Saturday 15 July 2017

I was asked a question on Quora.....
How has USA become better under under Trump?
This was my answer..

To answer your question, it has not at all improved. it has only worsened the condition of the largest economy of the world.
Citizens , especially white citizens, are terrorizing the streets of America. Hostile comments are being made, victimizing immigrants, Muslims, Black citizens, etc.
(eg. Norma Ash from Maine, sporting a baseball cap bearing Mr Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again" was more incendiary, arguing in favor of violence against mosques in the US.
"I think they should bomb mosques," she says, clarifying when asked that she means mosques in the US, "I think they should because they keep coming here and making trouble.
"You don't know what they are. You don't know if they are bad people or good people.”)
and
Indian killed in Kansas: Hate crimes in US are rising since Trump assumed office
Isn’t all this proof enough that yes, US is doomed as long as this freak show is up on the chair?
Oh, and if you’re a supporter of Trump, you are just a bad person.

Tuesday 4 July 2017

Feature in Creative Image Magazine

Ma'am,
 This the photograph which was selected by Raghu Rai for the feature.
The face you see is a man sitting behind the desk which has a mirror in the front. You can see the reflection of my legs in the mirror. The purpose of framing it in such a way was to make it look like a bobble head caricature. The photo is shot using the camera of a mobile phone.
( https://www.instagram.com/p/BVrjveBgBSL/?taken-by=creativeimagemagazine&hl=en )
Attaching the link to the feature. 

Monday 3 July 2017

New Trojan horse antibody strategy shows promise against all ebola viruses
In research published online today in Science, a team of scientists describe a new therapeutic strategy to target a hidden Achilles' heel shared by all known types of Ebola virus. Two antibodies developed with this strategy blocked the invasion of human cells by all five ebolaviruses, and one of them protected mice exposed to lethal doses of Ebola Zaire and Sudan, the two most dangerous. The team included scientists from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Integrated Biotherapeutics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and The Scripps Research Institute.
Ebolaviruses cause a highly fatal disease for which no approved vaccines or treatments are available. About two dozen Ebola outbreaks have been documented since 1976, when infections first occurred in villages along the Ebola River in Africa. The largest outbreak in history--the 2014-2015 Western Africa epidemic--caused more than 11,000 deaths and infected approximately 29,000 people.
Monoclonal antibodies, which bind to and neutralize specific pathogens and toxins, have emerged as the most promising treatments for Ebola patients. A critical problem, however, is that most antibody therapies target only one specific ebolavirus. For example, the most promising experimental therapy--ZMappTM, a cocktail of three monoclonal antibodies--is specific for Ebola virus Zaire, and doesn't work against the other two viruses (Sudan and Bundibugyo), which have both caused major outbreaks. The broad-spectrum antibodies developed by the research team represent an important advance against one of the world's most dangerous pathogens.
Exploiting Ebola's Achilles' Heel
In 2011, a team that included co-senior authors Kartik Chandran, Ph.D. professor of microbiology & immunology at Einstein, and John M. Dye, Ph.D., chief of viral immunology at USAMRIID, discovered that all filoviruses (the family to which ebolaviruses and the more distantly related Marburg virus belong) have an Achilles' heel: To infect and multiply in human cells, they must all bind to a host-cell protein called Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1).
But capitalizing on that knowledge required a completely new approach to targeting viruses: exploiting the fact that Ebola and many other viruses must enter host cell compartments called lysosomes. Once safely inside the lysosomes, the viruses transform and expose key portions of their exterior that the research team successfully targeted using monoclonal antibodies.
To gain entry to cells, filoviruses bind to the host cell's outer membrane via glycoproteins (proteins to which carbohydrate chains are attached) that bristle from the virus's surface. (See illustration.) A portion of the cell membrane then surrounds the virus and pinches off, eventually developing into a lysosome--a membrane-bound, intracellular compartment filled with enzymes to digest foreign and cellular components.
Filoviruses then use the host cells' resources to break out of their lysosomal "prisons" so they can enter the host cell's cytoplasm to multiply. Enzymes in the lysosome slice a "cap" from the virus's glycoproteins, unveiling a site that binds to the NPC1 embedded in the lysosome membrane. NPC1, which normally helps transport cholesterol within the cell, offers Ebola virus its only means of escaping the lysosome and multiplying. By fitting its protein "key" into the NPC1 "lock," the virus fuses itself to the lysosome membrane. (See illustration close-up.) Now the virus can propel its RNA from the lysosome and into the cell's cytoplasm, where it can finally replicate itself.
Penetrating an Invisibility Cloak
The research team realized that monoclonal antibodies could potentially thwart all filovirus infections by neutralizing the viral protein that binds to NPC1, or by neutralizing NPC1 itself. There was just one problem: Reflecting Ebola's ingenuity, both targets reside only in lysosomes deep within cells--making them invisible to the immune system and shielded from attack by conventional antibodies.
Dr. Chandran, Dr. Dye and co-senior author Jonathan R. Lai, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry at Einstein and an expert in engineering antibodies, devised a clever "Trojan Horse" strategy for overcoming the virus's invisibility cloak: Just as the citizens of Troy unwittingly pulled a wooden horse filled with Greek soldiers into their walled city, they tricked the viruses into carrying the means of their own destruction along with them into host cells.
To do so, the research team synthesized two types of "bispecific" antibodies, each consisting of two monoclonal antibodies combined into one molecule. One bispecific antibody was devised to neutralize the viral protein that binds to NPC1, the other to target NPC1. Both had one monoclonal antibody in common: antibody FVM09, which binds to the surface glycoproteins of all ebolaviruses while the virus is outside cells, allowing the bispecific antibodies to hitch a ride with the virus into the lysosome. FVM09 was developed by co-senior author M. Javad Aman, Ph.D. at Integrated Biotherapeutics.
Once in the lysosome, the bispecific antibodies are released from the viral surface when enzymes in the lysosome slice off the glycoprotein caps--allowing the business ends of the bispecific antibodies to swing into action.
One bispecific antibody combined FVM09 with antibody MR72, which was isolated from a human survivor of Marburg virus infection by co-senior author James E. Crowe Jr., M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center. MR72 targets the NPC1-binding viral protein that is unveiled by all filoviruses in lysosomes. The second bispecific antibody links FVM09 to antibody mAb-548, developed at Einstein, which zeroes in on NPC1. With one bispecific antibody targeting the "lock" (NPC1) and the other targeting the "key" (the virus's NPC1-binding protein), both had the potential for preventing Ebola virus from interacting with NPC1 and escaping from the lysosome into the cytoplasm.
Putting Antibodies to the Test
The researchers then tested their bispecific antibodies against ebolaviruses in the lab. They initially used a harmless virus (vesicular stomatitis virus) that had been genetically engineered to display glycoproteins from all five ebolaviruses on its surface. The researchers incubated the bispecific antibodies with the Ebola-like viruses and then added the mixtures to human cells in tissue culture. Both bispecific antibodies successfully neutralized all five viruses. Work in the high-containment facilities at USAMRIID confirmed that these antibodies also blocked infection by the actual Zaire, Sudan, and Bundibugyo ebolaviruses.
Next came studies at USAMRIID to test whether the two bispecific antibodies could protect mice infected with the two most dangerous ebolaviruses, Zaire and Sudan. Researchers, led by Dr. Dye, administered the bispecific antibodies two days after mice were exposed to a lethal dose of virus.
The bispecific antibody that targeted the viral binding protein provided good protection to mice exposed to both viruses. As expected, the bispecific antibody that targeted NPC1 did not protect mice. It was designed to bind specifically to human NPC1, which differs slightly in structure from the NPC1 protein found in mice.
As a next step, both bispecific antibodies will need to be tested in nonhuman primates, the current gold standard for anti-Ebola therapeutics.

Sunday 2 July 2017

Beaumont children disappearance

When a crime is never solved, it can become both maddening and tantalizing. The victims never get justice, their loved ones never get closure, and law enforcement officers can turn into haunted, True Detective-style obsessives. Here is a fascinating case that remains unsolved to this day!!

Beaumont children disappearance

 It was 1966, a gorgeous Australia Day in the suburbs of Adelaide, when nine-year-old Jane Beaumont and her siblings, seven-year-old Arnna and four-year-old Grant vanished seemingly into thin air. The kids hopped a bus for what should have been a five-minute ride to Glenelg Beach, a popular spot they visited often. Hours later, they failed to return home, setting into motion one of Australia's most sensational mysteries — and even today, one of its most prominent cold cases.

Witnesses claimed to have seen the siblings on the beach playing with a tall, thin, blonde man. Jane Beaumont was spotted buying snacks (including a meat pie, which the children had never purchased before) with money she did not have when she left the house that day. A mail carrier who knew the family saw the kids walking in the direction of their home a few hours later ... but they never made it. Where did the children go? Who was the tall man? Though the case has continued to generate leads and wild theories (religious cults, a madman who may have turned the kids into a human centipede of sorts via "experimental surgery"), it remains unsolved. Needless to say, parents in Australia became a lot more protective and paranoid in the wake of this case.

Wednesday 28 June 2017

Mumbaiya Food!

Mumbaiya Food

-Aadya Joshi

Mumbai, famously known as the ‘Mega City’ with the largest Metropolitan region in India, spreading over an area of 4355km2. Yet, it is not the only reason for its popularity. The city witnesses everything from the fast-paced lives of people, to the night life, to film-city, to the street foods of this city. 


The city has millions of hawkers each day on the streets. The taste and flavors of these foods have been borrowed from several different states and reinvented to create a whole new dish wish fusion of best of all zests throughout the country.

Below are some of the mouthwatering dishes found in the city:

Batata Vada:
A lip-smacking breakfast and teatime snacks prepared by mashing boiled potatoes along with green chilies, ginger, garlic, lime juice, turmeric, and fresh coriander. Small doughs of the mixture is then dipped in a besan (gram flour) batter and deep fried. Tastes best with green chutney or fried green chilies.


Vada Pav:
Yet another favorite of Mumbaikars. Technically it’s an Indian burger stuffed with a spicy potato filling deep fried in a gram flour batter. It is greased with assorted sauces (chutneys) and served along with sautéed green chilies. Also, famously known
 
as the ‘poor man’s burger'


The Bombay Sandwich:
A whole new idea of having sandwiches in Mumbai. These vegetarian sandwiches begin with slices of white bread generously buttered on either side. Then goes in slices of beetroot, boiled potatoes, onion, cucumber, tomato and mint chutney. Cut into 4 slices for the ease of holding and having it. The best way to enjoy it is to order it toasted, so its fresh and crisp.





Bhel Puri:
Another famous street food found commonly on the streets of Mumbai especially along the busy beaches of Juhu and Girguam Chowpatty. The recipe includes puffed rice tossed with raw tomatoes, onions, sev and is spiced with a tamarind sauce which is further topped with a handful of chopped cilantro. One of the best munchies available.





Pao Bhaji:
If somebody wants to taste the real Pav Bhaji, it ought to be the Mumbai style. History of Pav Bhaji takes us to the time when the dish was considered a late-night meal for the workers prepared with the leftovers. It’s a melt in the mouth pav and bhaji that is steamy, spicy and tangy prepared by mashing a combination of vegetables and cooked with spices.



Frankie:
Another innovative dish by a Mumbaikar, Mr. Amarjit Tibb, with inspiration from Lebanese style pita bread wraps on his trip to Beirut, invented Frankie which is a patty with layers of flour sheets stuffed with with mutton, eggs, mashed potatoes or chicken. It tastes with raw onion and spicy sauces. Tibb’s Frankie is one of the best outlets found all over the city that sells the original reinvented frankies.   
   



Barnard shaw has rightly said that" There is no  sincerer love  than love of street food"



Monday 26 June 2017

Why I Like Staying Up Late

Why I Like Staying Up Late


"I have loved the stars too fondly
 to be fearful of the night."
 - The Old Astronomer, Sarah Williams

Once the day ends, and everyone goes to sleep, that's when I find my solace, an unmatched kind of peace,  accompanied by the constant chatter of the crickets that become music to my ears.

Night-time offers a soothing therapy for all of my days. I can think or overthink, do nothing or complete everything and even keep staring at the wall in complete oblivion without any immediate repercussions.

For once, you are in complete control of your mind, heart and actions without being answerable to anyone. After all, the 'ping' of your cellphone doesn't happen at 1 in the morning. My chain of thoughts is only to be broken by the occasional yet welcoming sound of speeding vehicles on a deserted road. Why welcoming? Because I realize that I am not the only person up so late. :)

The frequent yawns are so often dismissed because it is better to be up doing something, than just lying on the bed, trying and failing miserably at sleeping, after all there are miles to go before I sleep.

But here's the thing, the one thing I love more than being awake and enjoying my peace of mind is sleeping,

Oxymoron at it's best, eh?

MAYANAGRI

MAYANAGRI

– nidhi singh 
The mayanagri, the city that never sleeps
They call her the fashion point
She’s were the Bollywood designs
She’s got Dharavi, biggest slum
She’s got the multi-millionaires
and the movie stars.
She murmurs the humongous traffic
 with twinkling  cars, the vadapav
and the 26/11 scar
she is Multi-lingual, multi-religious,
City of unusual weather
she is rich 
she is poor
she is fast and slow.
She asks you to stand together and will be on her own.
She shouldered my father when he was seventeen
Young and innocent who was trying to be the one with promising carrier
Now I am seventeen and was born and was handed to her
Now I am liable to her and want to be the way my father was
Now actually my entire family is liable to her.

Actually we all are to her.
bombay
mumbai
then say it
meri jaan