HIV test can give false-positive results
Every year, about 50 US blood donors test positive on the standard HIV screening tests, even though they are not infected with the human immuno deficiencyvirus, researchers report. A certain pattern of test results may give a false-positive reading in as many as 1 in every 100,000 cases, according to …
Shift work may affect blood pressure cycle
Blood pressure levels usually dip somewhat during sleep, but working the late shift seems to disrupt this natural diurnal cycle, according to US researchers. People who work evening and night shifts are less likely than day shift workers to show a 'dip'' in blood pressure levels while asleep, the researchers …
Gas stoves linked to childhood asthma
Exposure to gas stoves in the home may lead to respiratoryproblems in children, especially those with asthma, researchers report. Research reveals 'a significant adverse effect of gas stove exposure on respiratory health in children,'' write a team of researchers led by Dr. Maria Garrett of Monash University in Churchill, Australia. …
Known cases of HIV show 30pc increase
The number of known cases of HIV - the virus that causes AIDS - on the China has reached 10,676, nearly 30 per cent up on last year's total. Intravenous drug users accounted for nearly two-thirds of the cases, said Ministry of Health Vice-Director Yin Dakui. Mr Yin was addressing …
Tougher laws for migrant birth control
Local governments are being given greater authority to police the growing floating population and have told employers to help enforce birth-control measures. The extra power is contained in a new regulation, the "Management of Planned Birth Among Transient Populations", which will become effective next year. State Family Planning Minister Zhang …
SC relaxes deadline for 15-year-old vehicles
The Supreme Court today relaxed its October 2 deadline from imposing a ban on 15-year-old commercial vehicles, including buses, taxis and autorickshaws. The court fixed December 31, 1998, as the new date for scrapping these vehicles from Delhi roads. A bench comprising Justices A.S. Anand, B.N. Kirpal and V.J. Khare, …
Oil sector gasps for 'cleaner' air
Oilmen everywhere insist they have as much of an interest in seeing their children breathe clean air as do environmentalists. But they argue European oil industry profits and jobs could vanish if refiners make the most far-reaching fuel improvements demanded by the continent's "green" lobby.Industry insiders say refiners must fight …
Spain rejects bid to ease abortion law
Parliamentary deputies rejected by one vote a proposal to relax Spain's abortion law. The existing law allows abortion through the first 12 weeks of pregnancies judged to be dangerous to the mother's life or mental health, as well as in cases of rape, incest or fetal malformation.
Paris experiment gives pockets of carless calm
Under a French government pilot program called " a day in town without my car," habitual drivers were pressed to leave their cars at home and rediscover the pleasures of walking, cycling, scootering, riding buses and subways and breathing cleaner air. Private cars were banned from many parts of Paris. …
50-ft breach in Sirhind canal
Heavy and continuous rain in the region since last night, today caused a 50-feet-wide breach in the Sirhind canal along the Chamkaur Sahib-Neelon road today and damaged the paddy and cotton crop in Punjab and Haryana. Sources in the Sirhind Canal, Ropar Headworks Division, said today that flowing the breach, …
Bug drink may replace antibiotics
A new type of remedy encourages healthy bacteria in the gut to grow and displace the ones that are causing an illness. A designer drug based on the bacterium used to ferment salami and sauerkraut is to be offered as an alternative to antibiotics in a year. The bug, a …
Pressure on India to ban CFC inhalers
The US is exerting pressure on India to ban forthwith the manufacture and supply of the CFC-based inhalers which provide instant relief to asthma patients. India yielding to the pressure would mean loss of business to the pharmaceutical majors producing the device in the country.The issue has been raised time …
MRTS will turn Delhi into desert
The recently cleared Mass Rapid Transit System-Ring Rail merger for Delhi may come a cropper as both the Centre and the Delhi government are clueless over the daily requirement of over 12,000 tons of water to complete the project. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), a joint undertaking of Delhi …
3-D enzyme
Researchers have generated the three-dimensional molecular structure of a common enzyme in a breakthrough that may overcome resistance to antibiotics, according to a study published yesterday. Dr Stephen Burley of Rockefeller university in New York writes in the scientific journal "cell" that "the bacterial enzyme's structure is shared by a …
Pill for exercise
Researchers say they have found a genetic switch that tells muscle to convert into the slow endurance tissue seen in aerobics, enthusiasts a discovery that could lead to a drug that would stimulate exercise's natural effects. But researchers warn people not to expect a work out by pipping a pill …
Concave=-shaped dam
China has announced plans to build the workd's highest concave-faced dam to meet the rising demand for power in the fastest-developing country. The 325-metre-high dam will be part of the jinping hudro-electric power station scheduled for construction along the Yalong river in southwest China's Sichuan province. The highest dam of …
Scientists peer inside human brain
Why is it you can't remember where you put your car keys but you can't forget the theme song to the Brady Bunch? Scientists have taken a big step toward solving the mystery, literally peering inside the human brain at the split second it creates a memory. In a unique …
