What is your new year resolution?

hi folks happy new year to all of you

EBOLA - FASTER THAN ECOMMERCE AND EFINANCE

Where does the disease come from?

Ebola was first discovered in 1976, and it was once thought to originate in gorillas, because human outbreaks began after people ate gorilla meat. But scientists have since ruled out that theory, partly because apes that become infected are even more likely to die than humans.

Scientists now believe that bats are the natural reservoir for the virus, and that apes and humans catch it from eating food that bats have drooled or defecated on, or by coming in contact with surfaces covered in infected bat droppings and then touching their eyes or mouths.

The current outbreak seems to have started in a village near Guéckédou, Guinea, where bat hunting is common, according to Doctors Without Borders.

How does the disease progress?

Symptoms usually appear about eight to 10 days after exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At first, it seems much like the flu: a headache, fever and aches and pains. Sometimes there is also a rash. Diarrhea and vomiting follow.

Then, in about half of the cases, Ebola takes a severe turn, causing victims to hemorrhage. They may vomit blood or pass it in urine, or bleed under the skin or from their eyes or mouths. But bleeding is not usually what kills patients. Rather, blood vessels deep in the body begin leaking fluid, causing blood pressure to plummet so low that the heart, kidneys, liver and other organs begin to fail.

How is the disease treated?

There is no vaccine or definitive cure for Ebola, and in past outbreaks the virus has been fatal in 60 to 90 percent of cases. The United States government plans to fast-track development of a vaccine shown to protect macaque monkeys, but there is no guarantee it will be effective in humans. The question of who should have access to the scarce supplies of an experimental medicine has become a hotly debated ethical question. Beyond this, all physicians can do is try to nurse people through the illness, using fluids and medicines to maintain blood pressure, and treat other infections that often strike their weakened bodies. A small percentage of people appear to have an immunity to the Ebola virus.

How contagious is the virus?

You are not likely to catch Ebola just by being in proximity with someone who has the virus; it is not airborne, like the flu or respiratory viruses such as SARS.

Instead, Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. If an infected person’s blood or vomit gets in another person’s eyes, nose or mouth, the infection may be transmitted. In the current outbreak, most new cases are occurring among people who have been taking care of sick relatives or who have prepared an infected body for burial.

Health care workers are at high risk, especially if they have not been properly equipped with or trained to use and decontaminate protective gear correctly.

The virus can survive on surfaces, so any object contaminated with bodily fluids, like a latex glove or a hypodermic needle, may spread the disease.

Why is Ebola so difficult to contain?

The epidemic is growing faster than efforts to keep up with it, and it will take months before governments and health workers in the region can get the upper hand, according to Doctors Without Borders.

How does Ebola compare with other infectious diseases in the news?

The biggest headlines have tended to involve outbreaks of deadly viruses that medical workers have few, if any, tools to combat. The four most prominent are compared below. No cure is known for any of them, nor has any vaccine yet been approved for human use.

	Ebola	Marburg	MERS	SARS
Emerged / identified	1976; latest outbreak in 2014	1967; latest major outbreak in 2005	2012-2013	2002-2003
Locus	Originally, Congo Basin and central Africa; latest strain, West Africa	Originally, central Europe; latest major outbreak, Angola	Arabian peninsula	Southern China
Suspected source	Fruit bats, by way of monkeys and other animals	Fruit bats, sometimes by way of monkeys	Bats, by way of camels	Bats, by way of civets
Type of virus	Filovirus	Filovirus	Coronavirus	Coronavirus
Type of illness	Hemorrhagic fever	Hemorrhagic fever	Respiratory syndrome	Respiratory syndrome
Fatality rate in outbreaks	50% to 90%	24% to 88%	About 30%	About 10%
Known cases	4,000+	570+	830+	8,200+
Known deaths	2700+	470+	290+	775+
Person-to-person transmission	Readily by close contact or fluids; not by aerosol	Readily by close contact or fluids; not by aerosol	Not very readily; mechanism unclear	Very readily by aerosol, fluids or close contact

NOW THE SUGAR FREE WILL BECOME WORRY FREE : INSULIN PILL FOR DIABETIS

Happened to read this news.  Thought of sharing it as it will be a boon to many.

LONDON: In a big breakthrough, Indian scientists have done what medical science has been trying to achieve since 1930 - an insulin pill for diabetics.

Since insulin's crucial discovery nearly a century ago, countless diabetes patients have had to inject themselves with the life-saving medicine.

Now Indian scientists have reported a new development toward a long-sought insulin pill that could save millions the pain of daily shots.

Published in the American Chemical Society journal, the advance could someday not only eliminate the "ouch" factor but also get needle-wary — and weary — patients to take their medicine when they should.

For years, researchers have sought a way to transform delivery of this therapy from a shot to a pill, but it has been a challenge.

The body's digestive enzymes that are so good at breaking down food also break down insulin before it can get to work.

In addition, insulin doesn't get easily absorbed through the gut into the bloodstream.

To overcome these hurdles, Sanyog Jain from India's National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research combined two approaches to shield insulin from the digestive enzymes and then get it into the blood.

They packaged insulin in tiny sacs made of lipids, or fats called liposomes, which are already used in some treatments. Then, they wrapped the liposomes in layers of protective molecules called polyelectrolytes.

To help these "layersomes" get absorbed into the bloodstream, they attached folic acid, a kind of vitamin B that has been shown to help transport liposomes across the intestinal wall into the blood.

In rats, the delivery system lowered blood glucose levels almost as much as injected insulin, though the effects of the "layersomes" lasted longer than that of injected insulin.

Diabetes inhibits the production or use of insulin, which is a hormone that helps blood glucose or blood sugar become absorbed into cells and give them energy.

Diabetes is one of India's biggest health challenges. By 2030, India's diabetes burden is expected to cross the 100 million mark, against 87 million estimated earlier.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body doesn't make enough insulin, and type 2 diabetes occurs when the body doesn't make or use insulin very well, causing glucose to remain in the blood, which can lead to serious problems.

Libby Dowling, care advisor at Diabetes UK, said "Oral insulin could make a big difference to the lives of people with diabetes. Children, elderly people and those with a phobia of needles would benefit particularly if and when insulin capsules become a safe and effective treatment for the condition. Although more research is needed, Diabetes UK would very much like to see insulin capsules one day become a reality."

She added, "Many people with Type 2 diabetes take diabetes tablets. They are not the same as insulin. As yet insulin cannot be taken in tablet form because it would be broken down in the stomach before it could work. Diabetes tablets work in different ways to lower blood glucose levels - for example by stimulating the pancreas to produce more insulin, or by helping the body to use the insulin that it does produce more effectively"

Nelson mandela's adieu to the world

May the great man's soul rest in peace. On this sad occasion, let us remember some of the things that happened in his life.

Nelson Mandela was convicted of sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the government.

9. During his time in prison, Mandela was restricted to a 2m x 2.5m cell, with nothing but a bedroll on the floor and a bucket for sanitation in it. He was consigned to hard labour in a lime quarry for much of that time and was, at first, only allowed one visitor and one letter every six months.

10. The apartheid government offered to release Mandela on no less than six occasions but he rejected them each time. On one such occasion Mandela released a statement saying: "I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom ... What freedom am I being offered while the organisation of the people [the ANC] remains banned?"

11. Mandela wrote a memoir during the 70s, copies of which were wrapped in plastic containers and buried in a vegetable garden which he kept at prison. It was hoped that fellow prisoner Mac Maharaj, who was due for release, would be able to smuggle it out. But the containers were discovered when prison authorities began building a wall through the garden. As punishment, Mandela's study privileges were revoked.

The ANC was labelled a terrorist organisation by the apartheid government and was recognised as such by countries including the US and Britain. It was only in 2008 that the United States finally removed Mandela and other ANC members from its terror list.

14. The United Nations declared his birthday, July 18, Nelson Mandela International Day. This was the first time the UN dedicated a particular day to a person.

15. Hundreds of awards and honours have been bestowed on Mandela. Among others, he is an honorary citizen of Canada, an honorary member of the British Labour Party, and an honorary member of Manchester United. He also had a nuclear particle (the 'Mandela particle'), a prehistoric woodpecker (Australopicus nelsonmandelai) and an orchid (Paravanda Nelson Mandela) named after him.

 

what a great man he was!

 

A tribute to Sir C.V. Raman, who produced the Raman Effect.

 

 

One of the most prominent Indian scientists in history, C.V. Raman was the first Indian person to win the Nobel Prize in science for his illustrious 1930 discovery, now commonly known as the “Raman Effect”. It is immensely surprising that Raman used an equipment worth merely Rs.200 to make this discovery. The Raman Effect is now examined with the help of equipment worth almost millions of rupees

 

The Blue of the Sea

When the blue of the sky was thought to be due to the reflection of the sunlight by the sea, it flashed to C.V. Raman that the blue color might be caused by the scattering of the sun’s light by water molecules. Next year he published a lengthy article on the molecular scattering of light.

 

When a beam of monochromatic light passes through a transparent substance (a substance which allows light to pass through it), the beam is scattered. Raman spent a long time in the study of the scattered light.. On February 28, 1928, he observed two low intensity spectral line corresponding to the incident mono- chromatic light. Years of his labor had borne fruit. It was clear that though the incident light was monochromatic, the scattered light due to it, was not monochromatic.Thus Raman’s experiments discovered a phenomenon which was lying hidden in nature.

The 16th of March 1928 is a memorable day in the history of science. On that day a meeting was held under the joint auspices of the South Indian Science Association and the Science Club of Central College, Bangalore; Raman was the Chief Guest. He announced the new phenomenon discovered by him to the world. He also acknowledged with affection the assistance given by K.S. Krishnan and Venkateshwaran, who were his students.

World-Wide Interest in Raman Effect

Investigations making use of the Raman Effect began in many countries. During the first twelve years after its discovery, about 1800 research papers were published on various aspects of it and about 2500 chemical compounds were studied. Raman Effect was highly praised as one of the greatest discoveries of the third decade of this century.
After the ‘lasers’ (devices that produce intense beams of light, their name coming from the initial letters of ‘Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) came into use in the 1960′s, it became easier to get monochromatic light of very high intensity for experiments. This brought back scientific interest in Raman Effect, and the interest remains alive to this day

yoga

You Ought to Give Attention!

Please do not ignore the following pains

No. 1: Worst Headache of Your Life
No. 2: Pain or Discomfort in the Chest, Throat, Jaw, Shoulder, Arm, or Abdomen
No. 3: Pain in Lower Back or Between Shoulder BladesSevere Abdominal Pain
No. 4: Severe Abdominal Pain
No 5: Calf Pain
No.6: Vague, Combined, or Medically Unexplained Pains
No.7:  Burning Feet or Legs

As they may be the warning signs of major illnesses.  Kindly consult a doctor and rule out the possibility.  Have a happy and healthy life.