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A new technique of combating HIV infection has been discovered by scientists at University of California-San Francisco and the University of Toronto.

An HIV infection relies on the remnants of ancient viruses, human endogenous retroviruses (HERV) that have become part of the genome of every human cell. Nearly 8 percent of DNA in human genome consists of viral genes, which are already present from millions of years ago. When modern virus attacks a cell, the ancient genes get triggered off producing tiny proteins that move to the surface of cell after HIV infection and indicate a distinctive signal –called HERV.

Thiruvanthapuram: Government has decided the implementation of the specialty and administrative cadre for government doctors, Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy said.
Sreemathy told that 50 posts of senior medical consultants and 16 posts of Chief Medical Consultants would be created in specialty cadre. The allowances of doctors would also be increased but pay scale revision had not been considered. Government would bear additional burden of about Rs.25 crore annually for boosting the allowances.
All government hospitals having more than 100 beds will be equipped with the specialty units.

New Delhi: All school children in India, above class V, will be screened for diseases once a year.

Union Health Minister, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss has announced smart cards for health for school children as a part of a new National school health programme.

The health cards will contain the health information and children will be screened by doctors, either from public or private hospitals for free-check up of blindness, deafness, diabetes, dental and cardio vascular health, vitamin deficiencies and anemia. If found any suffering, they will be immeidtely referred for further treatment.

Officials from health ministry and HRD have already held talks with next one scheduled for mid-December.

Microsoft has added up a parental control feature known as ‘Family Timer’ to the Xbox 360 video game console letting parents to put a limit to the amount of time their children can use the console.

The new feature added by the company can keep an eye on the total amount of time spent on gaming plus entertainment on a daily or weekly basis.

Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft, said, “It is Microsoft's responsibility to provide parents with tools to manage their children's video gaming and online experiences, and we have made that a priority from the very start.”

Mr. Bach also explicated that the Xbox 360 Family Timer is as same as its counterpart in Windows Vista.

Washington: Scientists have discovered a natural hormone from human urine – a xanthurenic-acid derivative, which could safely flush sodium out of human body, and could be harnessed for developing effective treatments for high blood pressure or hypertension.

Frank Schroeder, an assistant scientist at Cornell and the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI), with other researchers developed a new technique to analyze complex mixtures of small molecules, and identified the hormone from human urine. With this discovery, more developments can be made to novel medications to control sodium levels and treat hypertension.

Mumbai: The fruits and vegetables processing firm, Temptation Foods has announced that it has bought ‘Everfresh,’ the food processing division of Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals (CFCL).

The financial details of the deal were not disclosed yet.

The company will fund the recent acquisition from the amount (Rs 114 crore) lifted through its recently completed QIP (qualified institutional promoters) issue.