Finally, a pill to cure common cold

Got a cold? Now, you can get rid of it by simply popping a pill. Scientists have long grappled for ways to cure common cold. Now, an international team has developed a drug which it claims can be effective against bugs that cause half of colds in adults and almost all colds in children.

According to researchers in UK, the cold-busting pill known as BTA798 could be used to clear up sniffles in healthy people and prevent any kind of life-threatening infections in asthma and cystic fibrosis sufferers.

In fact, the drug works by latching on to cold-causing HRV, preventing them from breaking into the body’s cells and causing infection. In a double-pronged attack, it also stops any infection from spreading, the Daily Mail reported.

In laboratory tests, the drug killed large quantities of cold virus within a couple of hours. And, trials on British volunteers have started to determine whether it could prevent people from catching a cold. If successful, the drug could hit the markets in five years’ time.

Want to live a long life? Run

People who want to live a long and healthy life might want to take up running. A study published on Monday shows middle-aged members of a runner’s club were half as likely to die over a 20-year period as people who did not run.Running reduced the risk not only of heart disease, but of cancer and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, researchers at Stanford University in California found.

"At 19 years, 15 percent of runners had died compared with 34 percent of controls," Dr. Eliza Chakravarty and colleagues wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Any type of vigorous exercise will likely do the trick, said Stanford’s Dr. James Fries, who worked on the study.

"Both common sense and background science support the idea that there is nothing magical about running per se," Fries said in a telephone interview. "It is the regular physical vigorous activity that is important."

The team surveyed 284 members of a nationwide running club and 156 similar, healthy people as controls. They all came from the university’s faculty and staff and had similar social and economic backgrounds, and all were 50 or older.

Starting in 1984, each volunteer filled out an annual survey on exercise frequency, weight and disability for eight activities -- rising, dressing and grooming, hygiene, eating, walking, reach, hand grip and routine physical activities.

Most of the volunteers did some exercise, but runners exercised as much as 200 minutes a week, compared to 20 minutes for the non-runners.

At the beginning, the runners were leaner and less likely to smoke compared with the controls. And they exercised more over the whole study period in general.

"Over time, all groups decreased running activity, but the runners groups continued to accumulate more minutes per week of vigorous activity of all kinds," the researchers wrote.

"Members of the running groups had significantly lower mean disability levels at all time points," they added.

The team also set out to answer whether taking up running late in life would benefit, and whether people who stopped exercising began to pay a price as they aged.

Most of the runners have stopped running as they reached their 70s, Fries said. But it was difficult to find people who totally stopped exercising. "Almost all of them did something else. They continued their vigorous exercise," he said.

People who took up exercise when they were older also improved their health, he said.

The study also showed that people cannot use the risk of injury as an excuse not to run -- the runners had fewer injuries of all kinds, including to their knees.

Fit and fat: Study shows it's possible

It may be possible to be both fat and healthy, researchers reported on Monday, for at least half of overweight adults, and close to a third of obese men and women, have normal blood pressure, cholesterol and other measures of heart health.And being lean does not necessarily protect people, either. Close to a quarter of normal-weight U.S. adults in one study had risk factors for heart disease or diabetes.

"We really don’t know as much about obesity as we think we do," Judith Wylie-Rosett of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, who oversaw the study, said in a telephone interview.

"A considerable proportion of overweight and obese U.S. adults are metabolically healthy, whereas a considerable proportion of normal-weight adults express a clustering of cardiometabolic abnormalities," Wylie-Rosett and Rachel Wildman and colleagues wrote in their report, published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Wylie-Rosett’s team looked at data on 5,440 men and women who were examined and filled out questionnaires for the National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys between 1999 and 2004. Most did not exercise very much.

They found just over 51 percent of those who were overweight, and 31.7 percent of those who were obese, had healthy levels of cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure and other measures linked to heart disease.

These measures have been shown in many other studies to predict heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and other heart disease, although this particular study did not look at whether people suffered any of these problems.

OBESE YET HEALTHY

More than 23 percent of those who were at a healthy weight, as measured by body mass index, had two or more unhealthy readings, the researchers found.

"Our study shows you can still be healthy even if you are obese," Wylie-Rosett said.

Her team did not look at people’s diets, but she believes the location of body fat is as important as how much there is. Many studies have shown that having visceral fat, in and among the internal organs, may be more dangerous than having fat thighs or buttocks.

But when Wylie-Rosett’s team measured waist circumference, a common way to estimate visceral fat, more than 36 percent of the obese people with what should have been dangerously large waists had healthy blood test results.

A second study suggested that the liver may be the key.

Dr. Norbert Stefan and colleagues at the University of Tubingen in Germany closely examined 314 people, using magnetic resonance imaging to look at precisely how much body fat they had and where it was.

They also found that obese men and women could have healthy hearts and arteries and suggested that having fat on the liver may be what makes the difference.

"Altogether, 10 percent of the study population and 25 percent of the obese subjects had a high insulin sensitivity phenotype or ’metabolically benign obesity,’" they wrote in their Archives report.

"Our data suggest that ectopic fat accumulation in the liver may be more important than visceral fat in the determination of such a beneficial phenotype in obesity," they wrote.

"That’s an area that we are very intrigued with as well," Wylie-Rosett said," adding: "If you start stuffing people with calories, it is very much like making pate from goose liver."

Geese are often force-fed to make their livers fatty and thus more suitable for pate-making.

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

Now, a 'wine' drug for fatal diseases

A drug that fights aging and halts the onset of diabetes, cancer and heart disease, may hit market shelves in another five years, claim researchers.According to scientists, the magical drug can be used to prevent Alzheimer’s and can also reinvigorate patients giving them more stamina. The drug is made up of chemicals that mimic resveratrol, a compound which is found in the skin of red grapes.

Earlier studies have shown that resveratrol cuts the impact of a high-fat diet, doubles stamina and extends lifespan in mice.
However, to get the same benefits, a human would have to drink around 1,000 bottles of wine.

Now, Sirtris, a pharmaceutical firm has developed a pill based on two chemicals that act in the same way. In one study on mice, which was published last year, the drug was found to undo diabetes’ symptoms.

The first clinical trials on humans are now under way and the developers believe it could also help prevent diseases including cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. “The excitement here is that we’re not talking about red wine any more. We’re talking about real drugs. We will make a drug to treat one disease but it will, as an added bonus, protect you against most of the other diseases of the Western world. One of the drawbacks of resveratrol is that the doses need to be large,” The Daily Mail quoted David Sinclair, co-founder of Sirtris, as saying.

“Now this paper says you can reduce it into a little pill taken once a day. The chance of success in humans is estimated at 80 to 90 per cent,” he added. David’s researchers have tested around 500,000 molecules to find those that would have the same effect as resveratrol on genes known

Soaring inflation likely to hit India's power projects

To achieve the power generation targets fixed in the 11th Plan period, the government may have to revise the investment in power projects in view of 25 per cent rise in prices of key input materials including cement, steel, aluminum, copper and zinc over last two years, an ASSOCHAM Eco Pulse (AEP) Study has revealed.

With WPI based inflation rate hovering close to 12 per cent and expected to be in double digits for quite some time, the proposed power projects in India could take a hit from increased cost of inputs and a recent down-turn in the core infrastructure industrial productivity, according to AEP Study on “Impact of Inflation on the Power Projects”.

“The Planning Commission has estimated the fund requirement of Rs. 4,10,897 crore for the likely capacity addition of 68,869 MW during the 11th plan. However, considering the recent trends in inflation, this amount is now seen as substantially low. Therefore, there should be an upward revision for the funds to be invested in the power sector to ensure that 11th Five Year plan targets are met”, said Mr. Sajjan Jindal, President, ASSOCHAM.

The key input requirement includes Cement, Steel, Aluminium, Copper and Zinc. The weighted cost of these key input materials for the power sector in the 11th plan has seen an increase of 25 per cent over the last two years.

Steel and Cement being the most vital inputs for the planned capacity addition with a total requirement of 45.88 million tonnes, constituting almost 95 per cent of the total key input requirements, the rise in their prices may largely impact the costs of the power projects under construction. Between the period June 2006 to June 2008, the WPI for Cement and Iron & Steel has increased by 30.63 per cent and 11.73 per cent respectively.

Impacting the project cost significantly, the WPI for Aluminium, Copper and Zinc has also risen tremendously over the last two years. The prices for Aluminium and Zinc have increased by 17.75 per cent and 45.82 per cent respectively while the WPI for Copper has almost doubled. It has gone up by 99.08 per cent over last two years.

TOTAL REQUIREMENT & INFLATION IN VARIOUS INPUTS FOR
CAPACITY ADDITION PLANNED DURING 11TH PLAN (2007-2012)
Input 11th Plan
requirement
(in million tonnes) Proportion to
total input requirement % change in
WPI
(June 2006-08)
Cement 30.63 63.23 30.63
Steel 15.25 31.48 11.73
Aluminium 1.6 3.30 17.76
Copper 0.81 1.67 99.08
Zinc 0.15 0.31 45.82
Total 48.44 100

The project cost of the power plants might also see a big upsurge because of rapidly rising fuel costs in the recent times. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for Fuel, power, light and lubricant with 14.23 per cent weight in WPI, consisting of key inputs for power generation like coal, gas and oil, grew much faster than the over-all WPI. The over-all WPI growth for the first six months of 2008 stood at 9.41 per cent while the WPI for Fuel, power, light and lubricant registered a staggering sharp rise of 12.53 per cent.

The declining growth rate of the six core infrastructure industries with a combined weight of 26.7 per cent in the index of industrial production (IIP) could also pose problems for the power projects. The core infrastructure industries providing major inputs for the power plants like cement, finished steel, coal, electricity have witnessed major slow-down in the growth rate for the first five months of 2008.

The growth rate of index for six core infrastructure industries has gone down considerably; the five monthly average growth rate for the six core infrastructure industries for 2008 is recorded at below 6 per cent level (5.92) while for the corresponding period in 2007 it was above 8 per cent (8.02).

This significant downturn in the industrial activity may also hamper the pace of power projects in India. On one hand it would dampen the supply of these key inputs for power projects and on another it may put further inflationary pressure on the prices of these inputs. The penultimate effect will be further escalation in cost of the power projects.

Bye cotton! Scientists make new material for garments

Here comes a big challenge to cotton as a fabric! Scientists have discovered a new material which can replace cotton in garments. Scientists have developed a new carbon nanotube-based material that is much stronger than traditional cotton fibres, and can be used in making garments.

According to a paper published in Physical Review Letters, a new material called porous colossal carbon tubes (CCTs) shows all the characteristics that could make it suitable for clothing and a possible replacement of cotton.

Compared to traditional carbon nanotubes (CNTs), these colossal carbon tubes have a much bigger size, in diametre and length. The walls of the colossal tubes are composed of macroscopic rectangular columnar pores and exhibit an ultra low density comparable to that of carbon nanofoams.

The scientists said that the created CCTs have a unique architecture with rectangular macropores across the tube walls and layered crystal structures in the solid walls.

The structure provides several interesting characteristics, such as ultralight weight, extremely high strength, excellent ductility, and high conductivity.

The researchers claim that the material has excellent electrical features, but the mechanics make these colossal carbon tubes especially interesting.

The researchers claim that material is 15 times stronger than the strongest carbon fiber currently known (T1000). The material also revealed 30 times the tenacity of Kevlar and 224 times of individual cotton fibers.

Under stress, the material can deform and can deal with a 3% strain before fracture occurs.

The scientists believe that the similarity to cotton fibres in terms of size are close enough to use conventional textile technologies to create CCT fabrics that are much stronger than any current fabrics.

The scientists also envision self-healing composite structures, medical devices to deliver/release multiple drugs simultaneously, and micro-electromechanical systems as possible application areas for the material.

Reliance to invest $23 m for work on Cauvery asset

Reliance Industries plans to invest about $22.75 million for work on its discovered deepwater Cauvery asset. The company, in its appraisal programme submitted to the block management panel, has proposed to drill more wells — one each in the ‘firm’ category and the ‘to mature’ segment.

Official sources told Business Line that the management committee of the block CY-DWN-2001/2 (CY-D5) has met already and the final approvals were awaited.

The appraisal programme enables the committee to review the discovery and assess its commerciality. It is prepared and submitted by the contractor within a stipulated time frame, outlining a work programme and a budget to carry out the work in the block.

The programme is submitted to the block management committee.

The management committee comprises nominees of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons and the Government apart from the contractors’ representative. The proposal envisages RIL drilling a well under the ‘firm category’, involving a cost of about $14.45 million. The firm category is a commitment by the contractor to drill a well for appraisal of the discovery.

Subsequently, based on the results of the ‘firm’ category, the contractor carries out activities under the ‘to mature’ segment by drilling one or two more wells. The company plans to invest $8.3 million to undertake activities in the second category, sources added.

RIL had drilled three wells in the block and struck hydrocarbon in one. Based on the appraisal programme, there are plans to drill more wells in the area once the deepwater rigs are available, sources said. Currently, the company has deployed six rigs in the K–G basin.

In October 2007, RIL had re-entered the asset to carve out the third well, but without much luck. The company has struck hydrocarbon in the first well drilled in the block and had to abandon the second well due to a technical snag.

The find in the first well showed there were two zones. In the first zone, according to the initial tests, RIL has found 550 barrels a day of oil and one million cubic ft a day of gas, while in the second zone it found 31 million cubic ft a day of gas and 1,200 barrels a day of condensate.

The block is 14,325 sq km in size. CY-D5 is a NELP-III block. RIL holds 100 per cent interest in the block.