Saving Venice
a plan to use flood barriers to save Venice from flooding is likely to be abandoned because experts say it will harm the environment. The project was decided in the aftermath of the devastating
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The social and economic impacts of gold mining
A new report released from the World Gold Council, produced in association with Maxwell Stamp, a leading international economics consultancy, reveals that the gold mining industry directly contributed
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Hanoi curbs the HIV-positivie
The government has barred people who have the HIV virus, which can lead to AIDS, from taking jobs such as hotel workers and kindergarten teachers, the Labor Ministry said
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Cancer drugs can be fatal, says expert
Cancer drugs kill from time to time and extreme caution is required while giving them, says a leading interntional cancer expert, Dr A H Calvert. "Cancer treatment should be individual-based as the
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-Trading human body organs illegal,official
Any form of trade in human organs is in direct violation of Chinese government,according to leading government officials.The official from South China's Hainan Province cited the futility of creating
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Refugee children in US at risk for lead poisoning
More than one in 10 newly arrived young refugee children in the United States have potentially harmful lead levels in their blood, double the rate found in U.S. children, a study said yesterday.
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Desert rats hold key to obesity drug
Australian scientists working with desert rats have discovered a human gene that experts say could lead to the first gene-based drug to treat obesity and diabetes. Greg Collins, a professor of
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Battle of the bulge gets a new weapon
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have produced a substance that rapidly shuts down appetite in mice, leading to a loss of as much as 30 percent in total body weight within a week
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A rival to cholesterol in heart disease
Homocysteine, an amino acid produced in the body, may rival cholesterol as a leading factor in heart disease according to researchers and some physicians. At high levels, homcysteine may irritate
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Bush's stem cell decision divides abortion foes
Minutes after President George W. Bush announced his decision to stem cell research, some of the leading anti-abortion voices on the Christian right appeared on CNN to praise him for a Solomonic
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Mandela and Clinton voice AIDS plea
The world's biggest AIDS conference closed with Nelson Mandela, the former South African president leading calls for new commitment in the fight against the deadly disease. He was joined by Bill
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Ignore, poverty abet cancer : DMA
Statistics show that ignorance and poverty are providing to be the worst carcinogen creators. Cancer, the third leading cause of mortality in the 15-45 age group, is spreading fast with some 7 lakh
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Lead level down in blood, still the high risk lingers
First, the good news: blood samples from Chennai are beginning to show lower concentrations of lead ever since unleaded gasoline for vehicles was introduced in the Chennai city five years ago. Now,
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Easing restrictions
the Union ministry of health and family welfare has proposed to do away with the restrictions imposed on the use of monosodium glutamate (msg), commonly known as ajinomotto, in processed food.
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Novartis stepping up vaccine call to pre-empt pandemic
Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical group, is stepping up the case for use of its experimental pandemic flu vaccine even ahead of a new virus mutation that could trigger a future lethal outbreak in humans. Jorg Reinhardt, head of vaccines and diagnostics, said the company would publish scientific data showing that its H5 vaccine stimulates rapid protection with a second booster jab against pandemic flu strains for at least seven years. Many specialists believe two flu injections may be necessary to provide significant protection from a pandemic, but there is far less current global capacity than supply. Reinhardt said a single flu vaccine shot would normally only offer protection after four to six weeks, but an initial jab would allow a subsequent booster to become effective within two to three days. His remarks come at a time of fierce competition between vaccine companies, which have invested significantly in pandemic flu and are attempting to recover their costs as international concern wanes. Companies including Baxter, Sanofi-Aventis and Solvay are all making arguments for the advantages of their own products, and GlaxoSmithKline raised the profile of its H5N1 vaccine last year when it agreed to donate to a "solidarity' stockpile for poor countries. World Health Organisation officials caution against labelling such products "pre-pandemic' vaccines, because they will only be effective if it is a mutation of the current H5N1 bird flu strain that triggers a pandemic. Others remain cautious about any preventative vaccination because of the cost and strain on public health systems, and concern that widespread use could trigger side effects. Reinhardt stressed it was up to the governments to decide whether or not to buy and use his vaccine. "We will share the data with everyone who is willing to listen and make the scientific argument that it provides protection,' he said. His comments came as Novartis unveiled a new Institute for Global Health at its vaccines research office in Siena, which will attempt to develop non-profit vaccines to protect against three salmonella-based infections that cause diarrhoea, one of the leading causes of disease and death in young children around the world. He said the institute, mirroring its work in Singapore to find medicines to treat illnesses for which there is no commercial market, would employ 50 scientists within three years and seek support from funds such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Institute by the end of this year.
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Our nutrient world: the challenge to produce more food and energy with less pollution
<p><span id="itro1">This new report by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology draws attention to the multiple benefits & threats of human nutrient use. It highlights how nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers
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Agricultural nutrient loadings to the freshwater environment: the role of climate change and socioeconomic change
<p>Human activities, in particular agricultural production, interfere with natural cycles of nutrient elements, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), leading to growing concerns about water quality degradation
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Struck down
A Nipah-like virus, linked to the Siliguri fever of 2001, is the most likely cause of an epidemic that has afflicted Bangladesh. Until January, the pathogen had claimed more than 14 lives and
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Study tracks virus in schizophrenics
New Biological approaches to schizophrenia are leading to a better understanding of this insidious condition, which affects one in every 100 people. In one study, reported in last month's issue of
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Australia at forefront in battle against HIV
Australia has been one of the leading success stories in the worldwide fight against HIV. Although the disease is claiming millions of lives each year in Asia and Africa, the number of Australians