Core Lesson on Human Anatomy

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Kindly find below a link on Wikipedia on Human Anatomy. I am sure that many of you, especially those who are going to take 2010 Preliminary examination, will themselves figure it out that why it is being suggested.

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I must substantiate that if you analyse the last years GS papers, you may figure it out that how simple study of Human Anatomy can never help you to answer the questions. There were such questions which only a candidate with medical background could have answered. But I believe, who have not studied biology after tenth will like the contents and find it helpful.

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Use the following link:
List of human anatomical features

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Genetically Modified Food: Bt Crops Issue

Bacillus thuringiensis crops and pesticides were introduced in India in 2002. This year, Orissa government is going to introduce the Bt brinjal. With that, the controversy over the genetically modified foods has again risen. These issues of Bt corps and GM foods require proper understanding. Kindly explore the following links:


Bacillus thuringiensis: Wikipedia Article

Genetically Modified Foods: Wikipedia Article

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News Report: The Telegraph Calcutta has a brief summary of Bt crops.

Similar reports at
Indian Express

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Partial Solar Eclipse: First Astronomical Event in India in IYA 2009

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This is the year of Astronomy. The partial solar eclipse is the first such event to be seen in India. Kindly use the following note as such clips sometimes make the core of the unexpected Prelims MCQs.

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Source to be used:
Thousands view clear eclipse-Bangalore-Cities-The Times of India

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Just a side talk: After the solar eclipse on Jan 26, Mars enters the lagana which is Makkar since Jan 15. Those who have exalted Mars (Mangal) in their horoscope, they are sure to get through written exams this year. They should opt for uniformed cadre (IPS) and success will be there. Please do not approach me for astronomical prediction. Believe in your self and work hard. Planned study, consistency and conviction pays. Not such mumbo jumbos. If I have contradicted myself then it is like that.

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Salmonella

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Salmonella infection causes typhoid ( effecting small intestines). It is recently in news because it has been caused by peanut butter in cookies in America and even reported in countries on different continents.

The topic of human effecting diseases has remained an important topic under which the MCQs have been asked in prelims. It is very difficult for everyone to study the whole parasitology and human diseases in detail. The best approach is to be selective and make notes on such diseases which are being the issue of concern for the UNESCO, or in news for some reasons. Therefore, influenza and typhoid which are again in news, should be in the recent list.

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For further study:

Salmonella - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Added Resource: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/21/AR2009012101265.html

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IYA2009 Site for writing an Essay

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From Site of International Year of Astronomy as Declared by UN:

Everyone should realise the impact of astronomy and other fundamental sciences on our daily lives, and understand how scientific knowledge can contribute to a more equitable and peaceful society. IYA2009 activities will take place locally, nationally, regionally and internationally.

From the link given below, one can write a good write up on International Year of Astronomy. It is the official site of IYA as declared by UN and organized by UNESCO. Many of the Civil Services Magazines have already brought out similar essays. One may find the common points by following the page which has been selected below.


A High Priority Topic for Prelims as well Mains.
SUGGESTION: Pick Astronomy terms like Exoplanet, Light Year, Nebula etc. for special notes. Some of them may follow here also.

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Link to be used:
IYA2009 General | Astronomy 2009

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Photograph: Catherine Ceasersky the President of International Year of Astronomy 2009. Source: the site of IYA, the link given above.

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What is a Cyberknief?

Cyberknief is a radiortherapy machine which is used in treating cancer. It is used to target tumours with minimal damage to healthy tissues.

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Further reading use the following link:

BBC NEWS Health Cyberknife boost to cancer care

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Stem Cell Therapy and Stem Cell Banks

The following links can be used for preparing notes on Stem Cell Banks and Stem Cell Therapy:
http://www.themedguru.com/articles/a_new_hope_for_life_stem_cells-86119860.html

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200812281660.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_Cell

Neutrino Observatory (DEC Project) will be Niligiris Tamil Nadu

The INO is one of the most prestigious scientific project in India. Neutrino is the sub atomic part which is under research of physcist and holds the key to numerous questions on the origin of the universe.
The following report discuss the issue of the locating of the INO in Tamil Nadu. For details on Neutrino kindly use Encyclopedia given below at the end of the posts and before the break time.

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Additional Sources to be used:

AEC chief bats for neutrino location, says it fulfils all geographical requirements-Chennai-Cities-The Times of India

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What is a Exoplanet?

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The following links as news report can be useful in making a note on this question.
The astronauts have recently been able photograph a star called Fomalhaut which is nearly 25 light years away having planets. The exoplanets or extrasolar planets are issue of interest because they may become the case of discovery of extra territerial life as the planets orbiting the other stars may also have life as it is here on the earth. It may be cause of proving theory of existence of aliens. (Fascinating!!!. I have doubt about including in the notes because it is highly based on theories. The only factor played in the favour of imaging of the distant plant in other star system by Hubble telescope after technological advancement in imaging.)

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BBC NEWS Science & Environment Exoplanets finally come into view

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http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Researchers_Capture_First_Photo_Of_An_Exoplanet_Orbiting_A_Star_29045.html

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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/14/fomalhaut_b/

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Wikipeida Article on Extra Solar Planets with definition of Planet:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exoplanets

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Sivojit Paul the youngest recipient of liver transplant in India.

The Liver transplant was carried on seven month Sivojit Paul in Kolkota at Apollo Indraprastha Hospital, which is to be the youngest recipient of liver transplant in India. Secondly, his operation is a case wherein social security was provided by community contribution to pay the expenses of the operation.
The operating surgeon was Subash Gupta. The child suffered from a condition called biliary atresia, a condition in which a duct linking the liver to the small intestine is missing. In case of the child, a surgery was carried out earlier wherein the link between the liver and small intestine was created. However, even then the liver was gradually destroyed. As a result, his bilirubin level continued to rise impairing the health of the child. Therefore, he required a liver transplant.
The transplant among children suffering from conditions like biliary atresia is generally carried out at the age of one year.
The donor in his case is Indrajit Paul. His mother is Munmun Paul.
The operation is important from another angle as the expenses of the operation was borne by community cooperation of Kolkotta. The Tabla Player Bickram Ghosh and Vocalist Lopmudra Mitra performed in Kolkata for raising funds for the operation of Sivojit Ghosh.
The youngest child to be operated upon for Liver Transplant condition was 19 days old but that operation was performed outside India.

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Suggestive notes:
What is Biliary Atresia?
What is Bilirubin?

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Source:
The Telegraph, Calcutta.

L. S. Shashidara: SS Bhatnagar Prize 2008 for Biological Sciences

L S Shashidara obtained B. Sc. and M. Sc. (Genetics and Plants Breeding) in 1987 at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad. He received his Ph.D. in 1991 from the University of Cambridge, UK. After a period of post-doctoral work at the University of Cambride, he worked in National Centre for Biological Sciences, Banglore, as a visiting fellow. He joined CCMB (Centre of Cellular and Molecular Biology Hyderabad, one of 38 laboratories of ICSR) in 1995. Since August 2007, he is on deputation at IISER Pune as Professor and Coordinator (Biology).

He remained in the national limelight when in 2001, he along with Poonam Bandari, had reported to have developed genetically engineered fruit flies (Drosophila), which could be used for screening and validating drugs instead of employing mice. (A press report can be accessed here.)

An article by Prof. Shashidara on Drosophila Genetics & Developmental Biology can be accessed here.

The transgenic flies at CCMB were specifically bred for evaluating the efficacy of existing and new drugs against certain types of cancer.

L. S. Shashidhara has won S S Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for 2008 along with G P S Raghava of IMTECH Chandigarh. They have won the prize for Biological Sciences.

The prize consists of Rs. 5 lakhs, a citation and a plaque. It is otherwise a big honour in the field of science within India.

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Sources Used:
Article by L. S. Shashidara given on the web site of CCMB Hyderabad.

Bio date of L. S. Shashidara given on the web site of CCMB Hyderabad.

Indian Express: Healthcare Management

Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) Chandigarh

Established in 1984, the Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) is one among the chain of 38 national laboratories functioning under the aegis of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and is its youngest laboratory. Set-up to be a fore-runner in the sun-rise area of Biotechnology, the Institute occupies an area of about 47 acres, of which the labs covered 22 acres and the residential campus 25 acres. The Institute has a built up area of about 3.60 lakh sq. ft., which is spread over five main buildings, namely, Main R&D block (~2.00 lakhs sq. ft.), Fermentation block (~0.50 lakhs sq. ft.), Animal House (~0.30 lakhs sq. ft.), Workshop, Stores and Services area (~0.50 lakhs sq. ft.), and Cafeteria (~0.10 lakhs sq. ft.). The Institute provides functionally modular and large, air-conditioned, clean research areas to all the scientists. The Institute's primary asset is a team of 48 highly motivated young scientists, 36 of whom are Ph.D.s with many of them having several years of training in world-renowned laboratories. Supported by more than 145 well-trained technicians and graduate students, these scientists are engaged in research, both basic and application-oriented, in four major areas namely:

Molecular Biology and Microbial Genetics
Cell Biology and Immunology
Protein Science and Engineering
Fermentation Technology and Applied Microbiology

It is the youngest laboratory among the 38 national laboratories functioning under the aegis of CSIR.

The present director (year 2008) is Girish Sahni. (in Photograph)

Address of the Institute:
Institute of Microbial Technology, Sector 39-A, Chandigarh - 160036 (INDIA)
PH: +91-172-2695215, 2695225, 2636680 - 94 (15 Lines)
Fax: +91-172-2690632 (Administration), +91-172-2690585 (Director)

Website: Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh (CSIR)

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Credit: The contents of this post are verbatim repetition of description of the Institute as given at its website mentioned above.
The photograph has been taken from the website of the institute itself.

What are Tornadoes?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Animated guide: Tornadoes

The site as shown above will help the readers to develop the rudimentary understanding of the natural disaster which is called Tornadoes.

They will be able to understand the mechanism which comes into play in order to creat a Tornado. The reader will under the scale Fujita. The display demonstrates with graphics the devastation effect of F0 to F5 scale of a Tornado.

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The readers can also learn about Earthquakes, Hurricane, Volcanoes and Tsunamis from the same site.

They can watch the lesson in flash play or as PDF files or HTML display as per the capabilities of the devices which they are using to access the internet. It is strongly recommended that they should prefer flash display which is more communicative.

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What are Hurricanes?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Animated guide: Hurricanes

The site as shown above will help the readers to develop the rudimentary understanding of the natural disaster which is called Hurricane.

They will be able to understand the following terms.

Hurricane,

Typhoons

Cyclones.

Further, with the help of graphics, different dimensions of a hurricane can be understood.

The reader will also understand the scales used to measure the hurricane. It explains the Saffir-Simpson Scale. It also gives data of the category 1 to 5 of a hurricane.

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The readers can also learn about Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Volcanoes and Tsunamis from the same site.

They can watch the lesson in flash play or as PDF files or HTML display as per the capabilities of the devices which they are using to access the internet. It is strongly recommended that they should prefer flash display which is more communicative.

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Sources:

How do earthquakes take place?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | How earthquakes happen

The above suggested link from the BBC site can help the readers about the rudimentary geography. Such questions appears in Prelims. They are objective type questions based on the core understanding of the fundamentals.

The readers can learn about the following terms:

Hypocentre

P waves,

S waves,

Epicentre

Surface Waves,

Rayleigh Waves

Love Waves


The readers can also learn about the man default centre or the world plates all over the world. They can also learn about the core structure of the Earth crust. All the terms are well illustrated.

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The readers can also learn about Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Volcanoes and Tsunamis from the same site.

They can watch the lesson in flash play or as PDF files or HTML display as per the capabilities of the devices which they are using to access the internet. It is strongly recommended that they should prefer flash display which is more communicative.

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Source: Earth crust graphics from BBC News
Terms further links from Wikipedia