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Fruits and vegetables may lower gallstone risk

NEW YORK, Oct 7: Women who regularly eat fruits and vegetables may have lower odds of developing painful gallstones, the results of a large study suggest.

Of more than 77,000 US women in the long-running Nurses' Health Study, researchers found that those who ate the most fruits and vegetables were less likely to require surgery to remove their gallbladder.

Usually, this surgery is performed because of gallstones, masses that develop when bile stored in the gallbladder hardens into pieces of stone-like material. These ''gallstones'' may cause no symptoms, pass through the intestine, or result in severe pain, block the bile ducts, cause infection, or can even be fatal.

The findings suggest that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables -- particularly leafy greens, citrus fruits and other vitamin-C-rich foods -- can prevent gallstones from forming or from causing symptoms, Dr Chung-Jyi Tsai at Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues report in the American Journal of Medicine.

The results are based on data from 77,090 female nurses who, in 1984, were between the ages of 37 and 64. They answered dietary questionnaires that year, and had the rates of gallbladder removal -- called cholecystectomy - were followed through 2000.

Cholecystectomy is the most common treatment for symptomatic gallstones; stones that do not cause symptoms are generally left untreated. So rates of cholecystectomy are indicative of the rate of painful gallstones.

During the study period, Tsai's team found, roughly 6,600 women had their gallbladders removed. But those with the highest intake of fruits and vegetables at the study's start were 21 percent less likely than those with the lowest intake to have the surgery.

The risk reduction was independent of other factors that increase the risk of gallstone formation, such as age, weight and diabetes.

Women in the group with highest intake of fruits and vegetables typically ate seven or more servings a day; those with the lowest intake generally ate less than three servings.

Citrus fruits, leafy green vegetables, and all foods rich in vitamin C seemed to be particularly protective, the study found. According to the researchers, dietary fiber, antioxidant vitamins -- which include vitamin C -- and minerals such as magnesium may all theoretically help prevent symptomatic gallstones.

However, they add, the benefit is likely due to a complex interaction of nutrients.

''Because any single constituent in fruits and vegetables is unlikely to explain fully the beneficial effect,'' Tsai's team writes, ''it is reasonable and practical to recommend an abundant fruit and vegetable consumption.'' (AGENCIES)

Patients often stop taking heart attack drugs

NEW YORK, Oct 7: A significant percentage of patients stop taking medications prescribed after a heart attack, despite the fact that these drugs increase their chances of survival, investigators report. They call for a better system for patient follow-up to prevent unnecessary deaths related to non-usage of these drugs.

Dr P Michael Ho at Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Colorado, and colleagues conducted a review of 1521 patients enrolled in the Prospective Registry Evaluating Myocardial Infarction: Event and Recovery (PREMIER) study.

Results of the study are published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Patients had been discharged from any of 19 participating hospitals after a heart attack between June 2003 and June 2004. The investigators assessed whether or not patients remained on recommended post-MI therapy including aspirin, beta-blockers (Tenormin, Lopressor), and statins (Lipitor, Zocor), for at least a month following discharge. The investigators also assessed the impact of drug adherence on 12-month death rates.

''These patients were discharged on all the appropriate medications but for some reason, one in eight stopped taking all of them by 1 month after hospital discharge,'' Ho told Reuters Health.

Another 4 per cent discontinued two of the medications, and 18 per cent more dropped one of the drugs.

Risk factors for drug discontinuation included older age and low eduction level.

Patients who discontinued prescribed medications had a 1-year survival of 89 per cent compared with a 98-per cent survival rate for those who adhered to one or more of the three drugs prescribed at discharge.

''The assessment of medication use should be an integral part of the first post-heart attack outpatient visit,'' the team recommends. If early in-person follow-up is not possible, ''innovative strategies, such as the use of telehealth technologies, should be explored as an alternative.''

''From the patient perspective,'' Ho added, ''it would be helpful for them to incorporate taking their medications into their daily routines and to understand the reasons why they are taking each medication.''(AGENCIES)

US medic to serve just one year in death of Iraqi CAMP

PENDLETON, Oct 7: A US medic who helped kidnap a random Iraqi grandfather later killed execution-style by an American squad was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but he will end up serving only a year under a plea deal.

Military Judge Col Steven Folsom issued the sentence after Petty Officer Melson Bacos, 21, said his patrol leader's anger at the release of a suspected ''terrorist'' from Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison prompted the murder of the man's neighbor.

Bacos was also dishonorably discharged.

Bacos agreed to a plea deal earlier yesterday in which he agreed to testify in exchange for a lesser sentence. If the judge's sentence exceeds the sentence agreed upon in the plea agreement, he will serve the lesser term.

However, under the plea agreement, he will end up serving no more than 1 year in confinement.(AGENCIES)

Thai inventor's "Mission:Impossible" dream becomes reality

SAMUT PRAKARAN, THAILAND, Oct 7: Songphol Eiamboonyarith grew up on a remote military base in northeastern Thailand where his main pleasure as a child was watching the television spy series "Mission: Impossible."

"I told myself I want to work like that," Songphol said. "I thought that in the future I could help many, many people in the fight against terrorism."

Songphol did make his dream come true -- not as the spy but as the backroom brains as he took his inspiration from Q, the genius behind James Bond's indispensible gadgets.

The list of his inventions certainly reads like something out of a spy novel, and many have been patented in Thailand -- like the truncheon that fires a net so that police can capture runaway suspects; the umbrella and the walking stick that double as guns; and the blast-proof shield that can protect people from the impact of car bombs.

Now Songphol's business operates out of a 6,000-square-metre factory outside Bangkok, employs 400 people and has produced more than 50 devices for Thailand's military.

He is working on creating a bullet-proof wig, which he hopes will offer better protection than the motorcycle helmets teachers now often wear to protect themselves in case of ambush. Also on his drawing board are bullet-proof advertising hoardings, which Songphol says could replace the banners currently used outside shops and restaurants to protect passersby from roadside bombs.

Songphol said even if the military didn't buy any of his creations, he would carry on inventing. "I will keep working, otherwise there will be no inventors left," he said. (AFP)

Panama recalls medicine after mystery deaths

PANAMA CITY, Oct 7: Panama on Friday withdrew stocks of a medicine used by thousands to treat high blood pressure after investigations linked it to a mystery illness that has killed 19 people.

Health Minister Camilo Alleyne said officials were recalling Lisinopril tablets from pharmacies, hospitals and private clinics across the Central American country as scientists tested the drug for toxic agents that may have poisoned 30 people.

''The cause is still not completely confirmed,'' Alleyne told a news conference late on Friday. ''We decided as a safety precaution to withdraw this medicine from use.''

Lisinopril is a drug made by several companies that is used to treat hypertension and heart failure.

The death toll from the mystery illness -- which starts with nausea, fever, diarrhoea and weakness, and soon progresses to acute kidney failure, partial paralysis and death -- rose by one to 19 on Friday. Another 11 people are sick.

First reported a month ago, the illness has struck mainly elderly men being treated for high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney disorders. Most were taking multiple treatments.

Post-mortem tests revealed damage to kidney and nerve tissue, which officials said pointed to possible toxic agents.

Some 7,000 Panamanians have public health service prescriptions for Lisinopril. Alleyne could not say how many private patients also use the drug.

Panamanian and US scientists working on the case had ruled out illnesses like dengue fever, influenza and West Nile virus.(AGENCIES)

US Democrats assail Republicans over Foley scandal

WASHINGTON, Oct 7: Democrats has said that warnings about former Rep Mark Foley's inappropriate contact with young congressional aides were ''swept under the rug'' by Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives intent on protecting their power.

''We need to stop the sexual exploitation of children across the country, and in Washington we must hold accountable all those complicit in allowing this victimization to happen,'' Democratic congressional candidate Patty Wetterling said in excerpts of her party's Saturday radio address released yesterday.

Foley, a Florida Republican, resigned last week following the publication of lewd Internet communications with male teenage congressional assistants. The scandal has rocked Congress and buoyed Democratic hopes they can win control of the House and the Senate in the November 7 congressional elections.

''Foley sent obvious predatory signals, received loud and clear by members of congressional leadership, who swept them under the rug to protect their political power,'' said Wetterling, who is locked in a tight race against Republican Michele Bachmann to succeed Republican Rep. Mark Kennedy, who is running for the Senate.

Several other Democrats have criticized Republicans. On Thursday, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California said, ''Those who covered up Mark Foley's behavior must be held accountable.''

Wetterling's son was abducted 17 years ago and has never been found. Since then, the math teacher-turned-politician has promoted child protection legislation.

Some conservatives have called for the resignation of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, saying he did not do enough to protect congressional assistants after learning earlier this year of one e-mail from Foley to an ex-intern that has been described as ''over-friendly.''

More explicit communications with other young assistants were subsequently revealed.

Hastert has said he will not step down as speaker. During a news conference on Thursday, he acknowledged Republicans could have done a better job of handling the Foley matter. He also said he had done nothing wrong.

The House Ethics Committee has approved some 50 subpoenas for what it promised would be an aggressive and wide-ranging investigation.

The scandal has been a dominant question among voters in many congressional districts across the country.

An aide to one Republican lawmaker said the Foley scandal ''makes it very difficult to talk about'' family values, a centerpiece of many Republican candidates' campaigns. (AGENCIES)

Stabbed Indian cabbie vows to quit driving taxis

MELBOURNE, Oct 7: A shaken Melbourne taxi driver of Indian origin, who was stabbed by a fare-evading passenger a few days back vowed not to drive taxis again.

Baljinder Singh, 25, sustained stab wounds in his hands and back as he got involved in a scuffle with the passenger he was chasing to collect his fare.

''I don't think that I will drive cabs (again). I'm not scared but there's always a risk to your life,'' he told News Corporation reporters.

The Indian taxi driver, who has been driving in Melbourne for the last two years, had picked up a young couple from Reservoir suburb and drove them to another northern suburb around midnight.

Instead of paying his 22 dollar fare, the passengers took off. Baljinder left his taxi and chased the male passenger.

''They said they were going inside the house and would get money from there,'' a recuperating Singh later told reporters in the hospital.

''He got a 20 dollar note and he was looking for the coins, because the fare was $21.80.

''He just started to run ... I chased him and caught him," Baljinder said.

''Then he put his hand into his pocket and I thought he was getting money out and he got something sharp and he hit me,'' he added.

The young taxi driver is reported to have suffered stab wounds on his left hand, back and a dislocated shoulder in the scuffle.

Melbourne Police have charged a 14-year-old boy over the stabbing of Baljinder Singh earlier in the week.

The boy from Melbourne's northern suburbs, would reportedly face seven charges including intentionally causing injury, assault and also possession of cannabis.

The teenager has been bailed to appear in a Children's Court in December.

The attack on Baljinder comes after another Indian taxi driver was killed in an accident involving a carjacker. The killing had led to an unprecedented uproar by the Melbournian cab drivers demanding more safety for the drivers.

Another Indian taxi driver Rajbinder Singh Shahi is behind bars for allegedly killing a teenager passenger by running his cab over him. The boy had allegedly taunted and racially abused Singh who ferried the victim and his friends from city to a close-by suburb. (UNI)

FDA confirms 3 dead in US E coli outbreak

WASHINGTON, Oct 7: Three people have now been confirmed killed in an outbreak of E coli O157:H7 food poisoning in spinach that originated in California, the US Food and Drug Administration said.

They added the death of an elderly woman in Nebraska to the toll and said 199 people in total had been sickened in 26 states. The numbers included 31 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a serious kidney illness.

''Today, Nebraska reported the death of an elderly woman with an illness compatible with E coli O157 infection who consumed raw spinach; E coli O157 with the outbreak strain 'DNA fingerprint' was detected in the remaining spinach,'' the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.

''Yesterday, Idaho confirmed that stool samples from a 2-year-old child with HUS who died on September 20 contained E coli O157 with a 'DNA fingerprint' pattern that matches the outbreak strain.''

The CDC said Maryland was still investigating a suspect case in an elderly woman who died there from an E coli infection but said DNA fingerprinting tracing of the precise source had not been possible.

''E coli O157 was isolated from 13 packages of spinach supplied by patients living in 10 states. Eleven of the packages had lot codes consistent with a single manufacturing facility on a particular day,'' the CDC said.

The FDA, CDC, US Department of Agriculture and the State of California are all still investigating the cause of the outbreak. ''This includes continued inspections and sample collection in facilities, the environment and water, as well as studies of animal management, water use, and the environment,'' the FDA said.

''On October 4, 2006, US Attorney Kevin V Ryan of the Northern District of California issued a statement on the execution of two search warrants on Growers Express in Salinas, California, and Natural Selection Foods in San Bautista, California, in connection with the outbreak.''

All the contaminated spinach has traced back to Natural Selection Foods LLC of San Juan Bautista, California.

''FDA and the State of California still expect the industry to develop a comprehensive plan which is designed to minimize the risk of another outbreak due to E coli O157:H7 in spinach grown in central California,'' the agency said.(AGENCIES)

China picks top 30 songs for moon satellite

BEIJING, Oct 7: China marked Friday's Moon Festival by announcing 30 songs to be broadcast to Earth next year from its first lunar-probing satellite.

The song that got the most votes was the folk ballad, ''My Wonderful Home Town'', followed by ''I Love China'', ''Singing Praises of Motherland'' and 27 others, Xinhua news agency said.

The songs were chosen according to public votes and by a panel of experts, organised by the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, China Central Television and the China Musicians' Association.

''Experts said these songs can express Chinese people's love for the motherland, for life, peace and their pursuit of truth and nature, which will showcase the beauty of Chinese culture and its influence,'' Xinhua said.

China's national anthem and ''The East is Red'', a tribute to Mao Zedong, which was broadcast in 1970 from the country's first man-made terrestrial satellite, will also be played.

The lunar satellite is designed to obtain 3D images of the lunar surface, analyse elements and probe the depth of the lunar soil. It will orbit the moon for one year.

Last October, two Chinese astronauts rocketed into orbit and promptly helped themselves to pineapple-filled mooncakes, traditional fare during the Mid-Autumn, or Moon, Festival.

China puts its first man in orbit in 2003.(AGENCIES)

Non-freezing penguin feet and other oddities explained

LONDON, Oct 7: If you have ever wondered why hair turns grey, fingers get crinkled in the bath or if the Great Wall of China really is visible from space, Mick O'Hare has the answers.

He knows why left-handers are at greater risk of accidents, how ants manage to survive in the microwave and that, despite what mothers may have said, there is no connection between being cold and having one.

O'Hare is not a genius or a mad scientist but the editor of a new book called ''Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze?'' which provides answers to that perplexing and unusual question and 114 others.

''It is kind of science miscellany,'' he told Reuters.

The book is a latest in a series based on questions and answers, supplied by readers, which appear in a column in the weekly magazine New Scientist.

''We just took the best questions and answers that appeared in the magazine and turned them into a book,'' O'Hare, the production editor at the magazine, added.

Each week the magazine receives hundreds of questions and answers to queries. Only a fraction make it into the column that has been going since 1994.

Questions and answers arrive from all over the world and cover everything from domestic science, weird weather, odd plants and animals and quirky science.

''There are lots about bodily functions,'' O'Hare said, adding that he can't recall a question for which he hasn't received an answer.

WEIRD AND WONDERFUL

He usually knows an answer is correct because so many readers have responded with the same solution. But there has been the occasional dispute when experts have been called in to help.

''I'm not an expert in every field so I call on my colleagues who are quite widely versed in scientific disciplines to help me,'' he explained.

Over the years he seen some very odd questions and is constantly fascinated and amazed by what people ask.

''The one that really caused a big fuss when it came out and everyone thought was absolutely wonderful was -- 'Why is snot green?''' he said.

Another one of his all-time favourites is -- does beheading hurt?

Two of the most commonly asked questions are -- why is the sky blue and why does hair turn grey?

''Both of those are in the book,'' he added.

O'Hare has also been surprised by some of the answers. One he remembers well is the answer to whether black trousers make your bottom look smaller.

''Apparently there really is evidence and someone has done scientific work on it. It really does make your bottom look smaller,'' he said, adding it has something to do with shadows.

Earlier books based on the column have gone into several print runs due to popular demand which has left O'Hare with yet another question.

''It would be nice to know why the books have been so successful,'' he said.(AGENCIES)

Chemicals remain steady in thin trade

NEW DELHI, Oct 7: There was no change in the pattern of trading in the wholesale chemical market today with prices moving in a narrow range in scattered enquiries and settled around previous closing.

Arrivals and offtake remained at a low ebb and volume of business poor.

Traders said negligible enquiries from consuming industries due to tight funds position mainly kept prices unchanged.

Following were today's quotations:

Ammonia bicarb (25 kg) 325 Ammonium chloride (50 kg) 760-1200, acetic acid (1 kg) 42, boric acid technical (50 kg) 2,850-3,000, borex granular (50 kg) 1400-1500.

Caustic soda flake (50 kg) 1,300 citric acid (50 kg) (China) 2,600-2,800 citric acid deshi (50 kg) 2,600-3,000, camphor slab (1 kg) 200-210, camphor powder (1 kg) 175, glycerine (1 kg) 57-59, hexamine (1 kg) 60, hydrogen peroxide (1 kg) 31-32, mercury (34.5 kg) 34,000, menthol bold crystal (per kg) 940, menthol flake (1 kg) 875 nd Mentha oil (1 kg) 715.

Paraffin wax (50 kg)Iran 2600-2700

paraffin wax (50 kg)China 3025-3250

paraffin wax (50 kg) indian 3250

press wax (p tonne) 14,000

residue wax (p tonne) 25,000

soda ash (50 kg) (tata) 760

soda ash (50 kg) (dcw) 750

soda ash (50 kg) (gujarat) 750

soda ash (50 kg) (birla) 750

Sodium Nitrite (50 kg) 1450-1500

Sodium silicate (Qtl) 1000-1100

stable bleaching powder (shriram) (25 kg) 350 stable bleaching powder (chambal) 305

stable bleaching powder (modi) 320

tartaric acid france (1 kg) 382

thymol (1 kg) 610

titanium dioxide (ttk) (1 kg) 87

titanium dioxide (k-brand) (1 kg) 85

titanium dioxide (china) (1 kg) 80

titanium dioxide (TR-92) 130

titanium dioxide (rc-822) (1 kg) 130

oxalic acid (pcpl-red) 50 kg 2100

oxalic acid (pcpl-blue)50 kg 1725

Zinc oxide (kg) 71-80(PTI)

UK Govt funds robot to help treat baldness

LONDON, Oct 7: The British government is providing 1.85 million pounds ($3.5 million) of funding to a Cambridge-based company that is building a robot to help treat baldness.

Biosciences firm Intercytex aims to perfect a treatment that involves taking hair follicles from the back of the neck, multiplying them and replanting them where they are needed.

The company said yesterday it had been awarded funding from the government's Technology Programme, which it planned to use to develop a robotic system to speed up the painstaking process of multiplying the hair cells before they are replanted.

''The technology is challenging. No one has done this before,'' Intercytex Chief Executive Nick Higgins told Reuters earlier this week.

''We take cells responsible for hair growth, multiply them and then inject them in the head. We tease out the cells responsible for growing a new hair.

''The challenge is to make sure they grow thick enough and quick enough so they are cosmetically acceptable,'' he added.

The most common form of baldness is triggered by the male hormone dihydrotestosterone, which causes follicles to shrink and hair to thin before disappearing altogether.

Intercytex's research is now in intermediate Phase II testing after having safely been trialled on a handful of volunteers.

The hair is taken during a 30-minute operation under anaesthetic and replanted three weeks later after the cells have had time to grow.

Shares in the firm, which have receded around 30 percent since listing on London's junior AIM market in February, rose 0.6 per cent to 88 pence by 0900 GMT.(AGENCIES)