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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 4, 2015 at 7:54am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 3, 2015 at 7:35am

Emulsifiers in Food Linked to Obesity in Mice
The common food additives altered mice microbiomes to encourage gut inflammation and overeating.
Inside our guts is a diverse ecosystem of bacteria: the microbiome. But the makeup of the community can depend on what we eat. Emulsifiers are food additives that extend the shelf life of processed foods. And now research with mice finds that consuming emulsifiers may throw off the microbiome’s delicate balance and thereby contribute to obesity and inflammatory bowel disease.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14232...
Dietary emulsifiers impact the mouse gut microbiota promoting colitis and metabolic syndrome

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 3, 2015 at 7:31am

New in preservation science:
Using bio-polymers like carbohydrates (sodium alginate, chitosan, starch, xanthan gum etc) and proteins (soy protein, gelatin etc) to increase shelf life of these fruits and vegetables by 40% is latest news.
You may not require refrigerating costly fruits and vegetables. A mango can stay fresh more than 10 days while a jamun's shelf life has got almost doubled.

In a breakthrough in post-harvest crop preservation, researchers at Vallabh Vidyanagar-based Sardar Patel University (SPU) have developed an emulsion that provides an eco-friendly 'shield' to perishable fruits and vegetables. Generally, fruits, mostly apples in supermarkets, have a eco-friendly wax coating on them that keeps them fresh. This coating technology reduces post-harvest losses.
By using bio-polymers, SPU's team has successfully increased shelf life of fruits like banana, mango, papaya, strawberry, grapes, jamun, sapota, carambola, phalsa, guava, custard apple, pear and plum, apart from vegetables like tomato, capsicum and broccoli.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 2, 2015 at 7:23am

Chronic fatigue is a biological illness
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has now been confirmed to be a biological illness. These immune signatures represent the first robust physical evidence that CFS is not a psychological disorder and the first proof that it has distinct stages.

Doctors have for long known the symptoms of CFS - constant exhaustion, mental fogginess, sleep disorders, muscle/joint pain, impaired memory, inability to concentrate and depression. Lack of physical determinants has caused the debilitating illness to go undiagnosed in most patients across the world.

Scientists say that they have discovered distinct immune changes in patients diagnosed with CFS, known medically as myalgic ence8phalomyelitis, in which symptoms range from extreme fatigue and difficulty concentrating to headaches and muscle pain.Researchers at the Centre for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health used immunoassay testing methods to determine the levels of 51 immune biomarkers in blood plasma samples collected through two multicenter studies that represented a total of 298 CFS patients and 348 healthy controls.They found specific patterns in patients who had the disease three years or less that were not present in controls or in patients who had the disease for more than three years. Short duration patients had increased amounts of many different types of immune molecules called cytokines. The association was unusually strong with a cytokine called interferon gamma that has been linked to the fatigue that follows many viral infections. Cytokine levels were not explained by symptom severity.

"We now have evidence confirming what millions of people with this disease already know that CFS isn't psychological," states lead author Mady Hornig, director of translational research at the Centre.

"Our results should accelerate the process of establishing the diagnosis after individuals first fall ill as well as discovery of new treatment strategies focusing on these early blood markers".

There are already human monoclonal antibodies on the market that can dampen levels of a cytokine called interleukin-17A that is among those the study shows were elevated in early-stage patients.Before any drugs can be tested in a clinical trial, Dr Hornig and colleagues hope to replicate the current study that follows patients for a year to see how cytokine levels, including interleukin-17A, differ within individual patients over time, depending on how long they have had the disease.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 2, 2015 at 6:55am

What is the 'fire-ball' that was seen in the Kerala sky recently?

A day after it blazed across the sky creating a shock wave, the district administration attributed the fireball to a meteorite that entered the earth’s atmosphere.

“Samples have been collected from two sites–one each in Mazhuvannur and Karumaloor villages from where reports of objects falling out of the sky emerged. Preliminary assessments point to the possibility of a meteorite activity,” according to them.

Further scientific examination was required to ascertain if samples collected contained any extra terrestrial matter.  

Meanwhile, scientific experts also pointed to the likelihood of a space debris re-entry given the slow pace of the object.

“A similar group of slow moving fireballs were reported in the US during the two days from February 23. Further, the reports suggest the object was moving across the sky very slowly, which again raises the possibility of a space debris re-entry,” pointed out Prof. K. Indulekha, School of Pure and Applied Physics, Mahatma Gandhi University and a contributor to the SKA India consortium at the TIFR-National Centre of Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) in Pune.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on March 1, 2015 at 7:39am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 28, 2015 at 7:25am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 28, 2015 at 6:48am

Human-specific gene ARHGAP11B promotes basal progenitor amplification and neocortex expansion
A single gene may have paved the way for the rise of human intelligence by dramatically increasing the number of brain cells found in a key brain region.
This gene seems to be uniquely human: It is found in modern-day humans, Neanderthals and another branch of extinct humans called Denisovans, but not in chimpanzees.
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/02/25/science.aaa1975

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 27, 2015 at 6:00am

Reversing Lupus
Immune cells in mice with lupus symptoms have overactive metabolisms, so scientists inhibited two metabolic pathways and succeeded in reversing lupus symptoms in mice
In a patient with the autoimmune disease lupus, immune cells attack the body’s own tissues as if they were an invading pathogen. This can lead to damage to the skin, joints, kidneys, and even the brain.

Now a team of immunologists reports that some of these errant immune cells have an overactive metabolism, and that inhibiting two key metabolic pathways can reverse lupus symptoms in mice (Sci. Transl. Med. 2015,
http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/7/274/274ra18

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on February 26, 2015 at 7:22am

According to a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the best length for eyelashes is one-third the width of their eye. Anything shorter or longer increases airflow around the eye and leads to more dust hitting the surface.
Eyelashes form a barrier to control airflow and the rate of evaporation on the surface of the cornea," according to the lead author Guillermo Amador, from the Georgia Institute of Technology. "When eyelashes are shorter than the one-third ratio, they have only a slight effect on the flow. Their effect is more pronounced as they lengthen up until one-third. After that, they start funneling air and dust particles into the eye."
"As short lashes grew longer, they reduced air flow, creating a layer of slow-moving air above the cornea," explained researcher David Hu. "This kept the eye moist for a longer time and kept particles away. The majority of air essentially hit the eyelashes and rolled away from the eye."

However, longer lashes extended further into the airflow and created a cylinder, leading to faster evaporation.

"This is why long, elegant, fake eyelashes aren't ideal". They are not good for the health of your eyes.
Eyelashes divert airflow to protect the eye
http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/12/105/20141294

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