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Showing posts from May, 2013

VEDEO GAMES GOOD FOR CHILDREN'S HEALTH

High-intensity active video games may improve cardiovascular health in children, according to a new study. While other studies have assessed children's energy expenditure and physical activity while playing active video games, this is the first study to measure the direct health benefits of high-intensity gaming on children's arteries. Researchers from The University of Western Australia with colleagues from Swansea University evaluated 15 children aged from 9 to 11 to determine whether high-intensity and low-intensity active video gaming - also known as exergaming - were good for cardiovascular function and health. Dr Louise Naylor and Michael Rosenberg, from UWA's School of Sport Science Exercise and Health compared children's energy expenditure and heart rate when the children played both low-intensity and high-intensity active console video games and a session on a treadmill. The researchers found that children playing a high-intensity video game

ASTHMA MAY LEAD TO SLEEP DISORDER

People who suffer from asthma are at an increased risk of developing sleep apnea, a disorder that causes breathing difficulties while sleeping, a new study has warned. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin used data from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, which has been following approximately 1,500 people since 1988. They found that patients who had asthma were 1.70 times more likely to develop sleep apnea after eight years. "This is the first longitudinal study to suggest a causal relationship between asthma and sleep apnea diagnosed in laboratory-based sleep studies," said Mihaela Teodorescu, assistant professor of medicine at the university. "Cross-sectional studies have shown that OSA is more common among those with asthma, but those studies weren't designed to address the direction of the relationship," Teodorescu said. The connection between asthma and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was even stronger among participants who developed

TESTUCULAR CANCER-4 RISKS

Scientists have identified four new genetic variants associated with an increased risk of testicular cancer, the most commonly diagnosed type in young men. Scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania looked at the genomes of more than 13,000 men. The discovery of these genetic variations - chromosomal "typos," so to speak - could ultimately help researchers better understand which men are at high risk and allow for early detection or prevention of the disease. "As we continue to cast a wider net, we identify additional genetic risk factors, which point to new mechanisms for disease," said Katherine L Nathanson, associate professor in the division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics within the department of Medicine. "Certain chromosomal regions, what we call loci, are tied into testicular cancer susceptibility, and represent a promising path to stratifying patients into risk groups - for a disease

KAZOL GETS READY FOR ANOTHER INNINGS

Actress Kajol says though family responsibilities and her husband actor Ajay Devgn's film production company has been keeping her busy, she is waiting for a right script to act in a movie again. "It has to be a good script with a tight screenplay. The production house needs to be good too. It is as important as your role in the film," Kajol told PTI here today. Daughter of actress Tanuja and film director Shomu Mukherjee, Kajol made her acting debut with Bekhudi in 1992 while she was in school. The 38-year-old actress is known for her memorable performances in films like 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge', 'Gupt', 'Dushman', 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', 'Fanaa', 'My Name Is Khan', among others. After getting married to actor Ajay Devgn, she took a sabbatical from full-time acting in 2001 and returned to films with the 2006 romantic thriller 'Fanaa'. After that she appeared in films in cameo appearances. She wa

SMOKING TEST TO PREGNANT LADIES

Pregnant mothers in Britain should undergo test to check if they are secretly smoking, and if found positive they should be helped to quit, according to a new UK health guidance. Midwives should give carbon monoxide tests to all women they see at antenatal appointments, said Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Women found to have high carbon monoxide readings - a sign that they are secretly smoking - will be referred to "smoking cessation services", said the proposed guidance. Under the guidance, according to The Sunday Times, all discussions about giving up smoking would be recorded in the mother's notes. NICE, a special health authority, provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care in the UK. An estimated 21 per cent of women smoke during pregnancy.  This harms foetal growth and development, with smokers three times more likely to have a baby with low birth weight — a leading cause o

AP UNDER HEATWAVE

Severe heat wave conditions prevailed in Andhra Pradesh today with several places in the state recording maximum temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius. Rentachintala in coastal Andhra Pradesh recorded a maximum temperature of 46 degrees Celsius, followed by 44 degrees Celsius in Nandigama, Ongole, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and Kurnool in the past 24 hours as per observations recorded at 08.30 hours today. Maximum temperatures hovered around 40 degrees Celsius at several other places. The searing heat resulted in less traffic on the roads during day time. The misery of the people was compounded with erratic power supply, especially in rural and semi-urban areas. The heat wave conditions would prevail in the districts of Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur and Krishna in coastal Andhra Pradesh and in the districts of Chittoor and Kurnool of Rayalaseema, Met office said. An official release from the Disaster Management Commissioner said senior citizens, children and heart patient

DADA GETS PHALKE AWARD

  Bollywood veteran actor Pran Krishan Sikand being honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award by I&B Minister Manish Tewari at his residence in Mumbai on 10th MAY 2013. .

NEW DEVICE THAT TWEETS WHEN DIAPER GETS WET

A new device that sends a tweet to parents when their baby has wet his diaper has been developed. TweetPee is a small device that looks like a bird, with a sensor that clips to a diaper. When the diaper is wet, it will alert parents by sending a tweet. The device developed by Huggies works with a TweetPee app that lets parents monitor diaper moisture, CBSNews.com reported. It will also help parents to keep count of the average amount of diapers their baby uses. A spokesperson for Kimberly-Clark Corp, which owns Huggies, said that the device is real, but it is only being tested on four parents. The tests may expand to include 10 parents by July. The company said the device was created to activate the new app, which helps parents monitor their supply of diapers.

NANO THERAPY FOR DIABETICS

In a good news for diabetes patients, researchers have developed a smart network of nano-particles that can be injected into the body to release insulin when blood-sugar levels rise. The technique was able to maintain normal blood sugar levels for more than a week in animal-based laboratory tests. "We've created a 'smart' system that is injected into the body and responds to changes in blood sugar by releasing insulin, effectively controlling blood-sugar levels," said Dr Zhen Gu, lead author of the paper. "We've tested the technology in mice, and one injection was able to maintain blood sugar levels in the normal range for up to 10 days," Gu said. Currently, diabetes patients must take frequent blood samples to monitor their blood-sugar levels and inject insulin as needed to ensure their blood sugar levels are in the "normal" range. However, these injections can be painful, and it can be difficult to determine the accurate

BORROWING MONEY FOR FOOD

One in five UK households borrowed money or used savings to cover food costs in April, indicating that many families were stretched to their financial breaking point. According to a survey, an equivalent of five million households used credit cards, overdrafts or savings to buy food. The consumer group 'Which?' that conducted a monthly insight tracker survey focused on spending and behaviour of 2,000 people for its poll. Which? executive director Richard Lloyd described the findings as "simply shocking". The figures come despite official statistics last week showing that personal insolvencies have dropped to their lowest levels in five years, the BBC reported. Of the households covered by the Which? survey, 43 per cent were headed by people between 30 and 50, and just under half had incomes under 21,000 pounds. The research found that 55 per cent of those using credit to do weekly shopping planned to cut back on food in the coming months, with almost
In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, left, is welcomed by Pope Francis as he returns at the Vatican from the pontifical summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, 35 km South-Est from Rome, Thursday, May 2, 2013. Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI came home on Thursday to a new house and a new pope, as an unprecedented era begins of a retired pontiff living side-by-side with a reigning one inside the Vatican gardens.

MAHATMA'S BELONGINGS ON AUCTION TABLE

Gandhi's personal effects, documents to be auctioned in UK From H S Rao London, May 2 (PTI) Mahatma Gandhi's personal effects and documents, including his prayer beads, drinking cup, bed sheet and ivory-carved 'Three Wise Monkeys', will go under the hammer in the UK this month. Articles included in the sale are those which belonged to the Father of the nation when he was recovering from illness at Juhu in 1924. The articles up for sale in Ludlow, include his personal prayer beads, shawl, made from linen thread he spun himself, bed sheet, personal bowl with fork and spoon, personal drinking cup and even his personal ivory-carved 'Three Wise Monkeys'. The sale takes place on May 21, during the next Mullock's Auction of important historical documents at Ludlow Racecourse in the English Midlands. Also in the sale is Gandhi's will and power of attorney which he wrote in 1921, and a series of important letters. One of these, written in 1937

IT'S A COLDBLOODED MURDER

A former Indian spy, who had spent some time with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari behind the3 bars in a Pakistani jail, feels Sarabjit Singh may have been killed in an attack planned by the ISI. "I don't have any doubt that the attack on Sarabjit was pre-planned and was the handiwork of ISI and jail officials though other people attacked him. Now, two prisoners are being made sacrificial goats," said Mehbood Elahi, who was Zardari's jailmate at the Karachi Central Jail for a few months between 1986-87 during the Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq regime. Elahi claimed that in 1977 he was given a blank cheque by jail and ISI officials to assassinate a top Pakistani leader who was then in Lahore jail. "It is impossible for other prisoners to attack Sarabjit. I myself had been in Pakistani jails for 20 years. I know very well that Pakistani prisoners never attack Indian or Bangladeshi prisoners who are kept in separate cells," Elahi told PTI here. Elahi,