How to build a stem cell line

Alcoholism : A Widespread Problem

Excessive habitual consumption of alcoholic beverages despite physical, mental, social, or economic harm (e.g., cirrhosis, drunk driving and accidents, family strife, frequently missing work). It is usually considered an addiction and a disease. The causes are unclear, but there may be a genetic predisposition. Alcoholism occurs in about 4.2% of adults in the U.S. It is more common in men, but women are more likely to hide it. Treatment may be physiological (with drugs that cause vomiting and a feeling of panic when alcohol is consumed; not an effective long-term treatment), psychological (with therapy and rehabilitation), and/or social (with group therapies). Group therapies such as Alcoholics Anonymous are the most effective treatments. Suddenly stopstopping heavy drinking can lead to withdrawal symptoms, incl. delirium tremens.

Status of the World AIDS Epidemic, End of 2006

People newly infected with HIV in 2006 :-
Total 4.3 million
Adults 3.8 million
Children under 15 years 530,000
Number of people living with HIV/AIDS :-
Total 39.5 million
Adults 37.2 million
Children under 15 years 2.3 million
AIDS deaths in 2006 :-
Total 2.9 million
Adults 2.6 million
Children under 15 years 380,000

MY PRIDE "MY VILLAGE"

LOCATION OF MY VILLEGE

DARAM KHOLA

Utility of Streptomyces spp. In health

22nd Dec 2006

Gautam, Sujan

Seminar presentation Abstract

This presentation discusses streptomycetes utility in human health and their antibiotic producing capabilities. Streptomyces is a major genus among actinomycetes, which are major group gram-positive mycelial prokaryotes predominantly found in soil. Antibiotic are the major therapeutic drugs for bacterial diseases and, hence, are related directly to the human health. Amino glycosides (e.g., streptomycin, neomycin, or gentamycin) and macrolides (e.g., erythromycin) target bacterial ribosomes while quinolones (e.g.; ciprofloxacin) attack bacterial DNA gyrase (1). Mitomycin has been shown to be an anticancer or antitumor agent that halts the cell in G2 phase, resulting in cell death (2). Unlike other anticancer agents, FK317 does not induce weight loss and is more effective than MC (3,4). FK506; a macrolide, is a potent anti viral agent (5). NP-06, a 21-mer oligopeptide antiviral compound, appears to block early stage of HIV-1 infection (6) while nystatin has antifungal properties (1).

References
1. Pelczar MJ, Chan ECS and Krieg NR, 2004.Antibiotics and Other Chemotherapeutic Agents In: Microbiology, TATA McGraw-HILL publishing Co. Ltd, New Delhi, 5th ed, pp:510-539.

2. Martin TW, Dauter Z, Devedjiev Y, Sheffield P, Jelen F, He M, Sherman DH, Otlewski J and Derewenda U, 2002. Molecular Basis of Mitomycin C Resistance in Streptomyces: Structure and Function of the MRD Protein. Structure 10: 933-942.

3. Naoe Y, Kawamura I, Inami M, Tsujimoto S, Manda T and Shimomura K, 1998. Anti-cachetic Effect of FK317, a Novel Anti-cancer Agent, in Colon26 and LX-1 Models in Mice. Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 89: 1318-1325.

4. Naoe Y, Inami M, Matsumoto S, Takagaki S, Fujiwara T, Yamazaki S, Kawamura I, Nishigaki F, Tsujimoto S, Manda Tand Shimomura K, 1998. FK317, a Novel Subsituted Dihydrobenzoxazine, Exhibits Potent Antitumor Activity against Human Tumor Xenografts in Nude Mice. Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 89: 1306-1317

5. Reis S.A, Moussatche N, and Damaso C.R, 2006. FK506, a secondary metabolite produced by Streptomyces presents a novel antiviral activity against Orthopoxvirus infection in cell culture. J. Applied Micorbiology 100: 1373-1380.

6. Chokelijchai S, Anderson S, Nomizu M, Machida M and Roller P.P, 1995. NP-06: a Novel Anti-Human Immunodeficiency Virus Polypeptide Produced by a Streptomyces Species. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 39:2345-2347.

Natural Scavenger

In flight

Vultures are scavenging birds, feeding mostly the caracus of dead animals. Three species of asian vultures has fallen by 97 % in 12 years.

Why South Asia Vultures are on the Brink of Extinction?

In short, the reason is because the farmers in Katmandu, Nepal feed their cow’s diclofenac, a drug used to relieve fever and lameness. The scavenging vultures are one step up the food chain. Once the cow dies the scavenger eats the dead cow's carcass and becomes poisoned. The drug causes acute kidney failure in the vultures after dining on the animals treated with diclofenac. The American Chemical Association states that we should not be alarmed when chemicals show up in the cord blood of your newborns. But we'd like to ask you to decide for yourself: "Do chemicals in our blood matter?" In 15 years the population of the vultures in Nepal have gone from 50,000 nesting pairs to only 500 nesting pairs.
Vultures are natural scavengers in nature and remember, "it's not nice to fool Mother Nature." So how are conservationists in Nepal trying to remedy this problem? After all they need their vultures. They have opened a "restaurant" for the scavengers sixty miles outside of Katmandu. At least some of the vultures are being given a chance to eat chemical-free food. Sick and dying cows who have never been fed diclofenac are brought in and when they die, their carcasses are left for the vultures. While the use of diclofenic is prohibited in Nepal and India, the ban is widely ignored.(click here to learn more)

PRIDE OF NEPAL

Mount Everest

Naming

The Tibetan name for Mount Everest is Chomolungma or Qomolangma (meaning "Mother of the Universe). In the 1960s, the Government of Nepal gave the mountain an official Nepali name: Sagarmatha (सगरमाथा), meaning "Head of the Sky".

Messurement

Radhanath Sikdar, an Indian mathematician and surveyor from Bengal, was the first to identify Everest as the world's highest peak in 1852, using trigonometric calculations based on measurements of "Peak XV" (as it was then known) made with theodolites from 240 km (150 miles) away in India. Measurement could not be made from closer due to a lack of access to Nepal.

More recently, the mountain has been found to be 8,848 m (29,028 feet) high, although there is some variation in the measurements. The elevation of 8,848 m (29,029 ft) was first determined by an Indian survey in 1955, made closer to the mountain, also using theodolites. It was subsequently reaffirmed by a 1975 Chinese measurement. In both cases the snow cap, not the rock head, was measured. In May 1999 an American Everest Expedition, directed by Bradford Washburn, anchored a GPS unit into the highest bedrock. A rock head elevation of 8,850 m (29,035 ft), and a snow/ice elevation 1 m (3 ft) higher, were obtained via this device. Although it has not been officially recognized by Nepal, this figure is widely quoted. Geoid uncertainty casts doubt upon the accuracy claimed by both the 1999 and 2005 surveys.

YARSA GUMBA

Yarsa Gumba

Scientific Name:- Cordycep sinensis

Common Name:- Himalayan Viagra

What it is?

Yarsa gumba is a unique combination of a yellow caterpillar and a mushroom. Yarsa gumba in Tibetan means ‘summer grass, winter insect’. Just prior to the rainy season, spores of cordyceps mushroom lands on these Himalayan caterpillars that live on moist grass and hollow ground. After the fungus buries itself in the caterpillar’s body, it works its way out through the insect’s head. The parasite gets the energy from the caterpillar which eventually dies. As temperature increases and the snow melts -yarsa gumba emerges and is harvested at this time. During monsoon, the yarsa gumba is swept away.

It is between 3,300m - 4,000m in Bhutan, India, Nepal and Tibet

Government of Nepal:- Policy

Nepalese government banned its collection in 1996 and allowed it to be collected after 2001. The reason for the ban was on an adhoc basis and trial and error method – it was proposed that if harvesting were discontinued – population of yarsa gumba could increase. Today, it is recognized that yarsa gumba is to be harvested annually.
As this region is devoid of trees and little vegetation, the local communities thrive through such collection. This year about a thousand people had gathered to collect yarsa gumba and two people have died of bad weather. As the revenue for collection is exorbitantly high with the government charging a royalty of US$ 271.11 per kg. Local collectors avoid paying royalty for their collection however they do pay fraction of their collection and this has promoted illegal trade.

Exported countries

The major countries involved in its import are China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea where it is used extensively for oriental medicine. India is one of the leading importers of yarsa gumba compared to other countries of the world.