Dance Master Raghuram Passed Away - Kollywood

Veteran dance master Raghuram passed away in Chennai today. The news has shocked many Kollywood personalities.

Raghuram, a popular choreographer in the industry, is the father of actress Gayathri Raghuram.

Only recently, his gold jubilee in the film industry was celebrated by his peers and students.

Cremation at his Mahalingapuram residence Tomorrow. 

See more at: http://www.chennaivision.com/news/2013/59382.php#sthash.FQzDE2vU.dpuf

Nasa plans plants on the moon

US's Nasa has announced plans to grow plants on the moon in 2015. They are constructing a small technology demonstration unit to study germination of plants in lunar gravity and radiation on the Moon.

The self-contained habitat will have a mass of about 1 kg and would be transported on a commercial spacecraft - the Moon Express Lander.


After landing in late 2015, water will be added to the seeds and their growth will be monitored for 5-10 days and compared to Earth based controls. Seeds will include arabidopsis, basil and turnips. This will be the first life sciences experiment on another world and an important first step in the utilization of plants for human life support, Nasa said.

"As seedlings they can be as sensitive as humans to environmental conditions sometimes even more so. They carry genetic material that can be damaged by radiation as can that of humans. They can test the lunar environment for us acting as a canary in a coal mine. If we send plants and they thrive then we probably can. Thriving plants are needed for life support (food, air, water) for colonists. And plants provide psychological comfort as the popularity of the greenhouses in Antarctica and on the Space Station show," Nasa said.

Nasa will first develop a very simple sealed growth chamber that can support germination over a 5-10 day period in a spacecraft on the Moon.

Filter paper with dissolved nutrients inside the container can support 100 seeds of Arabidopsis and 10 seeds each of basil and turnips. Upon landing on the Moon a trigger would release a small reservoir of water wetting the filter paper and initiating germination of the seeds.

The air in the sealed container would be adequate to for more than five days of growth. No additional air supply or air processing would be necessary. The seedlings would be photographed at intervals with sufficient resolution to compare with growth in Earth controls.

"We would use the natural sunlight on the moon as the source of illumination for plant germination. Plant growth at Earth gravity has been well studied and there has been a lot of research on plant growth in microgravity on Shuttle and Space Station. The surface of the Moon however is the only location in which the effects of both lunar gravity and lunar radiation on plant growth can be studied. Eventually human exploration of the Moon will require plant growth systems for life support. Germination is the first step in plant growth and thus forms the focus of this first experiment," Nasa said.

It added, "The basic data from the experiment would be the growth rate, expressed as leaf area, over time. This would be extracted from images of the plant growth area. In addition image data would be collected to investigate both phototropism (plant motion in response to changes in position of the light source) and circumnutation (plant circular motion). The growth and movement of the plants on the Moon would be compared to similar data from Earth controls in identical growth units."

More: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-11-29/science/44574775_1_growth-rate-nasa-plants

Large meal better than smaller meals for diabetes patients: study

For patients with diabetes, it is better to eat a single large meal than several smaller meals throughout the day, a new study has found. Researchers at Linkoping University in Sweden studied the effect on blood glucose, blood lipids and different hormones after meals were compared using three different macronutrient compositions in patients with type 2 diabetes. The three diets were a low-fat diet, a low-carbohydrate diet and a Mediterranean diet. The scientists included 21 patients that tested all three diets in a randomised order. During each test day blood samples were collected at six time points. Getty images. The low-fat diet had a nutrient composition that has traditionally been recommended in the Nordic countries, with about 55 per cent of the total energy from carbohydrates. 

The low-carbohydrate diet had a relatively low content of carbohydrate; approximately 20 per cent of the energy was from carbohydrates and about 50 per cent of the total energy came from fat. The Mediterranean diet was composed of only a cup of black coffee for breakfast, and with all the caloric content corresponding to breakfast and lunch during the other two test days accumulated to one large lunch. Furthermore, the total caloric content included energy from 150 ml (women) to 200 ml (men) of French red wine to ingest with the lunch. 

The food in the Mediterranean diet had an energy content from carbohydrates that was intermediate between the low-fat and the low-carbohydrate meals, and sources of fat were mainly olives and fatty fish. “We found that the low-carbohydrate diet increased blood glucose levels much less than the low-fat diet but that levels of triglycerides tended to be high compared to the low-fat diet,” said Doctor Hans Guldbrand, who together with Professor Fredrik Nystrom was the principal investigator of the study. “It is very interesting that the Mediterranean diet, without breakfast and with a massive lunch with wine, did not induce higher blood glucose levels than the low-fat diet lunch, despite such a large single meal,” said Nystrom.

 “This suggests that it is favourable to have a large meal instead of several smaller meals when you have diabetes, and it is surprising how often one today refers to the usefulness of the so-called Mediterranean diet but forgets that it also traditionally meant the absence of a breakfast,” Nystrom said. “Our results give reason to reconsider both nutritional composition and meal arrangements for patients with diabetes,” Nystrom said.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/fwire/large-meal-better-than-smaller-meals-for-diabetes-patients-study-1257583.html?utm_source=fwire&utm_medium=hp

'Left-handed' compliment: Zaheer Khan will do well in South Africa, says Chaminda Vaas

There are a lot of similarities between former Sri Lanka opening bowler Chaminda Vaas and India’s Zaheer Khan. Apart from being left-arm seamers, the duo has possessed the same skills and style of bowling.

They have walked a similar path for their respective teams too. From being the lead bowlers to falling out of favour and then making dramatic comebacks with hard work, passion and hunger to play for the country. They share the love for county cricket in England too.

With so much common between the two, Vaas, a much senior bowler with 355 Tests and 400 ODI scalps, is not in touch with Khan but will certainly have his eyes on India’s tour of South Africa where Khan will make a comeback. And he is sure that Khan will deliver the goods.

“When I saw him a couple of years back, I thought he was going to finish his cricket. His fitness and bowling were not up to the mark, but he is a strong and determined lad,” Vaas told dna on the sidelines of an event organised by Wills Realtors.

“I have seen his recent pictures. He has lost a lot of weight and is keen to get back into the team and perform. He knows his abilities and knows what is expected from him. Being a fast bowler, you need to be patient and in the mean time handle pressure and perform well in international cricket,” the 39-year-old added.

Vaas is expecting Khan to do well in South Africa. “He has proved himself everywhere. He has done well on English and South African pitches. The conditions in South Africa will be seamer-friendly and I am sure he is going to do well for India there,” said Vaas.

Khan is 35, but Vaas feels age won’t be a factor. “It is only in the subcontinent that we look at age.
When you are past 32, people think his cricket is finished while players from other countries play Test cricket till 35-36. In Australia, some start at 32. If you have proper fitness and are keen to perform, then age is not a barrier and you will do well for the country. Sir Richard Hadlee played for New Zealand till the age of 40. If fit and performing extremely well, then why not? I feel Zaheer can play international cricket for another two to three years. I feel he has a lot of cricket left in him and I wish him all the best,” he said.

Like Khan, Vaas has also played a lot of county cricket in England for different teams and felt it helped him a lot.

“It’s not easy for a fast bowler. Out of seven days, you play six days a week for six months. There are 16 four-day games, 12 pro-40 matches and then 12 Twenty20 ties. It a great experience playing. It’s not easy to pick up wickets. You have to be patient and bowl from one side and take wickets. To realise how important county cricket is, I would want every player to play at least one season,” Vaas added.

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report-left-handed-compliment-zaheer-khan-will-do-well-in-south-africa-says-chaminda-vaas-1927033