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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 28, 2014 at 5:27am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 27, 2014 at 6:13am

The strikingly beautiful snow leopards are in "real danger" and there was need to observe, study and develop ways to conserve this rare and endangered species as only 400-700 of the world's best mountain climbers remain in India, according to a leading conservation organisation.

Launching a campaign "Save Our Snow Leopards", WWF-India said that poaching is the major challenge for the protection of this so magnificent species found high altitude Himalayan region.

Snow leopards are poached for their pelts while their bones and other body parts are also in demand for use in traditional Asian medicines, it said.

Retaliatory killing of snow leopards is also a major threat faced by the species since they often attack livestock, causing economic loss to local communities, WWF-India said.

Snow leopards also face habitat and prey loss with the increase of human settlements and developmental activities in their territories.

The snow leopard is found across almost 1,29,000 sq kms in India, in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

"But with an estimated population of only 400-700 in India, there is a dire need to observe, study and develop ways to help conserve this rare and endangered species," it said.

The WWF-India said that the snow leopard is at the apex of the mountain eco-system and is also an indicator species for the high altitude mountain ecosystem.

"By protecting the snow leopard, we ensure the conservation of our fragile mountain landscapes that are one of the largest sources of freshwater for the Indian subcontinent," it said.

The WWF-India said that "Save Our Snow Leopards" is a call for each of us to come forward in support of the snow leopard.
-PTI

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 27, 2014 at 5:54am

Suspended for teaching science!
A Los Angeles high school science teacher is returning to the classroom two months after being suspended over concerns that two students had assembled "dangerous" science projects under his supervision.

Both projects overseen by teacher Greg Schiller were capable of launching small objects. A staff member at the downtown Cortines School of Visual & Performing Arts had raised concerns about one of them. Both are common in science fairs.

"I am very excited to be back with my students and help them prepare for the Advanced Placement tests, which are a week away," Schiller said Thursday. "We have a lot of work ahead of ourselves.”

In a meeting with a senior district administrator, Schiller was told he could return to work Friday, L.A. Unified confirmed.

His classes include Advanced Placement Biology and Advanced Placement Psychology.

Parents and students had quickly rallied behind Schiller. Facebook pages were launched; petitions were circulated. Some students complained that they were being taught by unqualified substitutes. Supporters vowed to rally every Thursday and Friday until his return. A walkout and protest at L.A. Unified school district headquarters was planned for Monday.

Schiller, 43, had volunteered to help students with entries for science contests. He assisted them with ideas related to chemistry and physics, even though he didn't teach those subjects.

Schiller had yet to see either finished display when a school employee noticed one on exhibit in the cafeteria on Feb. 26. Pieces of the other project were in Schiller's classroom.

One of the projects, called a coil gun, was made by ninth-grader Asa Ferguson. It used a magnetic charge powered by an AA battery to launch a small object several feet. His parents, Rogan and Susan Ferguson, both are teachers in L.A. Unified.

The other project was designed to use air pressure for propulsion. A more powerful version was tried out by President Obama at a recent White House science fair.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-teacher-reinstated-2014...

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-teacher-reinstated-2014...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 27, 2014 at 5:49am

Skin Layer Grown From Human Stem Cells Could Replace Animals In Drug, Cosmetics Testing

British scientists have developed the first labgrown epidermis — the outermost skin layer — which may replace animal testing. The new epidermis offers a cost-effective alternative lab model for testing drugs and cosmetics , and could also help to develop new therapies for rare and common skin disorders.
An international team led by King's College London and the San Francisco Veteran Affairs Medical Center has developed the epidermis with a functional permeability barrier similar to real skin. The new epidermis was grown from human pluripotent stem cells.
The epidermis forms a protective interface between the body and its external environment . The research used reprogrammed skin cells — which offer a way to produce an unlimited supply of the main type of skin cell found in the epidermis . They grew the skin cells in a low humidity environment, which gave them a barrier similar to that of true skin.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 27, 2014 at 5:48am

Channel Makeover Bioengineered To Switch Off Neurons
Scientists have bioengineered, in neurons cultured from rats, an enhancement to a cutting edge technology that provides instant control over brain circuit activity with a flash of light.
Deisseroth’s team had pioneered the use of light pulses to control brain circuitry in animals genetically engineered to be light-responsive — optogenetics. Genes that allow the sun to control light-sensitive primitive organisms like algae, melded with genes that make fluorescent marker proteins, are fused with a deactivated virus that delivers them to specific types of neurons which they become part of — allowing pulses of light to similarly commandeer brain cells.

When a neuron fires depends on the balance of ions flowing across the cell membrane, so being able to experimentally control this cellular machinery is critical for understanding how the brain works. But until now, the optogenetic tools for turning off neurons have been much less powerful than for turning them on — a weak inhibitory pump, moving only one ion per photon of light, versus an efficient excitatory channel.

Stanford bioengineers and their colleagues recently discovered the crystal structure of channelrhodopsin, the protein borrowed from algae to achieve optogenetic control of neurons. To transform this excitatory channel into an effective inhibitory channel, the team systematically introduced mutations into the channel’s gene, gradually reshaping its structure through molecular engineering into one with optimal inhibitory properties. To become an effective inhibitory channel, its central pore needed to be lined with positive instead of negatively charged amino acids to be converted from a cation (positive ion)-conducting into an anion (negative ion) -conducting channel.

It turns out that there are economies of scale afforded by the transformed channel — the more the inhibition, the less light required to achieve the desired biological effect. This raises possible future therapeutic applications, such as in the management of pain, said Deisseroth.
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/apr2014/nimh-24.htm

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 26, 2014 at 7:26am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 25, 2014 at 9:05am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 25, 2014 at 8:41am

Pain makes female mice less amorous, but males ignore burning injections in pursuit of females, a new study finds. The results, published in the April 23 Journal of Neuroscience, highlight stark differences between male and female sexual behavior in mice.
Pain Reduces Sexual Motivation in Female But Not Male Mice
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/17/5747

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 25, 2014 at 8:39am

Gene therapy with electrical pulses spurs nerve growth
Electrical current from a cochlear implant has guided corrective genetic material into inner ear cells and stimulated nerve regeneration in deaf guinea pigs. The treatment improved the animals’ hearing sensitivity and range, researchers report April 24 in Science Translational Medicine. The gene therapy technique, which does not use viruses that could induce immune reactions, holds promise for improving the hearing of people with cochlear implants. It may also have applications in deep brain stimulation, the scientists say.
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/gene-therapy-electr...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on April 25, 2014 at 8:38am

Could the menstrual cycle have shaped the evolution of music?
Sexual selection theory posits fertility role in complex music
Menstrual cycle phase alters women's sexual preferences for composers of more complex music
Over 140 years ago Charles Darwin first argued that birdsong and human music, having no clear survival benefit, were obvious candidates for sexual selection. Whereas the first contention is now universally accepted, his theory that music is a product of sexual selection through mate choice has largely been neglected. Here, I provide the first, to my knowledge, empirical support for the sexual selection hypothesis of music evolution by showing that women have sexual preferences during peak conception times for men that are able to create more complex music. Two-alternative forced-choice experiments revealed that woman only preferred composers of more complex music as short-term sexual partners when conception risk was highest. No preferences were displayed when women chose which composer they would prefer as a long-term partner in a committed relationship, and control experiments failed to reveal an effect of conception risk on women's preferences for visual artists. These results suggest that women may acquire genetic benefits for offspring by selecting musicians able to create more complex music as sexual partners, and provide compelling support for Darwin's assertion ‘that musical notes and rhythm were first acquired by the male or female progenitors of mankind for the sake of charming the opposite sex’.
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1784/20140403

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