Sci&Tech, Medical and Envirnoment

Benefits of endoscopic ultrasound yet to reach large sections of patients

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is a cutting edge technology that provides images of high clarity of disease-affected portions of organs in the gastro intestinal system.
Put through the food pipe, and with an ultrasound attached to its tip, the EUS' reach is such that it can capture high resolution images of areas behind the stomach; of even the deep-seated pancreas that is difficult to image otherwise
But, it is yet to reach large sections of people with its immense diagnostic and therapeutic benefits, primarily because of the lack of training among vast sections of gastroenterologists and the cost of the equipment.
Of the 100 centres with the facility, only 60 are actively using the EUS. It is in disuse in others because of lack of trained doctors
government should get its doctors also trained. This would help in reaching the benefits of the technology to more people, especially the poor.
technology was now used only in corporate hospitals where there was no teaching. The patients benefited, but skills were not being passed on to doctors outside the individual private hospital.
EUS could detect the exact disease that even computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could not.
It helped in accurate staging of cancer and avoiding surgery, and the trauma that came with it, for an advance stage patient

Government proposes to impose restrictions on old ships

The Government proposes to issue a notification imposing restrictions on ships which are over 25 years old in order to prevent marine accidents and consequent implications for the marine environment.
based on experience in handling marine accidents in the recent past, it had been found that the age of ships played a “critical role” in such accidents.
Government had already put in place a legal framework to handle shipping accidents by acceding to two international conventions—the Wreck Removal Convention and the Protocol to the Convention on Limited Liability for Maritime Claims.
We will also be acceding to the Convention of Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage and the Convention for the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling System on Ships very soon.” He was confident that these initiatives would provide a strong legal framework to claim compensation in case of oil spills, ship wrecks and other accidents.
A large area of the Arabian Sea had been affected by this threat thereby pushing up the cost of freight carried through this critical shipping corridor.
Indian Navy had played a key role in protecting convoys of ships, both Indian and foreign.The Government had also issued guidelines on providing armed guards on board merchant ships.
Referring to the warming of glaciers, he said the shipping industry should also initiate efforts to reduce ‘carbon footprint.'

World's ‘lightest material' developed

Scientists have developed what they claim is the world's lightest material — a metal with a density of 0.9 mg/cc.
the new material redefines the limits of lightweight materials because of its unique “micro-lattice” cellular architecture.
The trick is to fabricate a lattice of interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair
The material's architecture allows unprecedented mechanical behaviour for a metal, including complete recovery from compression exceeding 50 per cent strain and high energy absorption
Materials actually get stronger as the dimensions are reduced to the nano-scale.
Developed for the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, the novel material could be used for battery electrodes and acoustic, vibration or shock energy absorption

CERN excludes one error in faster-than-light finding

The odds have shrunk that Einstein was wrong about a fundamental law of the Universe.
Scientists at the world's biggest physics lab said on Friday they have ruled out one possible error that could have distorted startling measurements appearing to show particles travelling faster than light.
Many physicists reacted with scepticism in September when measurements by French and Italian researchers seemed to show subatomic neutrino particles breaking what Einstein considered the ultimate speed barrier.
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research said more precise testing has confirmed the accuracy of one part of the experiment.
Still, scientists stressed only independent measurements by labs elsewhere would allow them to declare the results a genuine finding.

Tribute to a doyen of urology in India

He was born on January 21, 1921 in Udupi.
He was the first Indian surgeon to exploit bladder flaps, intestine, Teflon and penile prosthesis in reconstructive urology. An unmatched resectionist, he oversaw the introduction of the transurethral resection of prostate in India.
The pinnacle of these achievements at Vellore was India's first successful renal transplantation in 1971
Dr. Bhat aligned himself readily with the changing paradigm and dynamics of postgraduate education. He questioned the relevance of the traditional hierarchical relations between postgraduate teachers and their students, and insisted that the concept of teacher supremacy and student subservience is outdated.
Throughout his career, he was a defender of patients' rights and prerogatives. The very work culture of his department was a potent validation of such rights; no surgery was ever performed without a succinct and decipherable explanation of the planned procedure to the patient.
Amitabh Bachchan. The actor would forever retail Dr. Bhat's services with respect, affection and unalloyed gratitude for restoring his health.
Jayaprakash Narayan spent two months at the CMCH during the early part of the Emergency period to undergo a prostate surgery and to subdue his somewhat refractory diabetes.
He would bestow identical care to the commoner and the economically disadvantaged as well.
Even in October 2010, a month before his demise, he found the time and the strength to oversee the conduct of a major postgraduate programme of national salience at the SSIHMS.

Optic fibre network to help broadband penetration: Milind Deora

The Centre, to give boost to broadband penetration, has decided to own and operate an optical fibre base through which different operators can provide a range of services
This network would be the way governance will be delivered to the whole nation reaching out to the last village.
The money for setting up this network would come from the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund to which all telecom operators are contributing a part of their revenues.
This would be a high speed network in which the government would partner with the telecom industry to plan an entire eco system that will transform the country
the telecom sector had the potential to play a tremendous role in bringing about inclusive growth in the country