Mysterious white material on Mars

Mysterious white material on Mars

This image released by NASA shows one trench after two digs by Phoenix’s Robotic Arm. Shallow trenches excavated by the lander have turned up specks and at times even stripes of mysterious white material.

Helping drug addicts kick the needle

Providing tablets to drug users will help cut HIV incidence

Mapping to know the number of drug users to start soon

Oral substitution therapy will be initiated in 7 cities

The switchover: The programme will first get the person to switch from using needles to tablets. The end point of the programme is to rehabilitate the person.

Five years after starting the needle exchange programme for the injection drug users in Chennai, and after three years in Madurai, the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS) is taking an important step in its battle against HIV.

Roll out

Starting September 2008, TANSACS will roll out the Oral Substitution Therapy (OST) in Chennai and Madurai and five more cities. The State is starting the programme along with other north eastern States despite the fact that the number of injection drug users in Tamil Nadu is small.

Under the OST programme, the injection drug users (IDU) will be provided a tablet (Bupernorphin) a day. The tablet will not only help kick the needles but has the capability to slowly wean away the users from drug addiction.

The needle exchange programme will not be abandoned but will run concurrently with the oral substitution therapy for those not opting for the oral substitution therapy.

The OST programme, if successfully implemented, will go a long way in reducing the number of people getting infected. This is important as injection drug users have the highest prevalence amongst the high-risk groups.

For instance, in 2006, the prevalence of HIV among the IDUs in TN was 24 per cent while it was only 3.6 per cent in the case of sex workers. Similarly, in 2005, it was 19 per cent in the case of injection drug users while it was only 5.4 per cent in the case of sex workers.

Higher incidence is seen among the IDUs as the virus gets into the blood directly.

Preventing infection

“Oral substitution will totally take care of HIV infection,” said Ms. Supriya Sahu, Project Director, TANSACS. “It is also less harmful.”

But will it be easy to get people to abandon the needle and switch over to tablets? “Yes, it is going to be difficult to take a person off needles. It is an emotional thing when they do it in groups,” said Ms. Sahu. “There is need to bring about a change in their thought process, and get their acceptance too.”

The success of the programme will thus hinge on the ability of the authorities to sensitise and convince the drug users to make the switchover, and create a demand for the OST services.

While Ms. Sahu surely knows how daunting that task is going to be, the fact that many IDUs are looking forward to getting off drugs will make things a bit easier.

The State’s initiative will be a great boon to such people as it is not just restricted to replacing the needle with tablets; detoxification and rehabilitation are part of the programme as the end point is to get the person off drugs.

The fact that China, Australia and Thailand have successfully adopted this strategy does indicate that though challenging, it will be successful in the end.

Mapping exercise

And to make the initiative more meaningful, TANSACS will undertake a mapping exercise across the State to have a better understanding of the number of drug users. The mapping exercise will start very soon and the results will be available by the end of July.

The last mapping exercise was undertaken in 2003. This showed Chennai and Madurai as the two cities with the most number of drug users. The needle exchange programme was thus started based on this data.

Ms. Sahu expects five more cities to show more number of drug users and is thus planning the OST programme for seven cities.

The cost

The oral substitution therapy, apart from being challenging on many fronts, is also going to be more expensive compared with the needle exchange programme. For instance, 10 needles would cost only Rs.30 while ten tablets would cost Rs.150.

Ms. Sahu notes that more than the cost of the treatment, the cost of setting up the infrastructure and providing the services would be more.

For instance, a drop-in-centre should have a doctor who would decide the dosage for each individual and provide the drugs. The outreach workers would be responsible for getting the drug users to the drop-in centres where treatment, counselling, detoxification and rehabilitation services would be provided.

Control of leaf eating caterpillar in Moringa

Control of leaf eating caterpillar in Moringa

Moringa oleifera is famous as a vegetable used in southern Indian dishes due to its unique taste and medicinal properties and it is also a highly renumerative commercial crop for farmers.

Serious pest

A specific pest called leaf eating caterpillar Noorda blitealis earlier considered as a minor pest usually infests the crops during during December-January over south India, and is causing serious problems because of its high population buildup.

Females lay creamy, oval eggs on leaves, which hatch in 2-3days. Larvae feed on leaflets in a thin silken web on the lower surface.

Dried leaves

The leaves appear papery and get dried. If left untreated, the whole tree is defoliated. Grown-up larvae pupate in the soil. An adults emerge in 6-9 days and life cycle continues.

Severe infestation occurs on new flush of the crop during June-August which later recedes.

It is advisable to go for collection and destruction of leaves with silken webs and caterpillars in the initial stages of infestation.

The young larvae feed voraciously on the foliage and strip the branches completely. The moths are medium sized, having forewings with rectangular, apex with erect outer margin and uniformly dark in colour with small white streak at the inner area of base.

Pest control

Adult moths may be collected through light traps and destroyed.

Hand picking of larva in early stages may be effective in reducing population built-up.

Provision for sitting arrangement for birds above the height of the moringa crop in field enabling the birds to visit and prey them.

One to two sprays of Malathin (2ml/lit) can be applied to reduce infestation. Dichlorvos (0.04 per cent) and Fenthion (0.05 per cent) were found effective in combating the pest.

‘Touch and talk’

Keyboard and mouse may become passe soon

Two-in-one: This ultrasound machine from GE is both voice-activated and touch sensitive.

It is not yet the end for keyboard and mouse. But unrelated product announcements last week, suggest that it might be the beginning of the end for these electro-mechanical interfaces to computers and Internet access devices. Hewlett Packard has unveiled the revised editions of its TouchSmart PC, first launched last year.

New version

Almost simultaneously, Apple showcased the new 3G version of its iconic iPhone, which virtually pioneered the use of touch to access the various ‘smart’ functions of the handset.

While the Tablet PCalso offered touch as a key component of its ‘electronic slate’ functionality, it was not very successful in the marketplace till recent roll outs of smaller form-factor UMPCs or Ultra Mobile PCs gave the tablet a second lease of life.

HCL’s MiLeap Y or Allied Computers’ ACi Ethos are two examples of made-in-India touch sensitive UMPCs. Microsoft’s Surface Computer, extends the touch sensitive screen to coffee table size; but this remains a pricey option for shops and public information providers rather than lay users.

Interface technology

Meanwhile, touch as a device interface technology continues to evolve: On one hand ‘haptics’ (this means, simply, touch technology that touches back) which was nascent when we first reported on it in this space a year ago (‘Haptic technology set to touch all of us’; IT Trends, The Hindu, July 19, 2007), has made considerable strides in the lab, but few applications have reached consumers.

Nokia might just be the first to offer a key-less keyboard (yes!), where individual keys on a phone are replaced by an ultra touch-sensitive haptic pad that produces a significant reaction, when the user punches a number.

Touch-sensitive screens

Another promising direction in touch-sensitive screens, is the one pioneered by Jeff Han, who has perfected technology for large multi-touch screens, accommodating 10 or 20 fingers at a time.

Mitsubishi developed a Diamond Touch Table in an earlier era, with a similar functionality, but it seemed to have been an idea ahead of its time. Multiple users ranged around a large screen can become collaborators and this might well be the ‘killer application’ for touch technology tomorrow.

Like basic touch technology, multi touch tends to use one of the three mainstream methods of achieving touch:

Resistive: conductive surfaces held apart by spacer ‘dots’. Touching a point closes the circuit and a voltage is generated;

Capacitive: uses the capacitance of the human body; when a person touches the surface, a voltage drop is sensed;

Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW): Sound wave reflectors along the edge of the glass; touching generates a change in sound amplitude.

For very large screens companies like Touchscreen.com have developed infra red touch technology to go with the plasma screens.

The next edition, after Vista, of Microsoft’s PC operating system will feature advanced multi touch features.

Connectivity devices

These ‘touching’ developments have been almost parallel to those that have marked the industry’s innovative use of voice as an interface for many connectivity devices, especially hand held phones and car-based systems.

The percentage of success, especially of products which promised to transcribe spoken words into machine-readable text, however, never reached levels where they were worth the trouble of correction.

But things are changing. Nuance Communications, the makers of the Dragon Naturally Speaking, speech recognition products for PCs, have perfected some of best voice-command systems for mobile phones. Daniel Hong, at DataMonitor, feels voice commands are now poised to become mainstream applications. From Motorola’s Mobile TV sets to TomTom’s GPS navigation devices, voice is now a standard interface.

It is particularly meaningful in car-based navigation or email services, where the driver is unable or prevented by law, from operating a key board.

Biomedical instruments

The biomedical instruments industry has been an early user of combined voice and touch sensitive interfaces. GEHealthcare has a range of hospital diagnostic equipment — the Logiq series of ultrasound machines is just one example — where touch screens complement voice-activated commands, leaving nurse or technician to do other things with their hands.

Such combinations may soon be the rule rather than the exception in mass consumer products like PCs or handheld wireless Internet tools.

Military users have already caught the potential of such interfaces in reducing the margin of error in mission-critical situations.

A study in Canada at the Ecole Polytech de Montreal, found that operator response was 33 per cent better with voice commands compared to touch screens.

But in some military environments — the cockpit of a fighter aircraft or the operations room of a submarine or frigate — there will be situations where entering strings of code is faster, more reliable, using touch rather than voice. The conclusion: Both technologies have much going for them, and a combination might often work best.

Bread sandwich method can provide vegetables throughout the year

About 2,500 farmers all over the country are practising this concept

Simple technology: Dr. G. Nammalvar, teaching the farmers the sandwich method.

Vegetables have a short lifespan compared to fruit crops. By making use of modern technologies and inputs, their lifespan can perhaps be extended to say about a year.

But if there is a simple method of growing vegetables throughout the year, without any costly gadgets, modern technologies, or costly inputs, it is definitely worth a try for the farmers.

Commonly called the ‘Bread sandwich method,’ once the soil is made ready and the suggested practices followed, one need not work on the soil for the second time. They can go on sowing and reaping, all through the year, according to Dr. G. Nammalvar, organic scientist.

Better yield

But why call it the sandwich method? “We are used to eating sandwich in which vegetable or egg is inserted between two layers of bread. The same method is applied in gardening for a better yield.”

“Here, the top soil and sub soil are kept separated by inserting compost between the two layers of soil. Charcoal can also be inserted for better performance,” explained Dr. Nammalvar.

According to him, soil health forms the basis for the production of nutritious food from our garden.

“By feeding the micro (soil) organisms and maintaining soil moisture we can harvest maximum solar energy through photosynthesis. For the application of this principle we adopt sandwiching of soil.” The top soil is loose and contains more micro and macro organisms than the sub soil. The roots of plants, whether it is wheat or radish go up to a depth of more than 60 cm into the soil.

Healthy soil

So it is important that the soil is healthy and the micro organisms live till a depth of about 60 centimetres. At the same time farmers must ensure that the top soil is not buried deep.

“To achieve this result, as a first step, we remove the top soil and keep it separate. Then we split the sub soil. In the third stage, a thick layer of well digested compost is added over the split sub soil. Finally, the top soil is replaced over the compost, said Dr. Nammalvar.

“This is called as soil sandwiching. Radish and greens can be sown on the edges. Vegetables with wider canopy such as tomato, brinjal, lady’s finger and chilli have to be allowed wider spacing.

Avoid monocropping

“It is wise to avoid mono culture. Because plants of the same family compete with each other for light, water and nutrition.” While sowing the seeds, it is advisable for farmers to do relay cropping. Relay cropping means sowing or planting a seed or a plant before the withering of the previous one.

At the end of the harvest cut the vegetative parts and put back over the soil. In order to get better quality and more quantity let apply organic inputs.

Suitable combinations

By experience one can understand better combinations. One thumb rule is to see that one legume crop (e.g., cowpea) is sown adjacent to every non-legume (non-pulse) group plants.

The bed can be of any length. But it is advisable to keep the width to about 120cm. A bed size of about 1.2mX7.5m will fulfil the vegetables need of a single person (that is 200 gm of vegetables every day).

“The plants should be watered using sprinkler or rose cane or a hose with shower to create a rain effect. Wastewater used for washing the floors and utensils can also be used. It is better to water the plants during evening,” said Nammalvar.

Minimum income

By adopting this practice a family of five persons can grow vegetables all through the year in 25 cents, or quarter of an acre of land, to ensure a certain minimum income throughout. At present there are about 2,500 farmers all over India who are practising it.

For information on training, readers can contact Dr. G. Nammalwar at email: nammalvar@gmail.comor mobile: 9442531699.

Liver drug helps astronauts

Liver drug helps astronauts

As astronaut Garrett Reisman adjusts to Earth’s gravity after three months in space, a University of Kentucky physiologist is continuing his tests on a 50-year-old drug used for liver treatments as a means of helping astronauts perform their work during space walks.

Michael Reid, chair of UK’s Department of Physiology is researching the value of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) to limit the effect of free radicals made by muscle during heavy exercise.

His research has particular value for astronauts who work in bulky space suits. “Astronauts report that six to eight hours of extra-vehicular activity is as exhausting as running a marathon. The muscle groups most affected are the hands and arms,” he said.

NAC was developed in the late 1950s and has become a frontline drug in protecting the liver against drug overdose by scavenging free radicals. “Free radicals also contribute to muscle fatigue,” Reid said. His research has found that NAC “will improve endurance. Now we’re trying to determine the right dose and formulation” for space-travel purposes, he said, according to a University of Kentucky press release.

“We’ve seen the muscles that astronauts use to stand and walk begin to waste away after a few weeks in Earth orbit. So we know nine months of travel to Mars poses a real risk,” Reid said.

“At UK, we’re seeking nutritional or drug-based therapies to help the astronauts maintain muscle mass and strength,” he said.

Ancient date seeds from Masada

Date seeds found at the ancient fortress Masada were used by Israeli researchers to grow a sapling. The seed was about 2,000 years old and may help restore a species of biblical trees.

Drone for land and sea multi missions

ORKA, a drone for army and navy land and sea multi missions made by EADS (European Aeronautic Defense and Space company) is seen during the EuroSatory Defense Exhibition outside Paris.

Oil exploration threatens polar bears

Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.

African dust, Atlantic Ocean hurricanes

The dust that originates in the Sahara Desert, is lofted by windstorms which carries it west over the Atlantic. High levels of airborne dust reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches the ocean, lowering sea surface temperatures and, generally, hurricane probability.

Researchers in the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) reported earlier this year that African dust storms may dampen hurricanes by cooling sea surface temperature of the tropical Atlantic. Forecasters are now developing predictions about the severity of this year’s season. For the first time this year, African dust may provide a piece of this puzzle.
Predicting severity

CIMSS scientist Amato Evan is extending this work, offering a dust storm activity forecast as a tool to help predict severity of the upcoming hurricane season.

Based on patterns of precipitation in Africa during the past year, Evan predicts a moderate level of dust storm activity this summer. “We have a computer model that takes the dust forecast and tries to estimate how much that dust storm activity will cool the ocean,” he says.

“There is not likely to be an anomalously large warming or cooling [of ocean temperatures] due to dust storm activity.” Low dust years correlate with higher ocean temperatures and conditions more conducive to hurricane formation.

Dust storm activity

Warmer waters also contribute to storm severity. “If you have really warm water, it’s more likely a hurricane could reach category 5,” Evan says.

For example, the record-breaking 2005 hurricane season had below-average dust storm activity, very warm sea surface temperatures and an unprecedented four hurricanes that reached category 5, the highest classification, according to a CIMSS press release.

For this year, Evan’s models predict that dust will cool the Atlantic by about 1.1 degrees Celsius, very close to the average effect of dust on the ocean temperature during the past 27 years.

He says this amount of cooling alone is not likely to trigger especially high or low hurricane activity.

In the future, Evan hopes to be able to use dust forecasts to predict large peaks or drops in Atlantic Ocean temperatures that may influence tropical storm activity.

Management of grape anthracnose

Management of grape anthracnose

Biological control is preferred

Most of the important diseases of grapes such as anthracnose downy mildew and powdery mildew are caused by fungi.

The incidence of the diseases depends not only on the presence of pathogens but also on vineyard management practices and environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and rainfall.

Though relatively quick results are obtained by chemical pesticides, the use of biological control methods is preferred particularly about 45 days before the harvest or during the berry development, for management of pests and diseases, to minimize pesticide residues.

Poor fruit quality

The losses due to anthracnose disease are to the tune of 15-30 per cent. The fungus attacks all green parts of vine shoots, leaves, tendrils, blossoms and berries. The affected berries results into loss of fruit quality and good market price.

Alternative method

The alternative method of using biological agents isolated and screened from grape rhizosphere was found to be an effective solution for the management of anthracnose, to the extent of 62.9 per cent in field conditions when sprayed with a consortium of aspergillus (PSFG), fluorescent pseudomonads (GPF) and phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSBG).

Consortia of all these microbes can be sprayed in the form of liquid foliar spray at berry development stage in grape at 1:3 dilution (1 litre culture and 3 litres water).

Taking a leaf from the book of ancient, time-tested practices

Taking a leaf from the book of ancient, time-tested practices

Input cost has greatly decreased and yield has increased considerably

Effective solution: The formulations can be easily prepared and no big investment is required Well before modern science had invented crop growing strategies and pest control measures, Indian farmers were growing crops successfully and at the same time were able to control crop infestations using traditional methods which were handed down to successive generations by word of mouth.

Though the traditional methods may vary from place to place, their efficiency in terms of pest control has been proven and accepted by those who use them.

For example in Kozhikottu pothai, a small village in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, several farmers are using one or more of the traditional formulations for managing pest menace to their crops.

Effective remedies

“These preparations can serve as a quick remedy to temporarily stop the increasing incidence of crop pests and also help farmers to phase out their dependence on chemical pesticides, which in turn will prevent them from sinking into debts,” said Mr. S. Aravindan, Social scientist, Vivekananda Kendra-Natural Resources Development Project, Kanyakumari.

Easy availability

The main reason for their popularity among farmers is that the items necessary for making them are easily available, not much investment is required to prepare them and lastly they have been found effective, he explained.

For example, farmers use a pest repellant made from papaya leaves. It is made by soaking about one kg of papaya leaves in water (the entire leaves should be submerged) overnight. The leaves are then ground and mixed in a litre of water and sprayed over the crops.

Pungamia extract (Pungam in Tamil) can be made by four different methods. The first is by soaking one kg of Pungamia overnight in water. It is then ground and mixed in about 5 litres of water and sprayed.

The second is by grinding about 50 gms of Pungamia seedsand soaking them in a bucket of water overnight. About one litre of water is added to it later and used.

In the third method, take about 100 gm of Pungamia oil cake and soak it in water for some time and then add about 1 litre water to it and then spray.

In the last method about 1 kg of Pungamia oil cake and neem oil cake each are mixed. Half a litre of aloevera juice and 3 litres of cow-urine are added to it. The mixture is soaked in 15 litres of water overnight. About 6 litres of this mixture is filtered and diluted in 60 litres of water and sprayed.

Tulsi leaves are also commonly used by the farmers to protect their crops from pest and infestations.

About 100 gm of Tulsi leaves are soaked in water overnight. Next day, about 2 litres of water is added to it and the concoction sprayed. Similarly, about 1 kg of turmeric tubers are soaked in about 10 litres of cow’s urine overnight. Next day the turmeric tubers are ground and mixed with 30 litres of water and sprayed.

Similarly neem extract is made by three different methods. In the first method about 6 kg of neem leaves are soaked overnight in water.

The next day the leaves are ground and added to about 60 litres of water and sprayed. In the second method about 3 kg of neem seeds is soaked in water overnight.

It is ground into a paste the next day and mixed in about 60 litres of water and sprayed over the crops.

In the third method, about 6 kg of neem oil cake is ground well and soaked overnight and mixed in 60 litres of water and then used as a spray.

Another common leaf based extract made by the farmers is moodru ilai karaisal (three leaf formulation) It is made by soaking about 3 kg each of Calotropis (Yerukku in Tamil), Neem (Vembu in Tamil)and Vitex (Nochi in Tamil) in about 3 litres of cow’s urine diluted in 2 litres water overnight. Next day this solution is filtered and diluted in about 60 litres of water and sprayed.

Usually the leaf extracts are filtered with a clean cotton cloth and about 4 gm Khadhi soap’ solution are added per litre of the solution and then sprayed.

Traditional knowledge

“Though these formulations have been proven to be effective by the farmers who use them, it should be remembered that all these formulations are not scientifically validated. Their use is mainly based on traditional knowledge which is prevalent in that particular area or region and can vary from place to place and pest to pest."

All the above leaf based extracts have been found effective in controlling stem borer, aswini, leaf roller, cotton bollworms, ear head bugs and thrips, according to Mr. Aravindan.

For more information readers can contact Mr. S. Aravindan, Social scientist, Vivekananda Kendra-Natural Resources Development Project, VK-Nardep, Vivekanandapuram, Kanyakumari - 629 702, Tamil Nadu, India, email. ngc_vknardep@sancharnet.in and vknardep@gmail.com, mobile: 9443748714, phone: 04652 246296 and 04652 -247126.

Studies link gene to upright gait

Studies link gene to upright gait

Scientists claim to have discovered a gene that helps humans walk upright, after studying families with a rare condition that causes some of their members to walk on all fours.

Only a handful of families worldwide are known to be affected by quadrapedal locomotion syndrome, a condition that gained widespread attention in 2006 when the BBC aired a documentary on the lives of five affected members of the Ulas family, who live in Turkey.

People with the syndrome do not walk upright but use the palms of their hands in what is described as a “bear crawl.”

Speech also impaired

Prof Tayfun Ozcelik, a geneticist at Bilkent University, Turkey, tested four unrelated families affected by the condition, believed to be caused by faulty brain development. The disorder also impairs speech and mental ability.

All of the affected children tested by Ozcelik were the offspring of marriages between cousins. The scientist found that two of the families carried a rare mutation in a gene that governs levels of a protein important for healthy growth of the cerebellum area of the brain.

Ozcelik said: “We think this protein is critical for the proper development of the nervous system and our unique ability to balance and adopt a bipedal gait.”

Prof Nicholas Humphrey, a psychologist at the London School of Economics, said more genes were likely to be involved in the disorder. Tests on families in Iraq and Brazil found different genes causing the syndrome, in each case.

According to Humphrey, the condition may could shed light on our evolutionary history and overturn the widely-held belief that our ancestors were knuckle walkers like modern-day apes.

“What’s intriguing is how easily these people seem to take to this alternative gait when they can’t walk properly.

“It raises the question of whether this was how our ancestors walked.”