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Defending the increase of milk prices and bus fares as a 'painful'

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:47:00 +0530

Chennai: Defending the increase of milk prices and bus fares as a 'painful' decision taken by her government, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today slammed opposition parties, including her erstwhile allies, for criticising it out of 'political reasons'

Jayalalithaa also came down on her archrival and DMK chief M Karunanidhi for flaying the state Cabinet decision, saying he was "shedding crocodile tears" and people were aware of it.

Various political parties including DMK, actor-politican Vijaykant's DMDK and Left parties have criticised the steep increase in the prices of milk sold by state-owned Aavin and bus fare announced by Jayalalithaa.

In a statement here, she said her Cabinet on November 17 took 'the painful decision' to increase the prices to save the PSUs -- Aavin and state transport corporations, left in 'bad health' by the previous DMK Government.

"We were forced to hike prices as we had no other choice. People should realise this and not give into the statements (by opposition leaders)," she said requesting their cooperation.

Jayalalithaa dismissed as a 'bag of lies' Karunanidhi's statement that despite officials' request, he had not allowed hiking the prices of milk and bus fares. "He is only pretending to speak for the people. They are aware of his crocodile tears," she added.

Taking a dig at DMDK and the Left parties, which had contested the April assembly polls in alliance with AIADMK but parted ways ahead of last month's civic polls, Jayalalithaa accused their leaders of adopting 'double standards' saying they had earlier expressed concern over the state of the PSUs.

Prior to the assembly polls, these parties had conveyed to her their concern over DMK's administrative 'mismanagement' and other issues affecting people."They had said only I can fix these issues by virtue of bold, tough measures," she said.

"Let their conscience decide if it is right for them to issue statements condemning the hike now," she said.

Intelligence is a very difficult concept

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:43:00 +0530

Intelligence is a very difficult concept to define. Intellect is described as “the power of the mind to think in a logical manner and acquire knowledge” [1]. Even psychology experts have not agreed upon what this actually means [2]. Intelligence can be divided into various subcategories such as reasoning, problem solving, and memory, and so creating a consistent scale by which one can measure intelligence is quite difficult.

Many researchers working on intelligence use a psychometric definition for intelligence, termed “general mental ability” or the “g factor”. This concept originated from the work of Sir Francis Galton and Charles Spearman [3] of the London School of psychology. Today many psychometricians worldwide accept the theory of general mental ability. According to this theory, on average, those who do well on one mental test also are likely to do well on other mental tests.

In most genetic studies, researchers lump the different subcategories of intelligence into Intelligence Quotient (IQ), a single scale used to quantify intelligence. The concept of IQ was first developed by Alfred Binet, a French psychologist and lawyer, in 1905. In 1914 Stern, a German psychologist, created the measurement scale of IQ by dividing the subject’s mental age by his or her chronological age. Later Terman, a professor at Stanford University, removed the decimal from Stern’s formula by multiplying it by 100. Wechsler developed a similar test for adults called the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale [4].

To determine whether scores such as IQs are of genetic or environmental origin, scientific validation is required. Arthur Jensen points to the statistical and biological realities of the g factor. The correlation of g with the overall size of brain, its glucose metabolic rate during problem solving, the complexity and speed of brain waves, as well as estimates of heritability point towards genetic influence [2].

Genetics of Intelligence

The study of intelligence genetics examines how much and by what manner mental abilities are affected by genes. Since many genetic and environmental factors influence intelligence, it is considered a complex trait. However, we do not know much about the quantity and character of genes responsible for mental abilities. We know even less about the factors responsible for expression of these genes.

Intelligence is of primary interest to human genetic research. The first methodical set of experimental observations can be traced back to Galton’s work in 1865, a year before Mendel’s influential article on the laws of heredity [5]. Galton evaluated the transmission of several traits in families using statistical tools. He concluded that many traits including mental ability are genetically transmitted and normally distributed in the general population. He did not analyze the role of the common environment within the families, biasing his conclusions towards the genetic. He did, however, recognize significant general principles such as regression to the mean in children of parents with extreme phenotypic traits.

The first adoptee and twin studies on intelligence were carried out in 1920s. Later animal studies on maze-bright and maze-dull rats investigated individual differences in intelligence. Studies on inbred mice also demonstrated the critical role of genetics in individual differences for aspects of learning. By the 1960s genetic studies on intelligence resulted in declining interest in the environmental origins of intelligence in psychology, enhancing acceptance of a genetic influence on intellect [reviewed in 6]. Then in 1969, in the Harvard Educational Review Jensen suggested that while cultural factors contributed to the 15-point difference in average IQ between black and white Americans, genes could not be ruled out. This declaration made Jensen a target of student protests, acts of vandalism, death threats, and introduced the word “Jensenism” [2]. However, Jensen pointed to an issue that brought strong criticism to genetic research on intelligence, leading to a generation of bigger behavioral genetic studies.

Large sample size studies in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins raised together show an average correlation of .86 for MZ twins, while the correlation for DZ twins is only .60. Twenty-five years later, in The Bell Curve, Herrnstein and Murray [7] claimed that intelligence is strongly inherited with a heritability estimation of .60 + .2 within whites. Based on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), a federal project testing over 10,000 youths in the 1980′s, they declared that social intervention had very little effect on IQ. A large group of scientists and researchers see this claim as racist.

The g factor has a normal distribution in the general population, suggesting g is probably a product of several genes that interact with the environment. Moreover, although g correlates with the parental value, it has a tendency to be closer to the population mean, suggesting a regression to the mean. These observations suggest that some genetic variants that influence g will vary between populations rather than within populations. For instance, certain Asian populations have a frequency of 0.60 in COMT Met158 allele, which predicts lower COMT-enzyme activity and thereby better cognitive performance, while Caucasians have a frequency of 0.42 for the same allele [8].

Studies show a moderate increase in g over time in developed countries, correlating with improvements in nutrition, health and education. Environmental conditions such as socio-economic status have been shown to play a significant role in intelligence. A study by Wahlsten [9] showed that children transferred from a home with low socio-economic status to a home with high socio-economic status improved their test scores as much as 16 points. Moreover, in a study by Plomin et al. there was a .19 correlation for adoptive parents and their adopted children and a .32 correlation for the adopted siblings who had no genetic relatedness, suggesting the shared environment could be responsible for a third of the total variance of g between individuals [6]. It has been reported that heritability for intelligence increases during development, resulting in heritability as high as 80% in adulthood while there is also some evidence that heritability might be lower in adulthood than in childhood [10,11].

Molecular Biology of Intelligence

The correlation between DNA sequence and behavioral differences such as intelligence is considered causal because DNA variations can lead to behavioral differences but behavioral differences do not change DNA sequences [6] . Several methods have been used for DNA research including linkage and association studies.

In contrast to Mendel’s second law of independent assortment, if two genes or a gene and a DNA marker located on the same chromosome are close they can be inherited together within families. This is called linkage. Linkage studies have discovered the location of many single-gene disorders. However, linkage studies are only useful in situations that a single gene has a very large effect: Huntington’s disease, for example.

Cognitive problems including learning disabilities or dementia appear to be complex disorders affected by both multiple genes and environment. Multiple-gene systems result in dimensions (quantitative traits) as opposed to disorders (qualitative dichotomies). Hence, genes in multiple-gene systems are called quantitative trait loci (QTLs). The objective of QTL study is to discover multiple genes with different effect sizes, contributing to the variation of the trait. Improved QTL linkage studies, which use many small families instead of few large ones, can be used to study the extremes of a dimension and are capable of finding genes with more than 10% effect size [6]. Cardon et al.[12] identified the first QTL linkage, a linkage for reading disability.

QTLs can also be identified with a simpler method that can detect QTLs with even much smaller effect sizes on the variance of the trait. This method is called allelic association and detects the correlation between a specific allele and trait in the population.

Benjamin et al. [13] reported one of the first associations for personality: the association between dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4), and novelty seeking. DRD4 gene has two types of alleles, short and long. Novelty seeking scores were higher in subjects with long DRD4 alleles. However, long alleles are also associated with hyperactivity [14]. Association methods have also been used to study diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease [15]. The allele associated with this disease is apolipoprotein E (APOE)-4.

QTLs associated with intelligence are being investigated under the IQ QTL Project. The project focuses on ability rather than disability. The hypothesis of this project is that being very high functioning calls for most of the positive alleles and hardly any of the negative ones. The aim is to use very high functioning individuals to identify QTLs that work all through the total distribution6. Studies of complex traits such as intelligence have 80% power to detect QTLs when they are responsible for 1% heritability. This means that when a single marker is studied, the size of an unselected sample should be about 800. Some of the studies that have used such a large-scale sample size of unselected individuals have reported positive association between normal variation in g and candidate genes including Cathepsin D (CTSD) and cholinergic muscarinic 2 receptor (CHRM2) [16,17] , and the association of catechol-o-methyltransferase gene (COMT) with working memory [18,19]. The studies need to be replicated: Wickelgren et al.[20] reported a positive association between insulin-like growth factor receptor gene with learning and memory but using a larger sample Hill et al.[21] did not find such an association. Moreover, there are many QTLs that are responsible for less than 1% heritability, which means detecting them is difficult.

Functional Genomics

While genomics provides information about what proteins could potentially be in a cell, only functional genomics determines which of those proteins actually exist. Proteins also undergo modifications and interactions that cannot be predicted from genomics alone. Functional genomics operates under three major categories: gene manipulation, gene expression profiling, and proteomics.

In gene manipulation studies the sequence of a gene of interest in an animal model can be deleted, “knocking out” the gene. This method has been used in intelligence related studies. Silva et al. [22], for example, found that knocking out a particular kinase gene interferes with mouse spatial tasks. Another approach involves “knocking down” the genes using antisense DNA, which binds a complimentary RNA and prevents its translation. Using this approach, Guzowski and McGaugh [23] reported the importance of CRE-binding protein (CREB) gene in memory formation. While knocking out or knocking down a gene can affect a behavior this does not mean that the gene causes that behavior: it is possible the gene along with hundreds of others is involved. Conversely, redundancy in living systems can result in little effect when genes are knocked down and out. Moreover, since different knock out strains can show different results, the importance of other genes is evident. Lastly, knocking out or knocking down genes of interest does not exactly parallel natural control behavior.

Gene expression can be determined by the presence of mRNA which could be transcribed into proteins. Microarrays can detect the expression of many genes at the same time. Gene expression depends on the tissue that is sampled, making the approach difficult for human studies because brain tissue is required. Nevertheless, gene expression profiling has been broadly used in mice.

Proteomics is the study the entire protein complement (proteome) of a cell, tissue or organism. The level of mRNA expression is not always a good reflection of protein level, thus proteomics yields a much more accurate snapshot of a cell’s proteome.

Conclusion

There remains a lack of scientific precision for the definition of intelligence, although many scientists use the psychometric definition, g (general cognitive ability). Whether nature or nurture influences intelligence remains a matter of debate between geneticists and environmentalists, and sits at about 50/50. Intelligence appears to be controlled in part by quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Multiple-gene systems like intelligence result in dimensions (quantitative traits) as opposed to disorders (qualitative dichotomies). The objective of QTL study is to discover multiple genes with different sized effects contributing to the variation of the trait. Several methods including linkage and association have been used for discovering the QTLs. Postgenomics holds promise for understanding the genetics of intelligence.

Glossary

psychometricians-mental testing experts

normal distribution- a distribution that can be represented as a symmetrical bell-shaped curve, with the greatest frequency in the center.

adoptee and twin studies- adopted individuals can acquire traits from their adopted family only environmentally, and from their biological parents only genetically, making them ideal for study of environmental/genetic effects. Twins raised apart share genetic material, but have different environments.

effect size-strength of the relationship of two variables, calculated by dividing the difference between two population means by their standard deviation

Scientists Use Gold Nanorods to Flag Brain Tumors

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:58:00 +0530

ScienceDaily (Oct. 12, 2011) — "It's not brain surgery" is a phrase often uttered to dismiss a job's difficulty, but when the task actually is removing a brain tumor, even the slightest mistake could have serious health consequences. To help surgeons in such high-pressure situations, researchers from Prof. Adam Wax's team at Duke University's Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics and Biomedical Engineering Department have proposed a way to harness the unique optical properties of gold nanoparticles to clearly distinguish a brain tumor from the healthy, and vital, tissue that surrounds it.

Current techniques for outlining brain tumors vary, but all have limitations, such as the inability to perform real-time imaging without big, expensive equipment, or the toxicity and limited lifespan of certain labeling agents. Gold nanoparticles -- which are so small that 500 of them end-to-end could fit across a human hair -- might provide a better way to flag tumorous tissue, since they are non-toxic and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

The Duke researchers synthesized gold, rod-shaped nanoparticles with varying length-to-width ratios. The different-sized particles displayed different optical properties, so by controlling the nanorods' growth the team could "tune" the particles to scatter a specific frequency of light. The researchers next joined the tuned particles to antibodies that bind to growth factor receptor proteins found in unusually high concentrations on the outside of cancer cells. When the antibodies latched on to cancer cells, the gold nanoparticles marked their presence.

The team tested the method by bathing slices of tumor-containing mouse brain in a solution of gold nanoparticles merged with antibodies. Shining the tuned frequency of light on the sample revealed bright points where the tumors lurked. The tunability of the gold nanoparticles is important, says team member Kevin Seekell, because it allows researchers to choose from a window of light frequencies that are not readily absorbed by biological tissue. It might also allow researchers to attach differently tuned nanoparticles to different antibodies, providing a way to diagnose different types of tumors based the specific surface proteins the cancer cells display. Future work by the team will also focus on developing a surgical probe that can image gold nanoparticles in a living brain, Seekell says

Tamil Nadu Local Body Election Results

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:23:00 +0530

Chennai Corporation ADMK Mayor candidate Saidai Duraisamy Leads

Chennai, Oct 21: Tamil nadu local body elections took place all over tamilnadu on 17th and 19th.. Counting started today.

In Chennai Corporation ADMK mayor candidate Saidai Duraisamy leads by 2060 Votes against DMK candidate M. Subramanian.
Candidate NameVotes

S.SAIDAI DURAISAMY (AIADMK) 68,439
MA.SUBRAMANIAN (DMK) 41383
G.VELMURUGAN (DMDK) 6564
N.MANOHARAN (MDMK) 2348
A.K.MOORTHY (PMK) 2929
SAIDAI RAVI (Congress) 3055
P.G.PARAMESH BABU (BSP) 695

Col Gaddafi killed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:02:00 +0530

Muammar Gaddafi is the latest in a long line of despots, tyrants and global terrorists to be captured or killed.
He died just five months after the most wanted international fugitive of the 21st Century, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, met his end.
Bin Laden survived on the run for a decade before a group of US Navy Seals burst into his hideaway and shot him dead on May 2, 2011.
Rather than a remote mountain cave, where many assumed him to be, bin laden was discovered living in a large house with members of his family in the garrison town of Abbottabad in Pakistan.
His body was flown to Afghanistan so buried at sea within 24 hours of his death.
Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein lived less well than Osama bin Laden while evading an intense manhunt for eight months following the fall of Baghdad in 2003.
Saddam was found and captured by US forces at a farm house near his former power base in Tikrit in December of that year.
He was dragged from a hole looking dishevelled having grown long straggly hair and a bushy beard.
Saddam was tried in Iraq and found guilty of crimes against humanity before being executed by hanging in December 2006.
Radovan Karadic, the former Bosnian Serb leader, remained on the run for 12 years.
During that time he worked under an alias at a private medical clinic in Belgrade before finally being arrested in 2008.
After years on the run Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military leader and accused war criminal, was captured in May this year at a house in a village in northern Serbia.
In 1989 Nicolae Ceaucescu, who ruled Romania for more two decades, died at the hands of his own people.
He was captured and put to death by firing squad, along with his wife, after a two hour trial.
In 2006 former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, known as the "Butcher of the Balkans," was found dead from a heart attack in his cell in The Hague.
He had been handed to the UN war crimes tribunal but died mid-trial.

Microring Device Could Aid in Future Optical Technologies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:34:00 +0530

Microring Device

Researchers at Purdue University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have created a device small enough to fit on a computer chip that converts continuous laser light into numerous ultrashort pulses, a technology that might have applications in more advanced sensors, communications systems and laboratory instruments.

"These pulses repeat at very high rates, corresponding to hundreds of billions of pulses per second," said Andrew Weiner, the Scifres Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The tiny "microring resonator" is about 80 micrometers, or the width of a human hair, and is fabricated from silicon nitride, which is compatible with silicon material widely used for electronics. Infrared light from a laser enters the chip through a single optical fiber and is directed by a structure called a waveguide into the microring.

The pulses have many segments corresponding to different frequencies, which are called "comb lines" because they resemble teeth on a comb when represented on a graph.

By precisely controlling the frequency combs, researchers hope to create advanced optical sensors that detect and measure hazardous materials or pollutants, ultrasensitive spectroscopy for laboratory research, and optics-based communications systems that transmit greater volumes of information with better quality while increasing bandwidth. The comb technology also has potential for a generation of high-bandwidth electrical signals with possible applications in wireless communications and radar.

The light originates from a continuous-wave laser, also called a single-frequency laser.

"This is a very common type of laser," Weiner said. "The intensity of this type of laser is constant, not pulsed. But in the microring the light is converted into a comb consisting of many frequencies with very nice equal spacing. The microring comb generator may serve as a competing technology to a special type of laser called a mode-locked laser, which generates many frequencies and short pulses. One advantage of the microrings is that they can be very small."

The laser light undergoes "nonlinear interaction" while inside the microring, generating acomb of new frequencies that is emitted out of the device through another optical fiber.

"The nonlinearity is critical to the generation of the comb," said doctoral student Fahmida Ferdous. "With the nonlinearity we obtain a comb of many frequencies, including the original one, and the rest are new ones generated in the microring."

Findings are detailed in a research paper appearing online this month in the journal Nature Photonics. The paper is scheduled for publication in the Dec. 11 issue.

Although other researchers previously have demonstrated the comb-generation technique, the team is the first to process the frequencies using "optical arbitrary waveform technology," pioneered by Purdue researchers led by Weiner. The researchers were able to control the amplitude and phase of each spectral line, learning that there are two types of combs -- "highly coherent" and "partially coherent" -- opening up new avenues to study the physics of the process.

"In future investigations, the ability to extract the phase of individual comb lines may furnish clues into the physics of the comb-generation process," Ferdous said. "Future work will include efforts to create devices that have the proper frequency for commercial applications."

The silicon-nitride device was fabricated by a team led by Houxun Miao, a researcher at NIST's Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology and the Maryland Nanocenter at the University of Maryland. Some of the work was performed at the Birck Nanotechnology Center in Purdue's Discovery Park, and experiments demonstrating short-pulse generation were performed in Purdue's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The effort at Purdue is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the Naval Postgraduate School.

Nano fuel Used to Generate Extreme Ultraviolet Light Pulses

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:27:00 +0530

If you want to avoid spilling when you are pouring liquids in the kitchen you may appreciate a funnel. Funnels are not only useful tools in the kitchen. Light can also be efficiently concentrated with funnels. In this case, the funnels have to be about 10.000-times smaller.

An international team of scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon (South Korea), the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) in Garching (Germany), and the Georgia State University (GSU) in Atlanta (USA) has now managed to concentrate the energy of infrared light pulses with a nano funnel and use the concentrated energy to generate extreme ultraviolet light flashes. These flashes, which repeated 75 million times per second, lasted only a few femtoseconds. The new technology can help in the future to measure the movement of electrons with the highest spatial and temporal resolution.

Light is convertible. The wavelengths composing the light can change through interactions with matter, where both the type of material and shape of the material are important for the frequency conversion. An international team of scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ), and the Georgia State University (GSU) has now modified light waves with a nano funnel made out of silver. The scientists converted femtosecond laser pulses in the infrared spectral range to femtosecond light flashes in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV). Ultrashort, pulsed EUV light is used in laser physics to explore the inside of atoms and molecules. A femtosecond lasts only a millionth of a billionth of a second.

Light in the infrared (IR) can be converted to the EUV by a process known as high-harmonic generation, whereby the atoms are exposed to a strong electric field from the IR laser pulses. These fields have to be as strong as the fields holding the atom together. With these fields electrons can be extracted from the atoms and accelerated with full force back onto the atoms. Upon impact highly energetic radiation in the EUV is generated.

To reach the necessary strong electric fields for the production of EUV light, the team of scientists has now combined this scheme with a nano funnel in order to concentrate the electric field of the light. With their new technology, they were able to create a powerful EUV light source with wavelengths down to 20 nanometers. The light source exhibits a so far unreached high repetition rate: the few femtoseconds lasting EUV light flashes are repeated 75 million times per second.

The core of the experiment was a small, only a few micrometers long, slightly elliptical funnel made out of silver and filled with xenon gas. The tip of the funnel was only ca. 100 nanometers wide. The infrared light pulses were sent into the funnel entrance where they travel through towards the small exit. The electromagnetic forces of the light result in density fluctuations of the electrons on the inside of the funnel. Here, a small patch of the metal surface was positively charged, the next one negative and so on, resulting in new electromagnetic fields on the inside of the funnel, which are called surface plasmon polaritons. The surface plasmon polaritons travel towards the tip of the funnel, where the conical shape of the funnel results in a concentration of their fields. “The field on the inside of the funnel can become a few hundred times stronger than the field of the incident infrared light. This enhanced field results in the generation of EUV light in the Xe gas.”, explains Prof. Mark Stockman from GSU.

The nano funnel has yet another function. Its small opening at the exit acts as “doorman” for light wavelengths. Not every opening is passable for light. If the opening is smaller than half of a wavelength, the other side remains dark. The 100 nanometer large opening of the funnel did not allow the infrared light at 800 nm to pass. The generated EUV pulses with wavelengths down to 20 nanometers passed, however, without problems. “The funnel acts as an efficient wavelength filter: at the small opening only EUV light comes out.”, explains Prof. Seung-Woo Kim from KAIST, where the experiments were conducted.

“Due to their short wavelength and potentially short pulse duration reaching into the attosecond domain, extreme ultraviolet light pulses are an important tool for the exploration of electron dynamics in atoms, molecules and solids”, explains Seung-Woo Kim. Electrons are extremely fast, moving on attosecond timescales (an attosecond is a billionth of a billionth of a second). In order to capture a moving electron, light flashes are needed, which are shorter than the timescale of the motion. Attosecond light flashes have become a familiar tool in the exploration of electron motion. With the conventional techniques, they can only be repeated a few thousand times per second. This can change with the nano funnel. “We assume that the few femtosecond light flashes consist of trains of attosecond pulses”, argues Matthias Kling, group leader at MPQ. “With such pulse trains, we should be able to conduct experiments with attosecond time resolution at very high repetition rate.”

The repetition rate is important for e.g. the application of EUV pulses in electron spectroscopy on surfaces. Electrons repel each other by Coulomb forces. Therefore, it may be necessary to restrict the experimental conditions such that only a single electron is generated per laser shot. With low repetition rates, long data acquisition times would be required in order to achieve sufficient experimental resolution. “In order to conduct experiments with high spatial and temporal resolution within a sufficiently short time, a high repetition rate EUV source is needed”, explains Kling. The novel combination of laser technology and nanotechnology can help in the future to record movies of ultrafast electron motion on surfaces with so far unreached temporal and spatial resolution in the attosecond-nanometer domain.

Herschel Telescope Detects Oxygen Molecules in Space

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:09:00 +0530

PASADENA, Calif. – The Herschel Space Observatory's large telescope and state-of-the-art infrared detectors have provided the first confirmed finding of oxygen molecules in space. The molecules were discovered in the Orion star-forming complex.

Individual atoms of oxygen are common in space, particularly around massive stars. But molecular oxygen, which makes up about 20 percent of the air we breathe, has eluded astronomers until now.

"Oxygen gas was discovered in the 1770s, but it's taken us more than 230 years to finally say with certainty that this very simple molecule exists in space," said Paul Goldsmith, NASA's Herschel project scientist at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Goldsmith is lead author of a recent paper describing the findings in the Astrophysical Journal. Herschel is a European Space Agency-led mission with important NASA contributions.

Astronomers searched for the elusive molecules in space for decades using balloons, as well as ground- and space-based telescopes. The Swedish Odin telescope spotted the molecule in 2007, but the sighting could not be confirmed.

Goldsmith and his colleagues propose that oxygen is locked up in water ice that coats tiny dust grains. They think the oxygen detected by Herschel in the Orion nebula was formed after starlight warmed the icy grains, releasing water, which was converted into oxygen molecules.

"This explains where some of the oxygen might be hiding," said Goldsmith. "But we didn't find large amounts of it, and still don't understand what is so special about the spots where we find it. The universe still holds many secrets."

The researchers plan to continue their hunt for oxygen molecules in other star-forming regions.

"Oxygen is the third most common element in the universe and its molecular form must be abundant in space," said Bill Danchi, Herschel program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Herschel is proving a powerful tool to probe this unsolved mystery. The observatory gives astronomers an innovative tool to look at a whole new set of wavelengths where the tell-tale signature of oxygen may be hiding."

Herschel is a European Space Agency cornerstone mission, with science instruments provided by consortia of European institutes. NASA's Herschel Project Office is based at JPL, which contributed mission-enabling technology for two of Herschel's three science instruments. The NASA Herschel Science Center, part of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, supports the U.S. astronomical community. Caltech manages JPL for NASA....

Motorola Mobility

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:09:00 +0530

Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) on Tuesday announced its latest smartphone, confirming many of the rumors and spec leaks that had already begun to surround the handset.

The Motorola Droid Razr

It's called the "Droid Razr," its body is partially made of Kevlar, it has a 4.3-inch Gorilla Glass display, it's a 4G LTE device and it's headed to the Verizon Wireless Network.

Motorola touts the Droid Razr's ultra-thin, lightweight design, in keeping with the Razr line's penchant for slimline devices. However, slimness alone is becoming less and less of a truly standout attribute among phones.

"You could use adjectives like 'thinner' and 'lighter' for devices from every other vendor out there," Ramon Llamas, a senior research analyst at IDC, told TechNewsWorld.

"The only thing they might have going for them is the Kevlar," said Michael Morgan, a senior analyst at ABI Research.

The back of the device incorporates Kevlar fiber, Motorola Mobility spokesperson Christa Smith told TechNewsWorld.

Slicing Into the Droid Razr's Guts

The Droid Razr measures about 5 inches by 2.7 inches by 0.27 inches and weighs less than 4.5 ounces.

It has a Super AMOLED Advanced touchscreen measuring 4.3 inches and a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor. It offers Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity and can serve as a WiFi hotspot

The device is claimed to be the first smartphone that can stream movies and TV shows through Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) with HD resolution.

The Droid Razr has an 8 MP 1080p HD camera in the rear and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera. It can capture and play back HD video. Other features include an eGPS and eCompass.

Preloaded applications include Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Mobile Services and MotoCast, a free app from Motorola that lets users stream or download media from PCs to the phone.

The Droid Razr runs Android 2.3.5 and has a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor. It can double as a 4G LTE mobile hotspot.

The device also has remote wipe, PIN lock and government-grade encryption.

A water-repellent coating protects the device inside and out.

The Droid Razr will be available exclusively from Verizon Wireless in the United States. It will go on sale in November at US$300 with a two-year contract.

The Glory That Was Razr

Motorola appears to be trying to capitalize on the Razr brand -- the Razr was the hottest cellphone on the market when it was introduced in 2004.

However, "The Razr was great, but it came and went," IDC's Llamas said.

Motorola plans to offer the Droid Razr to every possible market.

"Droid Razr meets certain government-grade security features so is suitable for consumers, enterprises or governments concerned about the security of their device," Motorola's Smith said.

Joining the 4G Parade

"Looking at the market, I'd say the Droid Razr is an average WIMAX or LTE 4G smartphone," ABI's Morgan told TechNewsWorld.

"They've all got dual-core processors, WiFi hotspot functionality and a wide display," Morgan added. "Unfortunately, the Droid Razr's looking like another attempt at making an LTE handset."

The Droid Razr could be uncomfortably similar to the ill-fated Droid Bionic, which was unveiled in January, Morgan cautioned.

"I'm trying to see how it differs from the Bionic, which had problems," Morgan said.

Motorola "had to swop out some hardware, and had some delays," Morgan elaborated.

Whether or not the market responds favorably to the Droid Razr remains to be seen, but "this is part of the Droid line, which has been wildly successful at Verizon," IDC's Llamas pointed out.

Motorola also introduced the Motoactv device on Tuesday. This is a wristwatch-like device that tracks the owner's running and cycling activities and features music-player abilities.

How to improve your memory

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:29:00 +0530

Did you know a good night's sleep can improve your test scores without you doing any extra work? And a wrongly timed chocolate bar can slow your thinking right down? Your brain's very sensitive and it constantly needs to repair itself and build new connections between the cells as you learn new things.

To do this, it needs top class nutrition, a steady supply of energy, a steady supply of oxygen, and time asleep to do all its updating.

So here's how to send your brain to the spa:

Diet

Tip 1: For general brain health, you need to eat a balanced diet, containing plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Every other part of your body will benefit from this too.

Tip 2: Your brain needs a steady supply of energy, but it can only get this from a type of sugar called glucose. This glucose comes from the carbohydrates you eat, but only certain kinds of carbs will do. These include wholemeal bread, pasta, porridge and pulses, which take time for your body to break down, so release their glucose slowly and steadily. Chocolate, biscuits and other sugary snacks are sadly not good for your brain. They release their sugar so quickly that your brain will peak... but then quickly crash afterwards leaving you feeling less energised than before. Not recommended for any brainy work.

Tip 3: Your brain needs to be primed with oxygen. It gets this from exercise (Tip 6 below), but you also need to have a good supply of iron in your bloodstream. This iron comes from foods such as red meat, green leafy vegetables like spinach, dried fruit, fortified cereals, and pulses, including baked beans.

Tip 4: Don't skip breakfast (or lunch) – especially before an exam. Your brain will perform less well if you haven't eaten for hours. Brain scientists have shown that a student's test results are lower when they haven't eaten. But you need to eat the right thing. Again, junk food won't work. The brain needs those slow-releasing carbohydrates. Beans on toast for example has been shown to be particularly beneficial.

Read more here: Everyone needs breakfast – and girls need extra.Water

Tip 5: Don't go thirsty. Dehydration will affect your brain's performance. Don't go mad though – especially if you're about to sit an exam. Trips to the toilet will be a distraction.

Exercise

Tip 6: Your brain needs the rest of you to get moving, and pump the oxygen-rich blood it needs through every capillary. Studies show that exercise improves your memory capacity – and lack of it will make your brain age prematurely. So get on your bike! Your brain will thank you, and it helps you also to do Tip 7.

Sleep

Tip 7: Possibly the quickest and easiest treat for your brain – a great night's sleep. You get to rest, and your brain gets to repair itself and consolidate all the day's new learning. Even an hour less sleep can affect your test scores the next day. And experts say if you want to maximise your revision, you should get some sleep as quickly as possible after you've done it. Catnap, anyone?

Space mission revolution

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:00:00 +0530

The 1957 launch of Sputnik 1, the first Earth-orbiting satellite, sparked decades of competition in space between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Whatever the motivation, missions such as Apollo 11, Venera 9, and Cassini-Huygens have helped mankind develop an ever-widening knowledge of the Solar System and beyond.

With the end of the Cold War, competition in space exploration has increasingly given way to international collaboration.

CBI books Maran

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:55:00 +0530

Chennai, Oct 10 (ANI): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday conducted raids on the premises of former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran after registering a case against him in connection with the controversial Aircel-Maxis deal.

The agency also booked his brother Kalanidhi Maran, Maxis ownerT Ananda Krishnan, senior executive Ralph Marshall and three companies Aspro, Maxis and Sun TV.

It has been alleged by former Aircel Chief C Sivasankaran that Maran as a telecom minister favoured the Maxis-Group in the takeover of his company and in return investments were made by the company through Astro network in Sun TV owned by Maran family.

The CBI, in its recent status report to the Supreme Court, had said that during Maran's tenure there was "deliberate delay" to provide a letter of intent to Sivasankaran.

The CBI, in its 71-page status report about the 2G scam said that during 2004-07, when Maran was telecom minister, a Chennai base telecom promoter (Sivasankaran) was forced to sell the stake in Aircel to a Malaysian firm.

The CBI also said that there did seem to be "an element of coercion" in the manner in which Aircel was sold to Ananda Krishnan's Maxis empire.

The investigating agency said a probe into all irregularities in spectrum allocation during 2001-08 will be completed within three months.

The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate informed the apex court that they have conducted probe in seven destinations in foreign countries and tracking the money trail could take up to 18 more months.

The CBI in its report has also questioned the propriety of corporate affairs ministry as well as others to comment on the status of relationship between Loop Telecom and Essar. (ANI)

Andy Murray will play Rafael Nadal

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 8 Oct 2011 16:37:00 +0530

Andy Murray will play Rafael Nadal in Sunday's final of the Japan Open after a comfortable win over David Ferrer.

The British number one beat the Spaniard 6-2 6-3 to remain on course for a second successive title after winning the Thailand Open last week.

Defending champion Nadal beat American Mardy Fish 7-5 6-1 in the last four.

Murray broke his opponent three times in total as he raced to victory in one hour 21 minutes.

Looking ahead to Sunday's final he added: "I think he's played some very good tennis the last couple of matches. He's always tough. He won here last year, so he likes the conditions."

Nadal faced a tougher task in his semi-final against world number eight Mardy Fish.

"I hope that I can play a fantastic match [tomorrow]," said the top seed.

"My opponent will be very difficult, so I have to play my best match if I want to win the tournament with the title.

"But for me, being in the final here is a very, very good result. I'm very happy about it. I'll just try to do my best and enjoy a difficult match," he added.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:40:00 +0530

Srinagar: A resolution seeking clemency for 2001 parliament attack covict Afzal Guru could not come up for discussion in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly Wednesday as the house was adjourned for the day after a clash between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators.

As the present assembly session ends on October 4, the resolution tabled by independent legislator Engineer Rashid will now be taken up in the next session.

Congress and BJP legislators on Wednesday clashed near the speaker's podium over alleged corruption by some BJP members who had voted against the party whip during the last legislative council elections. The speaker then adjourned the house till Thursday.

The resolution will now be taken up in the next session. The present session ends on October 4.

Anna Hazare gets invitation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:09:00 +0530

Ralegan Siddhi, Maharashta: A two-member delegation from Pakistan on Wednesday met social activist Anna Hazare at his native village Ralegan Siddhi and extended an invitation to visit the neighbouring country.

The delegation comprised Justice Nasir Aslam Jahid, a former judge of Pakistan's Supreme Court, and Karamat Ali, a well-known peace activist.

Ali told PTI that the success of Hazare's anti-corruption movement had boosted the morale of the activists in Pakistan.

The people of Pakistan wanted Hazare to visit the country, he said.

Hazare later said that like India, Pakistan too faced a serious problem of corruption and "I would like to go there if my visit is going to help" the anti-corruption movement there.

Sri Lankan minister cannot be arrested

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:59:00 +0530

Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister for Traditional Industries, Douglas Devananda, cannot be arrested during his visit to India, in connection with the criminal charges against him as he enjoys diplomatic immunity, the Centre has informed the Madras High Court.

In his counter affidavit to a writ petition seeking a direction to the Central and Stateauthorities to arrest the Minister and prosecute him, the Under Secretary (Sri Lanka) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Kaghal Matha Praphullachandra Sharma, stated that India did not have an extradition treaty with Sri Lanka. However, under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of theExtradition Act, there was an extradition arrangement between the governments with effect from September 1, 1978. As the incumbent was a Cabinet Minister of Sri Lanka, he cannot be arrested during his visit.

In the public interest litigation petition filed in June last year, P. Pugalenthi, secretary of the Tamil Nadu Peoples’ Rights Forum, stated that the Minister was involved in three criminal cases pending before Chennai courts. A case of murder was registeredagainst him by the Choolaimedu police station in 1986. In June 1994, the Additional Sessions Judge issued a Proclamation Warrant against Mr. Devananda treating him as absconding accused.

Mr. was charged before the II Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, in March 1989 in a case registered by the Kilpauk police in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a boy and demanding ransom. Yet another case against him for alleged offences, including intimidation, was registered by the Kodambakkam police in April 1990.

The petitioner said that he had sent two representations to authorities requesting them to arrest Mr. Devananda and prosecute him. There was no response. Hence the petition. A Division Bench, comprising Justices C. Nagappan and M. Sathyanarayanan, adjourned the matter by four weeks.

I'm thankful to the BCCI for extending our contract:Srikanth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:39:00 +0530

NEW DELHI: Selection committee chairmanKrishnamachari Srikkanth, whose tenure has been extended by the BCCI,
feels the England tour was a "bad dream" and it is time for Indian cricket to move on. "I'm thankful to the BCCI for extending our contract and placing faith in this committee.
Whatever has happened in the past is a bad dream and now we have to look at the future and ensure that we do well from here," Srikkanth told TOI on Tuesday.

The next target is to ensure that the selectors pick a team which does well in Australia later this year. "Australia is the next target. We have a couple of home series before that and from those matches we'll try and pick the best possible combination for Australia. We have to make up for the loss in England," he said.

Srikkanth believes that India has enough firepower to become the best team in the world. "In the last three years of my tenure, this was the worst performance by the Indian team. It happens and we have to be patient with the team. We have to take corrective measures to ensure that things fall in place. You can't forget all the good things that happened before the England series.

"We won the World Cup and our cricketers didn't get time to soak in the celebration. Prior to that, we have done well in different conditions. This is a testing time for Indian cricket and we need to try out different things to ensure that we are able to come back with a bang," the fomer Indian opening batsman said.

Srikkanth said he was delighted to have Mohinder Amarnath on board as the North Zone representative. "Jimmy is going to add a lot of value. We are delighted to have him around us. He comes across as someone who has plenty of cricket experience and that will help us in selection matters."

He also admitted that in the Test loss in England was due to bad form of the batsmen and the spate of injuries. "England was clearly the best side and we were outplayed in every department of the game. We had several fitness issues as well that compounded our problem."

However, the ODI series loss by a 3-0 margin doesn't reflect the actual performance of the team. "In my opinion, the youngsters fought well in the series. All the matches were affected by rain and the Duckworth Lewis Method. Plus there were a few injuries as well. What can someone do if Rohit Sharma breaks his finger off the very first ball he faces? You can't really control injuries," Srikkanth said, adding: "Now we have to move on and the next big challenge is to play to our full strength against England at home."

Given the frequency of injuries, the committee had a harrowing team choosing replacements after almost every game. "It was very difficult. I don't remember any team facing such injury worries after every match of the series. It throws you completely off gear."

Srikkath also predicted that England would lose the top spot within two years. "The dynamics change with every series. You can't really say that the No.1 Test team England will remain in the top slot for two years. India did well to stay on top for a while. With every team eyeing top slot, the competition keeps getting tougher," he said.

Senior lawyer to defend Kasab

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:31:00 +0530

New Delhi: Top advocate Raju Ramachandran has been appointed to defend the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Ajmal Kasab in the Supreme Court. Kasab has filed a petition in the apex court challenging the death penalty.

A trial court had sentenced Kasab to death on five counts in May 2010. The Bombay High Court had later upheld the sentence.

Yemen unrest

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:25:00 +0530

Anti-government activist Ahmed Al-Shawish said the action was ''cruel and aggressive''

A ceasefire has been agreed in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, after government forces shelled a protester camp there, killing seven people, reports say.

It was apparently negotiated by Yemen's vice-president and Western envoys.

The city fell quiet before sunset after hours-long gun battles between government troops and armed opponents spread into the wealthiest suburbs.

Government soldiers launched a bloody assault on protesters on Sunday in which dozens have now died.

The latest violence is the worst the country has seen for several months.

The protesters want President Ali Abdullah Saleh to stand down.

Mr Saleh, who has ruled the country for more than three decades, has been in Saudi Arabia since June, when he was seriously injured in a rocket attack on his presidential compound.

He has refused to stand down and is promising to return to the country.Negotiated truce

Only sporadic bursts of gunfire could be heard after Tuesday's ceasefire came into effect at 16:00 (13:00GMT) on Tuesday.

Yemen's protests

27 Jan: Thousands take to the streets in Sanaa and southern cities urging President Saleh to quit; weeks of mass protests follow

18 Mar: 52 protesters killed by snipers; Mr Saleh declares state of emergency

21 Mar: Several senior army commanders defect to protesters

23 Apr: Mr Saleh says he will stand down within weeks; he later appears to renege on deal

24 May: Clashes erupt between Saleh loyalists and tribal groups; dozens die in days of fighting

3 Jun: Shells hit presidential compound, injuring Mr Saleh; he leaves country for treatment

18 Sep: Government forces launch crackdown on protester camps; more than 50 die in two days

The truce was negotiated by Vice-President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and several foreign envoys, including the US and British ambassadors in Sanaa, unnamed officials were quoted as telling the Associated Press news agency.

Everyone will now be watching to see if the calm lasts, says BBC Middle East Correspondent Jon Leyne from Cairo - and whether it provides space for negotiations over a handover of power currently being mediated by international representatives.

Envoys from the UN and the Gulf Cooperation Council arrived in Yemen on Monday to try to sort out a deal to end the bloodshed.

Violence erupted before dawn on Tuesday, as a rocket attack hit worshippers returning from early morning prayers.

Witnesses said government snipers targeted protesters from the rooftops in Sanaa, and that the main protest camp in Change Square came under intense shelling.

According to doctors, three opposition soldiers, three protesters and a civilian bystander were killed by the rocket attacks on the camp, where tens of thousands of protesters have been calling for the president to stand down.

Manea al-Matari, a protester, told Reuters news agency: "We were walking back from prayers. All of a sudden a rocket hit close by from out of nowhere, and some people fell down.

"And then a second one came and that's when we saw the two martyred."

Government forces were also involved in full-scale combat - involving intense mortar and machine gun fire - with the army unit that defected to the protesters months ago. Witnesses said military aircraft targeted positions held by the opposition troops.

The rebel military unit had been protecting protesters in the city centre, and opposition supporters were reportedly caught in the crossfire.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed its alarm at reported gunfights inside in al-Gomhori hospital - one of Sanaa's main medical centres.

Ministers have consistently denied that their soldiers have targeted civilians or peaceful demonstrators, telling the BBC that the unrest was initiated by al-Qaeda-linked forces within the opposition.'Humanitarian crisis'

Analysts say the final battle for control of the country could pit the republican guards against opposition troops and their tribal allies.

The latest violence is the worst the country has seen for several months

On Tuesday, fighting spread to the Hadda neighbourhood, which is home to government officials and several members of Mr Saleh's inner circle.

Reports said the gun battles there were likely to be between government troops and tribes long hostile to the Saleh regime.

Mass protests and killings by security forces have also been reported in the cities of Taiz and Aden in recent days.

Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world. It faces multiple crises and some analysts already see it as a failed state.

It has an active al-Qaeda cell, as well as a separatist movement in the south and a Shia-dominated uprising in the north.

Aid agencies warn that the country is suffering a severe humanitarian crisis with about 7.5 million Yemenis - one third of the population - going hungry.

Mr Saleh had enjoyed long periods of support from the US and West by casting himself as an implacable enemy of al-Qaeda and other extremists.

Obama to meet Abbas and Netanyahu

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:19:00 +0530

US President Barack Obama will urge his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas to drop a bid for UN recognition of statehood later on Wednesday.

Mr Obama will also meet Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu amid frantic diplomacy aimed at averting a crisis.

The US president has vowed to veto the bid, backing Israel's view that direct talks offer the only route to peace.

But efforts by US, European, Russian and UN mediators have yet to produce guidelines for the resumption of talks.

The last round of talks broke down a year ago.

Mr Abbas is set to launch the statehood bid on Friday, after his address to the United Nations General Assembly, with a written request to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

But Mr Obama will ask him not to push for a vote in the Security Council, where the US has promised a veto, to give the "quartet" of mediators time to produce a statement that would be the basis for resumed peace negotiations.

"With both the Israelis and the Palestinians, the president will be able to say very directly why we believe action at the United Nations is not the way ... to achieve a (Palestinian) state," deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters.'Two states'

The quartet aims to give the two sides a year to reach a framework agreement, based on Mr Obama's vision of borders fashioned from Israel's pre-1967 boundary, with agreed land swaps.

The statement would also endorse the idea of "two states for two peoples, Jewish and Palestinian", according to the AP news agency.

Palestinian UN Statehood Bid

Palestinians currently have permanent observer entity status at the UN

They are represented by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)

Officials now want an upgrade so a state of Palestine has full member status at the UN

They seek recognition on 1967 borders - in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza

Enhanced observer member status could be an interim option

However, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague acknowledged there had as yet been no progress.

And Mr Obama's stance has come under fire from Republican opponents.

Texas Governor Rick Perry said: "The Obama policy of moral equivalency, which gives equal standing to the grievances of Israelis and Palestinians, including the orchestrators of terrorism, is a dangerous insult."

Both Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas have said they are prepared to engage in direct talks. But Mr Abbas has so far appeared determined to press ahead with the statehood bid.

If his request is approved by Mr Ban, the Security Council would then examine and vote on it. In order to pass, the request must get the votes of nine out of 15 council members, with no vetoes from the permanent members. The US has said it will use its veto.'Self-determination'

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said he thought the bid could win the backing of nine council members.

"We hope the United States will revise its position and be on the side of the majority of nations or countries who want to support the Palestinian right to have self determination and independence," Reuters news agency reported him as saying.

However, before leaving for New York, Mr Netanyahu told members of his Likud party the path to peace was "through dialogue and not through unilateral declarations", AFP news reported.

Should the Palestinian bid fail, Mr Abbas could ask for a vote of the General Assembly for enhanced observer status, which is enjoyed by others such as the Vatican, in which case no veto would be possible.

While UN recognition would have largely symbolic value, the Palestinians argue that it would strengthen their hands in peace talks with Israel, especially on the final issues that divide them.

These are the precise location of the border, the status of Jerusalem, the right of return of Palestinian refugees, water, and security.

India to topple Japan as world's 3rd-largest economy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:45:00 +0530

NEW DELHI: India might become the world's third largest economy in 2011 by overtaking Japan in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) measured according to the domestic purchasing power of the rupee, otherwise called purchasing power parity.

India is now the fourth-largest economy behind the US, China and Japan. Numbers from 2010 show that the Japanese economy was worth $4.31 trillion, with India snapping at its heels at $4.06 trillion. But after March's devastating tsunami and earthquakes, Japan's economy is widely expected to contract while India's economy will grow between 7% and 8% this fiscal. "India should overtake Japan in 2011 to become the third-largest economy in the world at purchasing power parity," said Sunil Sinha, head of research and senior economist at Crisil.

IMF forecasts show India and Japan neck-to-neck in 2011, but the disaster in Japan has brought the event forward. "Were it not for the earthquake and tsunami, India would have overtaken Japan in around 2013-14," said Sinha.

The purchasing power parity (PPP) method measures the size of an economy by levelling price differences between countries that occur in the process of conversion to a single currency.

Under this method, a dollar should be able to buy the same amount of goods anywhere in the world and exchange rates should adjust accordingly.

The Economist's Big Mac Index, which takes the price of a Big Mac burger across 120 countries to calculate the 'real' price of its currency, is a crude way to measure PPP. India was included in the index recently. It showed that the Indian rupee was undervalued by 53% against the US dollar in August.

Earlier, a report by consultant PwC suggested that the Indian economy would surpass the Japanese economy in 2012. The IMF expects the Japanese economy to contract 0.7% this year while India is expected to grow 8.2%. A bigger economy could also give the government additional clout and bargaining power overseas.

"A bigger economy would also mean more clout in international forums," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at ratings firm Care.

India, once a recipient nation for foreign aid, could now come together with Brazil, Russia and China to form a fund to stabilise tottering economies in the Eurozone.

Globally, companies have their eyes set on India as a rapidly growing nation that is full of opportunities. The sheer scale of development needed could drive growth for many years. "India has the advantage of size. The scope of growth and excess capacity present in terms of resources would drive growth in the future," said Sabnavis.

Economists say that while the change in the rank of a country does not mean much, it points to broad trends in the growth trajectories of nations.

"It's a long process of development, but this shows that the markets are expanding and there is robust demand within the economy," said Siddhartha Sanyal, chief economist, Barclays Capital.

According to the University of Pennsylvania PPP world tables, India has already moved ahead of Japan in 2010. The size of the Indian economy is expected to reach almost $5 trillion by the end of 2011.

Low-fat yoghurt during pregnancy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:28:00 +0530

Pregnant women who eat low-fat yoghurt can increase the risk of their child developing asthma and hay fever, a study says.

At the European Respiratory Society conference, researchers will suggest this could be due to an absence of protective fatty acids in yoghurt.

The diets of more than 70,000 Danish women were analysed and their children followed until the age of seven.

Asthma UK says pregnant women should follow a balanced diet.'No milk link'

Pregnant women who ate low-fat yoghurt with fruit once a day were found to be 1.6 times more likely to have children who developed asthma by age seven, compared with children of women who did not eat low-fat yoghurt.

The study also found that the children of these women were more likely to have allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and current asthma symptoms.

But the results showed that milk intake during pregnancy was not linked to any increased risk of asthma.

In fact, milk was shown to protect against asthma development.

We would recommend that pregnant women discuss any drastic changes to their diet with their GP”Leanne MetcalfAsthma UK

Ekaterina Maslova, lead study author form the Harvard School of Public Health, who worked with the data at the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, said: "It is a puzzling finding. The absence of fatty acids in low-fat yoghurt may be key to the results.

"The results suggest that fatty acids play an important role or it could be that people who ate this kind of yoghurt had similar lifestyle and dietary patterns, but we cannot make any conclusions at this stage.

"We need to replicate these results in other studies first."

Leanne Metcalf, director of research at Asthma UK, said there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the pre-natal environment can influence a child's health.

"However, the impact of a pregnant woman's diet on her child's health continues to be debated, as it is difficult to assess how particular aspects of a woman's diet during pregnancy are linked to the risk of developing asthma and allergies.

"Eating a healthy, balanced diet at any time, but especially during pregnancy is advisable and we would recommend that pregnant women discuss any drastic changes to their diet with their GP first."

Stimulating brain with electricity aids learning speed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:53:00 +0530

Electrically stimulating the brain can help to speed up the process of learning, scientists have shown.

Applying a small current to specific parts of the brain can increase its activity, making learning easier.

Researchers from the University of Oxford have studied the changing structure of the brain in stroke patients and in healthy adults.

Prof Heidi Johansen-Berg presented their findings at the British Science Festival in Bradford.

The team at Oxford has been conducting research into how the structure of the brain changes in adulthood, and in particular what changes occur after a stroke.

They have used functional MRI scanners to monitor activity in the brain as stroke patients re-learn motor skills that were lost as a result of their illness.

One of the major findings is that the brain is very flexible, and can restructure itself, growing new connections and reassigning tasks to different areas, when damage occurs or a specific task is practiced.

As part of this research, they investigated the possibility of using non-invasive electric brain stimulation to improve the recovery of these motor skills; the short term improvement in stroke patients had already been noted.

But an unexpected result was found when the same brain stimulation was applied to healthy adults - their speed of learning was also significantly increased.Increasing activity

To observe this effect, the team has devised an experiment, whereby volunteers must memorise a sequence of buttons to press "like playing a tune on a piano".

While they are doing this, they are fitted with a "trans-cranial current stimulation" device, where two rubber electrodes are places in a specific position on the head.

A very small, one milliamp current is passed between the electrodes in an arc through the brain and, depending on the direction of that current, will either increase or decrease the activity of that part of the brain.

Professor Johansen-Berg explained that "an increase in activity of the brain cells makes them more susceptible to the kinds of changes that occur during learning".

The results of the button-pressing experiments showed the positive effects of just 10 minutes of the brain stimulation on learning, compared to a very similar placebo set up.

"While the stimulation didn't improve the participant's best performance, the speed at which they reached their best was significantly increased", said Professor Johansen-Berg.

Targeting the area of the brain that controls motor skills allows movement tasks to be learned more quickly, and the researchers envisage the technique could be used to help in the training of sportsmen.Educational Improvements

The experiments have explicitly shown that stimulating the motor cortex of the brain can increase the speed of learning motor skills.

It is the hope of the researchers that the same method may be applied to other parts of the brain to improve educational learning, simply by positioning the electrodes in different locations so the current is focussed on the correct area.

The relative simplicity, low price (around £2,000 per unit), and portability of the technology may mean that, following further research, a device could be designed to be automated for use at home.

Looking to the future, Professor Johansen-Berg and her team plan to investigate the potential for increasing the effect, by stimulating daily over a period of weeks to months.

In the treatment of stroke patients, the technique could be used in parallel with current physiotherapy treatments, to improve on their variable success.

Ban on gays in US military ends

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:46:00 +0530

A policy banning open homosexuality in the US military has been repealed after nearly two decades.

The dropping of "don't ask, don't tell" means service members can now reveal they are gay without fear of investigation or discharge.

"Repeal Day" parties have been organised across the country to mark the victory for gay rights.

The US Congress voted last year to repeal the law, which was introduced in 1993 under the Clinton administration.

Under the policy, gays were permitted to serve as long as they did not openly acknowledge their sexual orientation, while commanders were not allowed to ask.Displays of affection

Pentagon press secretary George Little told reporters on Monday that the Department of Defense was fully prepared for repeal, and that 97% of military personnel had received training on the new law.

Our nation will close the door on a fundamental unfairness for gays and lesbians”Nancy PelosiHouse of Representatives Minority Speaker

DADT ends, but 'inequity' endures

The armed forces have been accepting applications from openly gay recruits for a number of weeks and will begin processing them now that the new law has taken effect.

The military has also published a revised set of regulations, without references to any ban against homosexual service members.

Pending investigations, discharges and other administrative proceedings have now been dropped under the new law.

Those who have been discharged under the don't ask, don't tell rule are entitled to re-enlist.

But existing standards of personal conduct, such as those pertaining to public displays of affection, will not change.

Nor will there be any change to the eligibility standards for military benefits.

Under current rules, service members are allowed to choose a partner as care-giver under the Wounded Warrior programme, or as a life insurance beneficiary.

"Our nation will finally close the door on a fundamental unfairness for gays and lesbians, and indeed affirm equality for all Americans," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat and leading advocate of the repeal.

Some in Congress remain opposed to repeal, arguing it could undermine efficiency and discipline in the military.

After the Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal Act was passed by Congress last December, President Barack Obama, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen certified that allowing openly gay service members would not undermine the military.

Flood: England have woken up

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:35:00 +0530

Toby Flood believes England's laboured victory over Georgiav could prove to be a watershed moment in their Rugby World Cup campaign.

England eventually ran in six tries for a 41-10 victory over the Lelos but they made hard work of it, prompting a changing-room tirade from manager Martin Johnson.

Four years ago, England held a summit meeting which turned their World Cup around and Flood hopes that another post-match review session will do something similar.

"I think it might work in our favour, it might be quite a nice kick up the arse," said Flood.

"It might be a scenario of saying 'OK, this is time for the squad to really pull together and say gone are the days of us getting away with this'.

"I think we'll have a pretty open-air review meeting and it will be interesting to really pull out some points. We'll get better and we'll learn from this. It's about time we took some of these shots on the chin.

"It's hopefully going to be a wake-up call for us."

The big difference between now and 2007 is that England remain unbeaten after two matches, whereas at this stage four years ago they had just been humbled 36-0 by South Africa.

But England recognise they got themselves out of jail against both Argentina and Georgia.

The Pumas missed six penalty shots at goal and Georgia five as they failed to punish England's woeful discipline. Scotland's sharp-shooter Chris Paterson is unlikely to be so generous.

Johnson blasted England as "sloppy" and warned they will fail to reach their stated minimum target of the semi-finals without an immediate improvement in standards.

"I'd rather be in the situation we're - two from two - than having lost the first and then chasing our tails," said Flood.

"But, yes, there is massive room for improvement and that was said by countless people (after the game).

"We're disappointed with what's happened. As a squad we've got to drive standards on and off the field and drive standards when we're training to get better.

"We are going to have to raise our game massively to get to where you want to get to in this tournament. We're all fully aware of that."

England conceded 11 penalties in the first half which led to them being unable to escape from their own territory.

By the interval, Johnson's men had graced the Georgian 22 for just 19 seconds compared to nearly nine minutes spent defending their own line.

Georgia's wayward kicking and two Shontayne Hape tries helped England lead 17-10 at the turnaround.

As the game opened up in the second half, England then became too loose and infuriated Johnson and attack coach Brian Smith by forcing off-loads in a bid to make something happen.

Afterwards, James Haskell raged: "People have got to start pointing some fingers. This is not acceptable. We are letting ourselves down."

But as frank as England have been, both Haskell and Flood insisted the corrective process cannot be allowed to affect their confidence.

England tackle Romania in Dunedin next Saturday followed by Scotland in the decisive pool clash on October 1

"You don't want to go out and be frightened to make a mistake," said Haskell.

Flood added: "I wouldn't be here if I didn't think we could win it (the World Cup).

"I don't think anybody would have got on that plane if they didn't think we could win the tournament.

"We realise how difficult it would be to win it. It's a massive, massive test for us and we have a huge group to get out of.

"Romania and Scotland are two massive tests for us, especially Scotland. If they beat Argentina that could be a massive test for us.

"We realise how difficult it's going to be but if there is anybody who thinks that then they might as well join Andrew Sheridan (who is injured) and go home.

"Because that is what we're here for."