Archive for July 7th, 2007
Carbon balls could help fight allergies
Soccer ball-shaped nanoparticles known as buckyballs may one day help to offer relief for allergy sufferers. Adapted buckyballs are capable of blocking the pathway mediating allergic responses in human immune cells, new research has revealed.
Buckminsterfullerenes—spherical cages about 1-10 nanometres in size made up of 60 carbon atoms—have for years attracted interest from material scientists for their ability to make strong, lightweight materials with interesting electrical properties. But they could have medical uses too.
It is known that buckyballs have a talent for mopping up reactive oxygen species called ‘free radicals’, which can play havoc with biological systems. “C60 has a very high electron affinity. It grabs electrons easily, so it can act to neutralise free radicals,” explains James Cross, a chemist researching fullerenes at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Previous studies have shown that buckyballs can be used to protect nerve cells, for example, from damaging oxygen species1.
Chris Kepley, an immunologist at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, wondered if the carbon balls could also help out the immune system. Kepley’s team, working with a Virginia-based nanomaterials company, tested modified versions of the nanospheres in human cells and mice. Although the specifics of their formulations remain are under wraps, they say they were able to enhance the fullerenes’ functionality by adding side groups that increase their solubility. While some studies have hinted that buckyballs might be toxic, these modified versions have no apparent ill effects, says Kepley.
The group put human immune cells called mast cells in a dish—some with buckyballs, and some without—and then challenged them with a particle that is commonly used to mimic allergens such as pollen. Those with buckyballs released 50 times less histamine, one of the chemicals responsible for inflammation and tightening of the airways in asthma, and inhibited 30-40 other mediators involved in the allergic response.
Exactly how the buckyballs prevent mast cells from releasing histamine is unclear.
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Young girl claims she is Kalpana Chawla
KHURJA (Uttar Pradesh): A four-year-old girl who claims her name is Kalpana Chawla and that she died up in the skies four years ago is drawing huge crowds in a village here in Uttar Pradesh.
Residents of Nar Mohammadpur village, about 35 km from here, where little Upasana is visiting her relatives, think she might be the reincarnation of the India born astronaut Kalpana Chawla, who died when US space shuttle Columbia crashed four years ago.
The news of the girl’s claim spread quickly in the area after she spoke to some villagers here.
“I am Kalpana Chawla,” says Upasana, who reportedly fears the sight an aircraft. She has been telling her illiterate parents that she died in a “crash” up in the skies.
“Upasana has been telling us ever since she started speaking that her name was Kalpana Chawla and that her father’s name was Banarsi Das Chawla but we could not figure out anything as we had never heard of Kalpana,” Upasana’s father Raj Kumar told reporters on Friday.
Raj Kumar is a resident of Pata village of Etawah district where he works as a labourer.
“Yet Upasana’s proclamation led us all to believe that she was actually talking about her previous birth,” he said. “She claims that the spacecraft was hit by a huge ball of ice that sent it crashing and ended her life.”
Upasana was born barely two months after the astronaut’s death in 2003
3 comments July 7, 2007
Will the Taj Mahal make it?
With only hours now before a new list of seven wonders is announced in Lisbon, Indians around the world are thinking Taj Mahal at this moment. Will it, won’t it? Did we fail to send in enough votes? Or will the monument of love manage to edge out other competing wonders powered by a huge surge of voting in the last few days?
The campaign had kicked off a few years ago, but most Indians woke up to it only late last year when the New 7 Wonders Foundation, a Swiss non-profit group, was to visit the Taj. In the manner of a beauty pageant marvels from round the world competed to make the top 21. Since then, it has been a massive global exercise from each country to vote its wonder into the final list of seven.
For many months, the Taj trailed badly before a sudden burst of concern that it would be left out of the new list saw frenzied voting from Indians. By late June, 13 per cent of all votes were coming from India. And that would not factor in the army of Indians all over the world.
Individuals and organisations made fervent appeals to cast more votes for the Taj Mahal. On television, hoardings, radio, the Internet. It became fashionable to vote for the Taj and schoolchildren asked each other- “Have you voted?”
At TimesofIndia.com, readers wrote in hundreds asking fellow Indians to ensure the Taj made the list. Like Babita Sharma from Noida who said: “It is really a shame on our part that we are not giving due attention and protection to the Taj despite its worldwide popularity. I would appeal to fellow indians to come forward and save the dignity of Taj Mahal by voting for it.”
Over the months, many readers also wrote in about their deep appreciation of the Taj and their apprehension that it was not being treasured and preserved the way it deserved to be.
A reader, Jayanto Ghosh, said: “The Taj is among the seven wonders. Nobody can stop it. Only Indians can do it.” Another reader, Binu Samuel from Baroda, echoed the sentiment saying the “Taj is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and no other monument can beat it. The problem is that we do not know the significance of it till we lose it.”
Many readers brought up the problems that the Taj has been mired in. Krishna from Bangalore said,”The government has to take measures to prevent industrial pollution, which causes damage to the Taj Mahal.”
Johnson from Kolkata said “Urgent steps should be taken to preserve this beautiful structure, else its days might be From Faizabad,
Deepak Kumar from Faizabad, UP, wrote, “The beautiful Taj Mahal has been caught in politics. But, we should not forget that it’s a building of love. So I wish that it’s always maintained with care.”
Added N P Roy from Faridabad Haryana, “Possibly the greatest structure ever to be built solely on the foundation of love. This epic monument, which took 17 years to build over 400 yrs ago, is truly an international treasure which needs to be preserved for posterity as one of the Seven Wonders of the world.”
Likewise, Allaukik from Dallas, US, sounded a warning: “Civilizations die if they do not preserve their past. Let us not be irresponsible.”
There are of course those who wonder why there is so much hype about a private endeavour. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has distanced itself from the campaign terming the much-awaited list as the result of a “private undertaking, reflecting only the opinions of those with access to the internet and not the entire world.”
The entire polling for the new seven wonders was on-line, and on phone and SMS.
Even so, when the official declaration ceremony begins at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon after midnight, many Indians will be waiting with bated breath for the announcement.
Among the top contenders for the list are the Great Wall of China, the Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru, the Colosseum of Rome, the statues of Easter Island and the statue of Christ the Redeemer, among others. Machu Picchu has been a frontrunner through the campaign with the help very active voting from Peru.
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