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Managing diseases using stem cells

The strategy to treat Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes is to implant near the blood system the insulin producing beta cells derived from cord blood stem cells

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The implant for diabetes treatment is seen as a short term therapy

It will take another 15 years to find a treatment for Parkinson’s

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No to cancer treatment: “We don’t promote stem cells for cancer treatment. Stem cells can’t cure cancer,” said Colin McGuckin, Professor of Regenerative Medicine, Newcastle Centre for Cord Blood, U.K. Cell based diseases such Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and diabetes were seen as the first candidates for being cured using stem cell transplantation. There is a probability that it would be possible one day. But some scientists are beginning to think that it will take another 15 years for a treatment using stem cells for Parkinson’s to emerge.

“The brain is so complex. We don’t understand every phenomenon in the brain,” said Colin McGuckin, Professor of Regenerative Medicine at the Newcastle Centre for Cord Blood, Newcastle, U.K. while explaining why it will take such a long time.

And unlike other organs, such as the heart, where the stem cells can be easily introduced, getting the stem cells into the brain poses an additional challenge.

Treating organs

According to Prof. McGuckin, treating organs and not cell-based diseases, may become a reality some time in the future. Even in the case of organs, such as the heart, the central idea is not about curing but managing the disease.

And if it were to come true, it would mark a paradigm shift in the way stem cells are seen as a treatment/cure option for many diseases.

The Newcastle centre has been in the forefront of cord blood stem cell research. The Centre was the first in the world to produce cord blood-derived embryonic stem cells, liver and pancreatic-like tissues, and neural cells from cord blood stem cells. It has a public cord blood bank started seven years ago and has about 1,000 samples.

Beta cell implant

Even in the case of diabetes, Prof. McGuckin feels that cord blood stem cells may only be able to treat diabetes. They may not be able to cure it.

The strategy is to implant beta cells that produce insulin anywhere near the blood system and allow these to control blood sugar. The strategy is the same for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

“The patient would get better [with the implant]. “Diet control is a must [even after the implant],” he stressed, “sensible diet is the best way to control diabetes. In both the cases, the implant is seen as a short term therapy.

The Newcastle centre is not looking at using cord blood stem cells for treating or curing diseases alone.

They have been using stem cells to produce human tissues to study the way certain diseases manifest and progress and look for possible ways of curing or treating them.

The team has already found that some genes expressed only at the embryonic stage, when growth is at its peak, reappear later in life. Ideally these genes should not be expressed after the foetal stage. But when they do appear, it results in cancerous growth.

Genes reactivated

“These genes are reactivated [at a later stage] by accident, Prof. McGuckin said. The Newcastle team found that some cancers of the skin, lung and prostate are caused this way. They have developed a family of drugs that can slow down such cancers.

“When we slow down cancer, we can use less of chemo and the chemo will have more time to act [on the cancer],” he said while explaining the advantages of slowing down cancer.

“Can’t cure cancer”

Apart from leukaemia, can stem cells be used to cure cancers? “Stem cells can’t cure cancer; they [stem cells] really don’t fight. The cancer cells would ignore stem cells as they don’t respect the environment,” said Prof. McGuckin emphatically. “We don’t promote stem cells for cancer [treatment].”

While some cancers are caused by faulty genes within the cells, some are switched on by other cells. Animal studies are currently underway to test the drugs that can address cancers caused by both, the faulty genes and by other cells.

Finding the causal factor, as in this case, is one of the uses of studying human tissues produced using stem cells. Using them for testing new molecules for treating diseases is another promising area.

When used prior to taking up animal trials, such human tissues can help reduce the number of animals used for testing. “Can’t [totally] replace animal testing overnight,” he stressed.

Multicentric trials

The team headed by Prof. McGuckin was in Chennai recently to explore the possibility of collaborating with institutions for undertaking joint multicentric global clinical trials using cord blood stem cells.

While using the patient’s bone marrow for treating his disease (autologous transplantation) is considered to be safe and numerous clinical trials are currently underway in India, Prof. McGuckin was critical of such trials.

“Even if it is an autologous [transplantation], we are taking the cells outside [the body] and there are chances of contamination. If it is a clinical trial, the researchers must work with other institutions abroad so that it is an international trial,” he underlined. “It is a risk if the trial is done in India [alone] and not internationally. Trials should be monitored.”

Control of pineapple mealy bug

Control of pineapple mealy bug Pineapple mealy bug is a major pest occurring wherever pineapple is grown.

It is root feeding insect, yet some colonies are found on the basal portion of leaves and fruits.

The pest sucks the sap and simultaneously injects saliva containing wilt virus, inflicting heavy losses.

The first symptoms of the disease appear in the roots which cease to grow, collapse and then rot. An apparently flourishing crop will show the symptoms earlier than a slow growing poor crop.

Quick wilt

This is known as quick wilt. The discolouration of leaves to reddish yellow and stunted growth affects the size and weight of fruits.

Honeydew secreted by mealy bugs attracts ants which cause the spread of this pest. The mealy bugs live in underground colonies with only a small proportion living on the leaves.

Shape of the bug

The bugs are oval in shape with distinct segmentation and covered with white filamentous waxy secretion. Each female bug lays around 300 eggs which hatch in a couple of days and the emerging nymphs start sucking the sap and develop into adults in about 50 days.

Pest management

Resistant varieties should be selected for propagation. Planting of healthy cuttings (slips) of pineapple is suggested. Destroy grasses and other monocot weeds which serve as alternative hosts for the pest.

Pruning and burning of the infested plant parts is very effective. Fumigate the infested suckers of pineapple. Dip the cuttings in chlorpyrifos, endosulfan or malathion emulsion before planting.

For the control of mealy bugs control of ants is a must. Hence application of carbaryl dust around the collar region of the plant is a necessity. A layer of mulch and irrigation should also be provided around the infested plant after treatment.

Spray 0.05 per cent of fenitrothion or fenthion or diazinon. Care should be taken to spray the base and sides of the plant.

“We instituted a modified open access policy”

“We instituted a modified open access policy”

Emilie Marcus (left), Editor-in-Chief and Lynne Herndon, Chief Executive Officer, of Cell Press. Emilie Marcus, Editor-in-Chief, and Lynne Herndon, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of Cell Press, the premium life sciences imprint of the science publishers, Elsevier, were in India recently to attend a lecture series by Nobel Laureate David Baltimore arranged by TnQ Books and Journals and Cell Press. They also used their time here to visit science institutions and interact with scientists and science students with the objective of enhancing the editorial presence of Cell Press in India, and encourage more Indian scientists to publish with them. Dr. Marcus, a PhD in neuroscience, who joined Cell Press in 1998, and Ms. Herndon, who became CEO of the company in 2001, spoke to Parvathi Menon about their impressions on science research in India, and on how Indian scientists could improve their publishing visibility in international science journals. Excerpts: What are the objectives of your trip to India? Marcus: For me, from the journal’s angle, it has been to establish a dialogue with the Indian scientific community. Cell Press as a whole gets very few submissions from India and I think overall we are fairly unaware of Indian science and scientists.

A number of years ago the situation was somewhat similar with respect to Cell Press and China. I started travelling to China regularly and meeting scientists.

To run a journal at the forefront you need to know the community and we invest a lot of editorial effort in this. So for India we are really trying to model ourselves on the success we have had in establishing an editorial presence in China and making the Chinese scientific community aware of Cell and the other Cell Press journals, how to submit papers and contact editors. For me, for the journal, this is one of the major goals of our trip, and it has certainly been achieved.

Herndon: I think it is not likely that Cell Press will have an office of its own here in India, so this is a way to make our presence known with a fair amount of impact. It was important to establish that as other companies and rival journals are setting up their own offices here. You have visited Delhi and now Bangalore. You have met scientists and visited science institutions. What are your initial impressions? Marcus: Well, it is very premature for me to say at this point. The National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) at every level is in my mind on par with the top ten per cent of U.S. science.

The experience at IISC was very different because I did not really have the opportunity to hear as much as I would have liked.

The overall impression I came away with there was that there was very much an issue of presentation: of how they are presenting their science to an audience, how they are selling their science and getting it across.

It is different from how U.S. scientists by and large would present their work, which is more on the question that is being asked and the process taken to ask it, as opposed to, for example “I work in x system on y protein” where there is no question. It therefore becomes hard to evaluate the significance of the work.

It is very tied into how it is presented. That would be my first premature impression, based on my very brief interactions.

The huge crowds for David Baltimore’s talks in various cities are evidence of the standing of science in India, and the serious following it has. Is this interest commensurate with the publication presence of sc ientists from India in scientific journals including the Cell Press publications? Marcus: I think the most direct determinant of the amount and quality of publication is research funding.

I don’t know the state of funding (in India). In this day and age science is a very expensive pursuit as high quality, cutting edge science is very technologically driven.

To be competitive on the international landscape is a very resource-driven equation I think.

Then there is the human resource element and intellectual capacity, for sure. But resources and education – what is good science and how to do it – are key features.

The increase in publications out of China really came with this dramatic increase in government research funding for science.

How does Cell Press view the rise of Open Access journals like the PLoS group? Herndon: Well, we instituted a modified open access policy ourselves, so that our content becomes free after 12 months.

Open Access seems to be gaining in popularity rather slowly. But I think that the start-up of the PLoS group was indeed the right thing at the right time. They took money, invested it in the right way and created some fairly good journals.

Ultimately, I think open access, if it were to become the major way the people got their literature, would put more pressure on us as publishers to deliver something additional that they cannot get from the versions that are housed with government.

Marcus: From an editorial perspective I am very opposed to an author-pays based model, whether in a newspaper or a scientific journal. If an author pays to be published it undermines the editorial independence of the journal. But doesn’t the author pay most often through institutional grants, not out of his or her pocket? Marcus: Well, from the journal’s perspective it doesn’t matter. The money can come from anywhere. In an author-pays model the more you publish, the more the journal makes. There is no incentive really to reject anything.

And I think you can see that pretty clearly now in the events that are happening in PLoS. PLoS Biology started out by having an editorial model based on a subscription-based business model, i.e., they were very selective, and the model was not financially sustainable.

Because if you have a journal with a high rejection rate you cannot sustain a model based on author’s fees. So in order to fund the editorial efforts of PloS Biology, they have had to launch PLoS One which is an online journal of now extremely low quality, minimally peer reviewed, for which authors pay 1,500 or 2,000 dollars to have their articles published.

In three months they have published 1,000 articles! The author is responsible for copy editing, pre-press and all of that.

So you end up with a lot of publications and a lot of revenue, with no real service to the scientific community.

There is a fairly widespread perception of bias against papers submitted by scientists from developing countries like India and from lesser known institutes shown by editors of leading international scientific journal s. How far is that perception true? Marcus: I don’t think it is true. I do know that it is a common perception. At least from the editorial processes of the Cell Press journals it is impossible for me to see how that kind of bias could come in. Herndon: As more people have the experience of publishing in top journals and mentor other people to also do the same, it will help to change the feeling about the system.

It seems like the feeling about the system and how it works is stronger than any evidence of bias itself.

Marcus: There was a young woman graduate student from a new lab who came up to me after my talk and was insistent on this issue of bias.

The only advice I could give her was “Don’t let that distract you. That will become a self-fulfilling prophecy — if you think there is a bias and therefore you don’t submit.

Do the best science you can do, talk to as many people as you can, and try and find out from the journals where your work is appropriate. Be realistic with yourself, lobby with the editors on why you think (your paper) is interesting and appropriate.”

Cell has a very high rejection rate. It only publishes 15 per cent of everything that gets submitted to it.

We’ve spent a lot of time and effort to set a consistent editorial standard, and work with authors to meet that standard, but we don’t have the option of lowering the bar.

Call, email the editor, and argue for a paper…David Baltimore has no problem thinking he can do that (laughs).

That is an acceptable and encouraged thing to do if you think we have missed the scientific point.

We are there and available and eager to get to know scientists better. I do think the referees, in this case the editors, are being as fair as they can and you just have to get in the game and play it.

दुनिया का पहला कुदरती े लप्तोप , लो -पॉवर टीवी

Biodegradable laptop, low-power TV With its power-hungry gadgets and thousands of delegates flying in from across the world, an enormous technology conference hardly seems an appropriate venue for championing green issues. But the group behind the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week is trying to demonstrate that technology may be about saving the environment rather than damaging it.

Ecological concerns

With ecological concerns playing an increasing part in the decisions made by shoppers, plenty of the 2,700 companies showing off their latest technologies seemed desperate to claim any sort of green credentials.

However, some companies at CES really were attempting to produce innovative technologies to reduce damage to the environment.

Later this year the Japanese manufacturer Fujitsu will launch a laptop in its home market which is moving away from plastic: instead, the Biblo PC has a case made partially from corn oil.

According to the company this means it is biodegradable, although scientists have questioned whether it will make any difference since the corn-based plastic is mixed with a petroleum-based material.

Consumer demand

Using corn reduces the amount of carbon dioxide emitted during its creation by 15 per cent, but it does nothing to minimise the toxicity of the computer’s internal workings. Fujitsu says the development is a response to consumer demand.

Seen by many inside the technology industry as the green successor to flat-screen televisions, the Organic LED screen uses less power than normal TVs and delivers a better picture.

Full production

The tiny pockets of material inside the screen produce their own light. Although OLED screens are small due to the difficulty of making them, Korean manufacturer Samsung showed off a 32-inch model at CES and says it will go into full production by 2010. Japanese rival Sony has an 11-inch model on the market — but it costs $2,500 (GBP1,276).

The world’s largest phone maker Nokia is trying hard to improve the image of the mobile phone industry, which is responsible for a large portion of the mountain of gadgets discarded every year.

Renewable material

Its latest drive is to encourage people to buy a phone made from recycled and reused parts — the Nokia 3100 Evolve.

Built from renewable material and packing a charger which claims much better efficiency than some of its rivals, it is available in Europe. The company also showed off an Eco Sensor Phone, which is able to analyse the owner’s health, environmental changes and local weather patterns.

Part of Nokia’s approach is based on research which shows that huge amounts of energy get wasted because people do not switch off their handsets after charging.

Green plug

Although the Finnish company is working on its own technology to stop this, one of the big stories of the conference has been the Green Plug.

The device promises to help the environment by using software that lets your gadget talk to its power supply. If no more charge is needed, the plug will switch itself off.

Alternative energy sources were in limited evidence at CES this year, despite technologies using hydrogen and ethanol to create no-emissions power having been heavily promoted in the past. Shanghai-based Horizon, however, was displaying what it says will be some of the world’s first commercially available fuel cell products, including a generator which needs only water.

Pouring liquid into a container the size of a large can of drink is enough to cause a fuel cell reaction with a chemical compound inside to generate power. One canister is enough to power 10 laptops, and they should be available to buy this year.

पीपुल्स फ़ोन मार्केट में उत्तर गया.

People's phone unveiled

Spice iMedia unveiled its recent range of mobile products

First the people's car was launched and now the people's phone -- the world's cheapest -- has been unveiled by India conglomerate -- Spice iMedia. The mobile phone which is just like that of Tata's Nano car, combines both affordabilty and effective functioning.

The potential of the Indian mobile market was a hot topic at the 2008 Mobile World Congress.
One of the companies that attracted a lot of attention for its designs on that market, was the Indian conglomerate -- Spice iMedia. It has unveiled a groundbreaking product range of mobile that includes the world's cheapest phone, called the People's Phone, and a high end movie phone that plays mini-discs.

Elated with the recent launch of product range Paul Shoker -- CEO, Spice said, "The people's phone, if you like, is going to be priced at well under twenty dollars and we are looking to take that in terms of distribution around the world."

The people's phone coincidently also comes in a braille edition, that follows hotly on the heels of the people's car also from India. Commenting upon the same, Paul Shoker said that it is not a coincidence, however, at the end of the day what the company is looking at is the emerging market, especially in India. They are focusing on a mass market product. There are a lot of people in the nation who have not yet made a phone call through a mobile.

With its emphasis on affordability on one hand and high end functionality on the other, Spice is betting that it will be well placed to capitilize on the fast moving Indian mobile market.

विर्तुअल देस्तिनाशन गाइड

A virtual destination guide

In Tech Plus today, we're featuring a device that would help one to reach his destination

Now wanderlust is something that afflicts many of us, and especially if one's a globe trotter with a bad sense of direction, then we might have a device for those people that would be just apt for all the wandering they'd do.

Yes, Hewlett Packard or HP has just launched a GPS device - that's Global Positioning System. The device is set to make the process of navigating one's way to his destination a lot simpler.

Sightseeing in Paris? Don't know which street to hit after the Eiffel Tower? Carrying one of these could help - the HP iPAQ 312 Travel Companion (a portable GPS device), meant for the tech savvy people and for those, who want something more than a paper map in their pocket.

In other words, the HP iPAQ 312 Travel Companion, is a modern day navigation tool with a touch-screen interface, 3D maps, access to the net, bluetooth and entertainment. Priced at over Rs 16,000, the gadget is a no mean bargain.

PDAs have become a household name now but the Travel Companion, is all set to launch itself in the new must-have lists of all gizmo freaks. The Travel Companion will hit store shelves in India in the next ten days.

A wireless world

The television, the net or the music system, all simply leaves quite a mess of wires in one's home. Tech Plus today explores a world without cables

The television, the net or the music system, all simply leaves quite a mess of wires in one's home. In Tech Plus today, we explore a world without cables. We'll now take a look at how Wifi can make life easier for anyone around the house.

The Wireless house

Essentials:

Wireless Broadband Router
Price: Rs 4,000-6,000

Wireless Adapters for your computer
Price: As low as Rs 2,000

Well if one hates wires but still wants to keep everything connected and in control, there's indeed a way out to dispense with those wires. What one needs to start off with, is a wireless broadband router, which would be priced anything between Rs 4000 to 6000 depending on the range. One other very lucrative accessory on offer is a wireless adapter for the computer, that'll cost about Rs 2,000.

Again with the 'Skype Phone', one can enjoy the following advantages:

a) Make International calls at a fraction of the cost
b) A very accomodative price

A 'Skype Phone' is wireless and it allows you to make VOIP calls around the world, for a fraction of the price of ISD - Cost about Rs 8,000-9,000

Wireless Print Server's yet another amazing wireless device.

a) Print documents without printer cables
b) Price - About Rs 6,600

Internet Video Camera helps in the under mentioned ways:

a) Keeps an eye around the house from anywhere
b) Price - About Rs 19,900

If kids are around the house, then it's always good to keep an eye on them. A wireless Internet Video Camera allows to do that from the next room, the office or even from halfway across the world.

Through the activation of a 'Wireless Music Bridge', one can benefit in the below cited manner:

a) In streaming music wirelessly to the home entertainment system
b) Price - About Rs 5,990

What's life without entertainment, a wireless Music Bridge allows one to stream music from the net or the computer to one's own home music sytem, without having to run wires all over the house.

So at the end of the day when one is enabled to do quite a lot, that one wants to do without making a mess of the house, then this goes on to prove that a wireless world is truly quite a luxury to indulge in and absolutely painless.

रियल वर्ल्ड gaming

Real world gaming

Majoy is all about balancing strategy and brute force in a real world setting

First-person shooting games definitely give an adrenaline rush. They do, quite admittedly, send the pulse racing, but they really don’t do anything more than that. After all, at the end of the day, you're just sitting in one place staring at a computer screen. But there's another way to do it.

Put electronic guns in the hands of gamers, make them don uniforms bristling with sensors and put them in a setting that lends itself to shooting around corners and you have yourself an entire new game. Its called Majoy and its all about balancing strategy and brute force in a real world setting.

Players are even given a PDA that plots the position of other players and feeds them combat information. But apart from all the interactive technology that’s at work here, the best part is that you're playing with and against real people, and you really have to move to beat the game. That should put to rest any couch-potato inclinations.

Photo prints made easy!

Looks like an ATM machine? Well not quite; it doesn’t churn out money, but it does give you top class digital prints once you punch in your camera's memory chip.

This is the HP photo kiosk - and the tech giant is in the process of installing these at your neighbourhood departmental store. So you can step in, print photos using simple touch screen buttons, swipe your credit card and walkout with prints in no time, a service that makes the retailer pretty much redundant.

“I think there's space for everyone. The retailer is as much needed as the kiosk. People will now get the choice to select the combination they need,” says Chris Morgan, Senior VP, HP Imaging and Printing, Asia Pacific.

The kiosks will take some time in coming, but compact home printers have already stepped in the Indian markets and also allow you to skip the trip to the photo studio. At a cost of Rs 5,000 to 7,000, depending on the print size, these are a great buy for those who are in the habit of stacking their desk with gadgets and want the convenience of printing at home.

An energy-efficient microchip with myriad uses

Embedded medical devices based on such chips will consume only a tenth of the current power Commercial applications could become available in five years or, perhaps, even sooner

A cell phone dying at a crucial moment, a digital camera that warns of low power at a perfect photo opportunity or a laptop inopportunely running out of juice — many of us have had such vexing experiences firsthand.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Texas Instruments (TI) have designed a chip, ten times more energy-efficient than existing ones, to keep portable devices going longer.

Because of the lower power consumption, the batteries of these mobile devices and vital medical implants do not have to be recharged or replaced as frequently as they are now.

Although users tend to be excited by new features on gadgets, every additional feature — like the ability to watch video clips or take snapshots on a cell phone — puts a burden on the battery’s limited power.

Clearly, a new approach to chip design was in order because saddling such portable devices with bigger and better batteries can only take us so far. In such devices, the key to turn down power consumption was the voltage, says Anantha Chandrakasan, Director of MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories and the Joseph F. and Nancy P. Keithley Professor of Electrical Engineering.

The longevity of the battery comes from the chip’s lower voltage requirement.

The operating voltage for circuits on a chip is typically 1 volt but the new chip can operate at just 0.3 volts. An important feature of this new chip’s design is a high-efficiency DC-to-DC converter — akin to an in-situ step-down transformer — that slashes the input voltage to one third of its strength.

Huge implications

Traditionally, the circuits on such chips have been optimised to operate at a supply voltage of around 1 volt. Scaling down the supply voltage has huge implications.

Memory and logic circuits had to be redesigned to operate at 0.3 volts, a voltage low enough to disrupt the chip’s very functionality, says Chandrakasan, the leader of the chip’s re-architecture team.

Besides, the team also had to overcome the variability inherent in chip manufacturing. At this lower supply voltage, variations and imperfections in the silicon chip could throw the electronic circuit out of whack; in the binary system what was registered as 1 could become 0 and vice versa. Designing the chip to minimize its vulnerability at the new voltage was a huge challenge.

The team demonstrated an ultra-low-power version of TI’s MSP430, a widely used microcontroller. “These design techniques show great potential for TI’s future low-power integrated circuit products and applications including wireless terminals, battery-operated instrumentation, sensor networks and medical electronics,” says Dr. Dennis Buss, chief scientist at Texas Instruments.

Networking devices

Portable and embedded medical devices, such as hearing aids and retinal implants, communications and networking devices based on such chips will consume only a tenth of the current power.

A person who now watches short clips on a cell phone, for instance, can view longer videos without the need to recharge. There could also be a variety of military applications in the production of tiny, self-contained sensor networks that could be dispersed in a battlefield.

Eventually, in medical devices the idea is to make the power requirement so low that they could run on ‘ambient energy’ — using the body’s own heat or movement to provide the requisite power.

The ultimate goal is to design a generator on a chip, eliminating the need for a battery, says Chandrakasan.

Imaging cancer with PET-CT

It is a valuable tool but should not be used for screening purposes and is not infallible

Glucose analogue: PET-CT for imaging cancer uses a positron emitting radionuclide called Fluorine-18 (Fl-18) . Come May, Chennai will have a PET-CT (Positron emission tomography-computed tomography) tool combined with a cyclotron facility for molecular imaging. To begin with, the centre will concentrate on imaging and diagnosing cancer.

PET scans “detect the metabolic signal of actively growing cancer cells in the body while CT scans provide a detailed picture of the internal anatomy that reveals the location, size and shape of abnormal cancerous growths.” Though PET and CT have their advantages, they offer more information on cancer location and metabolism when the two are ‘fused’ together.

The PET-CT for imaging cancer uses Fluoro-deoxyglucose (FDG) containing a positron emitting radionuclide called Fluorine-18 (Fl-18). The cyclotron facility will produce Fl-18.

Glucose analogue

Fl-18, which is a glucose analogue, enables visualisation of increased glucose uptake by the cancer cells. Since cancer cells grow uncontrollably, they consume more glucose and hence Fl-18 gets accumulated in such cancer cells.

The inflamed areas, much like the cancer cells, consume more glucose and hence take up more of Fl-18.

“But the malignant cells [unlike the inflamed areas] show up Fl-18 even after two hours,” said Dr. B.S. Ajai Kumar while explaining how the two cells behave after accumulating Fl-18. Dr. Kumar is Chairman of the Bangalore based HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd (HCG) and HCG along with the TVH Health Care, Chennai, is setting up the facility in Chennai.

False positives

“But sometimes PET-CT can give false positive results even in the case of inflammation,” said Dr. Sankar Srinivasan, Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Chennai based Apollo Speciality Hospital.

“Also in the case of active TB where the bacteria are actively dividing, PET-CT can sometimes give false positives. And PET-CT should be done only after 8 weeks after radiation, as the inflammation caused by radiation can give false positive results.”

Dr. Vineet Gupta concurs with Dr. Srinivasan. “The false positives in the case of chest are almost 50 per cent,” said Dr. Gupta, Medical Oncologist and Haematologist at the Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad.

“At present Fl-18 goes both to the tumour and infection. Yes, it can create problems in interpretation. But we are going to introduce many new molecules which will go only to the tumour,” noted Dr. Kumar G. Kallur, Director of the Department of Molecular Imaging, HCG, Bangalore.

When used in conjunction with other conventional tools such as biopsy and pathological reports and CT, PET-CT helps in understanding whether the disease is at an initial or advanced stage, and the extent to which the disease has spread. This, in medical parlance, is known as staging.

Staging

Understanding the staging at diagnosis is important because treatment is based on this information.

“In specific cases, PET-CT is useful in knowing if the tumour is confined or has spread to other organs,” said Dr. Srinivasan. “Particularly in the case of lung cancer, the CT may show multiple lesions but PET can indicate if they are confined to the lungs or have spread.”

Studying response

Another application is in evaluating the patient’s response to chemotherapy. Since not all patients respond the same way to chemotherapy, how do we know if it is really working?

According to Dr. Kumar, normal CT scans do not show subtle changes in the tumour after a few chemotherapy sittings, so doctors prefer to study how patients respond to chemotherapy only after completing the entire course.

“But molecular imaging shows even subtle changes. So can do it after three sittings. It helps to know if doctors are on the right track. It will tell if the active disease is responding to chemotherapy,” said Dr. Kumar.

Exception lymphoma

“It is not the case in all forms of cancer,” Dr. Srinivasan contested, “but is helpful in the case of lymphoma.”

“Doing a PET-CT is not useful in making a clinical decision. We can know if there is reduction from CT results itself,” Dr. Srinivasan noted. “But it is really useful in the case of lymphoma. Even after chemotherapy [of a lymphoma] we may still see residual mass. Before PET became available, there was no way of knowing if the mass was a tumour."

According to Dr. Gupta, it is very good to use it after a few chemotherapy sittings in the case of lymphoma.

“There is increasing evidence with breast cancer, but not so much evidence in the case of head & neck, lung and prostate cancers,” Dr. Gupta said.

But its usefulness is limited in the case of certain types of cancers found in kidney, pancreas, uterus, and to some extent in the brain. Since the brain cells actively divide, it is not possible to get any useful information.

“But after radiation we can use it for looking at recurrence in the same area,” said Dr. Srinivasan. “And finally there are some caveats. PET-CT should not be used as a screening tool. And it is not infallible,” stressed Dr. Gupta.

Robotic rats to aid in rescue missions

WASHINGTON: An international team of scientists from Europe, Israel and the US are developing robotic rats, which will aid in rescue missions.

Based on principles of active sensing adopted widely in the animal kingdom, the multinational team is developing innovative touch technologies, including a 'whiskered' robotic rat, which will be able to quickly locate, identify and capture moving objects.

'The use of touch in the design of artificial intelligence systems has been largely overlooked, until now,' said Professor Ehud Ahissar of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Neurobiology Department, whose research team is one of the groups participating in the multinational project.

According to Ahissar, 'In nocturnal creatures, or those that inhabit poorly-lit places, the use of touch is widely preferred to vision as a primary means of learning and receiving physical information about their surrounding environment.'

One such animal that employs this method is the rat. Several groups of the international consortium are investigating the ways in which rats use their bristly whiskers to explore their environment, and how the brain processes such information.

'If we succeed in understanding what makes an animal’s sense of touch so efficient, we will be able to develop robots imitating this feature, and put them to effective use,' said Ahissar.

According to Ahissar, the aim of this research is to help gain a better understanding of the brain on the one hand, and advance technology on the other.

Researchers can use robots as an experimental tool, by building a brain-like system, step-by-step, gaining insights into the workings of the brain’s inside components.

"With regard to technological applications, we suggest that it is the multiple closed feedback loops that are the key features giving biological systems an advantage over robotic systems," said Ahissar.

"Therefore, implementing this biological knowledge will hopefully allow robotics researchers to build machines that are more efficient, which can be used in rescue missions, as well as search missions under conditions of restricted visibility," he added.

The Real Reasons Microsoft Wants to Buy Yahoo

If you're having trouble taking Microsoft's $44.6 billion Yahoo bid seriously, so am I. Maybe that's because Microsoft's reasoning isn't so serious, or rational.

Here are 10 other reasons for Microsoft's hostile takeover of Yahoo. Please add your own to the list in this post's comments section.

10. Microsoft executives finally find a way to hire Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang.

9. Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect, is tired of people adding up software plus services and getting Googol Google as the answer.

8. With the U.S. economy sagging, Microsoft executives want to get closer to their customers, by joining them in debt (the company will have to borrow to buy Yahoo).

7. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer jumped up and down in his office yelling "Yahoo!" as Google's stock price dropped last week. Eavesdropping senior executives misunderstood.

6. It's geek humor. Somebody thought the bid would be a good practical joke on shareholders. "Ha. Ha. $44.6 billion. Ridiculous." Now the joke's on them—and it's not funny.

5. Ballmer wants to retire; it's one way to be offered a severance package.

4. Microsoft has long planned to open up a big Silicon Valley campus, but real estate costs too much. On closer examination, Microsoft could buy Yahoo for less than new property; it's like buying prime Sunnyvale, Calif., real estate already furnished—and Yahoo is free!

3. Ballmer really wanted to buy Google, but he has gotten used to settling for second best.

2. Top Microsoft managers want to give Chairman Bill Gates something really special for his retirement. After all, what do you buy for the world's second-richest person? Uh-oh. He's not smiling. Did they keep the receipt?

1. It's a typo. Microsoft execs thought they were bidding on Yoo-Hoo, to stock employees' free drink fridges. Now they can't back away without losing face.

Windows Mobile Flys the X1

Apple's iPhone suddenly looks oh-so last year.

Today, Sony Ericsson introduced its first Windows Mobile-powered mobile, the XPERIA smartphone. Sony Ericsson's adoption leaves Nokia on the sidelines as the only major phone manufacturer not supporting Windows Mobile. That said, Nokia supports other Microsoft technologies, such as Windows Media.

The first model, the X1, is scheduled to ship during second half. Scott Rockfeld, the group product manager for Microsoft's Mobile Communications group, said the XPERIA line "will be launching in the holidays of this year."

Sony Ericsson is a big win for Windows Mobile, and Microsoft knows it. Sony Ericsson is known for delivering attractive, multifunctional phones. But it's earlier smartphones, such as the P900i, were somewhat unappealing, because of their size and awkward functions.

The XPERIA X1 is a radical departure from the P series. The sleek cell phone offers touch screen and slide-out, full-size QWERTY keyboard. The iPhone-like, big-icon look distinguishes the XPERIA X1 from other Sony Ericsson mobiles. On closer look, however, those icons more resemble connected, informational widgets.

Something else: There's a familiarity to the candy bar shape, 3-inch screen and slide-out keyboard that reminds me of HTC smartphones, including the AT&T Tilt that I am now using. Perhaps, there is good reason. Last September, reports surfaced from China that Sony Ericsson had contracted with HTC for a line of Windows Mobile smartphones.

Microsoft is using the XPERIA X1 launch to spout a new marketing mantra about the consumer segment. Rockfeld gave me a kind of timeline of cellphone development, noting the early emphasis on business needs. Microsoft has changed emphasis to consumers, and that's where Sony Ericsson will play a critical role. The brand is synonymous with consumers.

Rockfeld couldn't say enough about the importance of the consumer market to Windows Mobile's go-forward strategy. He mentioned Microsoft bringing Todd Peters on as vice president of marketing for the Windows Mobile Business group, as example of the consumer push. Peters was a trendsetting retail marketing leader for Staples.

The strategy is about convergence and two lifestyles, personal and professional, meeting at one device—the cell phone. "The fasting-growing segment is the smartphone segment," Rockfeld said. The strategy through smartphones, "It's really about [how] one phone can work for your entire life," he emphasized.

The emphasis on convergence cuts two ways. While Microsoft wants to reach more consumers with Windows Mobile, Sony Ericsson seeks to reach more business users—to extend behind its consumer niche.

Microsoft wouldn't be the first company trying to tackle a real problem, where people commingle data and behavior around cell phones. Microsoft is in fact leader perpetrator behind the commingling situation. The company's unified communications strategy would make people reachable, regardless of location or device.

Commingling is as much a business opportunity as end user problem. Microsoft's goal is to make easier the using of one device for any purpose.

"The world of carrying around a holster—like you're in the Wild Wild West—is gone," Rockfeld told me on Friday. Ha, maybe he's not a geek at heart. Aren't geeks defined by the number of devices carried on their bodies?

Ribbing aside, the approach is sensible. The question: Will Windows Mobile 6 Professional be enough to achieve the goal? I can't say until after seeing exactly what kind of product HTC, Microsoft and Sony Ericsson will deliver.

Given the XPERIA's iPhone-like features—granted with extras like the QWERTY keyboard—I asked Rockfeld about Apple and its approach to smartphones compared to Microsoft. After all, iPhone has huge smartphone mindshare.

"They absolutely did a nice job of raising the awareness of what a smartphone can do," he said. "The one thing we're doing different from our competitors is the one phone for your entire life. We believe to provide choice and freedom, to make the phone your own, you have to do that through partners. We know at Microsoft we can't do it all on our own."

A laboratory model of the early universe

An analogue was found in a liquid helium concoction

It could provide clues about how cosmic defects form

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Can you model what happened in the early universe in the laboratory? Yes, according to one group of physicists. A team at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom has used liquid helium and a magnetic field to build a finger-sized representation of the early cosmos. Period of expansion

Their findings could help string theorists to refine their models. It is thought that shortly after the Big Bang, the nascent universe underwent a very rapid period of expansion, known as inflation.

But theorists are still debating what drove the rapid growth. A popular theory among string theorists is that inflation was caused by the collision of two ‘branes.’

A brane (derived from the word ‘membrane’) is a three-dimensional object suspended in a higher-dimensional space, in the same way that a sheet of paper is a two-dimensional object in a three-dimensional space.

One idea within string theory is that our entire universe sits on a single such brane, and that it was our brane’s collision with another that drove inflation.

The question is how to test this theory: finding two universe-sized objects that you can crash into each other might be slightly difficult.

Liquid helium

But a good analogue can be found in a strange concoction of liquid helium, according to Richard Haley, who led the team at Lancaster University. Haley and his group used an 8mm by 45mm cylinder filled with helium-3, an isotope of helium that contains two protons and a single neutron.

When cooled to just 150 microkelvin above absolute zero, helium-3 becomes a superfluid and begins to take on some odd traits: Ghostly ‘quasi-particles’ are formed that can flit effortlessly through the frigid liquid.

And the entire system can undergo ‘symmetry breaking’ — a phenomenon also thought to have led to the creation of every force we see today except gravity.

It also tends to settle into one of two phases, which physicists label A and B. The team used a magnetic field to create an A-phase slice of helium-3 sandwiched between two sections of B-phase liquid.

Radically different

They then decreased the field and watched as the two B-phases collided. The colliding phases were, believe it or not, good analogues for colliding branes, Haley says. While helium-3 is radically different from the vacuum of space, the mathematics governing the two systems are similar.

Haley and his team found evidence of defects — similar to those predicted by brane theory — left over from the collision.

Normally, quasi-particles can move with no resistance through superfluid helium-3, but have trouble crossing between A and B phases.

Haley’s team found the quasi-particles still encountered resistance even after the A-phase was completely removed.

The most likely explanation is that their flow was impeded by strange, quantum-mechanical vortices left over from the collision, the team says.

Cosmic strings

Universe-sized brane collisions are thought to leave behind a tangle of defects called ‘cosmic strings’ — massive, spaghetti-like objects that would crisscross the entire cosmos.

None have been seen to date, but theorists believe that their gravity waves might one day be detected by specialised instruments. This lab model of brane theory is far from perfect, says Cliff Burgess, a theorist at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Canada.

Speed of light

For example, branes on the universal scale move at close to the speed of light and crinkle more easily than helium-3 branes.

But nevertheless, he says, the liquid helium-3 analogue could provide some clues about how cosmic defects form and what they might look like.

Haley says his team will now begin trying to characterise the exact nature of the defects created when their little branes collide.

Super PC to find black holes' sound

WASHINGTON: A new supercomputer, being assembled at Syracuse University (SU), may help scientists identify the sound of a celestial black hole.

Dubbed SUGAR (SU Gravitational and Relativity Cluster), the supercomputer will soon receive massive amounts of data from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), collected over a two-year period at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).

SUGAR is a collection of 80 computers, packing 320 CPUs of power and 640 Gigabytes of random access memory. It also has 96 terabytes of disk space on which to store the LIGO data.

The LIGO data will be used to detect gravitational waves, which are produced by violent events in the distant universe, such as the collision of black holes or explosions of supernovas.

While Albert Einstein predicted the existence of these waves in 1916 in his general theory of relativity, it has taken decades to develop the technology to detect them.

But with the construction of the LIGO detectors in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston in 2005, the search for data for these waves has been made possible.

LSC (LIGO Scientific Collaboration) scientists will be now analyzing this data while the sensitivity of the detectors is being improved.

Before they can isolate the sound of a black hole from the LIGO data using the new supercomputer, the scientists must figure out what a black hole sounds like.

For this, Duncan Brown, assistant professor of physics and member of SU's Gravitational Wave Group, will use SUGAR and Einstein's equations to create models of gravitational wave patterns from the collision of two black holes.

"Looking for gravitational waves is like listening to the universe," said Brown. "Different kinds of events produce different wave patterns. We want to try to extract a wave pattern - a special sound - that matches our model from all of the noise in the LIGO data," he added.

Both the supercomputer and the high-speed network are expected to be up and running by the end of February 2008.

Once the data is transferred to SU from Caltech, Brown and his LSC colleagues will begin to listen to the "cosmic symphony."

"Gravitational waves can teach us much about what is out there in the universe," said Brown. "We've never looked at Einstein's theory in this way," he added.

The ultra mobile

The inventor of the USB flash drive is now looking to revolutionise cell phones with Modu: A tiny phone that is put in bigger ‘jackets’ to become everything from a smartphone to a gaming device

The man who invented the ubiquitous USB flash drive has now come up with a concept that he says would “change the cellular market”: A tiny cell phone that pops into interchangeable “jackets” so that consumers can cheaply transform them into bigger, smarter phones as a messaging device, a music player or a gaming device – or even into other gadgets to connect them to the Internet. Dav Moran, founder of the Israeli company Modu, announced Thursday that it will launch the phone, also called Modu, in October in three countries – Italy, Russia and Israel. “It’s not like the major companies where everybody makes devices similar to the others,” said Moran, referring to Modu. “We’re going to change the cellular market.” Modu founder Dov Moran displays the Modu, a tiny cell phone that will retail for around $280 (Rs 11,000 approx). The device can be popped into interchangeable ‘jackets’ (right) to become a bigger smartphone or gaming device, and even connected to other gadgets such as stereo systems so as to give them Internet access The Modu is slightly smaller than the current iPod Nano and weighs 42 gms. It has a small colour screen and a limited keypad, which allows it to work as a rudimentary cell phone on its own. The jackets that will come with the Modu look like cell phones, with standard numeric keypads and other features like cameras. But they lack the antenna and chips that communicate with a wireless network. This is where Modu comes in – it pops into a slot, turning the jacket into a fully functional phone. Moran said the Italian carrier is excited about the concept because it can make cell phones more like fashion; tempting consumer to update their looks every few months. “This allows you to make a summer collection and a winter collection,” Moran said. The jacket is cheap to make, has almost no electronics, and doesn’t need to be tested to see that it conforms to its network standards. Moran estimates that carriers will be able to sell a Modu and two jackets as a bundle for about $280 (Rs 11,000 approx) – a price that they can then subsidise down to free or almost free with a two-year contract. The jackets that will be available at launch in the other countries reflect the differences between them. The Russian carrier wants an emphasis on kids, who are the big growth market for cell phones there, so Modu is making jackets with cartoon themes for them. The Israeli carrier, on the other hand, wanted a cell phone for soldiers, so they will get a rugged, green jacket with a built-in flashlight. Other jackets could focus on music, coming with pre-loaded tunes, or have full keyboards for texting. Although Modu supports only GPRS now, Moran said the company is working on upgrading it to full 3G compatibility. And yes, he added that an upgraded Modu would work with jackets and mates designed for the first-generation unit. Modu is also talking to consumer electronics companies such as German car-stereo maker Blaupunkt, and even GPS manufacturers. The idea is to have such companies build Modu slots into their devices to give them network connectivity. That could allow a GPS device to receive updates on traffic or map changes. A picture frame with a Modu slot and loud speakers could act as a music-playing, picture-showing charging station. Other cell-phone makers like Sony Ericsson have been sniffing at the modular concepts, but Modu appears to be furthest along in its plan. Eventually, Modu expects its jackets to go on sale everywhere from bookstores to airport shops, where travellers could pick up a jacket designed with in-built features such as restaurant guides for their destinations.

Saving legs through stem cell transplantation

An ongoing trial uses adult stem cells from bone marrow to grow collateral blood vessels

The clinical trial, which started in December last year, would enrol 60 volunteers

Trials done in a few countries have shown encouraging results

Smoking does not affect the lungs alone. The nicotine present in the blood has a destructive effect on blood vessel muscles. It causes the muscles to constrict and damages the vessel’s inner lining. The end result is that the main arteries that supply blood get blocked.

While nicotine affects all the vessels (arteries), the worst affected parts are those below the knee joint. “Elsewhere there are rich collaterals [smaller vessels that branch off from the main arteries] and [the organs] do not depend on one artery for blood and the requirement of blood is far more in the legs,” explained Prof. K.S. Vijayaragavan, Head of the Department of Vascular Surgery, Sri Ramachandra University near Chennai.

Blood requirement by the legs goes up 12 times depending on the kind of exercise the person is engaged.

The disease turns the vessels into rigid tubes, thus making them incapable of expanding. And with the vessel muscles constricted, the flow of blood to the peripheral parts gets compromised. The human system reads this as lack of RBCs and produces more of them.

With more RBCs, the blood becomes thicker and this compounds the problem as thicker blood has to flow through narrower vessels.

Unlike in the case of blocks typical of atherosclerosis caused by cholesterol, the blocks seen in legs and caused by nicotine (thrombo angitis obliterance) start from the toe and move up towards the thigh.

Early warning

Since the only symptoms are pain and inability to walk long distances, patients generally ignore the early warnings and turn up when the disease is at an advanced state. The only solution is amputation.

Though exact figures are not available, the prevalence of the disease in India is high, according to Prof. Vijayaragavan.

While performing a bypass surgery or doing a angioplasty are recommended when detected early, growing more co-laterals is the only recourse to save the legs from amputation when the disease is at an advanced stage.

A clinical trial is currently under way at Shri Ramachandra University to grow such collaterals using adult stem cells collected from the bone marrow of the same patient. The study, which started in December last year, would enrol 60 volunteers.

The Chennai based Asia Cryo-Cell Private Ltd, a private cord blood bank, is an equity partner at TRICell Stem Cell Centre, which is based at the University, where the trial is being conducted.
Two groups

Of the 60 volunteers, the first group of 30 would get 40 injections of stem cell concentrate very close to the blood vessels and the second group of 30 volunteers would get 20 injections very close to the blood vessels and another 20 injections into the main artery above the block.
Criterion used

“At least one of the three arteries should allow blood to at least trickle; else it is useless,” said Prof. Vijayaragavan, Principal Investigator of the trial explaining the criterion used for selecting the volunteers for the second group.

The injections — bone marrow aspirate — contain not just stem cells but also other supporting cells that complement them, such as platelets and RBCs. The stem cells and the supporting cells are separated and concentrated using a small instrument.

Such trials are already under way at a few centres in the U.S. “The same protocol followed in the U.S. is followed here,” he said. Many trials done in a few countries have shown encouraging results.
Safe and effective

One of the first studies reported in the journal Lancet in 2002 found autologous implantation of bone marrow cells to be safe and effective for achieving therapeutic vessel formation. The results were based on a randomised controlled pilot study.

The authors found a “…striking increase in number of visible collaterals vessels in 27 of 45 patients.” They also reported that “… bone-marrow transplantation effectively increased blood flow in all 45 legs.”

No tears

wonder vegetable: International attention is focusing on ‘tearless onion’ research being conducted by New Zealand Crop & Food Research senior scientist Dr. Colin Eady in Christchurch. Dr. Eady and his collaborators in Japan have been testing tearless onions in the laboratory and have presented their results so far during the 5th International Symposium on Edible Alliaceae, in The Netherlands.

`Snow' jewellery set to hit Indian market

22-carat jewellery prepared in Hong Kong

The snow jewellery necklace that won the first place in the international jewellery design competition held at Mumbai.

KOLLAM: The latest jewellery design poised to hit the Indian market by Diwali resembles tiny veined leaves. At first impression it can even be mistaken as fine lace work. But it is genuine 22-carat gold jewellery, which is already getting ready at Hong Kong for the Indian gold jewellery market.

The design called `snow jewellery' was specially created by a Hong Kong based designer for the Mumbai based jeweller, Sangam Chains, for a jewellery design competition held in connection with the India International Jewellery Show held last month at Mumbai. The show was organised by the Gems and Jewellery International Council.

From among the more than one thousand designs that competed, it was the `snow jewellery' set that won the top place. The set comprised a necklace, a pair of earrings and two bangles. When these were later put to auction as individual pieces, the necklace went to the Kollam based jeweller, Prince Rajeev Paul.

Mr. Rajeev keeps the top design snow necklace as a prized possession and shows it to close friends. He said that most jewellers well versed with the market trends had fallen in love with the design at first sight. They expect that up market customers would simply go crazy over the design. Golden threads are machine weaved to create the design.

Online shopping gains momentum

Credit card is the most common method of payment for Indians with 84 per cent opting for that mode over others

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Online shopping has opened up new avenues, especially in the realm of travelling where Internet has made it convenient to book tickets, says survey.

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A CLICK AWAY: Net users engrossed in selecting the shopping site. Notwithstanding the growing shopping mall culture in the country, more and more net savvy Indians are now shifting towards online shopping. A staggering 78 per cent of the Indian respondents (those accessing Internet) have used the Internet to make a purchase, while more than 55 per cent of the respondents have made at least one online purchase in the past one month, says the “Nielsen Global Online Survey on Internet Shopping Habits”.

“The Internet is no longer a niche technology as far as socio-economic class A and perhaps even B is concerned; it is more powerful than mass media as it is interactive and it is an utterly integral part of modern life. Almost no aspect of life remains untouched by the online media. As our lives become busier and cluttered, it is not surprising that consumers turn to the unrivalled convenience of the Internet when it comes to researching and buying products,” says The Nielsen Company’s India Director (Online Research), N. S. Muthukumaran.

The survey reveals that online shopping has opened up new avenues, especially in the realm of travelling where Internet has made it convenient to book tickets. As many as 73 per cent Indians have purchased airline tickets/reservations in the past three months, this percentage being the highest for any country in Asia Pacific. Globally, travel is the fourth most popular shopping category on the web.

“The accessibility to a wide range of comparable information online makes travelling a category that is extremely suited to the Internet and is a lucrative investment option for marketers,” says Mr. Muthukumaran.

For Indians, other popular items for Internet shopping include books (46 per cent), electronic equipment (29 per cent), tours and hotel reservations (24 per cent), videos/DVDs/games (23 per cent), event tickets (23 per cent), clothing/accessories/shoes (21 per cent), and music (20 per cent).

For Internet shopping, credit card is the most common method of payment for Indians with 84 per cent opting for that payment option over others. Interestingly, it is also the highest percentage for any country in Asia Pacific for payments made through credit cards for online purchases.

The majority of Indian online shoppers are loyal to the sites that they shop from, with 54 per cent of them saying they buy from the same site while making an online purchase, while 48 per cent of the online Indians get influenced by special offers on sites.

“Online shoppers tend to stick to the shopping sites they are familiar with. Capturing the online shoppers early and creating a positive shopping experience for them would prove beneficial in the long-run for marketers. India is a promotion-oriented country and for an Indian consumer special offers enhance the value of their shopping,” Mr. Muthukumaran adds.

latest breathtaking and breakthrough inovations

		IBM Airgap Microprocessor IBM Airgap Microprocessor -- IBM has created experimental versions of its latest POWER6 microprocessor using self-assembly techniques to create a vacuum between the miles of on-chip wiring. The company has moved self assembly out of the labs and into a commercial manufacturing environment. It expects to begin manufacturing servers based on airgap-technology in 2009.

Self Assembling Chips Self Assembling Chips -- IBM Fellow Dan Edelstein with an experimental version of IBM's latest-generation microprocessor. The chip uses a vacuum to insulate the miles of wiring that connect its millions of transistors. The "airgaps" were created using a self-assembly technology that creates a uniform pattern of trillions of nanoscale holes in a wafer. The technique draws on nature's ability to form intricate patterns such as snowflakes and sea shells.

IBM Airgap Microprocessor IBM Airgap Microprocessor -- This microprocessor cross section shows empty space in between the chip's wiring. Wires are usually insulated with a glass-like material. IBM has integrated self-assembly techniques, long confined to laboratories, with its manufacturing lines to create a test version of its latest microprocessors that use vacuum gaps to insulate the miles of nano-scale wire that connect hundreds of millions of transistors. The breakthrough reduces electrical interference, raises processor performance, and lowers energy consumption.