Full face transplant 'a success'

A team of 30 Spanish doctors say they have successfully performed the world’s first full face transplant.

A man injured in a shooting accident received the entire facial skin and muscles – including cheekbones, nose, lips and teeth – of a donor.

The man is recovering well after the 22-hour operation, said a spokesperson from Vall d’Hebron University Hospital.

Another 10 face transplants have been carried out around the world, but this is believed to be the most complex.

Hospital spokesperson Bianca Bont told the BBC: “This is the first total face transplant.

“There have been 10 operations of this kind in the world – this is the first to transplant all of the face and some bones of the face.”

Face transplants Face from dead donor is removed in four hour operation Veins, arteries, skin, muscles, and bones are taken The patient is anaesthetised partway through surgery on the donor and any previous skin grafts are removed The donor face and accompanying blood vessels are stitched to the patient using complex microvascular surgery

The man was operated on in March, but details of the operation have only just been revealed.

He had been left unable to breathe, swallow, or talk properly after an accident five years ago.

He was considered for a full face transplant after nine previous operations failed.

A team of 30 experts carried out the operation on 20 March at the hospital in Barcelona.

The man has since seen himself in the mirror and was calm and satisfied, the leader of the medical team, Joan Pere Barret, told a news conference.

‘Achievement’

The first partial face transplant was carried out by doctors in Amiens, France, in 2005.

Isabelle Dinoire, a 38-year-old woman who had been mauled by her dog, received a new nose, chin and lips.

Doctors revealed details at a news conference Hospital)

Since then partial face transplants have been carried out in China and the US.

British experts say the Spanish operation may be the most complex yet.

It appears to include more bone and much more of the lower part of the face.

A spokesperson for the UK’s Facial Transplantation Research Team, which has ethical permission to carry out a full face transplant, said it was “a tremendous achievement”.

“This appears to be the most complex facial transplant operation carried out so far worldwide,” he said.

“It once again shows how facial transplantation can help a small number of people who are the most severely facially injured and for whom reconstructive surgery cannot and has not worked.”

Doctors say scars will be concealed

HOW SURGEONS REBUILT PATIENT’S FACE

1. Patient lost jaw, nose and other parts of his face in shooting accident.

2. Donor’s facial skin, muscles, nose, cheekbones, teeth and jawbone used to rebuild patient’s face. Metal plates used to support new facial structure, which included reconstructing the roof of the mouth.

3. Donor’s nerves, blood vessels and skin connected to patient. Patient will have to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life.

Source: Vall D’Hebron Hospital, Barcelona

Reference Link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8639437.stm

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BBC News

'Smear delay nearly cost me my life'

Shagufta urges women not to delay

Shagufta Fayyaz considers herself a lucky woman – her cervical cancer was caught before it had spread.

But she knows she could have been even luckier if she had just kept her appointment for a routine smear test.

The mother-of-five ignored letters calling her in for a test for over a year, despite suffering worrying symptoms.

Shagufta says she wishes she had taken the check more seriously and admits ignoring it could have cost her life.

“I kept getting the reminders from my GP and because I was busy with my normal everyday life, the children and work, I just kept putting it off,” said 49-year-old Shagufta, who is a teaching assistant from London.

“I just kept saying I will go tomorrow.

The smear is only a discomfort of a couple of minutes and it could save your life Shagufta Fayyaz

“I had pre-period bleeding and I was worried, but I didn’t go.”

She thought her symptoms were a sign of her menopause.

But doctors found she had a large cancerous tumour and she was operated on within a week.

“I didn’t think it would be cancer, but it was. I thought my delay had cost me my life.

“I thought ‘am I going to die?’, ‘Who will care for my five girls when I’m gone?'”

But despite the size of the tumour, doctors found it was confined to the cervix and had not spread to the lymph nodes.

Shagufta needed a radical hysterectomy – which involves the removal of the uterus, the cervix, a small portion of the upper part of the vagina and some soft tissue from within the pelvis.

“I did not need chemo or radiotherapy. I was very lucky.

“But I was in hospital for 16 days and had a catheter for seven weeks to drain the urine. I still have lost some sensations and my stitches still hurt.

“The hysterectomy has also induced my menopause, and that has come on so strongly.

“I have gone over this so many times, I was so busy, but a smear only takes half an hour. You have to make time for yourself.”

Jade effect

Shagufta’s consultant, Paul Carter, who works at St George’s Hospital, in south London, said he estimated that about 30% of women delayed attending smear tests and warned that this could have dire consequences.

“We are still seeing women on a weekly basis being diagnosed with advanced cancer, who have put off having their smears for nearly a decade and, like everything else in life, time passes quickly. And when they get reminders it’s a case of ‘I’ll get round to it soon’,” he said.

“Shagufta should do well. But if it had been picked up earlier it could have been dealt with by a simple cone biopsy of the cervix under local anaesthetic.

After Jade’s illness the numbers getting screening soared

“I have another lady who has delayed her smear for eight years and she has now presented with cancer extending all the way from the cervix to the spine and the pelvis.

“She is beyond surgical treatment and so will need to be treated by a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

“The bottom line is attend for your smears.”

After television personality Jade Goody died from cervical cancer last year, the amount of women coming forward for smear tests doubled, but experts say numbers have fallen away.

Robert Music, director of the cervical cancer charity Jo’s Trust, said: “It looks as if screening uptake is back to levels before Jade was diagnosed, which is worrying.

“This highlights the real need for long-term investment in smart, targeted education and awareness programmes.

“We need to remind women that cervical cancer is a largely preventable disease and one where they can take proactive steps to reducing their risk.”

Shagufta says she has ensured her four eldest daughters attend their smears on time and her teenage daughter is to get the cervical cancer vaccine that protects against human papillomavirus (HPV) – thought to be the cause of 99% of cases .

“I was constantly on their case to book in. And after hearing about me all my friends, who had been putting off their smears, booked theirs.

“I would say to anyone ‘the smear is only a discomfort of a couple of minutes and it could save your life’.”

Reference Link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8636549.stm

Courtesy
BBC News

Keeping poor Syrian children in school

Mohammad has dropped out of school to earn $4 a day on a building site

Thirteen-year-old Mohammad no longer joins the morning walk to school with the other schoolchildren.

His morning starts at 6am. He is now out earning money for his family. Before the end of his preparatory schooling, he started working in construction workshop, leaving behind a dream of an education and becoming a doctor.

Parents and five children are gathered around the wood burner in the 3m sq room that makes up almost half of their mud-built house.

Kassem Motlak, Mohammed’s 45-year-old father, works for the municipality as a cleaner. He earns around US $220 (£143) a month, and barely manages to feed his family.

“I had to take Mohammad out of school. I can’t pay the expenses any more,” Mr Motlak said bitterly.

Mohammad brings in $3 a day. He is not the only working child in the family.

His elder sister Zainab, 15, also works at a chocolate factory, earning $4. She quit school two years ago.

Legal framework

Education in Syria is free up to the end of preparatory school, for children aged six to 12, and it is compulsory.

CHILDREN AND EDUCATION 96% of school age children are registered at a school, but up to 18% drop out Child labour: 4% of children Child marriage: 13% Youth literacy: Male 95%, female 92% 8.8 million Syrians are under 18 out of a population of about 22 million 17 % of Syrians use the internet

But recent statistics show about 18% of school children drop out. This is double the average for counties in the Middle East and North Africa.

Syria is on the right track in terms of legal framework regarding child rights, labour and banning violence against children according to the UN’s children’s fund, Unicef.

But monitoring implementation of these policies is hard and a lot still needs to be done.

The Syrian government is trying to offer incentives to people to keep their children in school.

The ministry of education have recently started a program, with Unicef, of paying $1 daily for each child kept in school by families in certain deprived areas.

Deprived areas

Laws and programmes to keep children in schools may not be enough to improve children’s rights in Syria. Some argue that society needs to change as well as the educational system.

Some Syrian families cannot send their children to school when they could be earning an income

Unicef is working to provide support for schools, in co-operation with the ministry of education. So far, they have provided support for around 100 schools by providing training for teachers and help upgrading the infrastructure.

Unicef’s chief of mission in Syria Sherazade Boualia says the agency is running a programme to support schools in some of the most deprived areas in the country.

“We are looking at schools through this from a comprehensive perspective – the structure of the school, the way it looks, the sanitation, water, clean classrooms, the quality of teachers themselves,” she says.

Fun learning

In recent years, many civil organisations and non-governmental organisations have been established to try to improve the situation of children in Syria.

Massar is one of them. It is part of a larger NGO project; Syria Trust for Development.

An artist’s impression of what the Discovery Centre will look like in central Damascus

The non-profit project, funded by government grant and private donations, started almost five years ago. It aims to provide alternative, non-traditional, means for children to gain an education and skills.

Masa al-Mufti, a director at Massar, says the programme is designed to reach all Syrian children.

“Massar builds for a long-term development, which aims to foster citizenship and capacity building for children. It introduces a new concept, which is the informal learning, so children will have another space where they can have fun and enjoy while learning,” says Ms Mufti.

‘Effective citizens’

Massar is aiming to build a regional Child Discovery Centre in each of Syria’s 13 administrative divisions – a unique project for Syria.

In the heart of the capital Damascus, Massar is building a cultural centre for children activities in a public park. The building will take the shape of a Damascene Rose and aims, eventually to receive 500,000 visitors a year.

The project is designed to offer students a more engaging experience than traditional education.

It hopes to allow children to be more creative, to stimulate individual thinking and to build team spirit.

“Massar aims to engage children, not only to enhance their skills through education but to enable them to become the agent for change in their community and effective citizens of the future,” says Masa al-Mufti.

Reference Link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8631921.stm

Courtesy
BBC News

State to build 12 biodiesel plants

Four plants already set up are functioning well

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Government to make use of Raitha Samparka Kendras to procure oilseeds for these plants

Farmers can supply seeds to the kendras and get paid for it

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riding the green wave:Deputy Commissioner K. Amaranarayana riding a bullock cart along with officers and leaders of various parties in Davangere on Thursday to mark Earth Day.

DAVANGERE, India: Twelve biodiesel production plants would be set up in the State by the end of this year, said Y.B. Ramakrishna, chairman of the State Biofuel Task Force.

Participating at a function organised to mark Earth Day on Thursday at the Anegod forest, about 15 km from here, Mr. Ramakrishna said that four such biodiesel production plants had already been set up in Bangalore, Hassan and Dharwad.

In the first phase, he said, biodiesel plants would be set up in Davangere, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Chintamani, Tumkur and Chamarajanagar, and in the second phase in Udupi, Karwar, Shimoga and Kodagu. Two more places where plants would be set up in the second phase were yet to be decided, he said.

Mr. Ramakrishna said the Government wanted to make use of the over 746 Raitha Samparka Kendras (RSKs) in the State to procure oilseeds for these plants.

Farmers could supply seeds to the RSKs and get paid for it, he said. Dakshina Kannada alone was producing over 4.50 lakh tonnes of honge seeds while Uttara Kannada was producing over 5 lakh tonnes of neem seeds.

Earlier in the day, the district administration, led by Deputy Commissioner K. Amaranarayana, planted a number of seedlings. Several district-level officers travelled on bullock carts from the high school field to the Anegod forest spreading the message to save the earth.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/23/stories/2010042353020300.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

Tissue culture to become affordable

Experiments show it is possible to reduce production cost by 30 per cent

UAS-B’s Tissue Culture Lab has a capacity to produce two million plants a year

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To the aid of farmers:The Tissue Culture Lab at the University of Agriculture Sciences, Bangalore.

BANGALORE, India: The tissue culture laboratory of the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bangalore is on the threshold of making tissue culture an “affordable technology” by evolving low-cost methodology for producing plants under this system.

Tissue culture expert B.N. Sathyanarayana, principal investigator at the tissue culture lab, told The Hindu that the experiments being conducted in this regard had produced positive results. “These efforts are sure to reduce the cost of tissue culture plants, especially banana saplings, by about 30 per cent,” he said.

He said though tissue culture plants are known for high yields, their high cost had confined their reach to only a few rich farmers.

A reduction in cost will help increase their reach among small and marginal farmers leading to increase in their income levels.

“The low-cost methodology is expected to make tissue culture laboratory itself a cottage industry and encourage more number of unemployed youth to set up such labs in small towns. Such a trend will ensure that farmers spend less on transportation costs for getting tissue culture plants,” he said.

The lab’s experiments have shown that it is possible to reduce costs by replacing agar — a costly gelling agent used for plant multiplication — with low-cost support materials such as cotton fibre, which can be re-used. Similarly, it is possible to reduce costs by using filtered water instead of the costly distilled water and also harness natural light instead of artificial lighting for plant production.

Set up at a cost of Rs. 1.5 crore in 2006-07, the UAS-B’s Tissue Culture Lab presently has a capacity to produce two million plants a year which is expected to be increased to five million by the end of this year. He pointed out that the tissue culture variety of plants especially the banana saplings being produced by this lab are popular among farmers.

The lab also produces orchids, anthurium and two foliage varieties of ornamental plants.

According to him, this is the first lab in the country to develop protocol for producing plants through tissue culture method for a sweet variety of pomelo ( chakota).

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/23/stories/2010042354280400.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

Three-pronged strategy to tackle water pollution

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Pollution detection gang has been constituted for each of the 14 divisions

Water Board has set up 32 additional chlorination plants at the intermediary reservoirs

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Hyderabad, India: The Water Board has come up with a three-pronged strategy to address the ‘stray cases’ of pollution being reported from different parts of the city. A pollution detection gang comprising 10 sample collectors and one technical officer has been constituted for each of the 14 divisions, including the peripheral areas. The gangs will be in place for the next four months.

The Board has set up 32 additional chlorination plants at the intermediary reservoirs to ensure that the prescribed level of .2ppm residual chlorine is maintained in water constantly. Till now chlorination plants were existing only at the 86 service reservoirs. Since there is a possibility of chlorination evaporating midway, the additional plants are opened to make sure that chlorination remains till it reaches the end users.

The Board’s third strategy centres round identification of damaged and leaky pipes. Where there is major leakage the Board would replace the entire length of pipes itself and where household connections are running through open nalas or criss-crossing sewerage lines the consumers will be asked to go in for quality ductile pipes.

A mindboggling 594 kms of water distribution line spread over ten divisions of core city area including Qutbullapur, L.B. Nagar and Kukatpally need to be replaced urgently as most of it is old and damaged. And to do that the Board requires a whopping Rs. 1,152 crore. The poor finances of the HMWSSB simply doesn’t permit it.

As it is the Board’s revenue collection falls short by Rs. 8 to 10 crore every month. To add to its woes the budgetary grant of Rs. 49 crore per quarter for the year 2009-10 is not released in full. This amount is utilised for improvement of water and sewer lines. But so far the Board has got only two quarters grant of Rs.98 crore.

Board’s managing director, M. Jagadeeshwar, said the cases of water pollution being reported are not unusual for this season. Up to April 21 this year 320 water samples were found ‘unwholesome’ of the 1,12,804 samples collected. The data gathered by IPM, Institute of Health Studies and HMWSSB shows that the number of unwholesome samples were 70 in January, 44 in February, 138 in March and 68 this month so far.

“The situation is not alarming but we are concerned with these few cases too and are taking steps to check water contamination,” Mr. Jagadeeshwar said.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/23/stories/2010042358980300.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

Major boost for rural sports

Anantapur, India: District Sports Officer C. Lakshminarayana Reddy on Thursday said that rural sports were being given a major boost by encouraging rural sportsmanship among children and youth by the Centre and State. He said that 108 panchayats had been identified under the first phase of Panchayat Youth Sports Aur Khel Scheme.

Under the second phase 88 panchayats have been identified for implementation of the scheme.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/23/stories/2010042350970200.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

Laudable Earth Day initiative

Shriram Panorama Hills and The Hindu organise walk on beach road

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VUDA Vice-Chairman B. Sreedhar flags off the walk on beach road

Students of Little Angels English Medium School and others take part

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— Photo: C.V. SUBRAHMANYAM

Clarion call:VUDA Vice-Chairman B. Sreedhar flagging off the walk jointly organised by The Hindu and Shriram Panorama Hills on the occasion of World Earth Day in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. Gan Bhukta, chief marketing officer of Shriram Panorama Hills, is also seen.

VISAKHAPATNAM, India: To create awareness on environmental issues among the people, Shriram Panorama Hills and The Hindu jointly organised Earth Day Walk on the beach road on Thursday morning.

Vice-Chairman of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority B. Sreedhar flagged off the walk at R.K. Beach junction. Some 100 students of Little Angels English Medium School from MVP Colony and others participated in the walk, organised as part of the ‘Save Environment – Save Earth’ campaign of the organisers.

Objective

The objective of the campaign was to create awareness on the importance of ‘Earth Day’ and how everyone could contribute to save the planet earth. Carrying banners and placards with slogans, the students gave out a positive message to all the visitors on the beach to protect environment. The organisers distributed 20,000 pamphlets at various residential areas as part of the awareness campaign.

Earth Day, observed on April 22 every year, marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970, when 20 million Americans took to the street, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy and sustainable environment. This year, on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the awareness campaign was conducted by The Hindu, in association with Shriram Panorama Hills, a project promoted by Shriram Properties of Shriram Group.

The project is claimed to be the city’s first skyscraper, located on the foothills of the scenic Yendada-Madhurawada region of Visakhapatnam. The project will be a gated community spread over 80 acres comprising 231 villas, over 2,210 apartments, club houses, shopping mall, provision for a luxury hotel and facilities like hospital, international standard school, etc.

Gan Bhukta, CMO of Shriram Panorama Hills, T.V. Suresh, Regional General Manager of The Hindu, Ravi Shankar, Assistant Regional Manager of The Hindu and Sunita Uppe, Manager-Marketing of Shriram Panorama Hills, took part in the walk.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/23/stories/2010042351680200.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

More disabled-friendly footpaths coming up

“We will soon refurbish footpaths on busy roads in T.Nagar” Photo: S. Thanthoni

EASY TO WALK: The pavement with yellow tiles and grooves on Swami Sivananda Salai, near the new Secretariat complex in Chennai.

CHENNAI, India: When the footpath near the Ripon Building was refurbished, yellow tiles with grooves to aid visually challenged were affixed. As part of the Chennai Corporation initiative to make pavements disabled friendly, similar tiles are being fixed on footpaths outside the new Secretariat complex.

The pavement on Swami Sivananda Salai is now ready with the grooved tiles. The bright coloured tiles will also be used in many more pavements in the city, Corporation officials said.

The Corporation has affixed the ceramic grids on pavements of Wallajah Road and on the footpaths at the Tower Park in Anna Nagar and Natesan Park in T.Nagar. “We would soon refurbish footpaths on the busy roads in T.Nagar,” an official added.

According to Corporation officials, the work of the footpaths will start immediately on completion of the Rs.1,400-crore storm-water drainage project across the city.

K.Rengapathy, a regular user of the footpath near Ripon Building, says the facility should be extended to all pavements for the visually challenged.

“This short stretch has been of great help for many people like me. But we continue to face problems while crossing roads and walking on other roads,” he says.

Nethrodaya founder Gopi says the basic issues relating to the problems for people with visual disability need to be addressed first. “Encroachments on pavements, junction boxes and hawkers obstruct the path and making it very difficult for all persons with disabilities to commute. It is necessary that they widen the pavements and make them disabled-friendly,” he says.

Ramps and hand-grills must be provided and audio signals should be installed in all areas, he added.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/23/stories/2010042358550200.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

Poultry development programme to alleviate poverty launched

Birds will be distributed to BPL families

State to provide them veterinary care

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CHENNAI, India: A new poverty alleviation programme to benefit those Below Poverty Line has been launched by the Union Ministry of Agriculture, said P.K. Shukla, Joint Commissioner, Poultry, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, here on Thursday.

Explaining the programme, Dr. Shukla said under the Rural Backyard Poultry Development Programme endemic birds would be distributed to BPL families. The programme was launched in Bihar, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim in August last year and birds that required minimum care and feed, bred by the Indian Council of Agriculture and State Agriculture Universities, distributed.

The BPL families would get four-week old chicks and the government would also provide them a subsidy of Rs.750 for bird shelters. Each family would get totally 45 birds in three instalments, which would be distributed at a gap of 16 weeks each. The Department had identified 20 endemic birds.

State governments should prepare a project and send a proposal to the Union Agriculture Ministry for implementing the programme. A total of 40,000 beneficiaries would be covered under the programme in the five States. In the 11 {+t} {+h} Five Year Plan the Ministry had fixed the target of beneficiaries to be 3.85 lakh people across the country. Both non-governmental organisations and women self-help groups could participate in the programme for setting up mother units to raise the chicks. For this interest-free loan of Rs.36,000 would be given to them through NABARD. The State government should provide veterinary care for the birds, he said.

More research on breeding, nutrition and health care of alternative poultry was the need of the hour, said N. Daniel Joy Chandran, Registrar, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. G.M. Lingaraju, Scientist ‘C’, Department of Bio-technology, Union Ministry of Science and Technology and R. Prabakaran, Dean, Madras Veterinary College, spoke. The programme was organised by the Centre for Animal Production Studies, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/23/stories/2010042360060500.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu