Body clock has an important effect on immunity

Researchers from Yale University have recently published their findings of the effect of Circadian rhythm or body clock on the immunity of the body. Circadian rhythm is an endogenous timing system regulating different metabolic activities.

They have worked on mice model with sepsis and found that a certain protein, Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), showed different activity at different times of the night and day showing different affects on sepsis.

Researchers have suggested that optimized treatment strategies could be developed by considering the circadian rhythm.

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MRI scans showed brain changes in Autistic infants

Researchers have worked on the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of 92 infants aging from 6 months to 2 years. They have found that there are certain brain connection changes in the infants whose siblings are autistic.

Researchers have published their findings in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

According to researchers, findings of tracking the changes of the brain in the early stages can lead to better developmental outcomes.

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Microchip that can be controlled to deliver drugs

Researchers have successfully developed microchip that can be controlled with the help radio signals to deliver drugs.

Researchers have done this study in Denmark. They have implanted the device containing bone building drugs in 7 older women of ages 65-70 and found that the drug delivery was same as that after injections. The device delivered the drug for 20 days.

They have published this finding in the journal of Science Translational Medicine.

"These data validate the microchip approach to multi-year drug delivery without the need for frequent injections, which can improve the management of many chronic diseases like osteoporosis where adherence to therapy is a significant problem," said study lead author Robert Farra, MicroCHIPS President and Chief Operating Officer. "We look forward to making further progress to advance our first device toward regulatory approvals, as well as developing a range of products for use in important disease areas such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and chronic pain."

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Mountain Lion is the new version of Apple's Mac OS

Mountain Lion is the ninth release by Apple for Mac systems. This version has been released for the Mac Developer Program members and the users will be able to download the version late summer 2012.

“The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system.”

This new version of OS comes with “Messages, Notes, Reminders and Game Center to the Mac, as well as Notification Center, Share Sheets, Twitter integration and AirPlay Mirroring”. iCloud for easier sharing and Gatekeeper for enhanced security features have also been integrated.

Apple has also facilitated the Chinese users for Chinese input method and selecting Baidu in options of Safari explorer.

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"Great Eruption" of Eta Carinae would be resolved soon

Researchers have found the effects of "Great Eruption" of Eta Carinae, a supermassive star 7500 light years away, through mix of visible-light and spectroscopic observations.

Researchers have found that the star was cooler than it was previously suggested.

"When the eruption was seen on Earth 170 years ago, there were no cameras capable of recording the event," explained Armin Rest, who is leading researcher. "Everything astronomers have known to date about Eta Carinae's outburst is from eyewitness accounts. Modern observations with science instruments were made years after the eruption actually happened. It's as if nature has left behind a surveillance tape of the event, which we are now just beginning to watch. We can trace it year by year to see how the outburst changed."

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Nestle has reported 9.5 billion Swiss francs of net profit

Nestle has announced the results on February 16 in which the company has reported 9.5 billion Swiss francs of net profit, which is 8.1% on a continuing basis.

The company has reported the sales of 83.6 billion Swiss francs.

Paul Bulcke, Nestlé CEO,

We delivered good performance, top and bottom line, in both emerging and developed markets in 2011. It was a challenging year, and we do not expect 2012 to be any easier. We have continued to invest for the future and strengthen our capabilities across the world. We have established new partnerships in China. Nestlé Health Science has got off to a good start. Our innovation is creating opportunities in all categories, whether bringing new consumers to our brands in emerging markets, or building on our consumers’ engagement with our brands in the developed world. Our people are aligned behind our strategic roadmap, which is as relevant in today’s new reality as ever, to drive sustainable performance improvement. We are therefore well positioned in 2012 to deliver the Nestlé Model of organic growth between 5% and 6% as well as an improved margin and underlying earnings per share in constant currencies.

The company has reported 5% of organic growth in Europe and 6.4% in the Americas. There is more growth of 13.1% in the Asia, Oceania and Africa.
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Dementia may be found through hand-grip and walking speed

Researchers have found that slow walkers, in middle ages of life, had 1.5 times more chances to develop dementia as compared to fast walkers. They have also found that people with stronger grip had 42% lower chances of developing stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).

Researchers will present this research at American Academy of Neurology’s (AAN’s) 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, April 21 to April 28, 2012.

From SayPeople,

Researchers have also found that slower walking speed was also linked with decreased total cerebral brain volume and poorer performance on memory, language and decision-making tests. Moreover, firm hand grip strength was linked with increased total cerebral brain volume as well as better performance on cognitive tests asking people to identify similarities among objects.

“Further research is needed to understand why this is happening and whether preclinical disease could cause slow walking and decreased strength.” Erica C. Camargo, MD, MSc, PhD, with Boston Medical Center.

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