A non-profit 170-bed charitable hospital run by the Muljibhai Patel Society for Research in Nephro-Urology, the Muljibhai Patel Urological Hospital, popularly known as Nadiad Kidney Hospital, is preparing to buy the Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) da Vinci robot, a four-armed US made model for intricate prostate and kidney surgeries.

“We have always tried to develop new technology, and would not like to deprive our patients of the new-age surgical experience that definitely comes with numerous advantages,” said Mahesh Desai, managing trustee and chairman, department of urology at the Nadiad Kidney Hospital.

The benefit of this technology is that , the doctor can sit at a remote place and conduct live surgery. As in New York a doctor did a surgery on a patient in Paris. A in 10 daysnd the second benefit is that as compared to open surgery the patient needs two months for recovery but in this patient will be up on his feet.

Nadiad Kideny hospital is planning to extend the services of the robot to other surgical fields apart from urology, like paediatrics, gynaecology and oncology to make the service cost-effective.

In fact, investigators have found that women who drink wine are likely to gain very less weight than those who stick to mineral water – moreover, moderate drinkers also possess a lower risk of obesity than teetotallers.

According to the investigators, the study suggests a calorie from alcohol has less impact on weight than a calorie from other foods and that the way the body deals with alcohol is more complex than realised.

And, one theory is that in regular drinkers the liver develops a separate metabolic pathway to break down alcohol, with surplus energy turned mainly into heat, not fat, The Sunday Times reported.

Scientists have found that more Americans now drink sugar-sweetened sodas, sport drinks and fruit drinks daily, and this increase in consumption has led to more diabetes and heart disease over the past period.

Using the Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) Policy Model, a well-established computer simulation model of the national population age 35 and older, researchers estimate that the increased consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks between 1990 and 2000 contributed to 1,30,000 new cases of diabetes, 14,000 new cases of coronary heart disease (CHD), and 50,000 additional life-years burdened by coronary heart disease over the past decade.

Researchers said that sugar-sweetened soda, sport and fruit drinks (not 100 percent fruit juice) contain equivalent calories, ranging from 120 to 200 per drink, and thus play a role in the nation’s rising tide of obesity.

Previous research has linked daily consumption of these sugary drinks to an increased risk of diabetes, even apart from too much weight gain.

“The CHD model allows us to incorporate data from other studies that demonstrate an association between daily intake of sugared beverages and diabetes risk; we can then translate this information into estimates of the current diabetes and cardiovascular disease that can be attributed to the rise in consumption of these drinks,” said Litsa Lambrakos, study lead author and internal medicine resident at the University of California- San Francisco.

Health policy experts suggest curbing the consumption of sugared drinks through an excise tax of 1 cent per ounce of beverage, which would be expected to decrease consumption by 10 per cent.

“If such a tax could curb the consumption of these drinks, the health benefits could be dramatic,” said Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, senior author of the study and associate professor of medicine at the University of California , San Francisco.

The results have been reported at the American Heart Association ’s 50th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

Stress not only hurts your brain, but also has a bad effect on teeth, claims a new study.

Boffins writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Head & Face Medicine studied the causes of ’sleep bruxism’, gnashing teeth during the night, finding that it was especially common in those who try to cope with stress by escaping from difficult situations.

Maria Giraki, from Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany, worked with a team of researchers to study the condition in 69 people, of whom 48 were ‘bruxers’.

She said, “Bruxing can lead to abrasive tooth wear, looseness and sensitivity of teeth, and growth and pain in the muscles responsible for chewing. Its causes are still relatively unknown, but stress has been implicated. We aimed to investigate whether different stress-factors, and different coping strategies, were more or less associated with these bruxism symptoms”.

Tooth grinding was measured by thin plates that were placed in trial participants mouths’ overnight, while stress and coping techniques were assessed by three questionnaires. Bruxing was not associated with age, sex or education level, but was more common in people who claimed to experience daily stress and trouble at work.

Giraki adds, “Our data support the assumption that people with the most problematic grinding do not seem to be able to deal with stress in an adequate way. They seem to prefer negative coping strategies like ‘escape’. This, in general, increases the feeling of stress, instead of looking at the stressor in a positive way”.

Some practices are harmful to the soil, such as monoculture, harsh chemicals and excessive tillage.

The alternative to these harmful practices is to imitate natural soil ecology.

1. Keep the diversity and population density of soil organisms

Rotate crops from different families in succeeding seasons. Use different forms of organic materials, such as composts, mulches, cover crops, etc.

2. Use source of fertility nearby

Nitrogen-fixing plants (legumes) can increase soil nitrogen for heavier-feeding crops. Use fallen leaves and crop residues to make compost or as mulch. Obtain manure from nearby farms.

3. Maintain soil structure

Plant crops in wide beds. Do not compact soil by walking on planting area. Keep soil covered with mulch or cover crop. Use a broadfork to loosen soil instead of a power tiller.

Read more, click here.

Here are a few ways to cope with the time change and get you back on track fast.

Give it a day

When the time changes, your body goes off schedule. But your internal clock has the ability to adjust itself and should get back in rhythm within a day or so.

Get out of the house

With winter approaching, nights grow longer. More dark hours make your body produce more melatonin, a hormone that is linked to depression.

Getting out of the house in the morning when the sun is out turns off melatonin production and switches on serotonin, which helps ward off the blues.

Have dinner at the same time

If you normally have dinner at six, after time change, you probably will get hungry at five at the new time. Try to hold off for an hour and still have dinner at six.

Eating triggers cortisol release which helps synchronize your body to the new time.

Source: webmd.com

Seirra Club ranks colleges and universities annually based on their planet-preserving efforts, including efficiency, energy, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management and administration.

Many schools have taken all kinds of measures to be more eco-friendly and energy efficient.

For example, CU Boulder encourages students to use buses and bikes, and utilizes biofuels in its vehicles. Yale provides local and organic food in its dining hall. It also has a market garden that produces more than 300 varieties of fruits and veggies. Harvard is using moisture-sensing sprinklers to save water, CFLs to save electricity and solar panels to use clean renewable energy.

The first 10 universities on the honor roll of the 3rd annual ranking are:

1. University of Colorado at Boulder

2. University of Washington at Seattle

3. Middlebury College

4. University of Vermont

5. College of the Atlantic

6. Evergreen State College

7. University of California at Santa Cruz

8. University of California at Berkeley

9. University of California at Los Angeles

10. Oberlin College

To see the whole list and read more about the green steps the schools are taking, go to http://sierraclub.org/sierra/200909/coolschools/default.aspx

Plant a Sun-Flower Garden

It’s good to plant flowers and other plants to keep those green steps in your mind. Visit the article 1000 Green Steps had written about how to Plant a Sun-Flower Garden, because unlike any other plants, this Sun-Flower is easy to keep.

Be Wise in Watering Plants

I know a lot of you moms LOVE the idea to water our flowers. However 1000 Green Steps have a real solution to save our globe and your water bills while you are watering your garden. Check out our article Green Steps in Watering Plants.

Switch Your Light Bulbs into CFL’s

Do you know that if American homes replaced just 1 of their lamp into CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) Bulb, we would save more than $600 million in annual energy cost? It’s easy and it’s not expensive. Read more info at 1000 Green Steps’ Article Use CFL.

Happy Green Living!