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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 12, 2014 at 5:42am

How to make children emotionally strong:
An easy way to better prepare kids to handle anxiety and keep anxiety-related disorders at bay may lie in the school-based test anxiety interventions, a research said.

Anxiety problems are among the most common emotional difficulties youths experience, and are often linked to exposure to disasters.

"Test anxiety interventions may be a practical strategy for conducting emotion-focused prevention and intervention efforts because of a natural fit within the ecology of the school setting," said Carl Weems of University of New Orleans, US.

Showing students how to cope with test anxiety might also help them to handle their built-up angst and fretfulness about other issues.

"Anxiety intervention programmes that focus on academic matters fit well into the demands of the school routine, and do not carry the same stigma among youth as general anxiety programmes do," Weems noted.

The research group was among the first to study the effects of Hurricane Katrina on community mental health and anxiety among youth.

However, school-based test anxiety interventions should not be considered a first line approach to treating severe anxiety disorders such as PTSD, but could be employed to teach students how to handle anxious emotions, Weems cautioned.

The study appeared in the journal Prevention Science.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 11, 2014 at 7:25am

The latest urban air quality database released by the World Health Organization (WHO) says that India ranks among the world's worst for its polluted air. Out of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, 13 are in India. The report reconfirms that most Indian cities are soon becoming death traps because of very high air pollution levels.

India appears among the group of countries with highest particulate matter (PM) levels. Also, its cities have the highest levels of PM10 and PM2.5 (particles with diameter of 10 microns and 2.5 microns) when compared to other cities. Delhi is among the most polluted cities in the world today.

Director general, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Sunita Narain says: "This database confirms our worst fears about how hazardous air pollution is in our region. Last year, the Global Burden of Disease study pinned outdoor air pollution as the fifth largest killer in India after high blood pressure, indoor air pollution, tobacco smoking, and poor nutrition. About 620,000 early deaths occurred in India due to air pollution-related diseases in 2010."

Narain added that 18 million years of healthy lives are lost due to illness burden that enhances the economic cost of pollution. Half of these deaths have been caused by heart disease triggered by exposure to air pollution and the rest due to stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory track infection and lung cancer.

Experts claim that Indian cities are witnessing a rapid increase in air pollution and untamed motorization. Cities need to curb pollution from all sources, but vehicles need special attention as they emit toxic fumes within our breathing zone. India needs urgent action to leapfrog vehicle technology and fuel quality, scale up public transport, reduce dependence on cars, and promote walking and cycling.

India is waiting for a decision on the emissions standards roadmap for vehicles and fuel quality from the Auto Fuel Policy Committee under the chairmanship of Saumitra Chaudhury, member, Planning Commission. This is expected to be announced soon, before the UPA II government is dissolved. The committee must respond effectively to the mounting evidences on worsening air quality and health damages associated with vehicular fumes.

CSE suggests that the entire country should leapfrog to Euro VI standards by 2020-21. All cities need to implement clean air action plan to curb pollution from all sources to meet clean air standards in a time bound manner. Also, government must inform people about the air quality on a daily basis and issue health alerts for especially children, elderly, and those suffering from respiratory and cardiac problems.
_WHO

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 11, 2014 at 6:21am

Birth of new brain cells might erase babies’ memories
New neurons may explain why adults can’t remember being infants
Infants’ memories may be wiped clean by the genesis of new brain cells, a study in rodents suggests. The findings offer an explanation for why people can’t recall memories from early childhood, a century-old mystery.
According tot eh researchers, new cells originated could be messing up brain circuits laid down by preexisting neurons. These cells reach out spindly fingers and link up with neighbors. Memories made using older links may be hard to call to mind when new links take over.

“Maybe forgetting is not a bad thing,” the researchers say. “Maybe it’s good to clear away some memories and forget some things that are not so important.”

The hippocampus might be something like a computer cluttered with files, says neuroscientist Richard Morris of the University of Edinburgh. “Every so often we all sit down and do a little tidy-up,” he says. “Maybe that’s what neurogenesis is all about. It’s the hippocampus’s very own spring cleaning system.”
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/birth-new-brain-cells-might-era...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 10, 2014 at 6:23am

Weight gain during pregnancy may protect babies from chemicals

Gaining more weight during pregnancy can substantially reduce a baby’s exposure to pesticides that have accumulated in a mother’s body, according to new research.
Pregnant women who don’t gain enough weight lose fat when the fetus grows. This releases fat-soluble chemicals such as DDT into the bloodstream, which reaches the fetus.

“This study suggests that sufficient weight gain during pregnancy may help to dilute certain chemicals that store in fat, reducing exposure to the fetus,” said Jonathan Chevrier, an epidemiologist at McGill University in Montreal who did not participate in the research.

Exposure to persistent organic pollutants, or POPs, in the womb has been linked to developmental disorders and learning delays, reduced immune system function and changes in hormones.
For every pound of pregnancy weight gain, the researchers saw a 0.75 percent decrease in DDE in the cord blood and a 1.4 percent decrease in beta-HCH. For the average woman who gained about 31 pounds during pregnancy, that’s about a 22 percent decrease in DDE and a 42 percent decrease in beta-HCH.

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2014/may/weight-gai...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 9, 2014 at 9:42am

First life with 'alien' DNA

An engineered bacterium is able to copy DNA that contains unnatural genetic letters.

Scientists reported on Wednesday that they had taken a significant step toward altering the fundamental alphabet of life — creating an organism with an expanded artificial genetic code in its DNA.

The accomplishment might eventually lead to organisms that can make medicines or industrial products that cells with only the natural genetic code cannot.

The scientists behind the work at the Scripps Research Institute have already formed a company to try to use the technique to develop new antibiotics, vaccines and other products, though a lot more work needs to be done before this is practical.

The work also gives some support to the concept that life can exist elsewhere in the universe using genetics different from those on Earth. "This is the first time that you have had a living cell manage an alien genetic alphabet," said Steven A Benner, a researcher in the field at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Florida, who was not involved in the new work. But the research, published online by the journal Nature, is bound to raise safety concerns and questions about whether humans are playing God.

The new paper could intensify calls for greater regulation of the budding field known as synthetic biology, which involves the creation of biological systems intended for specific purposes.

"The arrival of this unprecedented 'alien' life form could in time have far-reaching ethical, legal and regulatory implications," Jim Thomas of the ETC Group, a Canadian advocacy organization, said in an email.

"While synthetic biologists invent new ways to monkey with the fundamentals of life, governments haven't even been able to cobble together the basics of oversight, assessment or regulation for this surging field."

Despite the great diversity of life on Earth, all species, from simple bacteria to human beings, use the same genetic code. It consists of four chemical units in DNA, sometimes called nucleotides or bases, that are usually represented by the letters A, C, G and T. The sequence of these chemical units determines what proteins the cell makes. Those proteins in turn do most of the work in cells and are required for the structure, function and regulation of the body's tissues and organs. The Scripps researchers chemically created two new nucleotides, which they called X and Y. They inserted an X-Y pair into the common bacterium E coli. The bacteria were able to reproduce normally, though a bit slowly, replicating the X and Y along with the natural nucleotides. In effect, the bacteria have a genetic code of six letters rather than four, perhaps allowing them to make novel proteins that could function in a completely different way from those created naturally.

"If you have a language that has a certain letters, you want to add letters so you can write more words and tell more stories," said Floyd E Romesberg, a chemist at Scripps who led the work.

http://www.nature.com/news/first-life-with-alien-dna-1.15179

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 9, 2014 at 9:40am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 9, 2014 at 9:39am

Electronics' noise disorients migratory birds

Man-made electromagnetic radiation disrupts robins' internal magnetic compasses.
Interference from electronics and AM radio signals can disrupt the internal magnetic compasses of migratory birds, researchers report today in Nature1. The work raises the possibility that cities have significant effects on bird migration patterns

http://www.nature.com/news/electronics-noise-disorients-migratory-b...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 9, 2014 at 9:36am

Cotton balls help Darwin’s finches to help themselves

Insecticide-laced nest materials offer a simple fix for parasite infestation.
http://www.nature.com/news/cotton-balls-help-darwin-s-finches-to-he...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 9, 2014 at 9:30am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on May 9, 2014 at 8:54am

Regenerating plastic grows back after damage
llinois researchers have developed materials that not only heal, but regenerate. The restorative material is delivered through two, isolated fluid streams (dyed red and blue). The liquid immediately gels and later hardens, resulting in recovery of the entire damaged region.
Illinois researchers have developed materials that not only heal, but regenerate. Until now, self-repairing materials could only bond tiny microscopic cracks. The new regenerating materials fill in large cracks and holes by regrowing material.
Such self-repair capabilities would be a boon not only for commercial
goods – imagine a mangled car bumper that repairs itself within minutes of an accident – but also for parts and products that are difficult to replace or repair, such as those used in aerospace applications.

The regenerating capabilities build on the team’s previous work in developing vascular materials. Using specially formulated fibers that disintegrate, the researchers can create materials with networks of capillaries inspired by biological circulatory systems.

“Vascular delivery lets us deliver a large volume of healing agents – which, in turn, enables restoration of large damage zones,” said Sottos, a professor of materials science and engineering. “The vascular approach also enables multiple restorations if the material is damaged more than once.”

For regenerating materials, two adjoining, parallel capillaries are filled with regenerative chemicals that flow out when damage occurs. The two liquids mix to form a gel, which spans the gap caused by damage, filling in cracks and holes. Then the gel hardens into a strong polymer, restoring the plastic’s mechanical strength.

“We have to battle a lot of extrinsic factors for regeneration, including gravity,” said study leader White, a professor of aerospace engineering. “The reactive liquids we use form a gel fairly quickly, so that as it’s released it starts to harden immediately. If it didn’t, the liquids would just pour out of the damaged area and you’d essentially bleed out. Because it forms a gel, it supports and retains the fluids. Since it’s not a structural material yet, we can continue the regrowth process by pumping more fluid into the hole.”

The team demonstrated their regenerating system on the two biggest classes of commercial plastics: thermoplastics and thermosets. The researchers can tune the chemical reactions to control the speed of the gel formation or the speed of the hardening, depending on the kind of damage. For example, a bullet impact might cause a radiating series of cracks as well as a central hole, so the gel reaction could be slowed to allow the chemicals to seep into the cracks before hardening.

The researchers envision commercial plastics and polymers with vascular networks filled with regenerative agents ready to be deployed whenever damage occurs, much like biological healing. Their previous work established ease of manufacturing, so now they are working to optimize the regenerative chemical systems for different types of materials.

“For the first time, we’ve shown that you can regenerate lost material in a structural polymer. That’s the kicker here,” White said, “Prior to this work, if you cut off a piece of material, it’s gone. Now we’ve shown that the material can actually regrow.”

http://news.illinois.edu/news/14/0508plastic_ScottWhite_JeffryMoore...

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