Dr Penna

check this very funny video about the Microsoft Zune.

www.medinews.co.uk

Medinews.co.uk is all about user powered medical news website. The site is based on the fact that the user submits the interesting medical news, article or blogs, which then will be published only after receiving required amount of votes. The users also can discuss regarding the issues by leaving comments. This website is for health professionals to improve their knowledge about the latest updates and news.

Sreeram Penna

Do you know that in United Kingdom surgeons are not called as doctors rather they are called as Mister, Miss respectively for male and female surgeons. This is also the case with the Australia and New Zealand surgeons. Surgeons actually feel honoured to be called as Misters or Miss in the hospitals. But do you know the origins of this tradition.

The tradition goes back to the times of Henry VIII, when the company of Barber-Surgeons was formed. The profession of surgery actually originated from barbers. However, in 1745, the surgeons broke away to form their own company.

By the beginning of the 19th century, surgeons had obtained high status, and in 1800, the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) in London began to offer surgeons a formal status via RCS membership. The title Mister became a badge of honour, and today only surgeons who hold the Membership or Fellowship of one of the Royal Colleges are entitled to call themselves Mister or Miss.

I Was so excited with all the new technology. I took this photo with my mobile phone Sony ericsson K800i, new 3 mega pixel camera. I loved this photo, check it.

Neuroblastoma is among the types of cancer that particularly often affect children. Between one and three girls and boys in 100,000 are diagnosed with this growth of the nervous system before age 14. Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum) and the University of Cologne have developed a method, based on the gene activity of tumor cells, for assessing the aggressiveness of neuroblastomas right at the time of diagnosis.

Neuroblastoma is unique in the sense that at least ten percent of tumors regress spontaneously without treatment, even if they have already started to metastasize. “Neuroblastoma takes a very variable course. In some cases, the tumor disappears by itself, while other patients die in spite of intensive treatment,” explains Dr. Frank Westermann of the Tumorgenetics Division headed by Professor Dr. Manfred Schwab. “Using our test it will be possible to assess the individual patient’s risk more accurately.” This will enable scientists not only to better customize treatment to the individual case, but also to save patients with favorable prognosis the unnecessary strain of chemotherapy.

In the largest neuroblastoma study worldwide, Dr. Westermann and Dr. Benedikt Brors of the DKFZ, jointly with Dr. Matthias Fischer of Cologne University, have investigated tumor material of 251 patients. The research project was supported by the National Genome Research Network (NGFN) and the German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe). The scientists identified, at first in 77 tumors, 144 genes whose activity is characteristic for the course of the disease. Some of these genes are active in neuroblastomas that tend to be more malignant, while others are read more intensively in relatively benign tumors. Using a gene chip (microarray), the scientists can now study these gene activities in tumor samples and subsequently predict the further course of the disease.

The investigators tested the gene chip in another 174 tumor samples. The genetic test proved to be highly reliable: The course of the disease was predicted with 93 percent accurateness. This is substantially better than with current methods of neuroblastoma classification. In addition, the genetic test was able to filter out patients who would not have been treated according to conventional categorization, but whose disease took an unexpectedly aggressive course. In these cases, early treatment could be life-saving.

Publication: André Oberthuer, Frank Berthold, Patrick Warnat, Barbara Hero, Yvonne Kahlert, Rüdiger Spitz, Karen Ernestus, Rainer König, Stefan Haas, Roland Eils, Manfred Schwab, Bedenikt Brors, Frank Westermann and Matthias Fischer: Gene Expression- Based Classification of Neuroblastoma Patients Using a Customized Oligonucleotide Microarray Outperforms Current Clinical Risk Stratification. Journal of Clinical Oncology, Band 24, 1. November 2006

Collected by

Sreeram Penna

Source

dkfz

The Institute of Food Research(UK)scientists have built an artificial stomach to simulate human digestion.They hope it will aid the development of new superfoods by revealing how they are broken down in the gut.

The device is made from sophisticated plastics and metals, can withstand the corrosive gut acids and enzymes, and can be fed real food. It mimics both the physical and chemical reactions that take place during digestion.It even mimics the stomach contractions which are used to break up food, and send it on its way along the alimentary canal. Chief designer Dr Martin Wickham said his model was much more sophisticated.Dr Wickham hopes his model will help scientists understand more about how food gets processed in the gut, and which nutrients get absorbed.

What others said
Dr Peter Ellis, a biochemistry expert at King’s College London, said: “This is an important tool that will allow us to understand what happens in the gut, which has essentially been like a black box until recently”.Dr Stephen Bloom, head of metabolic medicine at Imperial College in London, agreed the model could be useful - but warned that it might have limitations. He said: “The stomach is an extraordinarily complex organ, so you cannot create a model that will undertake all of these functions.”

How it works
The artificial gut acts as a two stage model. The top half of the model consists of a vessel in which food, stomach acids and digestive enzymes are mixed. Once this hydration process is finished, the food gets broken down into smaller pieces that can absorbed by the human body. Computer software is used to control how long food remains in a particular part of the stomach, and the release of the gut secretions. It has the capacity of about half the size of an actual stomach, and can “eat” the equivalent of a normal portion of fish and chips. The artificial gut is already attracting commercial attention.

Sreeram Penna

Source
BBC

This EYST(Early Years of Surgical Training) Website is dedicated to support and encourage surgical trainees across the world (as stated in its slogan). The website currently concentrates on helping the surgical trainees with the resources available in internet. Also there are forums currently to discuss the burning topics in current surgical training and help each other. This website has particular emphasis on new development in surgical training in United Kingdom. It hopes to help new trainees to cope up with the change in training structure (MMC, Modernising Medical Careers). But soon this website along with surgtrain.com plans to evolve in to a global hub for surgical trainees. It hopes to get electronic Journal, electronic portfolio, blog for every of its members and also group structure to this website.

Sreeram Penna

The Deal
The boards of Tata Steel and Corus are pleased to announce their agreement on the terms of the recommended acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Corus at a price of 455 pence in cash for each Corus Share, valuing Corus at £4.3 billion. Tata Steel said its 455-pence-a-share offer for Corus represents on an enterprise value, a price earning ratio of 7.9 times Corus’ ’06 earnings and includes a premium of approximately 26.2% to the average closing mid-market price of 360.5 pence. Details of the merger are likely to be decided by a strategic and integration committee that will develop and execute the integration and growth plans for the combined entity.

Tata Steel has offered to fund upfront the IAS 19 deficit on the Corus Engineering Steels Pension Scheme by paying £126 million into the scheme; and to increase the contribution rate on the British Steel Pension Scheme from 10 per cent. to 12 per cent. until 31 March 2009. The Acquisition will be made by Tata Steel UK, a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Tata Steel.

The Corus Directors intend to unanimously recommend that Corus Shareholders vote in favour of the Scheme after taking advice from Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Cazenove and HSBC.

If a deal is agreed, it is understood that Tata Steel would be keen to retain Corus’s management, including chief executive Philippe Varin.The combination is strategically compelling, creating a vertically integrated global steel group. They will be fifth largest global steel producer with pro forma crude steel production of 23.5 million tonnes in 2005.

Benefits of acquisition
The acquisition will position the combined group as the fifth largest steel company in the world by production, with a meaningful presence in both Europe and Asia. The powerful combination of low cost upstream production in India with the high end downstream processing facilities of Corus will improve the competitiveness of the European operations of Corus significantly. The combination will also allow the cross-fertilisation of research and development capabilities in the automotive, packaging and construction sectors and there will be a transfer, from Europe to India, of technology, best practices and expertise of senior Corus management. In addition, Tata Steel will retain access to low cost raw materials and slab for the enlarged group, and exposure to high growth in emerging markets, whilst gaining price stability in developed markets.

Financing the Deal
Tata Steel, has lined up a mammoth $6.5bn (£3.5bn) financing package to help fund a £5bn takeover of Corus. The company is understood to have secured funding commitments from its advisers, Deutsche Bank and ABN Amro, as well as Standard Chartered.

About the companies
Tata Steel is India’s largest private sector steel company with 2005/06 revenues of US$5.0 billion and crude steel production of 5.3 million tonnes across India and South-East Asia. It is a vertically integrated manufacturer and is one of the world’s most profitable and value creating steel companies. Tata Sons, Tata Steel and other Tata companies had combined revenues in 2005/06 of approximately US$22 billion. Tata Sons’ current investments are valued at approximately US$50 billion. Corus is Europe’s’s second largest steel producer with revenues in 2005 of £9.2 billion and crude steel production of 18.2 million tonnes, primarily in the UK and the Netherlands. Corus is primarily engaged in the manufacture of semi-finished and finished carbon steel products. Its activities are divided into three main divisions: strip products (including coated and uncoated strip and welded tubes, sold both as coil and sheets), and the distribution and building systems division, which operates as a link between Corus’s manufacturing operation and its customers. It has a global network of sales offices and service centres.

Comments about Deal
Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Steel - “This proposed acquisition represents a defining moment for Tata Steel and is entirely consistent with our strategy of growth through international expansion. Corus and Tata Steel are companies with long, proud histories. We have compatible cultures of commitment to stakeholders and complementary strengths in technology, efficiency, product mix and geographical spread. Together we will be even better equipped to remain at the leading edge of the fast changing steel industry.”

Jim Leng, Chairman of Corus - “This offer from Tata Steel reflects the substantial value created for Corus shareholders since the placing and open offer and launch of our “Restoring Success”programme in 2003. In the middle of last year, my board agreed a strategic way forward for Corus to seek access to low cost production and high growth markets. Consistent with this, the Company held talks with a number of parties from Brazil, Russia and India. This transaction represents the culmination of these talks. This combination with Tata, for Corus shareholders and employees alike, represents the right partner at the right time at the right price and on the right terms. This creates a well balanced company, strategically well placed to compete in an increasingly competitive global environment.”

Other Info
Tata could still face opposition to a bid. Severstal, the Russian mining giant which announced on Friday that it intended to list on the London Stock Exchange next month, is understood to be monitoring the situation. “Corus is a high-risk acquisition,” said one analyst. “The company has been looking for a buyer for sometime but Tata will not want to over-pay.”

Tata Steel,
Corusgroup,
Economic Times,
Telegraph,
Hindusthan Times

I am a heavy supporter of Drupal for content management also it is the CMS for all my websites apart from my blog which is Wordpress. I have to say that Drupal 5 really looks cool. It has cool admin theme and good admin lay out. It appears as a GUI version of old Drupal releases. I as ardent supporter of Drupal CMS will work hard to squeeze the bugs out of the new beta version and report back to developers.

The new version is currently being piloted at my Liverpool blog at Liverpool.drpenna.com. You are all welcome to join and visit it and also test it your self how it works.

Sreeram Penna

www.apinvest.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh is one of the fastest growing states in India. It is attracting lots of companies to the state because of better infrastructure and cheaper and better labour pool. Its successive governments have concentrated on better state performance and to attract lots of FDI (Foreign Direct Investments).

Andhra Pradesh Investments blog concentrates on up to date information about announcements of Andhra Pradensh government about their policies and information about companies announcing their investments in Andhra Pradesh, and related information. This blog is in blogger and is supported by Google ads.

Sreeram Penna