WHO targets illnesses caused by bad habits

Geneva, May 28 - The 66th World Health Assembly Monday approved a plan for preventing and controlling
non-communicable diseases, such as illnesses caused by alcohol consumption, smoking and obesity, which account for 60 percent of the deaths in the world and 69 percent of deaths in Latin America.

read more...

To train our working memory and stimulate the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that deals with problem-solving and personality. Brain exercises have been shown to expand the cortex of healthy young people, he says, "So why not the old?" That question...                                                                           read more...

Google faces fresh probe alleging abuse of dominant position

Internet giant Google is facing a new anti-trust probe involving the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that could look into whether the company is abusing its dominant position in the online display-advertising market to gain an advantage over competitors and block rival’s ads. Google has faced such claims earlier and the FTC has been investigating claims that Google uses its overwhelmingly dominant positions in some spaces to block rival firms. Many have expressed concerns after Google acquired DoubleClick, which was a leading a player in the online display-advertising market. Google had acquired the firm for $3.1 billion in 2007 and the FTC had expressed concerns that the Google could merge as a monopoly in the online display-advertising market as Google already owned AdSense. Under the law, it is illegal to tie customers to more than one product from a company. Since that time, the FTC has been keeping a close watch on Google and its market positions amid several complaints of misuse of dominating power. Experts say that the new probe is still in its preliminary stages and might not be expanded to become a full-fledged investigation against the company. The display ad business generates $17.7 billion for sale of banner ads on websites and Google had a market share of 15.1 per cent in 2012.

WHO targets illnesses caused by bad habits

Geneva, May 28 - The 66th World Health Assembly Monday approved a plan for preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases, such as illnesses caused by alcohol consumption, smoking and obesity, which account for 60 percent of the deaths in the world and 69 percent of deaths in Latin America. The plan sets nine new voluntary goals for preventing and controlling these illnesses, but the assembly urged member states to establish programs to deal with risk factors related to bad eating habits and lack of exercise. Unhealthy habits and behaviors can lead to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes and cancer, causing 36 million deaths a year, the World Health Organization, or WHO, said. Deaths related to smoking, a poor diet and bad exercise habits could rise to 55 million by 2030 if action is not taken, the WHO said. (IANS)

Blue Money Harvest Scheme

Itech Solutions is glad to announce that Blue Money Business has chosen Itech for its software development. Client has come up with a different concept to improve business and attract customers with various offers and discounts. Blue Money Harvest Scheme has 2 different plans - Gold Plan and Diamond Plan. Gold Plan is for 11 months duration. Every month, minimum of Rs 1000 has to be paid by customer as monthly installment. Customer can pay more than Rs 1000 since there is no upper limit for the monthly installment payable and it’s a variable. Maturity amount calculated after 11th month will include an interest of 9% over the total amount. Maturity amount cannot be withdrawn as cash but customer can purchase an item on Kart with 3% discount. Diamond Plan is for 21 months duration, every month minimum of Rs 1000 has to be paid by the customer. Maximum amount is not fixed and hence it can be more than Rs 1000 also. Once all the 21 installments are paid promptly, 22nd installment amount of Rs 1000 would be contributed by the company. At the end of tenure, total amount can be withdrawn as cash or the customer can purchase an item on kart with 5% discount. If the customer discontinues payment for any reason, 9% interest will not be provided, but amount deposited can be used to buy an item on kart. Timeframe for paying each EMI would be 40 days. If there is a delay in this payment, then 2% of late payment charges on the installment amount would be levied. If no payment is made within 45 days, interest benefit would be revoked, they can purchase some products on kart for the paid up amount or continue paying till maturity. Minimum of 3 months payment is mandatory after membership to avail any benefit. Membership registration includes payment of 1st EMI. Registration is free. At the time of registration, a login is created for the customer. Agents can perform membership registration. Agents are eligible to receive 5% on each new member registration. Member Registration process includes member’s passport size photo upload. This can be printed on the certificate. Membership software module enables to generate Invoice for every EMI. Certificate would be given to each member with terms and conditions applicable and is required to be signed by the concerned person. This should be printable through the software. For each and every payment, SMS and Email alerts need to be sent. All the above mentioned functionalities should be handled by the software intelligently. Itech has promised the client to complete this project within 30 days time period.

Can video games treat dementia?

Ryuta Kawashima is used to children pointing at him on the street. They often shout "Kawashima Devil!" It's the price the neuroscientist pays for being the famous face of a lucrative series of brain puzzles that he developed for Nintendo.
Kawashima appears in the videos as a disembodied, floating head with horns and a bright red face, asking "devilishly" hard maths and memory questions. Millions of games have been sold, earning him royalties of over $30m. But, he says, his games are more than just a fun way to learn: they could, in fact, provide a revolutionary new way to treat dementia.

The 54-year-old refused to keep the money he made from the brain puzzle series, ploughing much of it into a research centre in Japan's Tohoku University, attached to the Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer. Kawashima's 40-strong team of young scientists spends their days working on ways to train our working memory and stimulate the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that deals with problem-solving and personality. Brain exercises have been shown to expand the cortex of healthy young people, he says, "So why not the old?"

That question animates a remarkable new documentary on Kawashima's work. In 'Do You Know What My Name Is?' pensioners with severe dementia at a care home in the US state of Cleveland, Ohio, are seen recovering the use of their memories after using a six-month programme of learning therapy he designed. Some are almost literally brought back to life, transformed from depressed, hollow shells slipping inexorably toward death back into sociable, happy people.

"We neuroscientists knew that brain plasticity exists in young subjects. The new point is that we now know it exists even in the brains of dementia sufferers," Kawashima explains.

He says stimulating the frontal cortex clearly improves memory and brainpower: "We found that the best candidate for training working memory in people with dementia is reading aloud and performing simple arithmetic." Kawashima claims his own tests show an improvement in up to six out of 10 dementia sufferers, and he thinks that this can be bettered.

Dementia, a catch-all term for symptoms that include loss of memory and cognitive function, afflicts about 800,0000 people in the UK, according to the Alzheimer's Society. The symptoms are progressive , robbing victims of memory , confidence, personality and, eventually, life as they slowly fade away. The condition costs the UK economy an estimated £23bn a year, says the Society. With the number of sufferers expected to treble worldwide from 36 million to 115 million by 2050, according to the World Health Organization, scientists are now turning to non-drug treatment.

Article Source

AAI awards contract worth Rs 344 crore to NIIT

NIIT Technologies, a IT services company based in Delhi, has received an order from Airports Authority of India (AAI) worth Rs. 344 crore. Under the multi-year contract, NIIT Technologies will work on the integration of IT systems at the operations control centers at about 10 airports across the country. There is a provision to extend the solution to additional 25 airports in the country. The awarded contract is a part of the larger airport modernisation initiative taken by the civil aviation ministry under the leadership of union civil aviation minister, Ajit Singh. The company said in a statement that the project will be implemented in in Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Tiruchirapalli, Thiruvananthapuram, Calicut, Mangalore, Guwahati and Jaipur during the next 15 months. NIIT will set up a data centre and a disaster recovery data centre at airports in Chennai and Kolkata to support operations. Arvind Mehrotra, president, Asia-Pacific & Middle East, NIIT Technologies said in the statement that, "Airport Operations Control Centers will allow collaborative decision making for all the Airport operators in the day-to-day operations." The company said that the project is aimed at improving capacity utilisation, passenger throughput enhancement, stakeholder management and process standardisation.



Article Source