Words from developers
The world's first anti-obesity vaccine has shown promising results in boosting weight loss, according to a study. Keith Haffer from Braasch Biotech LLC, south Dakota, who developed the vaccines in two versions JH17 and JH18, derived from a peptide hormone somatostatin, tested them in two groups of diet induced obese male mice, and compared with a group of mice that received saline injections.
Somatostatin inhibits the action of growth hormone (GH) and insulin like growth factor (IGF1), both of which increase metabolism and result in weight loss.
Obesity and obesity related disease have become growing health issues worldwide.
Mice in all groups had been fed a high fat diet for eight weeks prior to the study and continued to eat the same food for the duration of the six week study. The vaccinations were administered twice at the start of the study followed by a booster vaccination on day 22, the Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology reported.
Four days after the first injection of modified somatostatin, the vaccinated mice had a 10 per cent drop in body weight (not seen in the mice receiving saline shots), said a university statement.
Later, results showed that both vaccines induced antibodies to somatostatin and significantly reduced body weight, sustaining the lower body weight, without affecting normal levels of the growth hormone IGF1, or insulin levels.
"This study demonstrates the possibility of treating obesity with vaccination," Keith explained. "Treatment of human obesity with vaccination would provide physicians with a drug and surgical free option against the weight epidemic."
Braasch Biotech LLC is a privately held company that specialises in the development of bio pharmaceutical vaccine products for the human and veterinary health care markets. Specifically, Braasch has developed the world first anti-obesity vaccine.
Somatostatin inhibits the action of growth hormone (GH) and insulin like growth factor (IGF1), both of which increase metabolism and result in weight loss.
Obesity and obesity related disease have become growing health issues worldwide.
Mice in all groups had been fed a high fat diet for eight weeks prior to the study and continued to eat the same food for the duration of the six week study. The vaccinations were administered twice at the start of the study followed by a booster vaccination on day 22, the Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology reported.
Four days after the first injection of modified somatostatin, the vaccinated mice had a 10 per cent drop in body weight (not seen in the mice receiving saline shots), said a university statement.
Later, results showed that both vaccines induced antibodies to somatostatin and significantly reduced body weight, sustaining the lower body weight, without affecting normal levels of the growth hormone IGF1, or insulin levels.
"This study demonstrates the possibility of treating obesity with vaccination," Keith explained. "Treatment of human obesity with vaccination would provide physicians with a drug and surgical free option against the weight epidemic."
Braasch Biotech LLC is a privately held company that specialises in the development of bio pharmaceutical vaccine products for the human and veterinary health care markets. Specifically, Braasch has developed the world first anti-obesity vaccine.
The poll also found that more than half said these sites had altered their behaviour, especially suffering a negative impact from social media. Two-thirds said they were unable to relax or to doze off after spending time on the sites.
And one quarter of those polled said they had been left facing difficulties in their relationships or workplace after becoming confrontational online, the Telegraph reported.
In total, 298 people were polled by Salford Business School at the University of Salford, for the charity Anxiety UK. Of those, 53 percent said the launch of social networking sites had changed their behaviour and of those, 51 percent said the impact had been negative.
The research also demonstrated the addictive powers of internet, with 55 percent of people saying they felt "worried or uncomfortable" when they could not access their Facebook or e-mail accounts.
More than 60 percent of people said they felt compelled to turn off electronic gadgets in order to have a break, with one in three of those surveyed saying they switched the devices off several times each day.
The findings about behaviour changes after using social networking sites came from smaller in-depth research which was then carried out by Anxiety UK.
Nicky Lidbetter, the charity's chief executive said: "If you are predisposed to anxiety it seems that the pressures from technology act as a tipping point, making people feel more insecure and more overwhelmed."
Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist said many people suffered increased anxiety because they failed to take charge of the demands being placed on them. She said: "I think one of the key things is that people have begun to behave as though technology is in control of them, instead of the other way round. We can switch the gadgets off but a lot of us have forgotten how to."
They may have handed over blank papers but they have still qualified for admission into professional degree courses in Andhra Pradesh. Unbelievable but true, say officials.
Twenty-two of 78 students who scored zero in the entrance test this year will get admission in engineering and agriculture courses as they belong to Scheduled Caste(SC) or Scheduled Tribe(ST) communities.
According to officials in the education department, despite scoring zero in EAMCET (Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test), these students have qualified as they got the minimum 40 percent marks in the qualifying XII exam.
While nine students will get admission into engineering colleges, 13 can pursue other courses except MBBS. Even this was possible till 2008 when the Medical Council of India (MCI) tightened the norms.
The Dalit/tribal students who qualified despite scoring zero in the medical stream in EAMCET can get admissions into agriculture, veterinary and horticulture courses.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad, conducts EAMCET every year for admission into engineering, medical, dental and agriculture courses both in government and private colleges in the state. The results of EAMCET 2012 were announced last week.
Of 90,917 students who wrote EAMCET in the medicine stream, 83,686 qualified.
For the general category students, the competition will be tough with only 4,950 seats available in 37 medical colleges and 1,870 seats in 21 dental colleges.
Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of engineering colleges(671) in the country.
Of 283,477 students who wrote engineering entrance, 223,886 have qualified. This number has come down to about 200,000 as many students did not pass the XII exam.
This means over 100,000 engineering seats would still go vacant in the academic year 2012-13. The state has 321,000 engineering seats.
Academics say the number of vacant seats in engineering colleges would be even higher as the top rankers will opt for the Indian Institute of Technology.
Till 2010, passing XII exam was enough to get admission into engineering college even if the students score zero in EAMCET.
Last year, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) prescribed a cut off percentage of 50 in 12 Class for general category and 40 percent for the reserved quota students.
The total marks in EAMCET are 160, and for the general category and the qualifying marks are 25 percent of the total.
Governor ESL Narasimhan, who is the chancellor of all universities in the state, is unhappy over the state of affairs.
Addressing JNTU Hyderabad convocation in May, he disapproved of the trend of giving admissions to students who don't score a single mark in EAMCET.
"There should be some minimum qualifying marks. What do you expect of such students, who score zero, to do in classrooms? Do you want to develop an inferiority complex among such students?" he asked.
Last year, 26 out of 73 students who got zero marks in EAMCET were declared qualified. Of them, 17 got admissions into engineering and nine in agriculture/veterinary colleges.
Fun Zone
Popular South Indian dish Masala Dosa has made it to the list of '10 foods to try before you die', compiled by the Huffington Post. The list, prepared by travel blog viator for the newspaper, includes dishes from around the world as a must-try for travellers.
Masala dosa features in the list alongside the Peking duck from China, BBQ ribs from the US and Teppanyaki from Japan. "The plate-covering, paper-thin pancake is made from rice and lentils, cooked to lacy perfection on a hot griddle. What creates the more-ish flavor is a spiced concoction of mashed cooked potatoes and fried onions, served with a liberal dose of garlicky chutney," the website describes masala dosa.
The list also includes France's Escargots, which are actually snails generally eaten as an appetizer, served in the shell and cooked in a delicious melange of garlicky parsley butter.
Moussaka on the list is described as the Greek answer to the Italian lasagne. "The dish is made by smothering layers of ingredients in a cheese bechamel sauce, and baking until creamily melted and golden." Other foods on the list are Zucchini flowers from Italy, Seafood curry laksa from Malaysia, Thai dish Som tam or green papaya salad and Pavlova from Australia-New Zealand.
"Sampling the local cuisine can help you make friends, understand the history, politics or religion of the place you're visiting and provide a lasting memory of your trip. Food and travel go hand in hand, and there's no better way to
delve deep into a destination than to try its most famous dishes," said the newspaper.
What is OpenROV?
OpenROV is a
Do It Yourself telerobotics community centered around underwater exploration and education. Company has developed a low-cost telerobotic submarine that can be built with mostly off-the-shelf parts.
The goal of OpenROV is to democratize exploration by allowing anyone to explore and study underwater environments. The
OpenROV community is also laying the foundation for globally-connected citizen scientists to share their data and findings.
Powered by a small Linux computer, C-batteries, crowdsourced technology, and two guys with a thing for marine exploration, OpenROV promises to transform small remote vehicles--once the provenance of well-funded government agencies--into affordable crowdsourced machines that anyone can send on missions into the world’s oceans, lakes, and bays.
Designed by Eric Stackpole, and developed with David Lang, OpenROV is an open-source research and development project for the public to explore the seas (or caverns, lakes, and almost anywhere underwater where the ROV’s tether will reach). Applications range from scouting dive locations to search and rescue, as well as education.
OpenRov is being sold for $775 through its launch. Its blue body is laser cut from acrylic panels housing three thrusters (two horizontal, one vertical), an HD webcam, LED lights, and eight onboard batteries. The tiny package can dive about 300 feet (tested to 65 feet so far) and hits a top speed of about 2.2 mph during its 1.5 hour running time.
Specs: Version 2.3
Dimensions: 30cm x 20cm x 15cm
Weight: 2.5kg
Depth rating: ~100m
Speed: 1m/sec
Power: 8 onboard C batteries
Run time: ~1.5 hours
Design: Version 2.3
Body construction: Laser cut acrylic
Buoyancy: Inherently neutrally buoyant
Propulsion: 3 brushless motors (2 horizontal thrusters, 1 vertical thruster)
Tether: 1 single twisted pair communicating 10 megabit ethernet data for control and video
Control: Onboard embedded linux computer (beagleboard brand) controlled via remote web browser
Vision: Forward facing HD USB webcam and two 87lm LED light arrays on servo-tiltable platform
Design considerations: Completely open source / open hardware, off the shelf parts, small enough to test in a bathtub, kit can be assembled in one weekend, standardized payload bay.
OpenROV, a tiny battery-powered sub, is a bringing ocean exploration into your home.Your personal remote operated submersible is ready.
OpenROV is a
Do It Yourself telerobotics community centered around underwater exploration and education. Company has developed a low-cost telerobotic submarine that can be built with mostly off-the-shelf parts.
The goal of OpenROV is to democratize exploration by allowing anyone to explore and study underwater environments. The
OpenROV community is also laying the foundation for globally-connected citizen scientists to share their data and findings.
Powered by a small Linux computer, C-batteries, crowdsourced technology, and two guys with a thing for marine exploration, OpenROV promises to transform small remote vehicles--once the provenance of well-funded government agencies--into affordable crowdsourced machines that anyone can send on missions into the world’s oceans, lakes, and bays.Designed by Eric Stackpole, and developed with David Lang, OpenROV is an open-source research and development project for the public to explore the seas (or caverns, lakes, and almost anywhere underwater where the ROV’s tether will reach). Applications range from scouting dive locations to search and rescue, as well as education.
OpenRov is being sold for $775 through its launch. Its blue body is laser cut from acrylic panels housing three thrusters (two horizontal, one vertical), an HD webcam, LED lights, and eight onboard batteries. The tiny package can dive about 300 feet (tested to 65 feet so far) and hits a top speed of about 2.2 mph during its 1.5 hour running time.
Specs: Version 2.3
Dimensions: 30cm x 20cm x 15cm
Weight: 2.5kg
Depth rating: ~100m
Speed: 1m/sec
Power: 8 onboard C batteries
Run time: ~1.5 hours
Design: Version 2.3
Body construction: Laser cut acrylic
Buoyancy: Inherently neutrally buoyant
Propulsion: 3 brushless motors (2 horizontal thrusters, 1 vertical thruster)
Tether: 1 single twisted pair communicating 10 megabit ethernet data for control and video
Control: Onboard embedded linux computer (beagleboard brand) controlled via remote web browser
Vision: Forward facing HD USB webcam and two 87lm LED light arrays on servo-tiltable platform
Design considerations: Completely open source / open hardware, off the shelf parts, small enough to test in a bathtub, kit can be assembled in one weekend, standardized payload bay.
Questioning Singh and the UPA's policies, Time said the PM, appointed so by Congress President Sonia Gandhi despite never having won an election, was "a man in shadow".
Criticising the PM for his "unwillingness to carry out reforms", the magazine said that the PM "wasted the past three years". It also questioned his ability to manage the Finance portfolio following Pranab Mukherjee's exit.
Interestingly, in a previous article in March this year, the magazine had a cover story on Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, and while it lauded him for his development work across the state, the article questioned his Prime Minsiterial ambitions.
Meanwhile, criticising the UPA, the magazine said, "The laws that could help create growth and jobs are stuck in Parliament, sparking concerns that politicians have lost the plot in their focus on short-term populist measures that will win votes."
"We have received a complaint that a class 5 residential student of the Patha Bhavan was allegedly made to drink her urine as a punishment. A four member fact finding committee headed by former dean of students welfare, Aruna Mukherjee has been set up to look into the matter and submit its report to the vice chancellor of the University," a university spokesman said.
The incident happened on Saturday evening when the warden of Karabi hostel, Uma Poddar, while on an inspection found Punita guilty of bedwetting. She allegedly then made the girl drink her urine as a punishment.
After the girl told her mother about the ordeal, her parents and several other people stormed the hostel premises and allegedly manhandled Poddar.
The girl's mother has also lodged a complaint against Poddar at the Bolpur police station in Birbhum district, some 160 km from state capital Kolkata.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has taken cognisance of the matter and has sought a report from the University.
A close collaboration between many people at Maxis and Playfish, SimCity Social takes the hallmark features that SimCity fans have loved over the past two decades and integrates them with advanced social features, bringing the real social city-building simulation to the masses.
"SimCity Social will entice a new generation of urban planners with its easy-to-use tools that allow anyone to expand and grow their own unique sprawling metropolises and watch as it comes to life in fun and unexpected ways," said Jami Laes, Vice President of Global Studios for Playfish.
"SimCity Social is about playing with your friends. Whether you do that with kindness by helping put out a fire or through mischievous acts like helping a criminal escape, the decisions you make with your friends will determine how the story of your cities plays out."
In SimCity Social, there are no set linear paths to follow; cities evolve as a direct result of player-driven choice, allowing for more creative freedom. As mayor, players will deal with unforeseen issues, like fires, crime and pollution, and will make crucial decisions that will help them discover how their cities take shape. Social interactions in SimCity Social go far beyond just visiting friends' cities or using them as resources to complete tasks.
Players can also choose to build friendly relationships with other cities or form an intense rivalry through a dynamic and ever-evolving friend and foe system.
With multiple options for city growth, unexpected gameplay events that shape the destiny of the city, and city-to-city relationships, players will see recognizable changes that bring forth aesthetic and gameplay alterations based on the decisions made in the game - for better or for worse.
SimCity fans can visit www.facebook.com/simcitysocial to "Like" the game and join the more than 750,000 fans. Players of SimCity Social who "Like" the game get access to free in-game exclusive content.
Taliban shoot dead a woman accused of adultery near Kabul
A man Afghan officials say is a member of the Taliban shot dead a woman accused of adultery in front of a crowd near Kabul, a video obtained by Reuters showed, a sign that the austere Islamist group dictates law even near the Afghan capital.
In the three-minute video, a turban-clad man approaches a woman kneeling in the dirt and shoots her five times at close range with an automatic rifle, to cheers of jubilation from the 150 or so men watching in a village in Parwan province.
"Allah warns us not to get close to adultery because it's the wrong way," another man says as the shooter gets closer to the woman. "It is the order of Allah that she be executed"
A man Afghan officials say is a member of the Taliban shot dead a woman accused of adultery in front of a crowd near Kabul, a video obtained by Reuters showed, a sign that the austere Islamist group dictates law even near the Afghan capital.
In the three-minute video, a turban-clad man approaches a woman kneeling in the dirt and shoots her five times at close range with an automatic rifle, to cheers of jubilation from the 150 or so men watching in a village in Parwan province.
"Allah warns us not to get close to adultery because it's the wrong way," another man says as the shooter gets closer to the woman. "It is the order of Allah that she be executed"
