Dec., 2013: Interesting Articles & Links

2013 Roundup -- http://caravanmagazine.in/perspectives/p-pappu

28  Indian Dishes -- http://www.storypick.com/28-must-dishes-28-indian-states/

Jagganathan on Khobragade-- http://www.firstpost.com/world/devyani-khobragade-row-time-we-returned-the-insult-to-us-liberally-1293367.html

- The case doc in US - http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/December13/KhobragadeArrestPR/Khobragade,%20Devyani%20Complaint.pdf

Car battery drains -- http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair/how-to-stop-car-battery-drains

Because who is perfect? -- http://www.realfarmacy.com/because-who-is-perfect/#ZxiOqkWVO20omudg.01

Brazil and Terminator See Technology - http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/dec/12/brazil-gm-terminator-seed-technology-farmers

Cancer patients - Carefree just for a second - http://www.utrend.tv/v/one-second/

Singapore riots - racist analysis - http://therealsingapore.com/content/stop-humanizing-banglas-indian-fts

Nobel Prizes - gender, region-wise -- http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/12/daily-chart-10

* Close shaves -- http://vitaminl.tv/video/1517

* Pink tutu - http://www.buzzfeed.com/maycie/this-guy-travelled-the-country-in-a-pink-tutu-just-to-make-h

* Vitamines -- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/science/vitamins-old-old-edge.html

* Ukranian gymnasts -- http://www.utrend.tv/v/amazing-girls/

* Kejriwal -- http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/insurgent

* Mandela speech -- http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/ideas/anonymous/mandela-0

* What to consider before a DNA test -- http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323308504579087103446161772

* A graphic designers resume -- http://rleonardi.com/interactive-resume/

* A century of dog-breeding -- http://sploid.gizmodo.com/how-a-century-of-dog-breeding-ruined-these-beautiful-an-1477122149

* Adhaar now 5 of 15 Pecabytes -- http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/06/inside-indias-aadhar-the-worlds-biggest-biometrics-database/

- http://www.moneylife.in/article/aadhaar-private-ownership-of-uid-data--part-i/32430.html

- now 5 of 15 petabytes (10^15bytes)! -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petabyte

* Advt - Put racism in the right place -- http://www.dnaindia.com/videos/1931595

* Metals in your smartphones have no substitutes - http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/metals-in-your-smartphone-have-no-substitutes/article5433612.ece

- original article - http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1312752110

* Nano Park in Karnataka gets Rs.100 Cr GoI funds - http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=79109&sid=1

- diagnostic sensors and lab-on-a-chip which may soon become an important part to improve global health

- Graphene holds much promise for the future and the world’s first FM radio transmitters made from it was announced by Columbia University just last week.

- state government called on scientists to come up with tangible nanotechnology-based solutions for food security, energy security, water purification, medicine and healthcare vis-à-vis waste management

Photography - girlfriend leading - http://petapixel.com/2013/03/01/photographer-captures-girlfriend-leading-him-around-the-world/

Nagarajan, Rema (2013): http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/80-of-medicines-not-covered-by-price-control-order/articleshow/26678324.cms

- government merely lifted the entire National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) 2011, comprising 348 medicines, and placed it under price control

- The combinations not covered under NLEM account for Rs 31,866 crore or almost 45% of the total pharma market of Rs 71,246 crore in 2012

- S Srinivasan of LOCOST, a company producing drugs for use by NGOs to treat the poor

- An independent evaluation of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy, by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID)

* Malaria Vaccine from Oxford - boosting CD8-T cells

- Nature Communications paper - http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/131128/ncomms3836/full/ncomms3836.html

- BS (2Dec) - http://www.business-standard.com/article/international/new-promising-malaria-vaccine-developed-113120100136_1.html

- Okairos - T-cell based vaccine company

- Genetic vaccines using modified Adenovirus vectors - http://www.okairos.com/files/file/Okairos%20Fact%20Sheet_%20Sept%20'2011(1).pdf

* Dinosaur DNA -- http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21590874-how-remnants-dinosaur-tissue-have-survived-millions-years-life?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/pe/lifeintheoldfossilyet

- "...nothing organic could possibily survive for 68 million years"

- highly reactive ions known as free radicals, which are produced by iron as it is released from the haemoglobin, interact with the organic tissue causing abnormal chemical bonds to form. These bonds effectively tie proteins in knots at the molecular level, much as the preservative formaldehyde does.

- DNA is thought to have a half-life of 521 years

- Can iron-preserved proteins retain DNA structure? ... the team used an iron-removal compound known as pyridoxal isonicotinic hydrazide to delicately pull iron away from the dinosaur tissues without damaging them. They then added four different stains that react only with either DNA itself, or with proteins closely associated with it in organisms other than microbes. Remarkably, in all cases, these specific stains lit up inside the ancient cells in the tissue samples.