CO2 concentrations surpass 400 PPM worldwide in atmosphere

Global carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration levels surpassed 400 part per million (PPM) in Earth's atmosphere. It is for the first time since the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) started tracking concentrations of the gas responsible for global warming.

According to the federal agency, it measured and compiled data from about 40 sites around the globe.

In a statement in March, Pieter Tans, lead scientist of NOAA's Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network, said that the agency first reported 400 part per million when all of Arctic locations reached that figure in the spring of 2012. According to Tans, reaching the level of 400 parts per million as a worldwide average is a significant milestone.

Tans said, "This marks the fact that humans burning fossil fuels have caused global carbon dioxide concentrations to rise more than 120 parts per million since pre-industrial times. Half of that rise has occurred since 1980".

As per the reports, the implications of these facts are sobering. Even if world succeeds in stabilizing the rate of carbon emissions, it will not help in preventing climate change. According to the NOAA, by summers of 2040, the Arctic will be ice-free-a fact.

Dr. Ed Hawkins, climate scientist from the University of Reading, said that new figures on the concentrations of the carbon dioxide are surprising. The last time the planet had that much carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere was over a million years ago. That time, modern humans had not even evolved yet, Hawkins added.

The federal agency and some of its partner agencies consider the new measurements to help policymakers and the scientific community. The 40 global sites that were selected by the agency for sampling are in remote areas.

A new smartphone app promises to make you slimmer

A new smartphone app promises to make you slimmer and smarter and that too without any interventions in your workout schedule!

Actually, the new "Visualize You" app is designed to encourage weight loss by processing your portrait-style photograph and generating an image of what you would look like minus 10 kg... or may be more.

The designers said the app uses proprietary algorithms based on "clinically verified weight change dynamics" to generate the image, reported Daily Mail.

As opposed to similar apps that basically stretch and pinch photos, Visualize You creates images determined by the precise amount of weight you hope to shed.

It is simple to use this app: Take a portrait-style picture of yourself, or grab one from your photo library, and drop it into the app along with your height, weight and desired target weight.

The app crunches the numbers and pops out an image of a slimmer you.

You can also set the app to go the other way, generating an image based on a heavier target weight. A series of exercise and diet guides is also included.

Visualize You is an attempt at sparking motivation via technology, according to the developers.

The company behind the app, Visual Health Solutions, developed the app in partnership with Cleveland Clinic and the University of Colorado.

The app is not free though. It costs two dollars and is available for both iOS and Android platforms.

Snake venom could provide answers for the treatment of AIDS

Snake venom could provide answers for the treatment of AIDS, claimed Indian researchers at the World Homeopathy Summit in the city on Saturday.

Research by doctors at the Hyderabad-based JSPS Government Homeopathic Medical College, and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, on deriving a homeopathic medicine from snake venom, Crotalus Horridus, has shown that it can arrest the multiplication of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Professor Dr Praveen Kumar, head of the department of practice of medicine at JSPS College, said, "Scientifically speaking, Crotalus Horridus has inhibited reverse transcriptase or RT, an enzyme which is utilized by viruses like HIV and Hepatitis-B to convert the viral RNA into viral DNA, so that they multiply into billions and wreck patients."

"Our experiment entails that the homeopathic drug has the capacity to act on HIV, Hepatitis-B and so on. Our work has certainly opened the floodgates of advanced research and clinical testing," he said.

"For years, homeopathy has been adapting the process of converting snake venom and poison from deadly scorpions, spiders and wild bees into medicinal substances by transforming them into nano-particles that have proved safe and effective for patients," Dr Rajesh Shah, organizing secretary, Global Homeopathy Foundation said.

"As a virologist, I was surprised to learn that homeopathy also sources medicines from virus, bacteria and parasites, long before microbiology was fully developed," said Dr Abhay Chaudhary, director of Haffkine Institute, which also manufactures polio vaccines in India.

The Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH), a premium government body under AYUSH and GHF, has organized the summit. "The summit should bring about a paradigm shift in the way the world looks at homeopathy and shock even some practicing homeopaths who believed that the medicines had some undetectable and unseen energy effect and acted as placebos," said Dr Rajesh Shah, organizing secretary, GHF.

-DNA

Three glasses of milk a day to beat dementia

Drinking milk can keep your brain healthy by warding off oxidative stress known to be associated with diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, according to a new study.

The study conducted at the University of Kansas Medical Center found a correlation between milk consumption and the levels of a naturally-occurring antioxidant called glutathione in the brain in older, healthy adults.

“We have long thought of milk as being very important for your bones and very important for your muscles. This study suggests that it could be important for your brain as well,” said Debra Sullivan, professor and chair of dietetics and nutrition.

Sullivan and In-Young Choi, an associate professor of neurology, asked the 60 participants in the study about their diets in the days leading up to brain scans, which they used to monitor levels of glutathione – a powerful antioxidant – in the brain.

The researchers found that participants who had indicated they had drunk milk recently had higher levels of glutathione in their brains.

This is important, the researchers said, because glutathione could help stave off oxidative stress and the resulting damage caused by reactive chemical compounds produced during the normal metabolic process in the brain.

Oxidative stress is known to be associated with a number of different diseases and conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and many other conditions, said Choi.

A randomised, controlled trial that seeks to determine the precise effect of milk consumption on the brain is still needed and is a logical next step to this study, the researchers said.

The research was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

parents smoking increases children risk of heart disease

In the recent study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, researchers were able to provide growing evidence that exposure to smoke has a lasting effect on the children.

Children exposed to smoke caused by their parents might be inhaling more than just passive smoke. These kids are highly exposed to developing heart disease when they grow as an adult. While those with non-smoking parents, have lower risks.

The researchers used similar participants with the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Participants have experienced smoke exposure from their parents during 1980 and 1983. More than 20 years after (2001 and 2007), the participants were called for carotid ultrasound.

In 2014, blood samples of the participants were tested for cotinine levels. The blood was frozen samples obtained in 1980. Cotinine is the compound most present in people exposed to passive smoking.

Results showed that 84% of children with neither parents smoking showed highest non-detectable cotinine levels. As for those with one parent smoking, 62% of the children have none-detectable cotinine levels. And lowest percentage (43%) was found among households with both parents smoking.

They were able to detect other issues like risk of developing carotid plaque as an adult greater with one or two parents smoking. This problem is 1.7 times higher to the children as compared to those who weren’t.

Some parents limit their children’s exposure, but still resulted to 1.6 times higher risk. And four times higher to those whose parents do not limit the kids’ exposure to their habit.

Costan Magnussen, Ph.D., the lead researcher from Menzies Institute for Medical Research in University of Tasmania, Australia, said that there was really no direct proof that the exposure to passive smoke came from the children’s parents. But one thing is for sure, their primary exposure occurs in their very home.

The advice researchers gave to parents is to stop their smoking habit. This could benefit their kids’ long-term cardiovascular health. Parents who are trying to quit smoking are already reducing their children’s risk and potential long-term cardiovascular problem.

Magnussen said that, “Not smoking at all is by far the safest option.”

Global Community Marks World AIDS Day Today 1 December

The international community can end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 by working together, according to the Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Speaking ahead of World Aids Day, marked annually on 1 December Michel Sidibé said health systems need to be strengthened.

He added that more should be done to reach people left behind, including young women and girls, men who have sex with men, prisoners and sex workers.

Now, Mr Sidibé said, is the time to break the AIDS epidemic for good as it could "spring" back and be impossible to end.

“I want to say to the world that it's time for us to redouble our effort, to fast track our actions, to make sure that we quicken the pace. Together I am sure we can end AIDS epidemic by 2030.”

Mr Sidibé added that this day is an opportunity to reflect on the lives lost to Ebola given the outbreak's similarities to the beginning of the AIDS epidemic.

He explained that Ebola sufferers were hiding, scared, and facing widespread stigma and discrimination of the type encountered by the first people to contract AIDS.

In a related development, the President of Bridging the Gap foundation,an NGO Emmanuel Quainoo, says for Ghana to make meaningful headway in the fight against HIV/AIDS, it is imperative that students are included in all aspects of the education drive.

He said if students get the message on HIV and AIDS and make healthy lifestyle choices, they will in turn disseminate the information among their peers, parents, siblings and other relatives.

Mr Quainoo appealed to NGOs dealing in HIV/AIDS prevention in Ghana to endeavour to promote the adoption of healthy lifestyle choices among students.


GBC/United Nations.

5 ways how we are letting stress affect our cells

Although you experience it in the head, your body is the first to react to stress.

With sudden onset of stress, the muscles get tense all at once, and then release their tension when the trigger passes.Chronic stress causes the muscles in your body to remain in a constant state of caution. When muscles stay tense for long, they can lead to other reactions in the body and even promote stress-related disorders. Both, tension headache and migraine headaches are associated with chronic muscle tension in the shoulders, neck and head. Then, the heart rate speeds up, muscles tighter, face turns red and there's a general sense of uneasiness and helplessness. But stress can also seep into your cells.Rising temperatures, toxins, infections, and resource shortages threaten how cells function and impact your health. Here are five ways you may be letting stress affect your cell.

PASS IT ON

Environmental stress can reach deep into the cells' interiors and alter the genetic material held within their nuclei. And the changes can be inherited. A study showed that limited food availability during a man's lifetime was linked to his grandchildren's risk of diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.Another research at an American school showed that when male mice were fed a low-protein diet, the activity of hundreds of genes in the animals' offspring changed. In particular, genes that manufacture fats were more active. While making more fats might be a protective stress response, it also could lead to obesity and related diseases.Genomic (discipline in genetics that applies recombinant DNA) research suggests a potential link between changes transmissible from parent to offspring in patterns of gene activity and changes in chemical markers, affixed to certain genes.Scientists are trying to understand the nature of these changes and how they occur.

PRODDING THEM TO TANGLE

Increased temperature can stress out cells. Expose them to temperatures just three degrees than they are used to, and the proteins in the cell begin to unravel and stop functioning. If they unravel too much, they tangle up with each other and form a clump that can kill the cell. To prevent this, cells rely on a set of molecules called heat shock proteins that work in many different ways. Some tuck the sticky, carbonrich regions of unfolded proteins into a small pocket; others form barrels that sequester unravelled proteins away from any potential tangling partners. Once the body cools down, heat shock proteins help refold into proper shapes. THEY EVOLVE Cells can adapt to stressful conditions in a short period. They use intricate mechanisms to maintain the stability of their genetic DNA material. For example, yeast -an organism commonly used to study human genetics -quickly gained or lost entire chromosomes when researchers stressed it with exposure to different chemicals.After prolonged exposure, colonies of yeast with chromosome changes evolved resistance to certain chemicals, including an antibiotic. Under stressful conditions, however, they relax these controls.


AGEING THEM PREMATURELY

Doctors say, every cell in your body has its own doomsday clock, ticking down the number of times it can safely divide. This clock takes the form of a cap on the ends of each chromosome. Telomeres (a compound structure at the end of a chromosome) keep the chromosome from fraying. But they get shorter each time the cell divides. Shortened telomeres have been linked to agerelated diseases, such as arthritis, hypertension, and diabetes.Research suggests that chronic stress can dramatically shorten telomere length, causing cells to age and die prematurely. As a countermeasure, certain cells respond to temporary stressors like fear or infection by upping their production of the enzyme, telomerase, that helps telomeres maintain their length.

LEADING THEM TO SUICIDE

At the cellular level, death is essential for life. Apoptosis is a normal, programmed process of cellular self-destruction. It is called cellular suicide. And although it involves cell death, apoptosis serves a healthy and protective role in our bodies. It, in fact, helps shape our physical features and organs before birth and rids our bodies of unneeded or potentially harmful cells. This strategy sidesteps the destructive effects of a cell dying from the stressful conditions, which can kill nearby healthy cells by triggering inflammation. And since cell death plays a role in a number of neurological and cardiovascular diseases, medical experts believe understanding how cells make the life-or-death decision might lead to ways to reduce the damage caused by these types of conditions.

-TOI