We are What Our Father ate

London: Like father, like children. Yes, you're what your father eats, says a new study.

An international team has found that a father's diet while growing up can affect the future health of his offspring -- in fact, paternal diet influences lipid metabolising genes of his children, the 'Cell' journal reported.

In their study, researchers have discovered that a father's lifestyle can be passed down to his children because it "reprogrammes" his genes.

The study has shown the hereditary effects of a process called "epigenetics" which is how the environment and lifestyle can permanently alter people's genes as they grow up. These altered genes can then be passed on to children.

Dr Oliver Rando of University of Massachusetts Medical School, who led the team, said his research could help identify individuals at high risk of illness such as heart disease and diabetes.

Workplace attitude differs in private, public sectors

Fri Dec 24 2010 13:12:24 GMT+0530 (India Standard Time) by IANS ( Leave a comment )

London, Dec 24 (IANS) High levels of emotional intelligence (EI) foster positive attitudes at private sector workplaces, but not in the public sector, a study says.”The results emphasise the existence of significant behavioral differences between the private and public sectors, says Galit Meisler of the University of Haifa in Israel, who conducted the study.

“Executives intending to carry out reforms or implement management plans in the public sector should be well aware of these differences,” explains Meisler, according to a Haifa statement.

Emotional intelligence describes the ability or capacity to perceive, assess and manage the emotions of oneself and of others.

The study, supervised by Professor Eran Vigoda-Gadot, surveyed 809 employees and managers within four organisations - two in the public sector and two in the private sector.

A comparison between the two sectors revealed a higher level of organisational politics in the public sector.

The political skills of public sector employees were much more developed. Yet, significant differences in employees’ emotional intelligence level were not found.

The study shows that EI has a much greater impact on private sector employees’ perceptions and attitudes compared to public sector employees.

Moreover, the study found that employees from the public sector were more likely to use forceful influence tactics, regardless of their emotional intelligence level.

In the private sector, however, employees with a higher level of emotional intelligence were less likely to use such tactics.

There's no magical formula to win a Nobel Prize: ‘Venky' Ramakrishnan Published in The Hindu Dt.21.12.2010

Do not work on anything you are not interested in. This is an absolute minimum to succeed, says the Nobel Laureate

What does it take to become a Nobel laureate?

Venkataraman ‘Venky' Ramakrishnan, who won the coveted award for chemistry last year, is of the view that no special attributes are needed to achieve the feat.

“There is no magical formula for winning a Nobel Prize,” Professor Ramakrishnan said at a public lecture here on Monday.

Replying to a question from the audience, he also stressed that there was no need for India to win a Nobel Prize to become a scientific power. “I also don't think that if India wins a Nobel Prize, it would mean suddenly that Indian science is okay.”

Interacting for nearly half an hour with students and researchers, Professor Ramakrishnan said: “Do not work on anything you are not interested in. This is an absolute minimum [to succeed].”

He advocated the ‘Crick test' for the students. “It is a classic test that you can use. It was first proposed by Francis Crick. He said if you do not gossip about your problem, that means you are not really interested in it.”

Professor Ramakrishnan added: “If you are a science student…everyday science is a tedious [affair] and you have to have the patience to see a problem through. This depends on how much you care for the problem.”

He urged young researchers to set a five-year horizon for their work. “This is more applicable to young investigators — where do you want to be in the next five years, not in terms of status but in terms of work.”

Professor Ramakrishnan said researchers should choose the right place to pursue their area of interest. “It does not necessarily mean the most prestigious place, but it has to be one with a very good intellectual environment for your work.”

Elaborating on this, he said: “If you go to a second-rate place and you are first-rate, it is very difficult to do first-rate work because you do not get that critical feedback you need for first-rate work on a daily basis.”

‘BOOMING FIELD'

Replying to another query, Professor Ramakrishnan said he chose biology as his field of work after graduating in theoretical physics because the new field was booming and there were fresh breakthroughs every now and then.

“Physics is in a difficult situation in the sense that fundamental problems in physics have become extremely difficult, and [it is] really going to require amazingly smart and original thinkers to lead the way out of it.”

The public lecture was organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with the Science and Technology Ministry's Department of Biotechnology.

Keywords: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Nobel laureate

Indian power generation to go up by 28K MW by 2017 | iGovernment.in

http://igovernment.in/site/indian-power-generation-go-28k-mw-2017-38890
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India plans creating 58 mn more jobs by 2012 | iGovernment.in

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HindustanTimes - ht SPECIAL - MEDVEDEV VISIT - Orissa N-plant gift to Russia?

koraputonline@gmail.com saw this article on HindustanTimes ePaper, and thought you would find it interesting. You can find it at: - ht SPECIAL - MEDVEDEV VISIT - Orissa N-plant gift to Russia?

A nuclear power projects that Russia intends to set up in India may be shifted to Orissa from West Bengal where it was originally to be located following local protests there, government sources said.Barely weeks before Russian president Dmitri Medvedev's scheduled visit on December 2122 -and after Russia raised concerns about the protests -India has informally conveyed that a new site in Orissa could be made available.
“We have received this informal proposal and it sounds good,“ a Russian official said.
However, government sources said: “Last ditch efforts are on to sort out the problems regarding the Haripur site.“
The Haripur project envisages six nuclear reactors, which would require over 5,000 acres of land. Only the first two, however, each of 1000 MW, to be designed by the Russians, are so far in the pipeline.
But as at Singur and Nandigram, locals are resisting land acquisition claiming fertile and multi-cropped land on which more than 25,000 farmers depend for their livelihood, would be taken away from them for the project.
Here too, the protests, which have been on for the past two years, are led by Trinamool Congress, which controls the East Midnapore zillaparishad under which Haripur falls.“It is difficult for me to comment. The party opposing the project is an important partner of the present union government. It is up to the Centre to decide the matter,“ Nirupam Sen, West Bengal industries minister told the Hindustan Times, when asked if he was hopeful of sorting out the issue. But whether the project will fare any better in Orissa, which has also seen long drawn mass struggles against land acquisition by companies like Posco and Vedanta, remains to be seen.
Russians are committed to building six nuclear reactors in India â“ two at Haripur in West Bengal and four at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu.
Kudankulam already has two Russian-designed reactors under construction that are expected to be ready for commercial operations in March 2011 and December 2011 respectively.