Family donates eyes of two building collapse victims in Vadodara

VADODARA: Two victims of the building collapse in Vadodara couldn't see the dawn on Wednesday. But they gave hope of vision to others in their death. Eyes of two of the deceased identified as Mahadevan Nair, 42 and his 14-year-old son Vignesh Nair were donated by their family members. The duo got buried under debris of block number 11 in Madhavnagar locality in Atladara. The apartment collapsed at about 4.30 am killing eight persons and injuring three.

Mahadevan and Vignesh's bodies were recovered at 9 am, about four-and-half hours after the incident. They were rushed to Swaminarayan BAPS Hospital but were declared dead. Despite being in state of shock, Mahadevan's elder brother Mohan Nair thought of donating organs of the deceased duo. "I have been organizing blood donation camps regularly apart from spreading awareness about organ donation. When I learnt about my brother and nephew's death, I decided to donate their organs. It was painful moment for us but we had to take quick decision," Mohan told TOI.

"My brother and nephew won't come back but they can give hope of vision to some persons. The doctors decided that their eyes were fit for donation, so we gave go ahead. I hope that it changes lives of needy people," an emotional Mohan said.

Mahadevan's employer also supported Mohan's decision. "I had a word with Mahadevan's elder brother Mohan about donating Mahadevan and Vignesh's organs. It was a noble gesture from the family," said Paramveer Chhabra, managing director of Healthcare Formulations Private Ltd (HFPL) where Mahadevan had worked as administration manager for 18 years.

BJP councillor, Dr Vijay Shah said that the deceased duo was shifted from Swaminarayan BAPS Hospital for SSG Hospital for further procedures. The doctors would recover eyes of the victims and then conduct post-mortem.

via http://tinyurl.com/pj7gcbe

Flavored cigarettes not a safer alternative

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The John Tung Foundation (JTF, 董氏基金會) yesterday requested the government amend laws regarding the control of flavored cigarettes and electronic cigarettes as soon as possible due to the slow decline in teen smoking rates. 

Civil groups like JTF demanded the government forbid the manufacture, import and sale of flavored cigarettes and electronic cigarettes so as to lower the chance that teenagers will start consuming tobacco.

With a view to reducing the strong smell of tobacco and making it more acceptable for youngsters, spices such as mint, flower and fruit have been added to some.

According to the latest data announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), the consumption of flavored cigarettes by youngsters in the U.S. aged 18-25 increased by 3 percent; the general smoking rate of U.S. adolescents above 12 increased from 13 percent to 16 percent between 2004 and 2010.

Huang Song-li (黃嵩立), the secretary-general of Taiwan International Medical Alliance (TIMA), said that over 40 percent of young smokers in the U.S. favor menthol cigarette while young female smokers in Taiwan prefer flavored cigarettes.

Although the smell of flavored cigarettes is less pungent, the nicotine content is the same as standard cigarettes, Huang said. Huang said that after a string of interviews with teenagers he discovered adolescents develop a smoking addiction within as little as a month or two.

Lin Qing-li (林清麗), a JTF director, said that Australia, Brazil and the European Union have already forbidden flavored cigarettes while the U.S. and Canada have banned all kinds of flavored cigarettes except for menthol cigarettes.

via http://tinyurl.com/kvpvb5d

Research finds washing clothes in cold water can breed bacteria

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The use of front loading washers, gentle laundry detergent and low-temperature washes turn the average spin cycle into a breeding ground for germs instead of killing potentially harmful bacteria, a new study shows. 

A microbial assessment to evaluate the infection risks associated with laundry found an estimated average of 0.1 grams of fecal matter remains on every pair of “clean” underpants. According to the UK's Daily Mail, low-temperature washes are not strong enough to kill potentially contagious germs including salmonella, E. coli and norovirus.

Lisa Ackerley, a leading hygiene expert, called for an increased awareness of what is being termed the “Sick Laundry Cycle” due to the levels of bacteria found by microbiologists in washing machines and on supposedly “clean” laundered clothes.

“Consumers believe that normal laundering produces 'clean' clothes, but this does not necessarily translate to 'hygienically' clean,” said Ackerley.

The “Sick Laundry Cycle” isn't just about the inadequate removal of bacteria from contaminated clothes; cross-contamination also plays a part, according to Ackerley.

“If you put something ridden with bacteria in the washing machine, you will simply be swishing the germs around — creating a 'bacterial soup,'” added Ackerley.

Items that are most likely to be contaminated with pathogens are those which have direct contact with the body, such as underwear, towels, facecloths, handkerchiefs and bed linens, Ackerley said. Studies have shown that a build-up of bacteria in the interior of the washing machine transfers to the wash water of subsequent cycles with as many as one million bacteria found in just two tablespoons of wash water.

Low-temperature washing provides optimal conditions for germs to breed and multiply in possible hideaways such as the detergent drawer and door seals, Ackerley explained. The trend toward reducing washing temperatures and water volumes alongside using gentler detergents has affected the efficacy of the laundering process for reducing bacteria on contaminated clothing. It's time to re-evaluate the hygiene of our laundry, added Ackerley.

via http://tinyurl.com/k22gcum

Mom's genes may affect how fast you age

Eating well, sleeping well and exercising may help keep people young at heart, but mutated genes passed down from mothers may also predetermine aging rates, new research suggests.

Aging manifests itself in a variety of age-associated diseases as well as changes in physical appearance , and occurs at different rates in different people. Scientists have previously attributed aging to cell damage accumulated throughout life, but have not closely considered how aging rates might be inherited.

Now, a group of researchers based at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Germany have found that damaged DNA in the mitochondria also known as
the powerhouse of the cell, because this is where sugars break down into usable energy partly control the rate of aging in experimental mice.

Mitochondrial DNA contains genes only from mothers. The researchers report their findings August 21 in the journal Nature .

"What we previously had demonstrated was that the mitochondrial DNA acquired damage as the animals age," study  researcher Nils-Gran Larsson, a researcher at Max Planck Institute, told
LiveScience. "But now, we also report that some of this damage is already present at birth, and is transmitted from mother to child."

Mitochondrial DNA differs from the DNA that resides in the nucleus of cells, which comes from both parents.

The researchers found that mitochondrial DNA becomes damaged over time, and the cell's energy production gradually becomes disabled and contributes to aging, Larsson said in a statement. To determine the effects of mitochondrial DNA damage on aging, the team bred laboratory mice with varying degrees of such DNA damage, and then estimated their aging rates by measuring aspects of
fitness such as weight, fertility and red blood cell count.

The team found that increased levels of damage in the mice correlated with reduced levels of fitness. Still, the relative influence of mitochondrial DNA damage versus environmental stressors in aging
remains unclear.

While the findings may have interesting  implications for aging rates in humans , they also require additional research, Larsson said.

"We have used a set of experimental conditions to establish our results, and we think they are applicable to humans, but of course, this has to be proven through human studies," Larsson told LiveScience. The team next plans to study the relative role of damaged mitochondrial DNA in
aging by genetically engineering flies to have decreasing levels of mutated mitochondrial DNA from one generation to the next. They hope their research will provide the groundwork for other
researchers to study the human implications of their findings, Larsson said.

Are Your Teens Sleep-Texting?

Here's a decidedly 21st-century sleep issue: "Sleep-texting" is a growing phenomenon among teens. That's right. Teens are reaching for their phones during the night, firing off messages, and waking up with no recollection of their actions.

Social media and technology are part of daily life for everyone, but especially for young people. One study suggests that U.S. teens send an average of 100 texts per day. Experts say extending the texting habit into their sleep time could lead to serious health issues.

Teen Sleep Needs

Teens have their own particular set of shut-eye needs and challenges. Most teenagers need at least nine hours of sleep per night. Unfortunately, most don't get it. Biological changes associated with puberty make it harder for teens to fall asleep and stay asleep. And with increased academic and social pressure, late nights, and sleep-in Saturday mornings -- it’s harder for them to maintain regular sleep schedules.

Unhealthy sleep habits can lead to serious sleep deprivation, posing a threat to teens' academic success and also to their physical and mental health. Sleep problems among this age group are linked to obesity, high blood pressure, depression, behavioral problems, and drug abuse. Some evidence suggests that sleep problems during adolescence can affect health well into adulthood.

Research already shows that social media can interfere with teens' sleep habits. Teens spend 53 hours per week engaged with some form of electronic media, according to a large-scale study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. That's more than seven hours per day.

The study also found that teens' daily consumption of social media is on the rise, with their use of mobile media increasing at the fastest rate. Another study indicates that teens who text and use the Internet are more likely to have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep. More than half of kids and teenagers who text or surf the Internet at bedtime have mood, behavior, memory, and thinking problems during the day.

‘Standing long hours on duty a health hazard’

The call of duty makes teachers, traffic cops, surgeons, and security guards stand for hours together, which sooner or later leads to orthopaedic issues due to the long term stress on joints and bones.

In what is termed as “occupational hazard”, rules prevalent in private schools require the teachers to stand during teaching sessions up to 2 hours at a stretch. Similarly, a surgeon has to stand for 7-8 hours in a day during surgeries, a traffic cop has to direct the traffic standing for 8 hours, while security guards stand on duty for hours.

Dr Arvind Aggarwal, senior consultant, internal medicine, Shri Balaji Action Medical Institute, said, teachers often complain about pain in joints. Very often swelling is found in the veins. Sometimes, they also complain of cervical problem as they bend while checking notebooks. It is a postural problem.

The doctors advise that teachers should wear flat-footwear while teaching and should take Vitamin D regularly.

Dr Rajeev K. Sharma, senior orthopaedic consultant and joint replacement surgeon at Apollo Hospitals said that about 20 patients visit him every month with symptoms such as stress fracture, back pain, neck pain, heel pain and leg bone fracture. The situation is worsened when people keep their routine going without realising the slow harm to their bodies and later develop serious orthopaedic problems.

“They do not realise when they suffer a stress fracture. One can even have herniated disk or hip fracture without even realising when it suddenly hits,” said the doctor.

According to doctors, stress fracture is common among police and defence personnel.
The doctors recommend Calcium and Vitamin D supplements besides taking short breaks and not standing at a stretch.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/n93jqvp

'Female sperm' and 'Male eggs' - Gay and Lesb families are happy

A New research from Japan has suggested that it may be possible in the future for scientists to grow male and female reproductive cells from the opposite gender. In other words, to create sperm from women and eggs from men.

Katsuhiko Hayashi of Kyoto University in Japan has published research in which skin cells from mice were used to create primordial germ cells or PGCs. These cells, the common precursor of both male and female sex cells, were then developed into both sperm and eggs. Using these live-births were created via in vitro fertilisation.

Although the techniques involved are still in their infancy, the possibilities for reproductive medicine are startling. Not only could the research of Hayashi and his senior professor Mitinori Saitou allow infertile women to have babies by creating eggs from their skin cells, but it might make it possible for sperm and eggs cells to be created from either males or females.

The process begins by extracting pluripotent stem cells from early-stage embryos and somatic cells, and then converting these into PGCs using ‘signalling molecules’. These germ cells were transplanted into the ovaries and testes of living mice to develop. Once these cells were mature they were extracted and used to fertilise one another in vitro.

The initial research took place in October 2012, with the live-births only a ‘side effect’ used to demonstrate that the creation of PGCs had been successful. Since then, scientists around the world have been realising the full potential of the research, and the team involved is now exploring how their work might transfer to humans.x

Writing in Scientific American, David Cyranoski explains that other researchers have replicated the production of PGCs but have been unable to produce any live births. The scientists involved also have many other hurdles to overcome including the production ‘fragile’ and ‘misshapen’ eggs.

“But,” writes Cyranoski, “the most formidable challenge will be repeating the mouse PGC work in humans.” This is because the ‘signalling molecules’ used to create the PGCs are vastly more complicated in humans than in mice. Research is further hampered by restricted access to human embryos.

The Japanese team led by Saituou and Hayashi are currently using monkey embryos as a stepping stone between the species and when speaking to Scientific American, Hayashi predicts that they could succeed with primates within ‘5-10 years’, with the creation of human PGCs following ‘shortly after’.

However, even if the process is successfully transferred to monkeys there will still be many dangers that may take years to address. It’s already known that embryonic stem cells developed in laboratories frequently pick up various genetic mutations and epigenetic irregularities. Even if healthy offspring are created from this method, scientists have questioned how many generations would have to be observed before they are considered genetically ‘safe’.

Scientists agree that research is compelling but that it will be many years before anything like a viable treatment for infertility might be made available to the public.

This would allow gay couples to have children genetically their own, although many scientists are sceptical about whether it is possible to create sperm from female cells, which lack the male Y chromosome.

This breakthrough could unlock many of the secrets of egg and sperm production, leading to new drug treatments for infertility.

Defects in sperm and egg development are the biggest cause of infertility but, because many of the key stages occur in the womb, scientists have struggled to study the process in detail.

However, safety and ethical concerns mean that artificial sperm and eggs are much further away from use.

'Whether one builds the boundaries on religion or just on an internal sense or of right and wrong, these are important. In this field, it is not "anything goes".'

Scientists at Newcastle University in US claimed to have made sperm from embryonic stem cells earlier this year but the research paper has been retracted.

Dr Allan Pacey, a Sheffield University expert in male fertility said: 'Ultimately this may help us find a cure for male infertility. Not necessarily by making sperm in the laboratory, I personally think that is unlikely, but by identifying new targets for drugs or genes that may stimulate sperm production to occur naturally.

'This is a long way off, but it is a laudable dream.'

Dr Peter Saunders, of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said that IVF should be the preserve of married couples.

'The question is, why are we creating artificial gametes (eggs and sperm) and aborting 200,000 babies a year when there are many, many couples willing to adopt?'

Josephine Quintavalle, of the campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, warned that any flaws in the artificial sperm or eggs could be passed on to future generations.

Anthony Ozimic, of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said: 'The use of artificial gametes in reproduction would distort and damage relations between family members.

'There are no instances of any major medical advance achieved by abandoning basic ethical principles such as safeguarding the right to life.'

5 Things You Didn't Know About Daydreaming

Whether it’s worrying or fantasizing, all of us daydream—or let our minds escape from the task at hand.

Now, a new computer model that simulates these periods of mental wandering may give scientists clues about how our brains work. Specifically, the model shows how our brain cells communicate when our minds are either engaged or idle.

Scientists have known since the late 1990s that our brains still fire off nerve impulses—an indicator of activity—even when they’re idle. Since then, scientists have identified several brain networks, called “resting state” networks, inside our gray matter where this phenomenon occurs. (See “Is Your Brain Sleeping While You’re Awake?”)

Since resting state networks are disrupted in the event of brain injuries and cognitive diseases, modeling them may eventually help people with these conditions, Maurizio Corbetta, of the Washington University School of Medicinein St. Louis, said in a statement.

“We can give our [computer] model lesions like those we see in stroke or brain cancer, disabling groups of virtual cells to see how brain function is affected,” said Corbetta, co-author of a study on the model published in the July 3 issue ofThe Journal of Neuroscience. “We can also test ways to push the patterns of activity back to normal.”

But wait—before you drift off into la-la land, here are some interesting facts about daydreaming you may not have known.

You daydream less as you get older.

Daydreaming is often about anticipating the future, especially in a fantasy context, notes Peter Delaney, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.

For instance, young men often have “power fantasies” of what it would be like to be a superhero. But as people get older, the amount of time they spend daydreaming decreases—perhaps as the future shrinks.

Daydreaming makes you forget what you were doing.

If people are asked to daydream about the past, for instance, they tend to forget what they were doing before the daydream started, according to previous research.

The type of daydream also affects how much you forget, according to Delaney and colleagues’ research.

When people working on a task were asked to daydream about their childhood home, the older subjects forgot more of the interrupted task than the younger subjects did. That means that the further back in time the daydream reaches, the bigger the forgetting effect.

It’s not only temporal, but physical: If you daydream about a vacation abroad versus a vacation out of state, you are likely to forget more of what you were doing because your trip abroad is so out of context—it’s like “mentally transporting yourself back there,” he said.

Delaney suggests that this should be of special note for people who rely on memory, including those in careers such as medicine: If a doctor who just memorized a drug dosage is stopped in the hallway and asked about her recent vacation abroad, she may well forget the drug information, he explained.

Daydreaming turns off other parts of the brain.

Our brain has two key systems: An analytic part that helps us make reasoned decisions, and an empathetic part that allows us to relate to others.

When confronted with a cognitive task, your brain requires the empathetic area to turn off to get the job done, notes Anthony Jack, a cognitive scientist at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. (Read “Beyond the Brain” in National Geographic magazine.)

In other words, “if you are engaged in a demanding analytic task, it doesn’t leave any room for empathy.”

Yet when you are daydreaming, your mind naturally cycles through different modes of thinking, and during this time the analytic and empathetic parts of your brain tend to turn each other off.

Your brain, not your mind, controls your daydreams.

Our mind—or the consciousness that allows us to think and reason—is separate from the physical organ that is our brain.

Overall, “we tend of think of our minds in the driving seat and our brains as following,” Jack said.

But in fact, whether and how we daydream depends on the brain’s structure at any given time, since our brains’ nerve cell networks are constantly regrowing and changing. (See brain pictures.)

“Your brain naturally fluctuates in certain ways because of its structure, and that determines the structure of your daydreaming,” Jack said.

Daydreaming makes you more creative.

Many times the “dialogue” that occurs when the daydreaming mind cycles through different parts of the brain accesses information that was dormant or out of reach, notes Eugenio M. Rothe, a psychiatrist at Florida International University.

Likewise, the daydreaming mind may make an association between bits of information that the person had never considered in that particular way.

“This accounts for creativity, insights of wisdom and oftentime the solutions to problems that the person had not considered,” Rothe said by email.

“A similar process, but more random, also takes place during dreaming.”

(via National Geographic)

Aluminum, a hazard in Chinese food additives

MORE than 30 percent of Chinese people absorb excessive amounts of aluminum from food additives with nearly half in wheat flour, a research paper showed.

People in north China, where wheat is the staple food, have four times more of the harmful metal in their body than those living in the south. Puffed-grain products are the main source of excessive aluminum in children aged 7 to 14.

Children aged 4 to 6 are the most vulnerable. They absorb 2.6 times the daily amount of aluminum allowed by the World Health Organization.

About 44 percent of the aluminum comes from flour, followed by steamed bread (24%) and fried dough sticks (10%), the research found.

Scientists said aluminum is not among the 16 minerals needed by the human body. Excessive ingestion of the metal can damage human nerves and affect bone growth.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/ms6doqh

Iranian heart surgeons competitive with developed countries

On the sidelines of the 6th International Razavi Cardiovascular Congress in Mashad, capital of the Razavi Khorasan province, Professor Sotiris Parapas told IRNA on Wednesday, I have travelled to Mashad more than 10 times so far and every year, I witness great progress concerning modern equipment and possibilities of the Mashad Ultra-Specialist Heart Hospital.

He added one of the wishes of the Razavi Hospital's specialists has been establishing Heart School, which started its work last year and Euro-Asian Heart Surgeon Society will cooperate with this school by all its means.

He continued that Iranian heart specialists and other specialists from countries of the region can attend courses here and get acquainted with new techniques in heart surgery.

The 6th International Razavi Cardiovascular Congress, simultaneously with the 2nd Cardiac Nursing Congress kicked off on Wednesday August 21 to 23 here in Mashad.

 Head of Razavi Hospital Saeed Abdul-Hosseini said in a press conference here on Wednesday that 40 foreign heart specialists as well as many of Iranian specialists have attended the congress.

He said foreign experts participating at the congress are from Germany, Britain, India, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Greece, Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Spain, Korea, Syria, Romania, Pakistan, the Netherlands, China and Afghanistan.

Abdul-Hosseini added that the number of foreign guests of the congress this year has doubled compared with last year.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/ms2wrqv

New mental health bill decriminalising suicide introduced in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: The new mental health care bill, which seeks to decriminalise suicide and makes access to affordable mental health care a right for all, was introduced in Rajya Sabha this week.

For the first time in the history of criminal law reform in the country, Mental Health Care Bill, 2013 seeks to decriminalise acts of suicide by linking them to the state of mental health of the person attempting the act.

The forward-looking Bill explicitly states that acts of suicide will not be criminalised and those attempting suicide would be treated to be mentally ill unless proved otherwise and therefore exempted from the current provisions of Section 309 of Indian Penal Code.

Section 124 of the Bill states, “Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 309 of the IPC, any person who attempts suicide shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise, to be suffering from mental illness at the time of the bid and shall not be liable to punishment under the said Section.”

The Bill thus clarifies that the act of suicide and the mental health of the person committing the act are inseparably linked and have to be seen together and not in isolation.

Moved by the Ministry of Health, the Bill lays down a proper provision for the treatment of persons attempting suicide.

The Bill seeks to provide for mental health care for persons with mental illnesses and to protect, promote and fulfil the rights of such persons during delivery of mental health care and services.

It is the first time that the Government has come up with rights based approach in the mental health law.

The Law Commission will separately move this amendment to the Criminal Law which would eventually be effected by the Home Ministry.

However, Health Ministry sources said the Law Ministry agreed on the proposed Section in the new mental health care bill to decriminalise suicide.

“It is a landmark bill which takes care of the rights of the mentally ill. It is forward looking and India needed such a law. It strongly protects the rights of mentally ill and puts a lot of onus for the welfare of the ill on the Government,” a Health Ministry official said.

The Bill fills the long standing gap in the mental health law in India after the country ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requiring it to harmonise its laws with those prevalent worldwide.

India had signed the convention on October 1, 2007 and it came into force on May 3, 2008.

Once the Parliament passes the Bill and it is assented by the President, it will replace the Mental Health Act of 1987.

The new Bill guarantees several rights to the mentally ill from the right to privacy in mental health establishments to the right to dignity.

It bars inhuman practices such as electro convulsive therapy without anesthesia, sterilisation as a treatment for illness, chaining and tonsuring of heads of the mentally ill.

The Bill also provides stringent penalties for those found running unregistered mental health care establishments which would be fined with Rs 50,000 to Rs five lakh depending on the frequency of the offence.

It seeks to regulate the public and private mental health sectors and establish a mental health system integrated into all levels of general health care.

The law also provides for the Advance Directive to be furnished in writing by a person, irrespective of his mental illness, and registered with a Mental Board to be set up by the government at state and central levels.

This directive allows the individual to appoint a nominated representative to deal with the kind of treatment he wants in the case he falls mentally ill in future.

The Bill provides for a State Mental Health Authority and a Central Mental Health Authority along with a Mental Health Review Commission to regulate the sector and register institutions.

PTI

Source: http://tinyurl.com/ll8anun

Chennai set to be India’s health capital: Jayalalithaa

CHENNAI: The building on the Omandurar Estate will soon be converted into a multi-specialty hospital that will provide the best yet affordable treatment to the common man, chief minister J Jayalalithaa has said. A medical college would also be started to increase the number of physicians. "Postgraduate courses will be offered to create more specialists. Chennai is all set to become the 'Health Capital of India'," she said.

At the silver jubilee convocation of Dr MGR Medical University on Tuesday, she said the menace posed by commercialization of medical education had to be warded off. Efforts should be made to ensure maintenance of standards and check the growth of substandard medical colleges. She urged students to remember they were on a mission to heal. "Medical education needs to be planned and implemented, with full awareness of the aims and demands of the health care services," she said.

In the current year, 6,511 crore had been allotted to the health sector and "highest priority" was placed on health of the people, evident from a number of schemes implemented since the government took over, she said. Due to the government's persistent efforts, the state secured 410 additional MBBS seats in government medical colleges in the current academic year. The total number of seats in the state has increased to 2,555 from 2,145 last year. "I stood firm in opposing the introduction of the common National Entrance cum Eligibility Test which was eventually decided in the Supreme Court in favour of our government's consistent stand," she said.

About 11,864 candidates of medical, dental, AYUSH and allied health science courses received degrees and diplomas. Apart from this, five senior doctors were honoured with lifetime achievement awards and three doctors presented with the DSc Honoris Causa.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/lxmt5rx

No midday meals in schools from today in Pune

PUNE: Students in government-run schools will not get their daily midday meals from Wednesday, as principals across the state will go on strike demanding a separate mechanism to implement the scheme in all schools.

Principals of almost 33,000 schools across the state will participate in this protest.

Subhash Mane, president of the Maharashtra State Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools' Principals' Association ( MSSHSSPA), said, "We conducted a meeting with all the parents and headmasters in Pune on Monday. We informed them that we will not provide midday meals to students Wednesday onwards."

The association has also threatened to boycott government duties if their demands are not met by September 5.

Mane said, "If anything goes wrong with the meals, which are cooked outside the schools in centralised kitchen sheds, we should not be held responsible. Most school principals have visited the kitchens where the food is cooked. However, it is not possible to check every day. A separate mechanism should be established to conduct these checks and to supervise (the process)."

He said about 10 lakh students in the state would be affected due to the strike.

Mane said the principals' work was restricted to schools and related works. "The government has to find another way of quality control (of midday meals). If the government does not take any decision by September 5, we will boycott teachers' day and all such celebrations. We will teach students, but we won't get involved in any government functions. We will wear black bands as a mark of protest," he said.

Meanwhile, Suman Shinde, deputy director of education (Pune Division) said, "I had a talk with the association and I requested them to withdraw the strike as a lot of students would be affected. Despite this, the association has decided to go ahead with the stir. A decision on this issue will be taken at the earliest after a discussion with the officials of the education department."

Source: http://tinyurl.com/km4rszh

Seven districts vulnerable to chemical disasters: Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority

GANDHINAGAR: Seven districts of Gujarat have been labelled 'critically hazardous' and 'hazardous' for their vulnerability to a major chemical disaster. This categorization is by Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA) in a recent study it submitted to the state government. It has expressed serious concerns over and has suggested that timely action be taken.

GSDMA suggested the government adopt measures like setting up a unified state-level fire service authority as has been done in Maharashtra. The state government is yet to act on the report.

The report says that Gujarat presently has 380 "Major Accident Hazard" (MAH) prone industrial units, of which 331are operational. All these pose toxic leak risks and over 80% are also fire or explosion risks. Some toxic chemicals with more than 5,000 metric tonnes storages in Gujarat are acrylonitrile, ammonia, benzene, chlorobenzene, chloroform, cyclohexanone, ethylene dichloride, hydrogen, cyanide, P-xylene, styrene monomer and toluene.

The report says that the corridor from Vapi to Ahmedabad along the national highway has the highest density of chemical units and thus has a high risk of a chemical emergency. Toxic leaks are the most significant disaster scenarios in the area and a large-scale toxic leak could affect thousands of people. Some toxic leak scenarios could potentially affect neighboring states and sea waters, which may require a national-level response.

The GSDMA report states that, based on a recent assessment by NDRF (National Disaster Rescue Force), Gujarat currently has only 35% of the required number of fire stations. Its manpower shortfall is greater than 90%. Because of these gaps in infrastructure and resources, the capability for disaster management is severely limited.

The authority called for improving response mechanisms in case of chemical disasters and the establishment of an incident management system. The setting up of local emergency response teams with fully-equipped fire stations have also been suggested, apart from regional response teams. It has been recommended that a state emergency response team be created for complex, high toxicity, high damage chemical emergencies.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/k8brvmh

Frequent Sex Equals Higher Income: Study

Several children with vision defects do not realize the problem

NAGPUR: Several kids who have eye-related problems do not realize that they are suffering from them. In many cases, even parents are not aware about the problem despite it becoming very serious. Blaming it on excessive use of devices like computers, televisions and mobile phones, experts say that ignorance about vision-related problems is so common that regular and compulsory screenings for kids is necessary.

The discussion was on the sidelines of installation of new team of Nagpur Academy of Ophthalmology, which was attended by some renowned ophthalmologists. Dean of Mumbai's Grant Medical College Dr TP Lahane also shared the results of a survey that he conducted in 1,208 schools of Mumbai that included 7.5 lakh children.

"92,000 of them had specs but didn't realise it. A 1000 of them require surgeries but parents of 756 of them had not realised this need. This rise in vision-related problems can be attributed to excessive use of TV and computers by children," he said. Dr Lahane said that other than the electronic gadgets, it was insufficient consumption of vitamin A that causes several vision-related defects in children which could be satiated with the inclusion of carrot, papaya, drumstick in their diet once a week.

While Dr Lahane said that schools or civic bodies can arrange for regular eye checkups of school going children, head of the ophthalmology department of his college Dr Ragini Parekh believed that parents must assume this responsibility. "Not many of us take our children for eye check ups or any other type of health check up voluntarily. It is only after some problem arises that check ups come to our mind. People have to understand the importance of preventive check ups," she said.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/k38hfqf

Mystery Baby: Tests Disprove Spontaneous Human Combustion Theory; Is the Child Victim of Abuse?

The mystery surrounding a two-and-half-month-old boy, who has been undergoing treatment over claims that he caught fire as many as four times since he was born, has deepened with the tests conducted on the baby disproving Spontaneous Human Combustion Theory (SHC).

Rahul, a native of Tindivanam, Tamil Nadu was recently admitted to Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital for burns reportedly caused by a rare medical phenomenon known as SHC wherein a person catches fire due to emission of inflammable substances through the body.

As many as 30 tests, including neurosonogram, sweat, ultrasonogram, blood, urine, x-ray, genetic and chromosome analysis etc were conducted over the last few days to find out the cause of the baby's ailment but the results were normal.

"We are awaiting the report of just one test to determine the ketone levels in the blood and we will receive it on Tuesday," Dr R Narayana Babu, head of the paediatrics department, Kilpauk Medical College, told The New Indian Express.

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"What we have done is more than a research. We have not come to a conclusion. We don't expect much from the report of ketone levels that we are awaiting. We have just gone by what the parents and grandmother told us about the history of the baby. If what they said is true, then it is spontaneous human combustion," added the doctor.

Babu had earlier told the Deccan Chronicle that "The body burns spontaneously due to combustible gases emitting from the patient's body, without any external source of ignition. Clothes and other things nearby that are inflammable may also catch fire."

"An episode may or may not recur. It's like any other burn injury, with the likelihood of scars and secondary infections. Plastic surgery is also expected to be done. The relatives or parents have to always keep an eye on the baby. Matchsticks, crackers or anything that can catch fire should not be kept near him," he added.

Only about 200 cases of SHC have been reported in the last three centuries, the latest being in February this year when a 65-year-old man from Muldrow, Okla, was believed to have died of SHC. His body was found charred without any source of fire.

Is the Child a Victim of Abuse?

With no evidence of SHC despite several tests and special investigation by a team from Sastra University, the possibility of an accident or abuse for the cause of the burns has come into the picture.

"I still stand by what I said that there is no such thing as spontaneous human combustion. The possibility of child abuse exists and needs to be explored," Dr J Jagan Mohan, head of the burns department at KMCH, told Health India.. The doctor had earlier called SHC theory as a 'hoax'.

Is Spontaneous Human Combustion a Hoax?

Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC) is a rare medical condition in which a body catches fire without any external source believed to be caused by the emission of inflammable gas.

According to History website, the first account of the SHC dates back to 1641 and the phenomenon gained wider exposure in the 19th century after popular author Charles Dickens used it to kill off one of the characters in his novel "Bleak House." http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/is-spontaneous-human-combustion-real

People have been debating whether the human body can spontaneously burn without an external source. Scientists don't buy the SHC theory, arguing that the human body is composed of mostly water and there are remote chances of it catching fire by itself despite the presence of fat tissue and methane gas.

According to History website, "believers point to the fact that the human body has to reach a temperature of roughly 3,000 degrees in order to be reduced to ashes. Unless SHC were a genuine factor, it seems impossible that furniture would not burn as well. Proposed causes of the supposed phenomenon include bacteria, static electricity, obesity, stress and - most consistently - excessive consumption of alcohol, but none have been substantiated by science so far."

"One recent hypothesis comes from British biologist Brian J. Ford, who in August 2012 described his experiments with combustion in the magazine New Scientist. According to Ford, a buildup of acetone in the body (which can result from alcoholism, diabetes or a specific kind of diet) can lead to spontaneous combustion," it added.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/k5amjhb

9 Amazing Beauty Benefits Of Tea

As the temps turn colder, we're exchanging our iced coffees for herbal teas. Sipping on the hot drink instantly brings a sense of calm to a hectic day. But did you know that you could brew a cup of tea for homemade beauty recipes?

Teas, including green, black and red, have been used to improve the overall health and appearance of skin and hair for centuries. Rich in antioxidants and anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties, tea is one of the most powerful grocery store staples that can be used topically. Here are nine amazing beauty benefits of tea.

1. Adds shine to dull, lackluster hair. A hair rinse using green or black tea will boost brassy and blah strands. Simply steep tea bags in boiling water for 15 minutes and allow to cool for a few hours or overnight. Pour it onto freshly-washed hair and leave on for ten minutes. Be sure to shampoo and condition afterwards to seal in the shine.

2. Soothes sunburns. Missed a spot with the sunscreen and ended up with a sunburn? Cold compresses made out of tea bags can relieve pain and reduce redness. The girls over at The Beauty Department have this guide to using black tea bags and old T-shirts to treat sunburns.

3. Minimizes bug bites. We love laying out in the grass, but we sure hate mosquito bites. To take down the sting and bumps, apply a used cold chamomile tea bag directly to the area and relax.

4. Reduces puffy eyes and dark under-eye circles. Another reason not to toss out your used bags of Earl Grey. One of the many beauties we met on the streets of New York City swears by this cheap puffy eye treatment. The caffeine helps to shrink blood vessels underneath the skin and eliminate darkness around the eye area.

5. Rids smelly feet odor. Stanky feet and Chanel No. 5 just don't mix. Instead, strip off your shoes and socks and soak your feet in a cool solution made out of boiled tea. The tannic acid in tea is both antibacterial and antifungal, so it stops feet from sweating and smelling funky.

6. Tones and moisturizes dry skin. Spritz cool green tea onto your face (you can also apply it with a cotton ball) twice a day to draw out impurities, shrink large pores and get a healthy glow.

7. Calms skin after shaving. If your legs are itchy and red after shaving, try pressing a cool black tea bag onto your limbs. The tannins work to provide immediate relief from razor burns.

8. Enhances hair color. If you're looking for a chemical-free alternative to dyeing your hair, try using tea. Its staining properties add color to naturally blonde or brunette locks. Holistic Chick breaks down which teas have the best color payoff.

9. Helps to tan skin. Similar to "coloring" hair, rubbing your body with a sponge soaked in black tea or submerging yourself in a tub full of it will enhance tanned skin. Warning: This can get a little sticky and streaky.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/khsh2e6

North Korean Military Officers Siphon Off Donated Milk Powder

Military officers in North Korea have pocketed and sold off supplies of South Korean-donated milk powder that was intended for babies but ordered by the Pyongyang regime to be distributed to undernourished soldiers, according to North Korean sources.

Private South Korean aid groups had provided the “Baby Love” brand powdered milk as part of humanitarian assistance to the impoverished country but North Korean authorities earlier this year handed them out as rations for undernourished troops mobilized under a wartime alert, the sources said.

Military officers secretly diverted the supplies, selling them through brokers to local markets instead of distributing them to the soldiers, the sources said.

In the first few months of the year, supplies of the powdered milk coming from the military flooded local markets, where they were a sought-after item, one source in North Hamgyong province said.

“The South Korean Baby Love dry milk which was provided to the military by the North Korean authorities was the best-selling item at the local market until April,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“When the North Korean authorities provided it for soldiers, the local market overflowed with Baby Love,” the source said this month, adding that the infant formula was no longer available on the shelves.

Expired supplies

The powdered milk, made by South Korea’s Namyang Daily Products Co. Ltd., came in four different types and in 700 and 800 gram (26 and 28 ounce) packages.

A source in Yanggang province said many of the packages sold in local markets had expiration dates of 2009 and 2010 on them, though some had had the dates removed. 

Sources said the powdered milk originally came from South Korean aid organization, who have provided food assistance targeting groups in North Korea most vulnerable to malnutrition, including with a 20-ton shipment of powdered milk sent by the Red Cross in 2010 for infants and other shipments delivered to orphanages.

Aid from South Korea has been cut back over the past several years amid tensions on the peninsula over North Korea’s nuclear program—tensions that hit a peak this spring following Pyongyang’s December 2012 missile launch and February 2013 nuclear test.

North Korea ramped up its war threats against South Korea earlier this year and, under a wartime special alert issued at the end of last year, mobilized soldiers and sent them to live in tough conditions in underground tunnels and caves, sources said.

'Wartime reserve' rations

The supplies of powdered milk that ended up for sale at local markets were supposed to have been sent as special “wartime reserve” rations to soldiers who were going hungry while stationed in tough conditions following the alert, the source in Yanggang province said. 

Authorities had instructed the formula be sent to units living in underground tunnels and caves and those along the Military Demarcation Line border with South Korea, he said.

“Because soldiers’ physical condition got worse, the North Korean authorities provided them with the powdered milk as ‘wartime reserve’ rations,” he said.

Popular item

While it was still available on the black market, the milk formula was a popular item despite its overdue expiration dates because it was made in South Korea, the source in North Hamgyong province said.

Customers bought the Baby Love powdered milk at double the price of Chinese brands brought in through the thriving cross-border smuggling trade with North Korea’s eastern neighbor, the source said.

“Even though [800 gram packages of] Chinese dry milk sells for about 70 Chinese yuan [U.S. $11] and the price of Baby Love is 140 yuan [U.S. $23] at local markets, people were eager to buy the latter because they know Baby Love is a South Korean product,” the source said.

North Korea has relied on international handouts to feed its people since the mid-1990's, with its underage population suffering from years of malnutrition.

International food aid to North Korea has been drastically cut over the past several years amid tensions over the communist state's nuclear and missile programs.

Reported by Sung Hui Moon for RFA’s Korean Service. Translated by Hyosun Kim. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/ma99syp

Mom’s weak thyroid increases autism risk in baby

WASHINGTON, Aug 14:  Pregnant women who don’t produce enough thyroid hormone are nearly four times likelier to give birth to autistic children than their healthy peers, a new study has claimed.
Scientists from the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute in US and Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, Netherlands studied more than 4,000 Dutch mothers and their children.
Their results support the growing view that autism spectrum disorders can be caused by a lack of maternal thyroid hormone, which past studies have shown is crucial to the migration of foetal brain cells during embryo development.
“It is increasingly apparent to us that autism is caused by environmental factors in most cases, not by genetics. That gives me hope that prevention is possible,” said lead author Gustavo Roman, a neurologist and neuroepidemiologist who directs the Nantz National Alzheimer Center.
The researchers also found that autistic children had more pronounced symptoms if their mothers were severely deficient for T4, also called thyroxine. Mild T4 deficiencies in mothers produced an insignificant increase in autistic children’s symptoms.
The most common cause of thyroid hormone deficiency is a lack of dietary iodine – because both the thyroid hormones, T3 and T4, contain that element.
The present work was based on the Generation R Study, conducted by Erasmus Medical Centre doctors and social scientists, in which thousands of pregnant women were voluntarily enrolled between 2002 and 2006.
Researchers identified 80 “probable autistic children” from a population of 4,039.
Around 159 mothers were identified as being severely T4 deficient (defined as having 5 per cent or less of normal T4, but producing a normal amount of thyroid stimulating hormone), and 136 were identified as mildly T4 deficient.
The researchers found a weak association between mild T4 deficiency and the likelihood of producing an autistic child, but a strong association between severe T4 deficiency and autism (3.89 more likely, as compared with mothers with normal thyroid hormone).
The study presents a troubling correlation, but it does not prove that the thyroid function of expecting mothers causes autism in their children, researchers said.
The study will be published in the journal Annals of Neurology. (PTI)

Source: http://tinyurl.com/kljyqa7