of Science Museum (NCSM)A S Manekar said in his speech that role of teachers wasto impart knowledge to students, who must work fordevelopment of the society.

He underscored the need for sustained research tofacilitate science and technology work for betterment offuture for mankind.

TATA TO OPEN CANCER RESEARCHCENTRE & HOSPITAL IN JHARKHAND

Tata Group will open a Cancer Research Centre andHospital in Jharkhand, an official release said.

Accepting Chief Minister Raghubar Das’s request to

set up a hospital in Jharkhand, the Tata Trust ChairmanRatan Tata approved it and a delegation today metAdditional Chief Secretary, Health, Medical Education &Family Welfare department, Sudhir Tripathi.

Tripathi has been appointed as the nodal officer, therelease said.

The CM’s Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar said thatthe Chief Minister’s pledge is to develop Ranchi as easternIndia’s medical hub and Tata Trust’s Cancer ResearchCentre and Hospital would be an important part in thatdirection.

It can be recalled that Das and Ratan Tata haddiscussed on it during the Global Investors’ Summit lastmonth.

The Chief Minister wrote a letter to Ratan Tata onMarch 9. In the letter, Das had written that a large numberof tribals and primitive tribals are living in Jharkhand withmost of them living below poverty line.

Therefore it was necessary for better health facilitiesin Jharkhand, Das had written. The CM in the letter hadalso mentioned that Tata has been doing a lot of socialwork and the company should increase health services inJharkhand as well.

The Tata Trust gave its consent letter on March 10and today the delegation visited Ranchi, the release said.

CAN’T ONLY BLAME GLOBAL WARMINGFOR HIMALAYAN GLACIERS’ FASTER

RETREAT: GOVT

The Himalayan glaciers are receding at an increasedrate over the last few decades but it is “inconclusive” thatglobal warming is the causative factor behind it, thegovernment said.

Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave, in a writtenreply in the Lok Sabha, said the glaciers in the Himalayashave been by and large shrinking in volume and showinga retreating front.

“Research has shown that Himalayan glaciers have beenreceding since the end of the Little Ice Age but therecession has increased its rate during the past fewdecades,” he said.

Pointing out that receding of glaciers are rather“irregular” in rate, amount and time of occurrence, Davesaid,

“There could be several reasons for enhanced rate of


glacier melting. One of them is decreasing trend of winterprecipitation. However, there is no conclusive evidencefor an abnormal annual retreat.”

“Evidence for global warming being the causativefactor for retreat of glaciers is inconclusive,” he said.

The Environment Ministry in collaboration withIndian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has carriedout mapping of Himalayan glaciers using Indian satellitedata during 2004-07, the Union minister said.

“The study shows that there are 34,919 glaciers spreadover 75,779 square kilometres in Indus, Ganga andBrahmaputra basins covering the Himalaya and Trans-Himalaya including Karakoram region,” Dave said.

ISRO has monitored the advance and retreat of 2,018glaciers across the Himalayan region using satellite datafrom 2000-01 to 2010-11, he said.

The study shows that 87 per cent of glaciers showedno change, 12 per cent glaciers retreated and one per centglaciers have advanced,” he said.

25 NOBEL LAUREATES EXPECTED ATSCIENCE CONGRESS IN HYDERABAD

Around 25 Nobel laureates are expected to flydown to Hyderabad to speak at the 105th Indian ScienceCongress hosted by Osmania University (OU) fromJanuary three to seven, officials said.

OU, celebrating its centenary this year, is hosting theCongress for the sixth time, after the ones in 1937, 1954,1967, 1979 and 1998, noted its Vice-Chancellor, Prof SRamachandram.

General President of Indian Science CongressAssociation (ISCA) Prof Achyuta Samanta said around25,000 people are expected to attend the event.

“It is likely that around 25 Nobel laureates will speakon the occasion”, Prof. Ramachandram told reporters.Prof Samanta said the theme of the Congress is proposedto be “reaching the unreached”.

The Indian Science Congress, the country’s oldest andbiggest science meet, is traditionally inaugurated by PrimeMinister.

GOVT LOOKING INTO GENOMICSCIENCE BASED DNA MAPPING:

MINISTER

Karnataka Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowdatoday said the state government is looking into Genomicscience based DNA mapping to increase droughtresistance in certain crops.

“Genomic science is bringing revolutionary changes.Weare now beginning to assess genomic science based DNAmapping to increase drought resistivity in crops,” Gowdasaid.

“The technique is genome based marker assistedbreeding technique,” he said, intervening during thediscussion on the budget in the assembly.

His response came as Basavaraj Bommai (BJP) saidthe government, institutes of agriculture research and agriuniversities have not been able to provide alternative tofarmers during the years of drought.

“Don’t indulge in fund oriented R&D, but havegrowth oriented R&D,” Bommai said.

Karnataka is continuously facing drought for the lastfive years.

Gowda said five crops— Tur, Gram, Jowar, Ragiand Groundnut- have been chosen, to increase theirdrought tolerance, as also disease resistivity.

He said field trials of the varieties will be done duringthe year and based on its success they may be distributedto farmers from next year.

“State government is bearing the scientific experimentrelated cost of this,” he added.


CATS LIKE HUMAN INTERACTION MORETHAN FOOD: STUDY

Cat lovers, rejoice! Your pet may enjoy your companymore than you thought, as scientists have found that ourfeline friends prefer interacting with humans over eatingfood.

Researchers from Oregon State University in the UStook 50 cats from people’s homes and a cat shelter andleft them without food, toys and people for a few hours.

They then presented them with different stimuliassociated with each of those things.

While there was little difference between the cats thatcame from homes and the shelter cats, scientists foundthat almost all of them preferred human socialisation toany of the other stimuli on offer.

Only 37 per cent preferred food to human interaction,the ‘Metro’ reported.

“While it has been suggested that cat sociality existson a continuum, perhaps skewed toward independency,we have found that 50 per cent of cats tested preferredinteraction with the social stimulus even though they hada direct choice between social interaction with a humanand their other most preferred stimuli from the three otherstimulus categories,” researchers said.

The study was published in the journal BehaviouralProcesses.

CHEWING LIKE COWS HELPED EARLYMAMMALS SURVIVE MASS EXTINCTION

Mammal teeth, jaw bones and muscles evolved toproduce cow-like chewing motions, allowing our earliestancestors eat a more diversified diet, which helped themsurvive the mass extinction nearly 66 million years ago, anew study has found.

The terms “pitch” and “yaw” usually describemovements of airplanes, but biologists also use them todescribe basic movements of body parts such as the jaw.

Pitch rotation results in basic up and down movement,and yaw rotation results in side-to-side, crosswise motionlike a a cow munching away on grass.

Almost all modern mammals, including placentalmammals, like humans and deer, and marsupials, likekangaroos and opossums, share similarities in their jaw

structures and musculature that allow for both pitch andyaw movements.

This allows mammals to have especially diverse dietstoday, from cutting pieces of meat to grinding toughplants and vegetables. For early mammals, thesecharacteristics meant they could be more resourcefulduring tough times.

“If you have a very specialised diet you’re more likelyto perish during a mass extinction because you’re onlyeating one thing,” said David Grossnickle, graduate studentat the University of Chicago in the US.

“But if you can eat just about anything and 90 percent of your food goes away, you can still live on scraps,”he said.

Using 2D images of early mammal fossils fromprevious publications and 3D data collected from modernspecimens at the Field Museum, Grossnickle analysed thestructure of teeth, jaw bones, and how the muscles thatcontrol them were attached to the skull.

He saw that as species began to develop a projectionon the upper molars that fit into a corresponding cup orbasin on their lower counterparts, the musculature of thejaw also changed to provide greater torque for side-to-side yaw movements.

This way the animal could grind its food between themolars like a mortar and pestle, as opposed to cutting itwith simple up and down pitch movements.

NUT ALLERGY TESTS MAY BEINACCURATE: STUDY

Being allergic to one type of nut may not mean thatyou need to stop eating all other nuts, according to scientistswho claim that certain diagnostic tests may be unreliable.

Researchers from American College of Allergy,Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in the US examinedrecords of about 109 people with a known tree nut allergyto an individual nut.

They were then tested for other tree nuts they hadnever eaten before using blood or skin prick tests.

Researchers found that among people allergic to onenut who have a positive test to other tree nuts, more thanhalf passed an oral food challenge to other tree nutswithout a reaction.

“Too often, people are told they’re allergic to treenuts based on a blood or skin prick test,” said Christopher


Couch of ACAAI.“They take the results at face value and stop eating all

tree nuts when they might not actually be allergic. Despiteshowing a sensitivity to the additional tree nuts, more

than 50 per cent of those tested had no reaction in an oralfood challenge,” Couch said.

An oral food challenge is considered the mostaccurate way to diagnose food allergy. During an oralfood challenge, the patient eats tiny amounts of the foodin increasing doses over a period of time, followed by afew hours of observation to see if they have a reaction.

“An oral food challenge should only be conductedunder the care of a trained, board-certified allergist. Youshould never do one on your own since if you are allergic,you could have a severe, life-threatening reaction,”researchers said.

Tree nuts include almonds, cashews, walnuts andhazelnuts, but not peanuts. The study noted that nearlynone of the people allergic to peanut, but sensitised totree nut, were clinically allergic to tree nut.

The study was published in the journal Annals ofAllergy, Asthma and Immunology.

OVER 100 GENES LINKED TO MEMORY INHUMANS IDENTIFIED

Scientists have identified more than 100 genes linkedto human memory, an advance that may lead to newcognitive therapies.

Researchers used two sets of data: RNA in post-mortem brain tissue and intracranial EEG (iEEG) datafrom epilepsy patients. They then measure RNA as a proxyfor gene expression in the brain.

“Quantifying RNA in the brain requires extractingRNA from the brain tissue itself. Thus, we are limited toaccessing brain tissue post-mortem, or in rare occasionscan obtain tissue from surgical resections of the brain,”researchers said.

“This is very exciting because the identification of thesegene-to-behaviour relationships opens up new researchavenues for testing the role of these genes in specific aspectsof memory function and dysfunction,” said GenevieveKonopka of University of Texas Southwestern in the US.

“It means we are closer to understanding the molecularmechanisms supporting human memory and thus will beable to use this information someday to assist with all

kinds of memory issues,” she said.The study is part of the nascent but growing field of

“imaging genetics,” which aims to relate genetic variationto variation in brain anatomy and function.

“We have identified a window into the molecularpathways important for normal memory function thatare at risk from a genetic perspective in autism,” Konopkasaid.

“Genes shape the anatomy and functional organisationof the brain, and these structural and functionalcharacteristics of the brain give rise to the observablebehaviours,” said Evelina Fedorenko of HarvardUniversity in the US.

COOKING AT HOME, SKIPPING TV DUR

People who cook meals at home and do not watchTV or videos while eating are less likely to be obese, anew study has found.

Researchers from Ohio State University in the USstudied about 12,842 survey participants who said thatthey ate at least one family meal in the week prior to theirinterview.

Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) ator above 30, calculated from self-reported height andweight measures collected in the survey.

Researchers found that adults who reported neverwatching TV or videos during family meals hadsignificantly lower odds of obesity compared with peerswho always watched something during mealtimes.

Those whose family meals were all home-cookedalso had lower odds of obesity than other adults who atesome or no home-cooked meals.

“How often you are eating family meals may not bethe most important thing. It could be that what you aredoing during these meals matters more,” said RachelTumin of Ohio State University.

“This highlights the importance of thinking criticallyabout what is going on during those meals, and whetherthere might be opportunities to turn the TV off or domore of your own food preparation,” Tumin said.

Researchers found the lowest odds of obesity forthose adults who engaged in both healthy practises - eatinghome-cooked food and doing it without a TV or videoon - every time they ate a family meal.

Obesity was as common in adults who ate family


meals one or two days a week as it was in those who atefamily meals every day, researchers said.

“Regardless of family meal frequency, obesity wasless common when meals were eaten with the televisionoff and when meals were cooked at home,” said SarahAnderson of Ohio State University.

The study was published in the Journal of the Academyof Nutrition and Dietetics.

NEW TECH LETS HUMANS CONTROLTURTLES WITH THOUGHT

Scientists have developed a new Avatar-styletechnology that allows a human controller to remotelymanoeuvre a turtle’s path just using their thoughts.

In the 2009 blockbuster “Avatar,” a human remotelycontrols the body of an alien. It does so by injecting humanintelligence into a remotely located, biological body.

Researchers are developing ‘bra in-computerinterfaces’ (BCIs) following recent advances in electronicsand computing.

These technologies can ‘read’ and use human thoughtto control machines, for example, humanoid robots.

New research has demonstrated the possibility ofcombining a BCI with a device that transmits informationfrom a computer to a brain, or a ‘computer-to-braininterface’ (CBI).

The combination of these devices may be used toestablish a functional link between the brains of differentspecies.

Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute ofScience and Technology (KAIST) in South Korea havedeveloped a human-turtle interaction system in which asignal originating from a human brain can affect where aturtle moves.

Unlike previous research that has tried to controlanimal movement by applying invasive methods, KAISTresearchers proposed a conceptual system that can guidean animal’s moving path by controlling its instinctive escapebehaviour.

The entire human-turtle setup includes a head-mounteddisplay (HMD) combined with a BCI to immerse thehuman user in the turtle’s environment.

The human operator wears the BCI-HMD system,while the turtle has a ‘cyborg system’ - consisting of acamera, a Wi-Fi transceiver, a computer control moduleand a battery - all mounted on the turtle’s upper shell.

Also included on the turtle’s shell is a black semi-cylinder with a slit, which forms the ‘stimulation device’.This can be turned 36 degrees via the BCI.

The human operator receives images from the cameramounted on the turtle. These real-time video images allowthe human operator to decide where the turtle shouldmove.

The human provides thought commands that arerecognised by the wearable BCI system aselectroencephalography (EEG) signals. The BCI candistinguish between three mental states: left, right and idle.

The left and right commands activate the turtle’sstimulation device via Wi-Fi, turning it so that it obstructsthe turtle’s view.

This invokes its natural instinct to move toward lightand change its direction. Finally, the human acquires updatedvisual feedback from the camera mounted on the shelland in this way continues to remotely navigate the turtle’sroute.

WORLD’S FIRST NANOCAR RACE TOTAKE PLACE NEXT MONTH

Scientists are organising the world’s first nanocar racenext month in France, where tiny molecular machines willcompete against each other over a minuscule racecoursemade of gold atoms.

The international molecule-car race is being organisedby the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) inFrance.

The vehicles, which consist of a few hundred atoms,willbe powered by minute electrical pulses during the 36hours of the race, in which they must navigate a racecoursemade of gold atoms, measuring a maximum of a 100nanometres in length.

They will square off beneath the four tips of a uniquemicroscope located at CNRS’s CEMES research centrein Toulouse.

The race is first and foremost a scientific andtechnological challenge, and will be broadcast live on theYouTube Nanocar Race channel.

Beyond the competition, the overarching objective isto advance research in the observation and control ofmolecule-machines, researchers said.

More than just a competition, the Nanocar Race is aninternational scientific experiment that will be conducted


in real time, with the aim of testing the performance ofmolecule-machines and the scientific instruments used tocontrol them.

The years ahead will probably see the use of suchmolecular machinery in the manufacture of commonmachines: atom-by-atom construction of electroniccircuits, atom-by-atom deconstruction of industrial waste,capture of energy etc.

The Nanocar Race is therefore a unique opportunityfor researchers to implement cutting-edge techniques forthe simultaneous observation and independentmanoeuvring of such nano-machines.

There were numerous challenges in organising thisrace, from selecting the racecourse, which mustaccommodate all types of molecule-cars, to adapting thescanning tunnelling microscope, researchers said.

The participating teams also had to overcome a seriesof difficult tasks (depositing and visualising the moleculesbeneath the microscope), as well as meet numerous criteria(the molecules’ structure and form of propulsion) in orderto participate in this race.

Four teams will take their place at the 4-tipmicroscope’s starting line on April 28 for the 36-hourrace in Toulouse.

The challenges facing researchers in the race will beso many steps forward in novel fields in chemistry andphysics.

The CEMES-CNRS microscope is the only one inthe world allowing four different experimenters to workon the same surface.

The development of such multi-tip microscopes willenable synchronising a great number of molecule-machinesin order to increase capacity, for instance for storing energyor capturing it from a hot metallic surface.

VIDEO GAMES MAY BE VIABLETREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION

Playing a specifically designed video game may helppeople cope with depression, especially if they receivetext reminders to play, scientists including one of Indianorigin have found.

Researchers from University of California in the USlooked at results from about 160 student volunteers whosaid they suffered from mild depression with an averageage of 21.

Three-fourths were women, and more than half ofthe subjects were of Asian heritage, followed by white,Latino, and other ethnicities.

Using six, three-minute games, the study found in mostcases that playing the specifically designed game helpedsubjects feel they had some control over their depression.

Each game was an adaptation of neurophysiologicaltraining tasks that have been shown to improve cognitivecontrol among people experiencing depression.

Portraying depression as something caused internallybecause of biological factors and providing a video game-based app for brain training made participants feel thatthey could do something to control their depression,researchers said.

This supports other research that shows that brain-training games have the potential to induce cognitivechanges. Those users also gave high ratings for the usabilityof the app.

Researchers, including Subuhi Khan, found thatportraying depression as a condition caused by externalfactors led users to spend more time playing the game -again, perhaps giving them a feeling of control over theirsituation.

However this result was likely due to immediateengagement and was unlikely to have long-term benefits,researchers said.

“Through the use of carefully designed persuasivemessage prompts, mental health video games can beperceived and used as a more viable and less attrition-ridden treatment option,” researchers said.

The study appears in the journal Computers in HumanBehaviour.

NOW, YOU MAY HELP HUNT FOR‘PLANET NINE’

Amateur astronomers, take note!You can now help researchers discover ‘Planet 9’ - an

elusive cosmic body believed to exist in our solar system,scientists say.

The project to find “Planet 9” will allow citizenscientists to use a website to search hundreds of thousandsof images taken by the Australian National University(ANU) SkyMapper telescope at Siding Spring.

SkyMapper will take 36 images of each part of thesouthern sky, which is relatively unexplored, and identify


changes occurring within the Universe, researchers said.“We have the potential to find a new planet in our

Solar System that no human has ever seen in our two-million-year history,” said Brad Tucker from ANU.

“Planet 9 is predicted to be a super Earth, about 10times the mass and up to four times the size of our planet.It’s going to be cold and far away, and about 800 timesthe distance between Earth and the Sun. It’s prettymysterious,” Tucker said.

Volunteers would be required to scan through the SkMapper images online to look for difference and areexpected to also find and identify other mystery objectsin space, including asteroids, comets and dwarf planetslike Pluto, researchers said.

“It’s actually not that complicated to find Planet 9. Itreally is spot the difference. Then you just click on theimage, mark what is different and we’ll take care of therest,” Tucker said.

Volunteers will also get a chance to name theasteroid or object found although not after themselves.

“Modern computers could not match the passion ofmillions of people.It will be through all our dedicationthat we can find Planet 9 and other things that move inspace,” Tucker said.

WORLD’S MOST DIVERSE SET OFDINOSAUR TRACKS DISCOVERED IN AUS

The world’s most diverse set of dinosaur tracks- an unprecedented 21 different types - have beendiscovered in rocks dating back about 127 to 140 millionyears, located on a remote coastline dubbed as “Australia’sJurassic Park”, scientists said today.

Palaeontologists from The University of Queenslandand James Cook University in Australia braved sharks,crocodiles, massive tides and the threat of developmentto unveil the most diverse assemblage of dinosaur tracksin the world in the remote Kimberley region of WesternAustralia.

Lead author Steve Salisbury said the diversity of thetracks was globally unparalleled and made the area the“Cretaceous equivalent of the Serengeti”.

“It is extremely significant, forming the primary recordof non-avian dinosaurs in the western half the continentand providing the only glimpse of Australia’s dinosaurfauna during the first half of the Early Cretaceous Period,”

Salisbury said.“It’s such a magical place - Australia’s own Jurassic

Park, in a spectacular wilderness setting,” he said.In 2008, the Western Australian Government had

selected Walmadany as the preferred site for a liquid naturalgas processing precinct.

The area’s Traditional Custodians, the Goolarabooloopeople, contacted Salisbury’s team, who dedicated morethan 400 hours, investigating and documenting the dinosaurtracks.

Salisbury said the surrounding political issues madethe project “particularly intense”, and he was relieved whenNational Heritage listing was granted to the area in 2011and the gas project collapsed in 2013.

“There are thousands of tracks around Walmadany.Of these, 150 can confidently be assigned to 21 specifictrack types, representing four main groups of dinosaurs,”Salisbury said.

“There were five different types of predatorydinosaur tracks, at least six types of tracks from long-necked herbivorous sauropods, four types of tracks fromtwo-legged herbivorous ornithopods, and six types oftracks from armoured dinosaurs,” he said.

“Among the tracks is the only confirmed evidencefor stegosaurs in Australia. There are also some of thelargest dinosaur tracks ever recorded. Some of thesauropod tracks are around 1.7 metres long,” Salisburysaid.

“Most of Australia’s dinosaur fossils come from theeastern side of the continent, and are between 115 and 90million years old. The tracks in Broome are considerablyolder,” he said.

USING ‘YOU’ HELPS COPE WITHNEGATIVE EXPERIENCES: STUDY

People use the word “you” more often than “I” tocope with negative experiences or while sharing an insight,a new study has found.

It may seem contradictory that a means of generalisingto people at large is used when reflecting on one’s mostpersonal and idiosyncratic experiences, researchers said.

Researchers from University of Michigan in the USsaid it may seem contradictory that a means of generalisingto people at large is used when reflecting on one’s mostpersonal and idiosyncratic experiences.


They conducted nine experiments with about 2,489people to understand why people curiously use “you”not only to refer to specific others, but also to reflect ontheir own experiences.

In one experiment, researchers asked participants towrite about a personal experience: 201 were asked to makemeaning from a negative event, 198 were asked to relivea negative event, and 203 were simply asked to write abouta neutral experience.

Those in the meaning-making group used generic-you more in their essays (46 per cent used the word atleast once) than those in the relive group (10 per cent usedthe word at least once) and the neutral group (three percent used the word at least once).

The researchers also found that using generic-you ledpeople to view the event as more distant.

“It is something we all do as a way to explain howthings work and to find meaning in our lives,” said ArianaOrvell, a doctoral student in the University of Michigan.

“When people use “you” to make meaning fromnegative experiences, it allows them to ‘normalise’ theexperience and reflect on it from a distance,” said Orvell.

The study was published in the journal Science.

CUTTING SALT INTAKE MAY LOWERNIGHT-TIME TOILET TRIPS: STUDY

Lowering salt intake can significantly reduce excessivenight time toilet trips, a condition which is also known asnocturia, a new study has found.

For the study, 223 volunteers were asked to cut theirsalt by 25 per cent, from 10.7 grammes to 8 grammesper day, their average night time toilet expeditions fell froman average of 2.3 trips to 1.4 times.

In contrast, when 98 subjects increased their intakefrom 9.9 to 11g they found that their need to urinateincreased from 2.3 times to 2.7 times every night.

“This is the first study to measure how salt intakeaffects the frequency of going to the bathroom,” saidMatsuo Tomohiro, of Nagasaki University in Japan.

“Night time urination is a real problem for manypeople, especially as they get older,” said Tomohiro.

“This work holds out the possibility that a simplydietary modification might significantly improve the qualityof life for many people,” he said.

This reduction in the need to go to the bathroom at

night also caused a marked improvement in the quality oflife of the participants, ‘The Telegraph’ reported.

Salt can only be disposed from the body when it isdissolved, so the more people eat the more urine needsto be expelled to get rid of it, researchers said.

Salty foods also make people more thirsty, so thedouble impact of salt and more liquid increases the needto urinate, particularly at night.

‘SLEEPLESS NIGHT MAY IMPAIR ABILITYTO RECOGNISE EXPRESSIONS’

Didn’t sleep well last night?Your may have a hard time identifying whether people

around you are happy or sad, scientists say.Researchers from University of Arizona in the US

found people have a harder time identifying facialexpressions of happiness or sadness when they were sleepdeprived versus well-rested.

About 54 participants, who were shown photographsof the same male face expressing varying degrees of fear,happiness, sadness, anger, surprise and disgust werestudied.

Participants were asked to indicate which of thosesix emotions they thought was being expressed the mostby each face.

In order to assess participants’ ability to interpret moresubtle emotional expressions, the images presented werecomposite photos of commonly confused facialexpressions morphed together by a computer program.

For example, a face might show 70 per cent sadnessand 30 per cent disgust or vice versa.

Participants saw a total of 180 blended facialexpressions at each testing session.

Their baseline responses to the images were comparedto their responses after they were deprived of sleep forone night.

Researchers found that blatant facial expressions - suchas an obvious grin or frown (90 per cent happy or 90 percent sad) - were easily identifiable regardless of how muchsleep a participant got.

Sleep deprived participants had a harder time,however, correctly identifying more subtle expressions ofhappiness and sadness, although their performance on theother emotions was unchanged.

When participants were tested again after one night


of recovery sleep, their performance on happiness andsadness improved, returning to its baseline level,researchers said.

“While the difference in performance was notoverwhelming, it’s enough that it could have a significantimpact in critical social interactions, said William DSKillgore of University of Arizona.

The study was published in the journal Neurobiologyof Sleep and Circadian Rhythms.

IMPACT CRATER LINKED TO ANCIENTMARTIAN TSUNAMIS IDENTIFIED

Scientists have identified a crater on Mars, possiblycreated by an asteroid that triggered 150 metre-hightsunami waves when it plunged into an ocean on the redplanet three billion years ago.

The researchers have identified what they think is thebest candidate for the impact crater, a 120km-wide bowlcalled Lomonosov. The feature is extremely degradedtoday, with a collapsed crater rim.

Some scientists think an ocean might once have filledthe vast lowland region that occupies the red planet’snortherly latitudes.

Growing evidence that tsunami waves washed overthe boundary between the southern highlands and northernlowlands help strengthen the hypothesis.

The proposed Martian tsunami travelled 150km inland,climbing to elevations of about 100 metres.

“If we do have this evidence of a tsunami havingoccurred back three billion years ago, there must havebeen an ocean present in the northern plains,” SteveClifford, from the Lunar and Planetary Institute in the UStold ‘BBC News’.

“That’s the key point here, it indicates that there was asubstantial amount of water in residence on the Martiansurface at this time and that has likely implications for thetotal inventory of water on Mars,” Clifford said.

The research has been published in the Journal ofGeophysical Research - Planets.

PREHISTORIC EVIDENCE OF HUMANCANNIBALISM DISCOVERED

Scientists have discovered the oldest evidence ofhuman cannibalism in the western European

Mediterranean region, by analysing 10,000-year-old boneswith scratch and bite marks on them.

The bones, discovered in the Santa Maria Caves inSpain, belong to the Mesolithic period, researchers said.

The Mesolithic period lasts from about 10,200 to 8,000years ago.

The human bones were an accidental find, said studylead researcher Juan Morales-Perez, a researcher at theUniversity of Valencia in Spain.

“I was studying the remains of Mesolithic animalsfrom the Santa Maria site, and suddenly I identified ahuman distal humerus - an elbow - and it was full ofcuts,” Morales-Perez said.

Researchers eventually discovered 30 bones belongingto three individuals: a robust adult, a gracile adult and aninfant, ‘Live Science’ reported.

However, the infant had only one complete bone (ashoulder blade) that did not show signs of cannibalism,the researchers said.

The bones date to between 10,200 and 9,000 yearsago, Morales-Perez said.

The last of the hunter-gatherer communities livedduring this time, and evidence suggests that their culturewas more organized and complex than it was during thePaleolithic period.

“A good example of this complexity is the appearanceof the first cemeteries. There are also these strangeexamples of cannibalism,” Morales-Perez said.

The study was published the Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology.

BRAIN SCANS MAY HELP CHOOSE RIGHTTREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION

Brain scans may help identify whether psychotherapyor antidepressant medication would be a better treatmentoption for a patient of depression, a new study suggests.

Researchers from Emory University in the USrandomly assigned about 344 patients to 12 weeks oftreatment with one of two antidepressant medications orwith cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

At the start of the study, patients underwent afunctional MRI brain scan, which was then analysed tosee whether the outcome from CBT or medicationdepended on the state of the brain prior to startingtreatment.


The MRI scans identified that the degree of functionalconnectivity between an important emotion processingcentre (the subcallosal cingulate cortex) and three otherareas of the brain was associated with the treatmentoutcomes.

Specifically, patients with positive connectivitybetween the brain regions were significantly more likelyto achieve remission with CBT, whereas patients withnegative or absent connectivity were more likely to remitwith antidepressant medication, researchers said.

“All depressions are not equal and like different typesof cancer, different types of depression will requirespecific treatments.

“Using these scans, we may be able to match a patientto the treatment that is most likely to help them, whileavoiding treatments unlikely to provide benefit,” said HelenMayberg of Emory University.

The study was published in the American Journal ofPsychiatry.

HUMANS, SMARTPHONES OFTEN FAIL TODETECT FACE MORPH PHOTOS

Both humans and smartphones are unable toaccurately differentiate between ‘real’ faces and photosthat are morphed on fraudulent identity cards, say scientists.

Researchers from University of York in the UKexamined the ability of both human viewers andsmartphone face recognition software to identify a facemorph as distinct from the two faces contributing to themorph.

They took two ‘real’ face photos and digitally blendingthem to make a new, but similar, face that bothcontributing faces can use as false ID.

Human participants and smartphone software were

asked to decide if a pair of faces matched. Sometimes,one of the pair was a morph photo and the other wasone of the contributing faces.

Results showed that both humans and smartphonesoftware are frequently unable to distinguish face morphphotos from the two faces contributing to the morph.

Initially, human viewers were unable to distinguish a50/50 morph photo from its contributing photos 68 percent of the time.

However, after simply briefing the viewers to lookout for manipulated, ‘fraudulent’ images, the error ratedropped greatly to 21 per cent.

Researchers also looked at smartphone software,which achieved similar results to briefed human viewers,with an error rate of 27 per cent.

These rates, however, are still significantly higher thanerror rates when comparing two photos of entirelydifferent people, researchers said.

Although, the participants in this study are unlikely tobe as motivated or as skilled as a professional at spottingfraudulent photos, this study indicates that humans andsmartphones may not naturally identify face morphs, aweakness that could be exploited by fraudsters, researcherssaid.

“It is encouraging, however, that armed with theknowledge of morphed photo IDs, the risk of fraudulentactivity being missed is significantly reduced,” said MikeBurton from the University of York.

“Raising awareness of this type of fraud and includingit in training schemes for frontline staff can help overcomethese issues, and with new technologies coming on line, itshould be a challenge that can be tackled with somesuccess,” Burton added.

The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE.


ATHEISTS, HIGHLY RELIGIOUS PEOPLELEAST AFRAID OF DEATH: STUDY

Does religion make you less afraid of death? Peopleon two far ends of the spectrum - atheists as well as thosewho are very religious are least fearful of dying, scientistssay.

Researchers, including those from Oxford Universityin the UK, studied the relationship between death anxietyand religious belief.

They found about 100 relevant articles, publishedbetween 1961 and 2014, containing information about26,000 people worldwide.

Combining this data, they found that higher levels ofreligiosity were weakly linked with lower levels of deathanxiety.

The effects were similar whether they looked atreligious beliefs such as belief in God, and an afterlife, orreligious behaviour like going to church, and praying,researchers said.

The meta-analysis showed that while people who wereintrinsically religious enjoyed lower levels of death anxiety,those who were extrinsically religious revealed higher levelsof death anxiety.

Extrinsic religiosity is when religious behaviour ismotivated by pragmatic considerations such as the socialor emotional benefits of following a religion, whereasintrinsic religiosity refers to religious behaviour driven bytrue belief.

The findings were mixed across the studies, with only30 per cent of the effects showing this finding.

About 18 per cent of the studies found that religiouspeople were more afraid of death than non-religiouspeople and over half the research showed no link at allbetween the fear of death and religiosity.

This mixed picture shows that the relationship betweenreligiosity and death anxiety may not be fixed, but maydiffer from context to context, researchers said.

Researchers also checked for curvilinear patterns inthe data. Out of the 100 studies, the team only found 11studies that were robust enough to test this idea, however,of these, almost all (10) formed this pattern.

“This definitely complicates the old view, that religiouspeople are less afraid of death than nonreligious people.It may well be that atheism also provides comfort fromdeath, or that people who are just not afraid of death are

not compelled to seek religion,” said Jonathan Jong ofCoventry University in the UK.

STASH OF LIQUOR BOTTLES FROMWORLD WAR I DISCOVERED IN ISRAEL

Archaeologists have discovered a stash of hundredsof liquor bottles, along with other items dating back toWorld War I at buried British barracks in Israel.

The unexpected discovery was made in anarchaeological excavation of the Israel AntiquitiesAuthority being conducted in Israel.

The researchers also found flint tools that are 250,000years old from the Middle Palaeolithic period.

The excavation is being carried out as part of theconstruction of a highway.

“The written historical evidence regarding the soldiers’activities in the British army in Israel usually consists of“dry” details, such as the number of soldiers, directionof attack, and the results of the battle,” said Ron Toueg,excavation director of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“The discovery of this site and the finds in it provideus with an opportunity for a glimpse of the unwrittenpart of history, and reconstruct for the first time theeveryday life and leisure of the soldiers,” said Toueg.

“We exposed a building whose upper part was notpreserved, which was apparently the foundations of abarracks,” he said.

The structure was used for agricultural purposes inthe Ottoman period, and during World War I the Britishconverted it for military use, researchers said.

“Inside the building we discovered dozens of uniformbuttons, belt buckles, parts of riding equipment, and otherartifacts that were the property of the British soldiers,”Toueg said.

The building caught fire and collapsed for a reasonwhich is unclear. The place where the soldiers discardeddebris was revealed just a few meters from the building.

“We were surprised to discover that, along with brken crockery and cutlery, there was an enormous numberof soft drink and liquor bottles,” Toueg said.

“In fact, about 70 per cent of the waste that wasdiscarded in the refuse pit were liquor bottles. It seemsthat the soldiers took advantage of the respite given themto release the tension by frequently drinking alcohol,” headded.


“Interestingly, the glass bottles, which contained mainlywine, beer, soda and alcoholic beverages such as gin, liqueurand whiskey, came from Europe to supply soldiers andofficers in the camp. It is a fascinating testimony of theeveryday life of the British military camp a century ago,”said Brigitte Ouahnouna, a researcher in the glassdepartment of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

An interesting item that was found in the excavationis the tip of a swagger stick that belonged to a RoyalFlying Corps officer.

Swagger sticks were usually carried by senior officersas a symbol of authority. Its tip is made of silver and it isstamped with the symbol of the corps and the initialsRFC.

“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first itemof its kind ever found in Israel,” said Assaf Peretz, aresearcher of the period at the Israel Antiquities Authority.

NASA TO LAUNCH NEW PROBE TO

NASA is planning to launch a balloon-basedobservatory that will measure emissions from theinterstellar medium - the cosmic material found betweenstars.

The data from the mission will help scientistsdetermine the life cycle of interstellar gas in our MilkyWay galaxy, witness the formation and destruction of star-forming clouds, and understand the dynamics and gasflow in the vicinity of the centre of our galaxy.

The Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB SpectroscopicTerahertz Observatory (GUSTO) mission, led by principalinvestigator Christopher Walker of the University ofArizona, will fly an Ultralong-Duration Balloon (ULDB)carrying a telescope with carbon, oxygen and nitrogenemission line detectors.

This unique combination of data will provide thespectral and spatial resolution information needed forresearchers to untangle the complexities of the interstellarmedium, and map out large sections of the plane of ourMilky Way galaxy and the nearby galaxy known as theLarge Magellanic Cloud.

“GUSTO will provide the first complete study of allphases of the stellar life cycle, from the formation ofmolecular clouds, through star birth and evolution, to theformation of gas clouds and the re-initiation of the cycle,”said Paul Hertz, astrophysics division director in the Science

Mission Directorate in Washington.The mission is targeted for launch in 2021 from

McMurdo, Antarctica, and is expected to stay in the airbetween 100 to 170 days, depending on weatherconditions.

It will cost about USD 40 million, including theballoon launch funding and the cost of post-launchoperations and data analysis.

FOUR-LEGGED ROBOT CAN CHANGEGAIT WITH SPEED

Scientists have, for the first time, successfullydeveloped a four-legged robot that can spontaneouslychange its gait when speed is varied.

The advance may lead to a wide range of applicationssuch as adaptive legged robots working in disaster areas,user-friendly legged entertainment robots and automaticmotion-creation algorithms for computer graphicsanimation.

Until now, the manner in which changing speeds causequadrupeds to change their gaits - walking, trotting andgalloping - was poorly understood.

Researchers from the Tohoku University in Japansuccessfully demonstrated the reproduction of thequadruped gait transition phenomena.

They achieved this via a decentralised control scheme,using a simple local rule in which a leg continues to supportthe body while sensing weight on the corresponding leg.

Moreover, they confirmed that the energy-efficiencyprofile of the robot’s gait patterns matched thosemeasured in horses.

The research is expected to lead to betterunderstanding of the mechanism of how quadrupeds canflexibly and efficiently adjust their gait when their speed ischanged, researchers said.

The result may constitute the basis of anunconventional approach to coordinating the many degreesof freedoms requiredfor adaptive robot locomotion.

SPIRITUAL RETREATS BOOST BRAIN’S‘FEEL GOOD’ CHEMICALS

Visiting a spiritual retreat may help lift your moodby triggering neurotransmitters such as dopamine andserotonin that are linked to love, enjoyment and memory,


a new study has found.Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University in the

US observed about 14 participants ranging in age from24 to 76.

They attended an retreat based on the spiritualexercises developed by St Ignatius Loyola who foundedthe Jesuits.

Following a morning mass, participants spent mostof the day in silent contemplation, prayer and reflectionand attended a daily meeting with a spiritual director forguidance and insights.

After returning, study subjects also completed anumber of surveys which showed marked improvementsin their perceived physical health, tension and fatigue.

They also reported increased feelings of self-transcendence which correlated to the change in dopaminebinding.

The post-retreat scans revealed decreases in dopaminetransporter (5-8 per cent) and serotonin transporter (6.5per cent) binding, which could make more of theneurotransmitters available to the brain.

This is associated with positive emotions and spiritualfeelings. In particular, dopamine is responsible formediating cognition, emotion and movement, whileserotonin is involved in emotional regulation and mood,researchers said.

“Since serotonin and dopamine are part of the rewardand emotional systems of the brain, it helps us understandwhy these practices result in powerful, positive emotionalexperiences,” said Andrew Newberg of Thomas JeffersonUniversity.

“Our study showed significant changes in dopamineand serotonin transporters after the seven-day retreat,which could help prime participants for the spiritualexperiences that they reported,” Newberg added.

CHILDREN WITH AUTISM MAY BENEFITFROM FAECAL TRANSPLANT

Faecal transplants – a method of introducingdonated healthy microbes into people with gastrointestinaldisease to rebalance the gut - may benefit children sufferingfrom autism, a new study has suggested.

Behavioural symptoms of autism and gastrointestinaldistress often go hand-in-hand, and both improved whena small group of children with the disorder underwent

faecal transplant and subsequent treatment.Researchers, including those from University of

Arizona in the US, studied about 18 children with autismand moderate to severe gastrointestinal problems.

Children without autism were included forcomparison of bacterial and viral gut composition priorto the study.

Researchers collected this information from parentsthrough established, standardised questionnaires to assesssocial skills, irritability, hyperactivity, communication andother measures. One of those tools showed the averagedevelopmental age increased by 1.4 years after treatment.

The average score on a scale for rankinggastrointestinal symptoms dropped 82 per cent from thebeginning to the end of treatment.

An overall improvement that was sustained twomonths after the final treatment was seen when theresearchers asked parents to give feedback on 17 autism-related symptoms.

A diagnostic evaluation before the experimentaltreatment, at the end of treatment and eight weeks afterthat was also conducted.

Doctor-reported symptoms (from the ChildhoodAutism Rating Scale) decreased by 22 per cent at the endof treatment and 24 per cent eight weeks after treatmentended compared with ratings at the start of the study,researchers said.

“Transplants are working for people with othergastrointestinal problems. And with autism, gastrointestinalsymptoms are often severe, so we thought this could bepotentially valuable,” said Ann Gregory of Ohio StateUniversity in the US.

Previous research had established that children withautism typically have fewer types of some importantbacteria in their guts and less bacterial diversity overall – adifference that held true in this study.

That could be because many of them are prescribeda lot of antibiotics in the first three years of life, researcherssaid.

NEW ALGORITHM CAN TELL WHENYOU’LL GET BORED OF MOBILE GAME

Scientists have developed a new mathematicalmodel that can predict how soon a user will get bored ofa smartphone game, an advance that may help developers


create more engaging apps.Applied to videogames, the model called survival

ensemble can predict what day and at what stage of thegame a user will stop playing, and why they will do so.

“Already from their first days playing the game, weknow with a good degree of certainty what level a userwill reach and how many days it will take them,” saidAfrica Perianez, Head of Game Data Science at the videogame company Silicon Studio in Japan.

“The main and most pressing priority is to try toextend the player’s ‘life’ and get them to buy as much aspossible. Also important is to understand users’ needs anddesign a more entertaining and stimulating game,” she said.

The industry has undergone a paradigm shift sincethe appearance of games for smartphones.

“Companies store a lot of information on users: theiractions, connections, purchases, etc. And they are beginningto realise that they need to move towards a data-baseddevelopment model, which allows them to know whotheir players are and what they like, and also to predicttheir reactions,” said Perianez.

The Silicon Studio platform adapts automatically todifferent games and data.

According to the researcher, the system can predictwho will leave the game very accurately.

The algorithm uses the so-called ‘ensemble’ method,“a model that is based on many learning algorithms insteadof a single one, thereby improving the prediction accuracyby examining many more correlations and alternativemodels,” Perianez said.

“Every time we run the model, we are actually using1,000 distinct submodels, each of which focuses ondifferent variables and has different initial conditions,” shesaid.

The team also used a survival analysis algorithm withineach submodel. These models “are used in medicalresearch, for example, to predict when a patient willexperience an event of interest, and in biology, to knowhow particular cells are going to behave in the body,”Perianez said.

The researchers have now, for the first time, combinedthe power of survival algorithms and ‘ensemble’ modelsin the field of video games.

“This has enabled us to achieve a high level ofprediction accuracy, as the algorithm automatically adaptsto the data of the game we want to analyse,” said Perianez.

STEM CELL THERAPY MAY HELP REPAIRLUNG DAMAGE: STUDY

Stem cell therapy may potentially reduce lunginflammation in patients suffering from chronicobstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis,a new study conducted on mice suggests.

Researchers from Queens University Belfast in theUK investigated the effectiveness of Mesenchymal stemcell (MSC) therapy in a mouse model of chronicinflammatory lung disease, which reflects some of theessential features of diseases such as COPD and cysticfibrosis.

They delivered stem cells intravenously to mice at fourand six weeks of age, before collecting sample tissue andcells from the lungs at about eight weeks.

These findings were compared to a control groupthat did not receive the MSC therapy. The results showedthat inflammation was significantly reduced in the groupreceiving MSC therapy.

Cell count for both monocytic cells and neutrophils -signs of inflammation - were significantly reduced afterMSC therapy, researchers said.

Analysis of lung tissue revealed a reduction in the meanlinear intercept and other measures of lung destruction inMSC treated mice.

Researchers found that along with reducinginflammation in the lung, MSC therapy also resulted insignificant improvements in lung structure, suggesting thatthis form of treatment has the potential to repair thedamaged lung.

“These preliminary findings demonstrate the potentialeffectiveness of MSC treatment as a means of repairingthe damage caused by chronic lung diseases such asCOPD,” said Declan Doherty of Queens UniversityBelfast.

“The ability to counteract inflammation in the lungsby utilising the combined anti-inflammatory and reparativeproperties of MSCs could potentially reduce theinflammatory response in individuals with chronic lungdisease whilst also restoring lung function in these patients,”Doherty added.

Lung damage caused by chronic inflammation inconditions such as COPD and cystic fibrosis leads toreduced lung function and eventually respiratory failure.


Edited, printed and published by M. R. MISHRA on behalf of the PRESS TRUST OF INDIA, at 4, Parliament Street,New Delhi -110001, Printed at AVION Printer, Aram Nagar, New Delh-110 005 Phone No.23619350 .

MSC therapy is currently being investigated as apromising therapeutic approach for a number ofincurable, degenerative lung diseases.

CHILDHOOD BRAIN CANCERSURVIVORS AT HIGHER HEART DISEASE

RISK

Survivors of childhood brain tumours are at anincreased risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and earlydeath because of higher overall fat tissue, a new study haswarned.

Researchers, including those from McMasterUniversity in Canada, found that survivors of childhoodbrain tumours have a similar Body Mass Index (BMI) tohealthy children with no cancer but have more fat tissueoverall, and especially around the abdomen.

“These findings suggest that one of the mostimportant risk factors for heart disease and Type 2diabetes, which is excess total and central fat in the body,is present relatively early in survivors of childhood braintumours,” said Constantine Samaan, an associate professorat McMaster University.

“This indicates that these children need furthermonitoring for the factors that increase their risk ofcardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes, and thattargeted therapies and prevention strategies are needed todeal with the early risk factors to improve survival andthe quality of life of survivors,” Samaan added.

Brain tumours are the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in children, and are the second mostcommon type of cancers in children, researchers said.

Over the past few years, advances in cancer therapyhave resulted in an increasing number of children whosurvive their diagnosis of brain tumours.

’10 MINS OF VIGOROUS EXERCISE MAYCUT DIABETES RISK IN KIDS’

Ten minutes of high-intensity physical activity everyday may help some children reduce their risk of

developing heart problems and metabolic diseases suchas diabetes, a new study claims.

Researchers from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centrein the US found that replacing light-intensity physicalactivity with brief periods of vigorous exercise mayprovide significant cardiometabolic benefits in youngpeople with relatively large waist measurements andelevated levels of insulin in their blood.

Researchers analysed data from about 11,588 youngpeople aged between 4 and 18 in the US, Brazil andEuropean countries.

Records that included the child’s age, gender, level ofphysical activity and at least one biomarker - a measurableindicator of a medical state or condition - of acardiometabolic risk were focused on.

These included weight circumference, systolic anddiastolic blood pressure and bloodstream levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-densitylipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose andinsulin.

Researchers found only 32 significant associations outof a possible 360 while evaluating the relationshipsbetween the biomarkers and vigorous physical activitywhen controlling for various factors including age, gender,duration and level of exercise and sedentary time.

All 32 were related to reduced waist circumferenceand insulin levels. The relationships between high-intensityexercise and the other biomarkers were inconsistent.

“The results suggest that substituting modest amountsof vigorous physical activity for longer-duration lightexercise may have cardiometabolic benefits above andbeyond those conveyed by moderate activity and theavoidance of sedentary behaviour,” said Justin B Moore,associate professor at Wake Forest Baptist.

“But as vigorous activity was independently associatedwith only two of the markers examined, it may be that itstruly meaningful benefits may be limited, relative to less-intense exercise,” Moore added.

The study was published in the journal Medicine andScience in Sports and Exercise.

ISSN 0970-6488 Science Service - IFCPAR/CEFIPRA · PTI Science Service April 1-15, 20172 FOR...

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