Drug makes hearts repair themselves

A drug that makes hearts repair themselves has been used in research on mice. The damage caused by a heart attack had previously been considered permanent.. But a study in the journal Nature showed the drug, thymosin beta 4, if used in advance of a heart attack, was able to "prime" the heart for repair. The British Heart Foundation described repair as the "holy grail of heart research", but said any treatment in humans was years away. Due to advances in health care the number of people dying from coronary heart disease is falling. But those living with heart failure are on the rise - more than 750,000 people have the condition in the UK alone. WAKE UP The researchers at University College London looked at a group of cells which are able to transform into different types of heart tissue in an embryo. In adults epicardium-derived progenitor cells line the heart, but have become dormant. Scientists used a chemical, thymosin beta 4, to "wake them up". Professor Paul Riley, from the University College London, said: "The adult epicardial cells which line the muscle of the heart can be activated, move inward and give rise to new heart muscle." "We saw an improvement in the ejection fraction, in the ability of the heart to pump out blood, of 25 percent." As well as pumping more blood, the scar tissue was reduced and the walls of the heart became thicker. Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said he was 'very excited' about the research but warned the scale of improvement seen in animals was rarely seen in humans. Heart Epicardium derived progenitor cells (in red) lining the heart However, he argued that even a small improvement would have a dramatic impact on people's quality of life. "A normal heart has lots of spare capacity. In patients with heart failure it is working flat out just to sit down [and] it's like running a marathon," he said. "You could turn a patient from somebody who's gasping while sitting in a chair to somebody who can sit comfortably in a chair." ADVANCE THERAPY The mice needed to take the drug in advance of a heart attack in order for it to be effective. As the researchers put it, "the priming effect is key". If a similar drug could be found to be effective in humans, then the researchers believe it would need to be prescribed in a similar way to stains. Professor Riley said "I could envisage a patient known to be at risk of a heart attack - either because of family history or warning signs spotted by their GP - taking an oral tablet, which would prime their heart so that if they had a heart attack the damage could be repaired." He said this could be available in 10 years. The British Heart Foundation, which funded the study, said repairing a damaged heart was the "holy grail" of heart research. The results strengthened the evidence that drugs could be used to prevent the onset of heart failure, it said.

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Rafael Nadal French Open 2011 Men's Singles Performance

Finaly Rafael Nadal won the 6th French Open Title and equalled World Number 1 Sweden's former tennis player Bjorn Borg's French Open final 6 wins record.Nadal beat Roger Federer at French Open 2011 final on 6th June 2011.

First Round

Rafael Nadal (Spain) vs John Isner (USA )

1st Round : 6-4

2nd Round : 6-7

3rd Round: 6-7

4th Round: 6-2

5th Round(GMS): 6-4

Second Round

Rafael Nadal (Spain) vs Pablo Andujar (Spain)

1st Round : 7-5

2nd Round : 6-3

3rd Round: 7-6

Third Round

Rafael Nadal (Spain) vs Antonio Veic (Croatia)

1st Round : 6-1

2nd Round : 6-3

3rd Round: 6-0

Fourth Round

Rafael Nadal (Spain) vs Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia)

1st Round : 7-5

2nd Round : 6-3

3rd Round: 6-3

Quarter Finals

Rafael Nadal (Spain) vs Robin Soderling (Sweden)

1st Round : 6-4

2nd Round : 6-1

3rd Round: 7-6

Semi Finals

Rafael Nadal (Spain) vs Andy Murray (UK)

1st Round : 6-4

2nd Round : 7-5

3rd Round: 6-4

French Open 2011 Men's Singles Final

Rafael Nadal (Spain) vs Roger Federer (Switzerland)

1st Round : 7-5

2nd Round : 7-6

3rd Round: 5-7

4th Round: 6-1

French open 2011 Men's Singles Winner - Rafael Nadal (Spain)

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Taliban co-founder tipped off US on Osama bin Laden hideout

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar leaked the whereabouts of the al-Qaida chief to American investigators under a "deal" with US.

LONDON: A Taliban leader tipped-off the US about where Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan, a media report here said.

The mirror.co.uk cited secret papers found at Osama's high-walled compound in Pakistan's Abbottabad city as suggesting that the al-Qaida chief's cover was blown by his trusted ally, Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Baradar.

Washington, in return, offered to take back its troops from Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan after Osama was either killed or captured.

Osama was gunned down May 2 by US commandos.

Till now, it was believed that Osama was traced after the US intercepted a phone call made by his courier Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti.

But new reports in Pakistan suggest it was Baradar who told the US where he was hiding, mirror.co.uk said.

Baradar, an ally of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was arrested last year when he was on a visit to Karachi. He was questioned in prison before being released last October.

"Baradar is in the frame as he has been in negotiations with the Afghan government and is closely linked to both Mullah Omar and bin Laden," security expert Neil Doyle was quoted as saying.

"The US has announced that it is scaling back its military operations in Pakistan following the killing of bin Laden. That will fuel speculation about whether this is the start of the pay-off for insurgents who are willing to cut a deal," he added. 

"Military officials in Pakistan have also said there was a rift between bin Laden and some of his allies."

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G8: Libya’s Gaddafi ‘should go’, say world leaders

World leaders at the G8 summit in France have issued a joint call for the embattled Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to step down.
Russia, which has criticised Nato’s campaign in Libya, said it agreed Col Gaddafi had lost all legitimacy.
In a communique issued at the end of a two-day summit, the G8 also criticised Syria’s deadly crackdown on protesters.
The bloc’s statement included plans for a $20bn (£12bn) package for Tunisia and Egypt over the next two years.
BBC world affairs correspondent Christian Fraser, at the summit in Deauville, says the communique by the leaders of the US, Russia, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and the UK has 25 pages and 93 sub-sections.
‘Finish the job’
But the part that has attracted the greatest attention, he adds, is an agreement on all sides – including the Russians – that Col Gaddafi should step down.
In his comments at the end of the summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the wording of the communique had been toughened overnight and fully endorsed by the Russians.
It says: “Gaddafi and the Libyan government have failed to fulfil their responsibility to protect the Libyan population and have lost all legitimacy. He has no future in a free, democratic Libya. He must go.”
US President Barack Obama – after talks about Libya with the French president – said: “We are joined in resolve to finish the job.”
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told a news conference at the end of the gathering in Normandy that he was prepared to mediate Col Gaddafi’s departure, but he said Libya should be preserved as a single state.
The communique was issued as Nato reported that government forces had laid landmines in the rebel-held western Libyan city of Misrata.
Nato intervened in Libya after the UN passed a resolution in March mandating the protection of civilians in the country, following the uprising against Col Gaddafi.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said the time was right to “ratchet up” pressure on the Libyan regime, as he confirmed that the UK would deploy Apache attack helicopters for the campaign.
But a statement issued by a group of former African presidents – including South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki and Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo – expressed “grave concern” that there was still no sign of an end to Nato’s campaign in Libya.
As Syrian government troops dispersed a new round of protests in Damascus, the G8 communique called on the regime to “stop using force and intimidation” against its people.
But while Russia was seen as having toughened its stance on Libya, Moscow insisted on softening the G8′s wording on Syria.
It obliged its partners to drop a threat of UN Security Council sanctions in favour of more general warning of “further measures”.

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