Islamabad, July 5 (IANS) Wild poliovirus type 1 has been detected in sewage samples from two new districts in Pakistan along with the six previously infected districts of three provinces, the Pakistani Health Ministry said.

The virus was detected from environmental samples collected between June 10 and June 12 from Gwadar, Sibi, Kech, Dukki, Usta Muhammad and Mastung districts in southwest Balochistan province, Rawalpindi district of eastern Punjab province, and Abbottabad district of northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

All positive samples are genetically linked to the YB3A genetic cluster of type 1, which has been detected in all positive cases and sewage samples reported this year, reported Xinhua news agency.

The Pakistan Polio Program is conducting a polio campaign in 41 districts this week, including Dukki, Sibi, Mastung, Usta Muhammad and some areas of Rawalpindi, to vaccinate over 9.5 million children under 5, while more campaigns are planned in coming months, according to the ministry.

So far this year, Pakistan has reported six polio cases.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) When several lakhs of Mumbaikars trooped in from all over to give a welcome of a lifetime to the T20 World Cup kings, Team India at Marine Drive, they also gave a lifeline to an emergency patient being sped in an ambulance on that very chock-a-block road.

The ambulance, speeding from an unknown location to a hospital in south Mumbai on Thursday was probably rushing a patient to a nearby hospital when it encountered the ocean of humanity awaiting Team India.

Unfazed, the ambulance driver blared the vehicle siren resulting in a magical effect — the crowds seemed to move aside to provide a clear lane for the ambulance — and it proceeded without any major delays.

The Mumbaikars’ habitual discipline — witnessed daily on crowded roads where ambulances, police vehicles or fire brigade are willingly and obediently given the right of way — was lauded by the Mumbai Police which tweeted a video of the ambulance negotiating the route cleared for it.

“Siren bajta gaya, Raasta banta gaya… Salute to Mumbaikars”, said the Mumbai Police tweet.

Though solitary in the huge crowd surrounding it from all sides, the ambulance covered the Marine Drive distance, dodged the people and bypassed several other vehicles stuck in the jam, to safely move towards one of the roads on the left and disappeared from view.

Later, the Champion Team India reached the same Marine Drive where the crowds had swelled much higher, giving some anxious moments to the police, deployed in huge numbers, after a caution call from Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and a public appeal from Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.

Several people complained of breathlessness, a woman fainted and was hoisted on the shoulder of a policeman who took her away, and at one point, the police resorted to mild caning (lathi-charge) to control the frenzied crowds.

“It was one of its kind crowd and traffic management (today) with mobs milling and spilling over everywhere, waiting with bated breath to salute the Champions! But it was the Mumbai Police that batted through the innings and won the day for us and the city. Well done!” said Commissioner of Police Vivek Phansalkar.

He congratulated and lauded the efforts of all the top brass, officers and staff deployed and involved in the bandobast duties last evening and thanked all Mumbaikars which ensured that it remained a special moment for our champions and fans — “We made it happen together!”

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) The NITI Aayog on Thursday launched the ‘Sampoornata Abhiyan’ with a focus on themes such as health, nutrition, agriculture, social development, and education.

The launch events were organised across all the 112 Aspirational Districts and 500 Aspirational Blocks.

This comprehensive three-month campaign, running from July 4 to September 30, aims to achieve 100 per cent saturation of 12 key social sector indicators across all Aspirational Districts and Blocks.

As part of the 3-month long campaign, district and block officials, along with elected people’s representatives, will organise awareness activities like Gram Sabhas, Nukkad Natak, Paushtik Aahar Mela, Health camps, ICDS camps, Awareness Marches and Rallies, Exhibitions, Poster making and Poem competitions around 12 themes identified for 100 per cent saturation across all Aspirational Blocks and Districts.

NITI Aayog said that the officials and Young Professionals are “participating in the launch events in person across 300 districts to guide and support local governance in organising and executing the campaign effectively”. It also mentioned that the collaboration with relevant Central Ministries and Departments, and state and Union Territory governments will not only bolster efforts to achieve the campaign’s objectives but also “strengthen the spirit of Competitive and Cooperative Federalism in ensuring socio-economic development in the hinterland”.

The Aspirational Districts and Blocks pledged their commitment to the ‘Sampoornata Abhiyan’ by reiterating its principles through the ‘Sampoornata Pledge’ committing to fulfil the campaign’s goals and accelerating progress towards full saturation of the identified indicators.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) Stanford researchers have developed a new method to reverse pancreatic cancer’s resistance to chemotherapy, an advance that may pave the way for new treatments.

Pancreatic cancer is often aggressive and difficult to treat and also has a poor survival rate, marred by a lack of distinct symptoms and screening tools needed to detect the disease in its initial stages.

In the study, published in the journal Nature Materials, the researchers revealed that the resistance is related to both the physical stiffness of the tissue around the cancerous cells.

“We found that stiffer tissue can cause pancreatic cancer cells to become resistant to chemotherapy, while softer tissue made the cancer cells more responsive to chemotherapy,” said Sarah Heilshorn, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University.

The finding may lead to “future drug development to help overcome chemoresistance, which is a major clinical challenge in pancreatic cancer”, she added.

The team focused their efforts on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma — a cancer that starts in the cells lining the ducts of the pancreas and accounts for 90 per cent of pancreatic cancer cases. In these cancers, the network of materials between the cells, known as the extracellular matrix, becomes notably stiffer. This stiff material acts as a physical block, stopping chemotherapy drugs from reaching cancerous cells, said researchers, noting treatments based on this idea have not been effective in humans.

In the study, the team developed a designer matrix system — where three-dimensional materials mimicked the biochemical and mechanical properties of both pancreatic tumours and healthy pancreas tissues. Using their new system, the researchers selectively activated certain types of receptors in the cancerous cells and adjusted the chemical and physical properties of their designer matrix.

In addition to a physically stiff extracellular matrix, the team found that high amounts of hyaluronic acid — a polymer that stiffens the extracellular matrix and interacts with cells through a receptor called CD44 — make pancreatic cancer resistant to chemotherapy. The researchers found that they could reverse this development by moving the cells to a softer matrix (even if it was still high in hyaluronic acid) or blocking the CD44 receptor (even if the matrix was still stiff).

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) About 4.9 per cent of children and adolescents in India suffer from impaired kidney function, according to the first nationwide survey released on Thursday.

Impaired kidney function causes kidney damage to worsen over several months or years — chronic kidney disease (CKD).

It is a significant public health problem, and its burden in children and adolescents in India is not well described.

The new study by researchers from All India Institute of Medical Sciences – Bathinda and Vijaypur, and The George Institute for Global Health India, is based on the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) of 24,690 children and adolescents aged 5-19 years between 2016 and 18.

The results showed 4.9 per cent of children and adolescents, which amounts to around 49,000 cases per million population suffer from impaired kidney function.

The “key predictors include age, rural residence, lower maternal education, and stunting. Addressing these factors is crucial for improving child health outcomes”, said Prof. Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director, The George Institute for Global Health, India, in a post on X.

The prevalence of impaired kidney function was found more in males and rural areas.

Further, Andhra Pradesh, followed by Telangana and West Bengal showed the highest cases, while the prevalence was lowest in Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Kerala.

“The high prevalence of impaired kidney function among Indian children and adolescents underscores the urgent need for targeted interventions and policies to address this growing public health issue. Time to prioritise pediatric kidney health in national health,” Vivekanand Jha said.

–IANS

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