Eukaryotic Cells Have Complex Interiors

Eukaryotic cells (figures below)

are far more complex than prokaryotic cells.The hallmark of the eukaryotic cell is compartmentalization. The interiors of eukaryotic cells contain numerous organelles, membrane-bounded structures that close off compartments within which multiple biochemical processes can proceed simultaneously and independently.Plant cells often have a large membrane-bounded sac called a central vacuole, which stores proteins, pigments,and waste materials. Both plant and animal cells contain vesicles, smaller sacs that store and transport a variety of materials.Inside the nucleus, the DNA is wound tightly around proteins and packaged into compact units called chromosomes. All eukaryotic cells are supported by an internal protein scaffold, the cytoskeleton. While the cells of animals and some protists lack cell walls, the cells of fungi, plants, and many protists have strong cell walls composed of cellulose or chitin fibers embedded in a matrix of other polysaccharides and proteins. This composition is very different from the peptidoglycan that makes up bacterial cell walls. Let’s now examine the structure
and function of the internal components of eukaryotic cells in more detail.

Eukaryotic cells contain membrane-bounded organelles that carry out specialized functions.

Structure of a plant cell. A generalized illustration of a plant cell. Most mature plant cells contain large central vacuoles which occupy a major portion of the internal volume of the cell (14,000 ).

Bacteria and their strong cell walls.

Prokaryotes, the bacteria, are the simplest organisms. Prokaryotic cells are small, consisting of cytoplasm surrounded by a plasma membrane and encased within a rigid cell wall, with no distinct interior compartments (figure below). A prokaryotic cell is like a oneroom cabin in which eating, sleeping,
and watching TV all occur in the same room. Bacteria are very important in
the economy of living organisms. They harvest light in photosynthesis, break
down dead organisms and recycle their components, cause disease, and are involved
in many important industrial processes.

Structure of a bacterial cell. Generalized cell organization of a bacterium. Some bacteria have hairlike growths on the outside of the cell called pili.

Strong Cell Walls
Most bacteria are encased by a strong cell wall composed of peptidoglycan, which consists of a carbohydrate matrix (polymers of sugars) that is cross-linked by short polypeptide units. No eukaryotes possess cell walls with this type of chemical composition. With a few exceptions
like TB and leprosy-causing bacteria, all bacteria may beclassified into two types based on differences in their cell walls detected by the Gram staining procedure. The name refers to the Danish microbiologist Hans Christian Gram, who developed the procedure to detect the presence of certain disease-causing bacteria. Gram-positive bacteria have a thick, single-layered cell wall that retains a violet dye from the Gram stain procedure, causing the stained cells to appear purple under a microscope. More complex cell walls have evolved in other groups of bacteria.In them, the wall is multilayered and does not retain the purple dye after Gram staining; such bacteria exhibit the background red dye and are characterized as gramnegative.


The susceptibility of bacteria to antibiotics often depends on the structure of their cell walls. Penicillin and vancomycin, for example, interfere with the ability of bacteria to cross-link the peptide units that hold the carbohydrate chains of the wall together. Like removing all the nails from a wooden house, this destroys the integrity of the matrix, which can no longer prevent water from rushing in,swelling the cell to bursting.Cell walls protect the cell, maintain its shape, and prevent excessive uptake of water. Plants, fungi, and most protists also have cell walls of a different chemical structure, which we will discuss in later chapters.

Long chains of sugars called polysaccharides cover the cell walls of many bacteria. They enable a bacterium to adhere to teeth, skin, food—practically any surface that will support their growth. Many disease-causing bacteria secrete a jellylike protective capsule of polysaccharide around the cell.

Science and religion can coexist!

Just when you thought science and religion can’t coexist, a new worldwide study comes assuring that not all scientists are atheists.


Are all scientists atheists? Do they believe religion and science can co-exist? These questions and others were addressed in the first worldwide survey of how scientists view religion, released by researchers at Rice University.No one today can deny that there is a popular ‘warfare’ framing between science and religion, said principal investigator Elaine Howard Ecklund, adding that this is a war of words fueled by scientists, religious people and those in between.The study’s results challenge longstanding assumptions about the science-faith interface. While it is commonly assumed that most scientists are atheists, the global perspective resulting from the study shows that this is simply not the case.


Ecklund noted that more than half of scientists in India, Italy, Taiwan and Turkey self-identify as religious and it’s striking that approximately twice as many ‘convinced atheists’ exist in the general population of Hong Kong, for example, (55 percent) compared with the scientific community in this region (26 percent).
The researchers did find that scientists are generally less religious than a given general population. However, there were exceptions to this: 39 percent of scientists in Hong Kong identify as religious compared with 20 percent of the general population of Hong Kong, and 54 percent of scientists in Taiwan identify as religious compared with 44 percent of the general population of Taiwan. Ecklund noted that such patterns challenge longstanding assumptions about the irreligious character of scientists around the world.
Ecklund said that the study has many important implications that can be applied to the university’s hiring processes, how classrooms and labs are structured and general public policy.

“Science is a global endeavor,” Ecklund said. “And as long as science is global, then we need to recognize that the borders between science and religion are more permeable than most people think.”

New tool to track embryo's brain development in 3D

Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have developed a new open-source software that can help track the embryonic development and movement of neuronal cells in 3D throughout the body of the worm.

The tool could help better understand brain development in humans, researchers said.

Although scientists have identified a number of important proteins that determine how neurons navigate during brain formation, it is largely unknown how all of these proteins interact in a living organism.  

Researchers chose Caenorhabditis elegans (C elegans), because it has only 302 neurons, 222 of which form while the worm is still an embryo.

While some of these neurons go to the worm nerve ring (brain) they also spread along the ventral nerve cord, which is broadly analogous to the spinal cord in humans. 

"We don't yet understand neurodevelopment even in the context of the humble worm, but we're using it as a simple model of how these factors work together to drive the development of the worm brain and neuronal structure," said Hari Shroff, head of the research team at the US National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB).

"We're hoping that by doing so, some of the lessons will translate all the way up to humans," said Shroff.

The team at NIBIB, in collaboration with Daniel Colon-Ramos at Yale University and Zhirong Bao at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute in US, developed new microscopes that improved the speed and resolution, allowing them to record the embryogenesis of these worms without damaging them through too much light exposure while still getting the resolution needed to clearly see individual cells. 

The second problem was that during development the worm begins to "twitch", moving around inside the egg. The folding and twisting makes it hard to track cells and parse out movement, the researchers said.

Finally, it can be challenging to determine where a neuron is in 3D space while looking at a two-dimensional image - especially of a worm that is folded up.

Researchers made several cells in the embryo glow with fluorescent proteins to act as markers. 

When a microscopic image of these cells is fed into the programme, the computer identifies each cell and uses the information to create a model of the worm, which it then computationally "untwists" to generate a straightened image.

The programme also enables a user to check the accuracy of the computer model and edit it if any mistakes are discovered.

"In addition, users can also mark cells or structures within the worm embryo they want the programme to track, allowing the users to follow the position of a cell as it moves and grows in the developing embryo," Ryan Christensen, a postdoctoral fellow at NIBIB, who led the project.

"This feature could help scientists understand how certain cells develop into neurons, as opposed to other types of cells, and what factors influence the development of the brain and neuronal structure," said Christensen.

The research was published in the journal eLife.    

10 percent people suffer from food-borne diseases: WHO

One out of every 10 people worldwide suffer from food-borne diseases annually, and children and the poor suffer the most, the findings of a World Health Organisation task force show."The groups most adversely affected by the foodborne diseases are children and people in low-income regions of the world," said task force leader Arie Havelaar from the University of Florida.    The announcement, made on Wednesday, comes after more than eight years of research.

"Of those who lost years to ill-health, disability or early death, 40 percent were children under five years old, even though they constitute only nine percent of the world population. Foodborne illnesses affect people on the African continent the most, followed by sub-regions of Southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean.    The World Health Organisation (WHO) created the Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group in 2007 to study global variation in the impact of foodborne disease.       After considering the known disease-causing agents that can be transmitted by food, the group identified 31 hazards as the most necessary to include.

The group found that these 31 foodborne hazards caused 600 million foodborne illnesses and 420,000 deaths in 2010.

Results from the study indicate that up to 33 million healthy life years are lost each year due to foodborne diseases each year -- a number on par with the "big three" infectious diseases -- HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis -- and air pollution.

Diarrheal disease agents were the most frequent causes of foodborne illness - particularly norovirus and Campylobacter.

Non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica, also a diarrheal disease agent, is capable of causing blood poisoning in people with weakened immune systems and was a major cause of death among the pathogens chosen for the study.

Other major pathogens causing foodborne disease deaths included Salmonella Typhi, a subspecies of Salmonella enterica and Taenia solium, a tapeworm that comes from pork products; and the hepatitis A virus.

The findings were presented in a WHO technical report.         

Google launches new Cardboard Camera app to create 3D VR images

Google has released a new app for the Cardboard. The app called Cardboard Camera lets you create 360 degrees panoramic photos in virtual reality. Android users can download the app via Google Play Store

To take a panoramic photo using cardboard, the user has to move 360 degree in a circle. It will also record audio and the images when seen using the Cardboard will appear to be 3D. This means when you place the smartphone inside a Cardboard and view to view VR images, they will appear 3D.
Google says VR photos are three-dimensional panoramas that come with slightly different views for each eye. Near things look near and far things look far, and one can look around to explore the image in all directions.
“With Cardboard Camera, anyone can create their own VR experience. So revisit the mountaintop that took hours to hike, or the zoo where you saw (and heard) the monkeys, or your birthday party with the cake out and candles still lit. Capture the moments that matter to you and relive them anytime, from anywhere,” Google further explains in a blogpost

In September, there were reports about Microsoft also working on a Google Cardboard-rival called VR Kit. Microsoft Hololens has definitely earned some praise in the market and it is possible that the company is using the cardboard kit as a means to lower the barrier and encourage VR developer interest.
 .

BIODIVERSITY OF INDIA & THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY (CBD)

Biodiversity is the variety of living organisms on the earth. It includes diversity within species or between species and of eco-systems. The earth’s biological resources are vital to humanity’s economic and social development. Globally, so far 1.75 million species have been identifi ed against the estimates ranging from 3 to 100 million. There is growing recognition that biodiversity is a global asset of tremendous values to present
and future generations. At the same time, the threat to species and ecosystems has never been as great as it is today, as a result of which species extinction caused by human activities continues at an alarming rate. This calls for global and national actions towards conservation of biodiversity.

India: A Treasure of Biodiversity
India is known for its rich heritage of biodiversity. In biological diversity parlance,India is one of the 17 mega-diverse countries in the world. With only 2.4% of theworld’s area, India accounts for 7-8% of the world’s recorded plant (about 45,000, of which approximately 15,000 are of known medicinal value) and animal species (about 91,000). India’s ten biogeographic zones possess an exemplary diversity of ecological
habitats like alpine forests, grasslands, wetlands, coastal and marine ecosystems, and desert ecosystems. India has four out of thirty four global biodiversity hotspots, which is an indicator of high degree of endemism (of species) in India. About 5,150 plant species and 1,837 animal species are endemic to India. India’s biodiversity includes wild relatives of agricultural crops and domesticated animals. India has 16 major types and 251 subtypes of forests. The large mosaic of distinct agro-ecosystems has contributed to
diverse cropping pattern and systems across the country.

Conservation of India’s Biodiversity:
A Progressive Framework Environment protection is enshrined in the Constitution of India [Article 48A and Article 51A (g)]. Wide-ranging policies,programmes and projects are in place, which directly or indirectly
serve to protect, conserve and sustainably use the country’s biological resources. These include the Forest (Conservation)Act, Wildlife (Protection) Act, Biological Diversity Act, National Green Tribunal Act, National Biodiversity Action Plan, National Forest Policy, National Wildlife Action Plan, National Forestry
Action Programme, National Environment Policy and National Action Plan on Climate Change.

India is committed to conservation of biodiversity. This is not only because of India’s international obligations as a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity, but because India believes that protecting our biodiversity is a critical national priority as it is linked to local livelihoods of millions of people
in the country. Sustainable use of our biodiversity, therefore,has both ecological and economic value. It is with this objective that India has enacted Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and set up a National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) in 2003 with an explicit mandate of promoting conservation of biological resources and associated knowledge as well as facilitating access
to them in a sustainable manner.

Fauna of India India  has some of the world's most biodiverse regions. The political boundaries of India encompass a wide range of ecozones—desert, high mountains, highlands, tropical and temperate forests, swamplands, plains, grasslands, areas surrounding rivers, as well as island archipelago. It hosts 3 biodiversity hotspots: the Western Ghats, the Himalayas and the Indo-Burma region. These hotspots have numerous endemic species.
India, for the most part, lies within the Indomalaya ecozone, with the upper reaches of the Himalayas forming part of the Palearctic ecozone; the contours of 2000 to 2500m are considered to be the altitudinal boundary between the Indo-Malayan and Palearctic zones. India displays significant biodiversity. One of eighteen megadiverse countries, it is home to 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of all avian, 6.2% of all reptilian, 4.4% of all amphibian, 11.7% of all fish, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species.
The region is also heavily influenced by summer monsoons that cause major seasonal changes in vegetation and habitat. India forms a large part of the Indomalayan biogeographical zone and many of the floral and faunal forms show Malayan affinities with only a few taxa being unique to the Indian region. The unique forms includes the snake family Uropeltidae found only in the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka. Fossil taxa from the Cretaceous show links to the Seychelles and Madagascar chain of islands.The Cretaceous fauna include reptiles, amphibians and fishes and an extant species demonstrating this phylogeographical link is the purple frog. The separation of India and Madagascar is traditionally estimated to have taken place about 88 million years ago. However, there are suggestions that the links to Madagascar and Africa were present even at the time when the Indian subcontinent met Eurasia. India has been suggested as a ship for the movement of several African taxa into Asia. These taxa include five frog families (including the Myobatrachidae), three caecilian families, a lacertid lizard and freshwater snails of the family Potamiopsidae. A fossil tooth of what is believed to be of from a lemur-like primate from the Bugti Hills of central Pakistan however has led to suggestions that the lemurs may have originated in Asia. These fossils are however from the Oligocene (30 million years ago) and have led to controversy. Lemur fossils from India in the past led to theories of a lost continent called Lemuria. This theory however was dismissed when continental drift and plate tectonics became well established.

India is home to several well-known large mammals, including the Asian elephant, Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, leopard and Indian rhinoceros. Some of these animals are engrained in culture, often being associated with deities. These large mammals are important for wildlife tourism in India, and several national parks and wildlife sanctuaries cater to these needs. The popularity of these charismatic animals have helped greatly in conservation efforts in India. The tiger has been particularly important, and Project Tiger, started in 1972, was a major effort to conserve the tiger and its habitats. Project Elephant, though less known, started in 1992 and works for elephant protection. Most of India's rhinos today survive in the Kaziranga National Park. Some other well-known large Indian mammals are: ungulates such as the water buffalo, nilgai, gaur and several species of deer and antelope. Some members of the dog family such as the Indian wolf, Bengal fox, golden jackal and the dhole or wild dogs are also widely distributed. It is also home to the striped hyaena. Many smaller animals such as macaques, langurs and mongoose species are especially well known due to their ability to live close to or inside urban areas.

Biodiversity hotspots

The Western Ghats

The Western Ghats are a chain of hills that run along the western edge of peninsular India. Their proximity to the ocean and through orographic effect, they receive high rainfall. These regions have moist deciduous forest and rain forest. The region shows high species diversity as well as high levels of endemism. Nearly 77% of the amphibians and 62% of the reptile species found here are found nowhere else. The region shows biogeographical affinities to the Malayan region, and the Satpura hypothesis proposed by Sunder Lal Hora suggests that the hill chains of Central India may have once formed a connection with the forests of northeastern India and into the Indo-Malayan region. Hora used torrent stream fishes to support the theory, but it was also suggested to hold for birds. Later studies have suggested that Hora's original model species were a demonstration of convergent evolution rather than speciation by isolation.
More recent phylogeographic studies have attempted to study the problem using molecular approaches.There are also differences in taxa which are dependent on time of divergence and geological history. Along with Sri Lanka this region also shows some fauna similarities with the Madagascan region especially in the reptiles and amphibians. Examples include the Sinophis snakes, the purple frog and Sri Lankan lizard genus Nessia which appears similar to the Madagascan genus Acontias. Numerous floral links to the Madagascan region also exist. An alternate hypothesis that these taxa may have originally evolved out-of-India has also been suggested.

Rhinoceros unicornis, Kaziranga

 

Tuberculosis: Causes, Symptoms and Treatments and recent researches.

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB (short for tubercle bacillus), in the past also called phthisis, phthisis pulmonalis, or consumption, is a widespread, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis typically attacks the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. It is spread through the air when people who have an active TB infection cough, sneeze, or otherwise transmit respiratory fluids through the air. Most infections do not have symptoms, known as latent tuberculosis. About one in ten latent infections eventually progresses to active disease which, if left untreated, kills more than 50% of those so infected.

The classic symptoms of active TB infection are a chronic cough with blood-tinged sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss (the last of these giving rise to the formerly common term for the disease, "consumption"). Infection of other organs causes a wide range of symptoms. Diagnosis of active TB relies on radiology (commonly chest X-rays), as well as microscopic examination and microbiological culture of body fluids. Diagnosis of latent TB relies on the tuberculin skin test (TST) and/or blood tests. Treatment is difficult and requires administration of multiple antibiotics over a long period of time. Household, workplace and social contacts are also screened and treated if necessary. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem in multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) infections. Prevention relies on early detection and treatment of cases and on screening programs and vaccination with the bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine.

Tuberculosis has a long, rich history, dating back as far as Ancient Egypt, with evidence of its presence found in the preserved spines of Egyptian mummies.¹
In the 18th and 19th centuries, a tuberculosis epidemic rampaged throughout Europe and North America,² before the German microbiologist Robert Koch discovered the microbial causes of tuberculosis in 1882.³
Following Koch's discovery, the development of vaccines and effective drug treatment led to the belief that the disease was almost defeated. Indeed, at one point the United Nations, predicted that tuberculosis (TB) would be eliminated worldwide by 2025.³
However, in the mid-80s, TB cases began to rise once more in the US and worldwide, so much so that in 1993 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that TB was a global emergency; the first time that a disease had been labelled as such Fortunately, with proper treatment almost all cases of tuberculosis are curable. Cases of TB have decreased in the US since 1993, but the disease remains a concern. Without proper treatment up to two-thirds of people ill with tuberculosis will die.

What is tuberculosis?

TB is an infectious disease that usually affects the lungs. It is the second greatest killer due to a single infectious agent worldwide, and in 2012, 1.3 million people died from the disease, with 8.6 million falling ill.
Doctors make a distinction between two kinds of tuberculosis infection: latent and active. In latent TB, the TB bacteria remain in the body in an inactive state. They cause no symptoms and are not contagious, but they can become active. In active TB, the bacteria do cause symptoms and can be transmitted to others.
About one-third of the world's population is believed to have latent TB. There is a 10% chance of latent TB becoming active TB, but this risk is much higher in people who have compromised immune systems i.e. people living with HIV or malnutrition, or people who smoke.
TB affects all age groups and all parts of the world. However, the disease mostly affects young adults, and people living in developing countries. In 2012, 80% of reported TB cases occurred in just 22 countries

What causes tuberculosis?

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium causes TB. It is spread through the air when a person with TB (whose lungs are affected) coughs, sneezes, spits, laughs or talks.
TB is contagious, but it is not easy to catch. The chances of catching TB from someone you live or work with are much higher than from a stranger. Most people with active TB who have received appropriate treatment for at least two weeks are no longer contagious.
Since antibiotics began to be used to fight TB, some strains have become resistant to drugs. Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) arises when an antibiotic fails to kill all of the bacteria that it targets, with the surviving bacteria developing resistance to that antibiotic and often others at the same time.
MDR-TB is treatable and curable only with the use of very specific anti-TB drugs, which are often limited or not readily available. In 2012, around 450,000 people developed MDR-TB.

Who is at risk?

People with compromised immune systems are most at risk of developing active tuberculosis.
HIV suppresses the immune system, making it harder for the body to control TB bacteria. People who are infected with both HIV and TB are around 20-30% more likely to develop active TB than those who do not have HIV.
Tobacco use has also been found to increase the risk of developing active TB. Over 20% of TB cases worldwide are related to smoking


Hyderabad:  A team of scientists from city-based Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) have discovered a mycobacterial protein that promises to fight tuberculosis in a novel way.

In the study, the team led by Sanjeev Khosla used the knowledge of epigenetics to open a new frontier in the research on host-Mycobacterium tuberculosis interaction.

Epigenetics defines the process by which the same DNA in different cells of an organism perform different functions. The team has identified a novel mycobacterial protein Rv1988, which is secreted out of the mycobacterium into the host upon infection and localises to the chromatin (DNA-histone complex) in the nucleus of the human cell.


Around six years ago, the team started this research work and further observed that Rv1988 is a methyltransferase enzyme that methylates the histone H3 protein at an arginine amino acid. This methylation epigenetically modulates the transcription of genes, which would have otherwise mounted an immune response against the infecting pathogen," CDFD Director GR Chandak told reporters.

Identification of Rv1988 as an important mycobacterial virulence factor, augurs well not only for it to be a potential target for therapy against mycobacterial infections but also for developing a new biomarker for identification of M-tuberculosis infection in humans, he said.

Rv1988 is important for the pathogen as its deletion in Mycobacterium tuberculosis reduced bacterial survival.

These observations have been confirmed by Rv1988 expression in a non-pathogenic Mycobacterium smegmatis that negatively affected the health of infected mice. This study has recently been published in the prestigious journal 'Nature Communications', Mr Khosla said.

Since arginine amino acid at 42nd position in Rv1988 is normally not known to be methylated by human methyltransferases, methylation of this amino acid can be used as a sensitive marker of mycobacterial infection, he explained.

A patent based on using this novel atypical site of methylation in histone H3 for diagnosis of M-tuberculosis infection has also been filed by CDFD. 

Global Warming and Climate change

Global Warming Causes

Global warming is primarily a problem of too much carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere—which acts as a blanket, trapping heat and warming the planet. As we burn fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas for energy or cut down and burn forests to create pastures and plantations, carbon accumulates and overloads our atmosphere. Certain waste management and agricultural practices aggravate the problem by releasing other potent global warming gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide.

Global Warming Is Urgent and Can Be Addressed

CO2 survives in the atmosphere for a long time—up to many centuries—so its heat-trapping effects are compounded over time. Of the many heat-trapping gases, CO2 puts us at the greatest risk of irreversible changes if it continues to accumulate unabated in the atmosphere—as it is likely to do if the global economy remains dependent on fossil fuels for its energy needs. To put this in perspective, the carbon we put in the atmosphere today will literally determine not only our climate future but that of future generations as well.
Substantial scientific evidence indicates that an increase in the global average temperature of more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) (or 2 degrees Celsius [°C]) above pre-industrial levels poses severe risks to natural systems and to human health and well-being. The good news is that, because we as humans caused global warming, we can also do something about it. To avoid this level of warming, large emitters such as the United States need to greatly reduce heat-trapping gas emissions by mid century. Delay in taking such action means the prospect of much steeper cuts later if there is any hope of staying below the 3.6°F (2°C) temperature goal. Delayed action is also likely to make it more difficult and costly to not only make these reductions, but also address the climate consequences that occur in the meantime.

The Consequences of a Warming World

Over the last century, global average temperature has increased by more than 1°F (0.7°C). The 2001-2010 decade is the warmest since 1880—the earliest year for which comprehensive global temperature records were available. In fact, nine of the warmest years on record have occurred in just the last 10 years. This warming has been accompanied by a decrease in very cold days and nights and an increase in extremely hot days and warm nights. The continental United States, for example, has seen record daily highs twice as often as record daily lows from 2000 to 2009. While the record shows that some parts of the world are warming faster than others, the long-term global upward trend is unambiguous.
Of course, land and ocean temperature is only one way to measure the effects of climate change. A warming world also has the potential to change rainfall and snow patterns, increase droughts and severe storms, reduce lake ice cover, melt glaciers, increase sea levels, and change plant and animal behavior.

Regional Actions Add Up to Global Solutions

Any action to reduce or eliminate the release of heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere helps slow the rate of warming and, likely, the pace and severity of change at any given hot spot. Local sources of carbon emissions vary from region to region, suggesting that solutions are often decided at the community level. The Climate Hot Map points to regional examples of climate-friendly energy, transportation, or adaptation choices. Some regions, however, must rely upon global solutions such as international agreements to reduce the carbon overload in the atmosphere that threatens them. Small islands, for example, are a paltry source of carbon emissions and yet are disproportionately affected by the consequences of global carbon overload as accelerated sea level rise threatens the very existence of low-lying islands.

 

 

Alzheimer's disease:Scientists isolate genes that delay Alzheimer's disease:

Alzheimer's disease (AD), also known as Alzheimer disease, or just Alzheimer's, accounts for 60% to 70% of cases of dementia. It is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gets worse over time. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events (short-term memory loss). As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems with language, disorientation (including easily getting lost), mood swings, loss of motivation, not managing self care, and behavioural issues. As a person's condition declines, they often withdraw from family and society.Gradually, bodily functions are lost, ultimately leading to death.Although the speed of progression can vary, the average life expectancy following diagnosis is three to nine years.

The cause of Alzheimer's disease is poorly understood.About 70% of the risk is believed to be genetic with many genes usually involved. Other risk factors include a history of head injuries, depression, or hypertension. The disease process is associated with plaques and tangles in the brain. A probable diagnosis is based on the history of the illness and cognitive testing with medical imaging and blood tests to rule out other possible causes. Initial symptoms are often mistaken for normal ageing. Examination of brain tissue is needed for a definite diagnosis. Mental and physical exercise, and avoiding obesity may decrease the risk of AD.There are no medications or supplements that decrease risk

Scientists isolate genes that delay Alzheimer's disease

A team of researchers have identified a network of nine genes that play a key role in the onset of Alzheimer's disease and these findings could help scientists develop new treatments to delay the onset of the disease.
In a study of a family of 5,000 people in Columbia, scientists identified genes that delayed the disease, and others that accelerated it, and by how much. Arcos-Burgos at the John Curtin School of Medical Research said that if they could work out how to decelerate the disease, then they could have a profound impact.

Burgos said that it would be more successful to delay the onset of the disease than to prevent it completely, adding that even if they delay the onset by on average one year, that would mean nine million fewer people will have the disease in 2050. Burgos and his team studied the variable age of onset of dementia in this family and with the cooperation of the family, the team were able to discount environmental factors and trace their genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's Disease back to a founder mutation in one individual who came to the region about 500 years ago.
The team was able to isolate the nine genes involved in Alzheimer's, some of which delay the onset by up to 17 years, while others advance its progress. The study is published in the Journal Molecular Psychiatry.

What is Yoga and how Yoga and meditation reduces healthcare cost by 43%

The origins of yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions, but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic and śramaṇa movements. The chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Hindu Upanishads and Buddhist Pāli Canon, probably of third century BCE or later. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali date from the first half of the 1st millennium CE, but only gained prominence in the West in the 20th century. Hatha yoga texts emerged around the 11th century with origins in tantra.
Yoga gurus from India later introduced yoga to the west, following the success of Swami Vivekananda in the late 19th and early 20th century.  In the 1980s, yoga became popular as a system of physical exercise across the Western world. Yoga in Indian traditions, however, is more than physical exercise, it has a meditative and spiritual core. One of the six major orthodox schools of Hinduism is also called Yoga, which has its own epistemology and metaphysics, and is closely related to Hindu Samkhya philosophy.
Many studies have tried to determine the effectiveness of yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma, and heart disease. The results of these studies have been mixed and inconclusive, with cancer studies suggesting none to unclear effectiveness, and others suggesting yoga may reduce risk factors and aid in a patient's psychological healing process.

Yoga and meditation reduces healthcare cost by 43%: Study

Practices like yoga and meditation can help curb the need for general healthcare services by about 43%, according to a new study.

"Evoking the relaxation response or a physiologic state of deep rest, helps alleviate stress and anxiety, while also affecting heart rate and blood pressure," according to a study by Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Technology Assessment and the Benson-Henry Institute. 

By doing a comparative analysis of information available on Research Patient Data Registry (RPDR) of Partners HealthCare and data on individuals participating in the BHI Relaxation Response Resiliency Program (3RP) from 2006 to 2014, researchers came to the conclusion that practitioners of yoga, meditation, prayer spent significantly lower than non-practitioners, on medical services.

The study also found that practitioners primarily benefited from neurological, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and gastrointestinal ailments.
 

Greece is back at the heart of EU's existential crisis with threatened expulsion from Schengen

One way or another, Greece always seems to be in the vanguard of every European crisis, and now it’s assumed centre stage in the debacle of Schengen.
This is of course because Greece is a frontline state; as such it is one of the main portals for migrants into the European Union. Once in, migrants can travel freely, thanks to Schengen, throughout much of the EU until they reach the country where they wish to claim asylum or otherwise work illegally

Most European states believe that Greece has badly mishandled its responsibilities on border control, and following refusal to accept wider European help in tackling the crisis, the EU is now threatening Greece with expulsion from Schengen. Such action would essentially divorce Greece from the main body of the EU. As with Britain, which is not a member of Schengen, border controls would have to be established to patrol passage from Greece to the rest of the EU. 

The EU is able to threaten expulsion because Greece is reluctant to accept limited offers of help, including humanitarian aid and a special mission from Frontex, Europe’s hopelessly inadequate version of a federal borders agency. This refusal is not because Greece believes it needs no aid; it is because it thinks the offer grossly deficient. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Exactly the same thing happened over Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. Limited relief was offered by the EU, but on terms and conditions which Greece found unacceptable. In the end, it was forced to capitulate, the alternative being expulsion from the Euro, which even Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, found unconscionable. That will very likely be the outcome of the Schengen fiasco too.

The big point here is that the EU, and its inner, Eurozone core, pretend to be a kind of United States of Europe, but are still a hundred miles away from the federal system and institutions that would make it so. When push comes to shove, collective problems are regarded as national liabilities, demanding national solutions.
The upshot is that almost no crisis can be properly addressed. When times are good, the EU muddles along harmoniously enough, but when the going gets tough, the whole thing fragments and nation quarrels with nation. The irony is that both the economic and the migrant crises have been made very much worse by Europe’s half completed march to federalism. It pretends federal arrangements, but its institutions lack the political legitimacy to mount credible federal solutions. Europe must either urgently march forward, or it must march back. Ever clearer given growing discontent, and its expression in populist political movements, is that the status quo is not an option.

Greece’s Debt Crisis Explained

Indeed, Greece’s labor productivity (GDP per worker) is only 72% of the level in the UK and Italy, and a mere 57.7% of that in Germany. And surveys indicate that mean life satisfaction in Greece is far below that found in the wealthiest EU countries (the EU15). Contrary to claims by the Greek government, corporatism impoverishes the less advantaged. EU data on poverty rates in 2010 put Greece at 21.4% – far higher than the mean EU15 rate of 16.7%.

To be sure, Greece saw productivity gains after World War II – but mostly from increases in education and capital per worker, which can go only so far. Two important sources of broad prosperity are blocked by Greece’s system. One is an abundance of entrepreneurs engaged in detecting and exploiting new economic opportunities. Without them, Greece does a poor job of adjusting to changing circumstances (an imperative emphasized by Friedrich Hayek). Greece’s much-lauded shipowners, for example, were too slow to adapt to containerization, and thus lost their market share.

The other source of broad prosperity is an abundance of business people engaged in conceiving and creating new products and processes – often termed “indigenous innovation.” Here, Greece lacks the necessary dynamism: venture capital investment flows are smaller, relative to GDP, in Greece than in any other EU country. So Greece’s economy has scant ability to create sustained productivity growth and high human satisfaction.

Some economists believe that these structural considerations have nothing to do with Greece’s current crisis. In fact, a structuralist perspective illuminates what went wrong – and why.

For several years, Greece drew on the EU’s aptly named “structural funds” and on loans from German and French banks to finance a wide array of highly labor-intensive projects. Employment and incomes soared, and savings piled up. When that capital inflow stopped, asset prices in Greece fell, and so did demand for labor in the capital-goods sector. Moreover, with household wealth having far outstripped wage rates, the supply of labor diminished. Thus, Greece went from boom to outright slump. 

The structuralist perspective also explains why recovery has been slow. With competition weak, entrepreneurs did not rush to hire the unemployed. When recovery began, political unrest last fall nipped confidence in the bud.

The truth is that Greece needs more than just debt restructuring or even debt relief. If young Greeks are to have a future in their own country, they and their elders need to develop the attitudes and institutions that constitute an inclusive modern economy – which means shedding their corporatist values.

Europe, for its part, must think beyond the necessary reforms of Greece’s pension system, tax regime, and collective-bargaining arrangements. While Greece has reached the heights of corporatism, Italy and France are not far behind – and not far behind them is Germany. All of Europe, not just Greece, must rethink its economic philosophy. 

What if Greece left the eurozone?

At the height of the debt crisis a few years ago, many experts worried that Greece’s problems would spill over to the rest of the world. If Greece defaulted on its debt and exited the eurozone, they argued, it might create global financial shocks bigger than the collapse of Lehman Brothers did.
Now, however, some people believe that if Greece were to leave the currency union, in what is known as a “Grexit,” it wouldn’t be such a catastrophe. Europe has put up safeguards to limit the so-called financial contagion, in an effort to keep the problems from spreading to other countries. Greece, just a tiny part of the eurozone economy, could regain financial autonomy by leaving, these people contend — and the eurozone would actually be better off without a country that seems to constantly need its neighbors’ support.

The Foundations of Greece’s Failed Economy with the culmination of this country's girls selling sex for the price of a sandwich in this island country.

Many politicians and economists blame austerity – urged by Greece’s creditors – for the collapse of the Greek economy. But the data show neither marked austerity by historical standards nor government cutbacks severe enough to explain the huge job losses. What the data do show are economic ills rooted in the values and beliefs of Greek society. Greece’s public sector is rife with clientelism (to gain votes) and cronyism (to gain favors) – far more so than in other parts of Europe. Maximum  pensions for public employees relative to wages are nearly twice as high as in Spain; the government favors business elites with tax-free status; and some state employees draw their salaries without actually turning up for work.as a share of business income in Greece are a whopping 46%, according to the latest available data Italy came in second at 42%, with France third, at 41%. (Germany’s share is 39%; the United States’, 35%; and the United Kingdom’s, 32%.) Insiders receive subsidies and contracts, and outsiders find it hard to break in. Astoundingly, young Greek entrepreneurs reportedly fear to incorporate their firms in Greece, lest others use false documents to take away their companies. According to the World Bank, Greece is one of the hardest places in Europe to start a business. The result is that competition for market share is weak and there are few firms with new ideas.
This stunted system springs from Greece’s corporatist values, which emphasize social protection, solidarity instead of competition, and discomfort with uncontrolled change. These values may well be beneficial for family life; but, even with the best of intentions, they are a recipe for a static economy and stultified careers.

Indeed, Greece’s labor productivity (GDP per worker) is only 72% of the level in the UK and Italy, and a mere 57.7% of that in Germany. And surveys indicate that mean life satisfaction in Greece is far below that found in the wealthiest EU countries (the EU15). Contrary to claims by the Greek government, corporatism impoverishes the less advantaged. EU data on poverty rates in 2010 put Greece at 21.4% – far higher than the mean EU15 rate of 16.7%. 



A study has found that young women in Greece are offering sex for the price of a sandwich, an indicator of the austerity in the country.
Sociology professor Gregory Laxos and his team at Panteion University in Athens found that young Greek women had now overtaken Eastern European women as the dominant group in the prostitution industry, metro.co.uk reported.
The researchers compiled data on more than 17,000 sex workers operating in Greece and found that sex in Greece was some of the cheapest on offer in Europe.
“Some women just do it for a cheese pie, or a sandwich they need to eat because they are hungry,” Laxos was quoted as saying.
Prostitution rates have fallen from 50 euros for a half-hour sex session to as low as two euros.
Most women entering the sex industry are between 17 and 20. “They are growing at a steady and consistent pace,” he added.
More alarmingly, Laxos and colleagues found that the number of young women, who are the ones offering the cheapest rates, appears to be rising.

For World AIDS Day, a New Idea for Safe Sex Message

A recent UN report said India, China and Pakistan are among the 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region that account for 98% youngsters aged 10 to 19 living with HIV.


London:  The World AIDS Day on December 2 may see an official safe-sex emoji.

Condom maker Durex is presenting a formal submission on Wednesday, to get emoticon maker Unicode to adopt one. Durex has already launched a social media campaign last month, asking users to use #condomemoji. Durex said it was sending the submission to Unicode following a "resounding global support" for the campaign.

The World AIDS Day is meant to unite people around the world in the fight against HIV/AIDS. A recent UN report said India, China and Pakistan are among the 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region that account for 98% youngsters aged 10 to 19 living with HIV.


The report said the region is facing a "hidden epidemic" of HIV among adolescents. In 2014, 220,000 adolescents were estimated to be living with HIV in the region.

Durex said a safe sex emoticon can play a vital role in an age of smartphones and tablets, when emoticons -- the small icons that are used to express emotions or physical things - have become a "crucial" tool of communication.

Citing its own research, the company said around 80 per cent of 16-25 year-old find it easier to express themselves with emojis. Around 84 per cent felt more comfortable using icons when talking about sex, Durex added.

A video for the campaign showed various way emojis are used to discuss sex, but noted the lack of one encouraging safe-sex. It proposed an angled, inflated condom.

Retinal nerve cells grown in lab.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have developed a method to efficiently turn human stem cells into retinal nerve cells that transmit visual signals from the eye to the brain.

Death and dysfunction of these cells cause vision loss in conditions like glaucoma and multiple sclerosis (MS). "Our work could lead not only to a better understanding of the biology of the optic nerve, but also to a cell-based human model that could be used to discover drugs that stop or treat blinding conditions," said study leader Donald Zack from Johns Hopkins' School of Medicine.Eventually, it could lead to the development of cell transplant therapies that restore vision in patients with glaucoma and MS.

Using a genome editing laboratory tool, investigators inserted a fluorescent protein gene into the stem cells' DNA.

They used a technique called fluorescence-activated cell sorting to separate out the newly differentiated retinal ganglion (nerve) cells from a mixture of different cells into a highly purified cell population for study."The cells showed biological and physical properties seen in retinal ganglion cells produced naturally," Zack noted.

Researchers also found that adding a naturally occurring plant chemical called forskolin on the first day of the process helped improve the cells' efficiency of becoming retinal ganglion cells.

The researchers, however, caution that forskolin which is used for weight loss and muscle building, is not scientifically proven safe or effective for treatment or prevention of blindness or any other disorder.

"By the 30th day of culture, there were obvious clumps of fluorescent cells visible under the microscope," noted lead author Valentin Sluch, now a postdoctoral scholar working at Novartis, a pharmaceutical company.

In follow-up studies, the team is looking to find other genes that are important for ganglion cell survival and function.

"We hope that these cells can eventually lead to new treatments for glaucoma and other forms of optic nerve disease," the authors noted in a paper appeared in the journal Scientific Reports.
  

Anxiety can kill your social status and can drive you to depression.

Researchers have identified a brain region that links anxious temperament to low social status.

Neuroscientists at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, have pinpointed an area of the brain related to motivation and depression that could link trait anxiety to social subordination.

In the study, researchers performed a series of experiments on rats to identify the brain areas involved in trait anxiety and social competition.

The experiments involved categorising rats on a spectrum of trait anxiety, from low-anxious to high-anxious rats, which model trait anxiety. The experiments highlighted an area of the brain known as the 'nucleus accumbens,' which has been long-associated with motivation, reward and depression, in humans too. When competing socially, most of the high-anxious rats took on a lower social status, technically described as becoming 'socially subordinate.'

The nucleus accumbens of these particular rats showed a reduced energy metabolism. This involves the mitochondria, which are the cell's organelles that are in charge of breathing and energy production. The researchers found that the high-anxious rats showed lower mitochondrial function than more relaxed ones.

When rats received blocking agents, their social competitiveness dropped, taking their social status with it. Whereas, when high-anxious rats were given enhancers, rats performed significantly better socially, thereby achieving higher social status.However, the effects were not permanent. When the drugs wore off, the rats generally returned to their original rung of the social ladder.

The study confirmed that trait anxiety can actually predispose an individual to a lower social status.

The study is published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.