Year 9 Penrith High School student, Simran Dhaliwal, has been named Research Australia’s 2011 National Youth Ambassador for Health Research. Simran has been chosen to represent Australia’s youth voice for health and medical research, says a Research Australia media release.
Simran’s winning essay in the national schools competition highlighted the growing need for communities to get informed and educated on healthy eating options. “There is a lack of knowledge in the general public (regarding scientific interventions, advancements and innovations) and education is the key to achieving an overall better quality of life,” said Simran.
The Research Australia National Youth Ambassador for Health Research competition challenged year 9 and 10 students from around Australia to submit essays or YouTube videos focusing on scientific interventions in food.
Simran, along with state and territory winners from all over Australia, recently took part in a special teleconference to develop a consensus statement as the voice of Australian youth on nutrition and health research. This communiqué was sent to members of parliament, state health ministers and Research Australia stakeholders.
The Chief Executive Officer of Research Australia, Elizabeth Foley, congratulated Simran for her outstanding contributions.
“The Research Australia Youth Ambassador Program provides an ideal avenue to draw out the observations of some of our finest young students and introduce them to the wide array of career
opportunities in health and medical research – ranging from the traditional lab roles to new areas
such as health economics, science engineering and biomathematics,” Ms Foley said.
Simran will be presented with her award at the 2011 Research Australia Awards, which will be held
at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne on 16 November 2011.
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Being separated from loved ones during Rakhi can be difficult and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) acknowledges the unique bond shared by siblings and loved ones overseas, and the importance of celebrating Rakhi on time. So they urge you to make overseas family and friends quarantine-aware to avoid delays with the arrival of your gifts.

 AQIS recognises the importance of this festival which is one of the most powerful affirmations experienced by Hindu brothers and sisters through the exchange of traditional gifts in celebration of love and togetherness. That’s why it’s committed to processing international mail in a timely manner to ensure that your special gifts are received in time.

 “The lead up to Rakhi has shown that it is common for well meaning overseas family and friends to send not only their prayers, but also quarantine risk items that can be detrimental to the Australian environment. All international mail is assessed, x-rayed or checked by detector dogs, and packages containing risk items are opened and inspected” said Ms Caroline Martin, Program Manager, AQIS International Mail Program.

 Quarantine risk items include Rakhi threads made with seeds or flowers; traditional Indian sweets made with mithai or milk products such as barfi, mysore pak, gulab jamun, rasgulla, pedas or soan-papdi; grains; and dried fruits.

 “To ensure the auspicious occasion of Rakhi is celebrated on time AQIS endeavours to keep processing delays to a minimum but this is difficult when mail contains risk items as they require further processing which leads to lengthy delays. But you can avoid these delays if you tell friends and family overseas not to send gifts containing quarantine risk items—as gifts with no risk items are processed much faster. So talk to your friends and family overseas and have your gift in time for Rakhi, which will certainly make the day much more enjoyable,” said Ms Martin.

 AQIS wishes all siblings a joyous Rakhi; a celebration of the continued tradition signifying love and good wishes, and much enjoyment of their Rakhi gifts.

 For more information :

• Visit the AQIS website www.aqis.gov.au/rakhi
  • download the brochure ‘What Can’t be Mailed to Australia?’
  • call AQIS on 1800 020 504 (free call in Australia and is in English).

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the few infectious diseases fuelled by the HIV epidemic, according to this year’s World TB Day campaign. Observed on March 24 each year, the 2009 campaign, under the slogan I am stopping TB, aims to increase awareness of tuberculosis and its prevention in the community.

According to Mr Tadgh McMahon, the Manager of the Multicultural HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C Service (MHAHS), increasing awareness of tuberculosis (TB) has an important role in combating HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, as globally the two infections are closely related. Continue Reading

Scientists’ fraternity in Uttarakhand has successfully managed to grow Artemesia, which is in near future expected to provide a fillip to production of malaria-related drugs in the state. Research has shown that drug made from this plant is more powerful in treating malaria than chloro-quinine.

 It is noteworthy that the demand of Artemesia has abruptly shot up, after World Health Organization recommended the use of Artemesinene in malarial drug after sudden outbreak of epidemic (malaria) in African countries few years back.

Read on for more of this entry

Dr Nripendra Chauhan, scientist at CAP (Centre for Aromatic Plant) informed that leaves of Artemesia are being used to prepare anti- malarial drug worldwide. But its major cultivation was done in China and India used to import it from there. Now CAP has succeeded to produce 40 Tonnes Artemeisa this year, which is likely to earn revenues worth Rs 70 lakh.

Elaborating about the medicinal value of Artemesia, Chauhan explained that this plant contains a particular chemical known as “Artemesinene” which is extracted from its leaves and prepared as Art-methar and Art-ether. The content ratio is more than two times higher than its other species.

According to Dr. Aditya Kumar, Vice Chairman, State Medicinal Plant Board, state that now India Glycols Limited, a pharmaceutical company is also planning to install a factory at Selaqui in Dehradun for processing the drug. “It will provide ample of employment opportunities to local people,” he said.

Chauhan added,” Though, since 1989 CIMAP (Central Institute Of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants) scientists have started its experimental cultivation in various small pockets in Jammu and Kashmir but the species failed to grow there owing to harsh climatic conditions. After that CIMAP initiated its cultivation in nearby areas of Lucknow but the species was comparatively low standard containing only 0.3 percent of Artemesinene. On contrary CAP has succeeded to grow genetically improved variety, Aertemesia annua, with considerably high (0.7 percent) content of Artemesinene”.

Moreover it has given the livelihood to 125 farmers in the state who are growing Artemesia on their field as cash crops. — Courtsey HT

Three gram reduction in a person’s dietary intake of salt would result in over a 20 per cent drop in deaths from stroke and over a 15 per cent fall in death from heart disease, according to a senior cardiologist in Coimbatore.

“Heart disease and stroke are the world’s number one killer, causing 17.5 million deaths every year. Eating half a teaspoon less of salt each day could save millions of lives,” Dr S Balaji of Sri Ramakrishna Hospital said during a function on ‘World Heart Day’ organised here recently.

There are several factors, including excessive consumption of salt, which increased the risk of developing high blood pressure.

“However, by adopting changes in lifestyle , hypertension is controllable,” Balaji said.

Avoiding foods high in salt, refraining from adding salt and being aware of the salt content of food in restaurants and processed foods, can potentially reduce salt consumption by three grams a day, he said.

High blood pressure is the biggest single risk factor for heart disease and stroke. By 2025, it has been estimated that more than 1.5 million people will suffer from high blood pressure, Balaji said. — PTI

A Goa-born surgeon researching and teaching at the Dundee University in Scotland has pioneered a new method for the early detection of breast cancer.
 
Jayant Vaidya, senior lecturer and consultant surgeon at the university, is a leading member of a team of surgeons that discovered that malignant tumours remain cold when surrounding breast tissue is heated to about 20 degrees Celsius.
 
Experts hope the discovery will make it easier for doctors to determine if a lump is cancerous, and also lead to advances in understanding of the disease.
 
A study conducted by the team tested tumours removed from six women an hour after they had undergone surgery at the Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
 
Each piece of tissue was treated with a hot-air gun, and on each occasion the tumour stayed cold.
 
Terming the discovery as ‘very exciting’, Vaidya said: “Nothing like this has been done before. We heated up a specimen and used a high-resolution thermal imaging camera to take a picture. We found the tumour stayed cold while the rest of the tissue heated up. Then we did the same thing on another five samples and every single one had the same outcome.”
 
“This could open up a lot of doors for breast-cancer treatment and detection, hopefully saving the lives of women all around the world,” he said.
 
The team hope that a probe could be developed to insert into the breast and heat the area around the tumour, which could mean bypassing a painful biopsy.
 
A report on the study, which was published in the International Journal of Surgery, predicts the technique could become crucial in understanding breast cancer.