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Suffering from sleep disorders? Muscle protein may hold answer

NEW YORK: Challenging a widely accepted notion that the brain controls all aspects of sleep, new research shows that a protein in the muscle can lessen the effects of sleep loss in mice.

The finding, published in the journal eLife, gives scientists a new target besides the brain to develop therapies for people with excessive sleepiness.

"This finding is completely unexpected and changes the ways we think sleep is controlled," said Joseph Takahashi, Chairman of Neuroscience at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the US.

The research demonstrated how a circadian clock protein in the muscle - BMAL1 - regulates the length and manner of sleep.

While the protein's presence or absence in the brain had little effect on sleep recovery, mice with higher levels of BMAL1 in their muscles recovered from sleep deprivation more quickly.

In addition, removing BMAL1 from the muscle severely disrupted normal sleep, leading to an increased need for sleep, deeper sleep, and a reduced ability to recover.

The finding may eventually lead to therapies that could benefit people in occupations requiring long stretches of wakefulness, from military to airline piloting, Takahashi said.

"These studies show that factors in muscles can signal to the brain to influence sleep. If similar pathways exist in people, this would provide new drug targets for the treatment of sleep disorders," Takahashi said.

Here is why you need to switch to green coffee

NEW DELHI: Can’t start your day without a cup of coffee? But worried about the caffeine and calories intake? Well, let your worries take a back seat, as you enjoy a wonderful cup of green coffee!

Long-standing health debate on drinking coffee is not unknown to anyone.

But, amidst all these, comes in a new study on green coffee, raw and unroasted coffee beans. Some researches show green coffee may help with weight loss.

In this regard, Greenbrrew, a brand with a new concept to bring a new revolution in coffee industry, has listed the health benefits of green coffee.

1. Rich Antioxidant Green coffee beans are rich in antioxidant. It reduces the damaging effects of free radicals in our body and takes care of our overall health.

2. Boost Metabolism This coffee contains chlorogenic acid, which is popularly known as metabolism booster. It increases the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) of our body to a great extent, which minimizes excessive release of glucose from the liver into blood.

3. Burn Extra Fat Its beans contain large amount of kelp. Green Coffee beans is loaded with vitamins and minerals. It helps in maintaining the levels of nutrients in our body.

4. Diabetes Treatment These green beans are also capable of treating Type 2 Diabetes successfully. Their extract is known to lower high levels of sugar in our bloodstream while accelerating weight loss. Both of these are essential for curing Diabetes Mellitus Type 2.

5. Minimizes level of Bad Cholesterol Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL), also known as ‘bad cholesterol’, is the main culprit that makes us vulnerable to deadly cardiovascular disorders including cardiac arrest. The green coffee beans have the capacity to check your cholesterol.

6. Improve Blood Circulation This coffee keep controls your blood pressure. High blood pressure can lead to the issues like stroke, heart failure, chronic renal failure, etc.

7. Boost Energy It is better than the regular coffee, which contains 7-9 percent caffeine. This keeps you active 24x7!

Here’s how stress-booze combo messes with your head

WASHINGTON D.C.: Many people think that necking a cocktail will help them relax, but it turns out the relationship between stress and booze is a two-way street.

Drinking alcohol results in an alcohol use disorder (AUD) when consumption becomes excessive and dependence develops. Both stress and anxiety can contribute to the development of an AUD. Chronic stress can increase drinking, and chronic drinking can elevate anxiety and dysregulate normal responses to stressors.

Behavioural flexibility and adaptive behaviour – essential for controlling excessive drinking – are core functions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), this study used mice to examine the effects of combined alcohol and stress exposure on PFC function.

Researchers trained adult male mice to drink alcohol (15% v/v) on a one-hour-per-day/one-bottle schedule.

Once their drinking was stable, mice were exposed to cycles of chronic intermittent alcohol or air vapor, followed by test cycles of one-hour-per-day drinking. Four hours before each test, the mice were exposed to either no-stress, or 10 minutes of forced swim stress.

After two cycles of exposure, the study authors assessed PFC-dependent cognition, and at the end of the study, the mouse brains were examined for markers of neural activity.

The researchers found evidence of rapid disruptions in signaling across cognitive networks and impairments in two tests of PFC-dependent cognitive function in mice exposed to both alcohol and stress.

Identifying the cognitive consequences of stress and alcohol may make it possible to develop treatments for AUD that work by restoring cognitive control over drinking behaviour.

Future research should examine gender-specific changes in cognition and neural function associated with the interaction of alcohol and stress, as demonstrated in male mice here.

The study appears in journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Turmeric can be used to fight cancer in children

BENGALURU: Medical scientists in the US have found yet another use for curcumin, the bioactive component of turmeric that is widely used in Indian cuisine, this time to cure cancer in children.

Researchers at Nemours Children's Hospital and the University of Central Florida (UCF) have found that nanoparticles loaded with curcumin can offer a novel treatment to target and destroy neuroblastoma tumour cells. Neuroblastoma is the most common cancer in children younger than five years old.

High-risk neuroblastoma can be resistant to traditional therapy, and survival can be poor. The cancers start in early nerve cells and commonly form in the tissue of the adrenal glands, near the kidneys. They are also associated with developmental delays, hearing loss, or other disabilities even after traditional treatments have ended.

In their study, the researchers attached curcumin to cerium oxide nanoparticles and tested the nano-curcumin formulation in cell lines of a high-risk form of neuroblastoma.

"This formulation induced substantial cell death in neuroblastoma cells while producing no or only minor toxicity in healthy cells," says their report in the journal Nanoscale.

Curcumin has been shown to have the substantial anti-cancer ability, but its low solubility and poor stability have restricted its use in therapeutic applications.

According to a statement from UCF, the study conducted by its scientists demonstrates a novel method of treating this tumour "without the toxicity of aggressive therapy" and shows that nanoparticles can be "an effective delivery vehicle" for cancer drugs.

"We are hopeful that in the future, nanoparticles can be utilised to personalise care to patients and reduce the late effects of therapy."

The fact that curcumin, when formulated as nanoparticles, is able to increase its bioavailability and thereby improve its therapeutic ability has earlier been shown by Indian scientists as well at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi in the case of tuberculosis (TB).

Current therapy for TB involves treatment with antibiotics such as Isoniazid (INH). But the long treatment required with INH invariably leads to premature withdrawal by patients resulting in the TB organism developing drug-resistance.

Prof. Gobardhan Das and his colleagues at the JNU had reported their study last month which showed that mice treated with curcumin nanoparticles - as an adjunct to INH - "exhibited a dramatically accelerated clearance of the TB organisms in a short time".

International case of Biliary atresia solved through liver transplant

NEW DELHI: “When we lost hope, the door of life opened to us in India” said the father of a six month old boy who was diagnosed with a rare case of Biliary Atresia causing a condition in which the bile duct has not developed completely and is blocked. The Fortis Memorial Research Institute came to the rescue of this couple from New Zealand and conducted a liver transplant surgery after the parents approached the hospital. “All the way from Samoa Island to Fortis Memorial Research Institute covering 8,000 miles, I traveled with my wife and a six month old son Azhariah,” said the mother who was present along with their saviors Vivek Vij and Ajitabh Srivastava. Stating that the New Zealand doctors refused to take the case considering is to be a failure already, made the family head towards India. “Children with the foetal form of biliary atresia are more likely to require liver transplants, usually sooner rather than later. The need for a transplant is decided by the extent of damage and how badly the liver is diseased. Pediatric patients account for about 12.5 percent of liver transplant recipients. Biliary atresia is reason for transplant in pediatric age group in 50 percent of patients” Vij informed the press on Thursday.

#transplant

Twitter unveils new look, which users quickly mock

SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter has unveiled a new look, and much like some previous changes the company has made to its short-messaging service, it's not going over so well with the Twitterati.

The San Francisco company says the new design emphasizes simplicity, making it faster and easier to use, with bolder headlines and more intuitive icons. It also changed users' profile images from square-shaped to round.

The company said the new user interface will roll out on twitter.com, Twitter for iOS, Twitter for Android, TweetDeck, and Twitter Lite in the coming days and weeks.

Twitter users immediately responded today by tweeting jokes and memes critical of the changes. There were almost 30,000 tweets about the new user interface, or UI, within hours of the change, the vast majority of them either complaining about the new look or mocking it. A popular image was a suddenly round SpongeBob SquarePants.

Twitter also took heat from users last year when it changed its algorithm that orders the tweets users see. Users also tweeted their dismay when the company rolled out its "Moments" feature, and when it got rid of its star icon signifying a "favorite" tweet, in favor of a heart icon, similar to Facebook's "like" button.

The redesign is Twitter's latest attempt to freshen the messaging service, which has struggled to attract new users at the same pace as Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. Twitter revenue growth has stalled for years, and the company has cut costs and shuffled executives while still never posting a quarter of profit.

Ipca Labs tumbles over 15 per cent as FDA bans drug import

NEW DELHI: Shares of Ipca Laboratories tanked over 15 per cent today as almost all drugs manufactured by the company at its facilities at Pithampur, Silvassa and Ratlam have been banned from the US market by the country's health regulator.

The stock, after making a weak opening, plummeted 14.83 per cent to Rs 437 on the BSE.

On the NSE, it dived 15.34 per cent to Rs 436.10.

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) cited violation of current good manufacturing norms for its action.

The USFDA has refused admission to all drugs made at the company's Pithampur and Silvassa facility, Ipca Laboratories said in a BSE filing yesterday.

All drugs except API Chloroquine Phosphate made at Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh) unit have also been denied entry in the US, it further said.

The ban on all drugs made at Pithampur (Madhya Pradesh) and Silvassa (Dadra and Nagar Haveli) will continue "until the company can demonstrate that the drugs manufactured from these manufacturing sites and intended for the US market are in compliance with CGMP," Ipca Laboratories added.

However, it said the US health regulator will reconsider the exception for Chloroquine Phosphate made at the Ratlam facility if shortage and/or medical necessity implications change

Vadodara: Farmers to protest demanding implementation of Swaminathan Committee report

VADODRA: After Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, now farmers in Vadodara will stage a protest on Friday demanding the implementation of the Dr. Swaminathan Committee report.

More than 1000 farmers will gather across the district and will move for road blocking which may affect the traffic adversely in the area.

They are demanding to implement Dr Swaminathan Committee report in order for the betterment of farmers.

The Swaminathan Committee report made several recommendations for improvement in the situation of farmers in India.The National Commission on Farmers, chaired by Prof. M. S. Swaminathan, submitted five reports through the period December 2004 - October 2006. The agrarian crisis in the country has become a matter of concern for the government recently, especially amid escalated violence emerging from parts of the country over the matter.

The recent farmers’ protest in the Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh that claimed lives of six farmers, was the testimony of the worsening situation.

#Swaminathan Committee #Farmers

Reburying a fallen hero

Former Hungarian leader Imre Nagy who led the 1956 uprising against Soviet interference was given a public funeral on this day in 1989. The reburial occurred exactly 31 years after he was hanged

Expelled by the communists Nagy was Hungary’s PM from 1953 till 1955 when the Communist Party expelled him for wanting to release political prisoners and liberalise the economy, the BBC reported then. In October 1956, students revolted and demanded Nagy’s reinstatement and he returned to power

NATO: No Action, All Talk The US which had stoked the Hungarians failed to come to their aid. “The initials ‘NATO’ could summarise its approach: No Action, Talk Only,” wrote political scientist Charles Gati. Within three weeks, the Soviets crushed the uprising with 30,000 killed in Budapest alone. Nagy was captured and later hanged

But was Nagy really a hero? Gati, who fled Hungary after Moscow’s intervention, wrote that the uprising failed because Nagy lacked the political skills to make it victorious. Further, the students who supported Nagy didn‘t realise their hero had collaborated with the Soviets earlier

Viktor Orban’s rise Hungary’s current PM Viktor Orban rose into prominence during Nagy’s reburial. Orban, now criticised for his authoritarian nature, delivered a powerful speech at the 1989 funeral where he slammed the communists who were still ruling the nation

#Hungarian leader

One in five children in developed world in relative poverty: UN

PARIS: One in five children in rich countries lives in relative poverty, according to a UNICEF report published today that put the US and New Zealand among the world's worst performers for youth well-being.

Nearly 13 per cent of children in those countries lack access to sufficient safe and nutritious food, the report said, with that number rising to 20 per cent in the US and UK. "Higher incomes do not automatically lead to improved outcomes for all children, and may indeed deepen inequalities," said Sarah Cook, director of the UNICEF Innocenti research office that published the study.

"Governments in all countries need to take action to ensure the gaps are reduced and progress is made," she said. The 'Report Card' took into account factors like education, mental health, alcohol abuse, economic opportunities and the environment to rank 41 high-income countries for overall youth well-being.

Germany and the Nordic countries topped the list while Romania, Bulgaria and Chile came in at the bottom, with New Zealand and the US in 34th and 37th place respectively. The US had relatively low scores in terms of poverty, hunger, health, education and inequality.

New Zealand performed particularly badly in terms of adolescent mental health, with the highest suicide rate in the world for people aged 15 to 19 -- almost three times the average for the countries surveyed. The number of adolescents reporting mental health problems is increasing in the majority of the countries included in the study, along with the rate of obesity among young people.

Even in Japan and Finland, among the best performing countries in the list, around a fifth of 15-year-olds do not reach baseline educational standards, the report said as it called for greater focus on disadvantaged groups.

#UNICEF

Home blood pressure monitors wrong 70 per cent of time, warns study

TORONTO: Seventy per cent of readings from home blood pressure monitors are unacceptably inaccurate, which could have serious implications for people relying on them to make informed health decisions, a new study warns.

The findings are extremely relevant given millions of patients are asked to monitor their blood pressure through a device at home and report the results back to their doctor, researchers said.

"High blood pressure is the number one cause of death and disability in the world," said Jennifer Ringrose from The University of Alberta in Canada.

"Monitoring for and treating hypertension can decrease the consequences of this disease. We need to make sure that home blood pressure readings are accurate," said Ringrose, who led the study.

Ringrose and her team tested dozens of home monitors and found they were not accurate within five millimetres of mercury (mmHg) about 70 per cent of the time. The devices were off the mark by 10 mmHg about 30 per cent of the time.

"Compare the blood pressure machine measurement with a blood pressure measurement in clinic before exclusively relying upon home blood pressure readings," said Ringrose.

"What is really important is to do several blood pressure measurements and base treatment decisions on multiple readings. Taking home readings empowers patients and is helpful for clinicians to have a bigger picture rather than just one snapshot in time," said Ringrose.

Raj Padwal, a professor at University of Alberta, said that no one should have drugs started or changed based on one or two measurements taken at a single point in time unless the measurements are clearly elevated.

The study examined the results of 85 patients. The researchers compared the results of the volunteers' home monitors with the gold standard - two observers taking several blood pressure measurements simultaneously, blinded to one another, with a third person ensuring agreement between both observers' readings.

While the average difference between the home monitors and the gold standard measurements was acceptable, the majority of individual devices demonstrated clinically- relevant inaccuracy.

The team also found that readings were more inaccurate in men than in women. They believe there are many factors that could account for their findings.

"Arm shape, arm size, the stiffness and age of blood vessels and the type of blood pressure cuff are not always taken into account when a blood pressure machine is designed and validated," said Padwal.

"Individual differences, such as the size, age and medical background of the person using the blood pressure monitor are also contributing factors," he said.

The researchers said it is difficult to determine precisely why the inaccuracies are occurring in home monitors because they do not have access to the various formulas the devices use to determine blood pressure.

The study was published in the American Journal of Hypertension.

#blood pressure

Romancing the rain

It is 10 pm and I am in the middle of a rain forest. The only source of light is the night sky and the only sounds are those of crickets, cicadas and frogs. I shut my eyes for a minute. When I open them, the forest comes alive with hundreds of fireflies, a scene straight out of fantasies. This is just one of the many wonders the rain forest of Agumbe in Karnataka offers.

A tiny village in Shivamogga district, Agumbe is known as the Cherrapunji of the South and is part of the Western Ghat range. Tucked away in this tiny village is Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS). It was established in 2005 by Romulus Whitaker, the ‘snake man of India’. This is where I was headed for my weekend getaway.

The journey begins with a seven-hour bus ride from Bengaluru. Accompanying us is Sanjeev Padnekar, a herpetologist who will double as our guide.

The research station is a humble cottage in the middle of the jungle. The place has been home to pioneers of research on King Cobras in the country. “You have to be real lucky to spot a cobra. It took me months before I saw one,” says Sanjeev, who has been working with ARRS for the past eight years.

At the breakfast table, we are greeted by researchers who work at the station. We are told not to walk around after dark without torch or footwear, for you never know what is lurking on the floor. Nobody is allowed to handle any animal. Camouflage clothing is a big no, unless you want to get into serious trouble with the anti-Naxal squad patrolling the area.

Sanjeev shows us Citronella, a plant used in mosquito repellents such as Odomos; the brilliant architecture of anthills, and a snake skin. We then enter a section of the forest which is open to the public. This place springs a surprise in every step (read leeches). As we traverse through the forest, we see the most unusual frogs, endemic to Western Ghats. Then, in a scene straight out of the TV series Man Vs Wild, Sanjeev identifies civets, wild dogs and a leopard, all from their faeces. We also spot a tree that oozes sap as red as blood.

Ali Fazal and Judi Dench part of a special video in support of Syrian Refugees

Ali and Judi have featured in a special video about the refugees While many countries are divided on their stance on immigration and supporting laws for refugees especially owing to the ongoing Syrian civil War, Katherine Hamnett initiated a slogan of Choose Love and started a campaign entire proceeds of which will be contributed towards the betterment of the situation of refugees.

Several celebrities and artistes from across the globe have come forth to support this unique initiative and now the recent actors to join this campaign to show their support are the lead pair of the upcoming Hollywood film - Victoria And Abdul. Ali Fazal and Judi Dench have come forward to show their support and recently did a shoot for the campaign.

Speaking about it, Ali said, “It’s commendable for Katherine to come up with such a unique thought to help and contribute to the current situation across the globe of the refugees. While the world is divided, it’s great to see so many people come together and support this campaign. Judi and I shot for it soon after we wrapped up the shoot for the film in London”.

#Syrian civil War

RBI issues new Rs.500 bank notes with inset letter ‘A’

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced on Tuesday that it has issued Rs.500 bank notes with inset letter ‘A’.

The central bank, in a statement, said that this was in continuation of the issue of Rs.500 denomination bank notes in Mahatma Gandhi (new) series from time to time which are currently legal tender.

It further said that a new batch of bank notes with inset letter “A” in both the number panels, bearing the signature of Dr. Urjit R. Patel Governor, Reserve Bank of India; with the year of printing '2017’ on the reverse, are being issued.

The RBI statement said that the design of these notes is similar in all respects to the Rs.500 bank notes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) series which were first notified through the Press Release: 2016-2017/1146 dated November 8, 2016.

Cricket Association of Bengal website hacked

KOLKATA: The official website of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has been hacked and the association has lodged a complaint at the police headquarters Lal Bazar.

A click on the www.cricketassociationofbengal.com says, "Due to some Technical reasons this site is temporarily deactivated."

The site which was hacked late night on June 9 would be restored today without any loss of data, an official said.

"We have filed a written complaint with the cyber cell at Lalbazar on June 10. Police are investigating the matter and have promised us enhanced security level.

"We have been assured that the problem will get solved within the next two to three days. Hopefully, things will be sorted out soon," CAB joint-secretary Avishek Dalmiya said.

The CAB president and former India captain Sourav Ganguly is currently away in England for his commentary assignment in the ongoing Champions Trophy.

#CAB

BCCI to have ethics officer to look into conflict of interest

NEW DELHI: The BCCI will soon appoint an ethics officer to address the issue of conflict of interest, which has been plaguing Indian cricket for some time now.

Committee of Administrators (COA) chairman Vinod Rai today said such a decision was the need of the hour.

"All issues regarding conflict of interest will be referred to ethics officer appointed by the BCCI. He will be appointed soon. A lot of complaints regarding conflict of interest have been received," said Rai after a meeting.

Historian Ramachandra Guha, who resigned from the committee recently, had lashed out at the BCCI's functioning in his resignation letter and made observation on conflict of interest in the case of Rahul Dravid, who is India A coach and also a mentor of the Delhi Daredevils IPL franchise.

Dravid has sought more clarity on the subject so that he can take an informed decision.

Guha sparked a debate on the issue as he also alleged that legendary opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar also had a conflict of interest in his working as BCCI commentator when he also had stakes in Professional Management Group (PMG) which signed up Shikhar Dhawan for three years.

The historian wrote in his letter, "I have repeatedly pointed to the anomaly whereby BCCI-contracted commentators simultaneously act as player agents."

Gavaskar though sees no conflict of interest and said he was appalled by the allegations.

The business of education in Telangana

The Telangana government has finally announced the recruitment process for school teachers. The state, which reportedly has the distinction of ranking 35 among 36 states and Union Territories in literacy rates (66.46 per cent), has so far made little progress in taking concrete steps to strengthen school education.

Last year, at a public hearing on private schools before Justice Chandra Kumar and Prof Shanta Sinha, parents of wards going to private schools and teachers working at these schools testified. Some of the schools in Hyderabad charge between Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh for even primary classes. The schools also charge for uniforms, books and other mandatory paraphernalia that should be bought only from the schools at marked up prices. The school buses are an additional cost. If a family has two children, the expenditure can range from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh.

After hearing the testimony of several parents, Justice Kumar asked, “Then why do you send your wards to such schools?” The answer invariably was that there was no government school in the neighbourhood. Many new extensions of the city mostly do not have a common school, required as per the Right to Education Act. The Act also mandates that every community must have a primary school within one kilometre and an upper primary school within three to five kilometres.

Ironically, the government, instead of opening new neighbourhood schools, is allowing existing schools to die quietly. And the remaining government schools within the city are completely neglected unless some volunteers step in.

The government has not increased the number of teachers but has forced the teachers to participate in data collection activities. This sends a signal that it is fine for a teacher to stay way from school. Poor infrastructure, shortage of teachers and lack of English medium education have driven students away from government-run schools.

Although there is a demand for English medium schools, the government has not done anything in that regard. And by neither providing pre-primary schools nor merging Angawadis with primary schools, the government has ceded the space to the private operators who capture the lucrative education market early.

Last year, I visited a few villages in Telangana to observe the status of government schools. In Gopalpur, I came to know that a private school opened some 12 kilometres away. The school’s colourful bus was driven by a resident of the village. The children were excited about riding the bus. Meanwhile, the teacher assigned to the government school would seldom make an appearance, despite repeated requests. So, the parents were forced to shell out Rs 12,000 for primary schools, Rs 18,000 for upper primary and anything between Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 for high schools. Add to that Rs 3500 for the bus.

In Ram Nagar, Tigul mandal, the Mandal Praja Parishad (MPP) primary school building was in shambles. As a result, the village committee took it upon itself and restored the building. The committee has also appointed a B. Ed, TET qualified volunteer from a nearby village nearby to teach the students.

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